🎄Christmas Book Review ~ A Surprise Christmas Wedding by Phillipa Ashley

🎅Welcome to my week of Christmas Reads to get you in the festive spirit🎅

Avon Books 
19 October 2020

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book

It’s been a year since Lottie’s fiancé walked out, leaving her heartbroken. But things start to look up when she lands her dream job at a beautiful Lake District estate, with a handsome groundskeeper for a neighbour. 

So when Lottie is asked to organise a last minute Christmas wedding at Firholme, she can’t wait to get started. Until she meets the couple, and discovers that Connor, the man who broke her heart, is the groom-to-be. 

As snow falls on the hills, can Lottie put aside her past to organise the perfect winter wedding? And will there be any festive magic left to bring Lottie the perfect Christmas she deserves?

🎄What did I think about it..

After a disastrous end to a love affair, Lottie throws herself into her new role as events planner for a prestigious hotel in the English Lake District. What she doesn't bargain for is that her first major event, at Firholme, is in organising the winter wedding of someone she once knew very well. With the utmost professionalism, Lottie does everything she can to make this day special but in doing so she must revisit painful memories which she had thought long buried.

What then follows is a delightfully festive story which covers all aspects of wedding planning with a few surprises and hitches along the way. It's all made all the more exciting by the handsome ground-keeper at Firholme who has his own secrets which threaten his long term happiness.

I've really enjoyed spending time in the Lake District, although it was a real treat to have the book start in another area which fans of this author's writing will be familiar with.  I was delighted when the story line moved North for a lovely romantic story about wintery weddings and beautiful stately hotels, and as always,  I was charmed by this author's ability to create a magical story with characters who warm your heart and bring a little bit of festive magic to brighten your world. 

🎄Best Read with a creamy Cappuccino and a slice of Cumberland Rum Nicky Tart.

About the Author

Website

Twitter @PhillipaAshley

@AvonBooks

Blog Tour ~ A Perfect Cornish Christmas by Phillipa Ashley

🎄🎄 Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be part of this festive Blog Tour 🎄🎄

Avon
31 October 2019

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book
and the invitation to be part of this festive blog tour

Christmas in Cornwall is just around the corner…

But after last Christmas revealed a shocking family secret, Scarlett’s hardly feeling merry and bright. All she wants this Christmas is to know who her real father is.

So Scarlett heads to the little Cornish town of Porthmellow, where she believes the truth of her birth is hidden. She just didn’t bargain on being drawn into the Christmas festival preparations – or meeting Jude Penberth, whose charm threatens to complicate life further.

Everything will come to a head at Porthmellow’s Christmas Festival … But can Scarlett have the perfect Christmas this year, or are there more surprises on the way?

Curl up with this gorgeous novel and savour the world of Porthmellow Harbour.

What did I think about it..

Scarlett and her sister Ellie think they have found the perfect family Christmas present but what they don't bargain for is the way it tears their family apart. Whilst Scarlett is sure that the answer to this devastating family secret lie in the Cornish town of Porthmellow she is apprehensive of delving too deep for fear of what she might discover.

Those who have read this author's previous book The Perfect Cornish Summer will see a welcome return of some of the characters who featured in this first book in the series, however, this novel is more about Scarlett, and Ellie, who each need to find some sort of way forward. Each of them have been hurt in previous romantic relationships so neither of them are looking to find love again, but then Porthmellow starts to work its magic and both Ellie and Scarlett discover that, if they let it, life can offer some wonderful opportunities.

The family mystery at the heart of the novel is handled well and there are a few surprising twists and turns which show that in the aftermath of a shocking family secret there can be a hopeful resolution. I particularly liked the gentle Christmassy feel to the story which isn't overtly festive but which shines a light on the little town of Porthmellow, particularly their Winter Solstice festival, in wonderful heart-warming sort of way.

A Perfect Christmas Christmas is a lovely entertaining Christmas read about the power of family, and friendship, and of the distress and misunderstanding of keeping too many dangerous secrets.

About the Author

Phillipa Ashley writes warm, funny romantic fiction for a variety of international publishers. The first two books in her best-selling Cornish Café series made the Amazon Top 20 and Top 10 chart in 2016.

Phillipa lives in a Staffordshire village with her husband and has a grown-up daughter.

Website

Twitter @PhillipaAshley #APerfectCornishChristmas

@AvonBooksUK

Amazon UK

Blog Tour ~ A Perfect Cornish Summer by Phillipa Ashley

Jaffareadstoo is thrilled to be hosting today's stop on  A Perfect Cornish Summer  Blog Tour

Avon
25 April 2019

My thanks to the NetGalley, the publishers and Sabah for my ecopy of this book
and the invitation to be part of the blog tour

For Sam Lovell, organising the summer festival in her hometown is one of the highlights of her year. It’s not always smooth sailing, but she loves to see Porthmellow’s harbour packed with happy visitors, and being on the committee has provided a much-needed distraction from the drama in her family life (and the distinct lack of it in her love life).

When their star guest pulls out with only a few weeks to go, everyone’s delighted when a London chef who grew up locally steps in at the last minute. But Gabe Matthias is the last person Sam was expecting to see, and his return to Porthmellow will change her quiet coastal life for ever.

My thoughts..

I've just spent a very enjoyable afternoon in the seaside town of Porthmellow in Cornwall and have been delighted to have made friends with the wonderful characters who feature in this perfect summer story.

There is much to enjoy in the company of Sam Lovell, who with a group of friends runs the annual Porthmellow summer festival, however, the festival is not without its problems. When this year's celebrity chef cancels at the last minute, the one person who offers to help is none other than local boy, Gabe Matthias, who has made his name, and fortune, as one of the country's top chefs. All would be well, except Sam, and the handsome Gabe, have some complicated personal history, and reason for this is what makes the story such a heart-warming read.

A Perfect Cornish Summer is the first in a new Cornish series, and, as with any first book in a series there is a certain amount of getting to know the characters, however, there's a such a lovely mixture of people that it becomes a real pleasure to get to know them, as they each bring something really special to the story. There are several twists which I didn't see coming, and lots of really interesting developments, especially in the relationship between Sam and Gabe. I particularly enjoyed reading of the ups and downs of organising the summer festival, as of course, like real life, nothing ever runs to according to plan for Sam, and her group of festival organisers.

A Perfect Cornish Summer is such a lovely feel-good story that I raced through it at top speed and I can't wait to read the next one 😊

About the Author

Phillipa Ashley writes warm, funny romantic fiction for a variety of international publishers. The first two books in her best-selling Cornish Café series made the Amazon Top 20 and Top 10 chart in 2016.

Phillipa lives in a Staffordshire village with her husband and has a grown-up daughter.

Website

Twitter @PhillipaAshley #APerfectCornishSummer

@AvonBooksUK

Amazon UK