Maxine Morrey won publisher Carina’s #WriteChristmas competition with this story and it’s easy to see why. Six months ago bride-to-be Izzy was jilted at the altar, with best man Rob left to deliver the bad news. To add insult to injury, Izzy is a talented wedding dress designer running her own business – not a good advert! Now just a few weeks before Christmas, snow means London has ground to a halt and a chance meeting leads to Izzy staying with Rob in his posh bachelor pad – in the guest room of course! Over the course of the next few weeks, circumstances mean they spend quite a bit of time together and they get on really well. It’s almost as if they just intuitively know what each other is thinking and are so comfortable in each other’s company. When Izzy helps Rob’s sister Jenny out of a crisis, his parents invite her to spend Christmas with them. Will love blossom?
Right from the start of this book, I knew I was going to enjoy it. Izzy is a feisty character (as Rob’s broken nose will testify) who doesn’t let her wedding disaster ruin her life, throwing herself into her business. Rob was so sweet and caring, a real gentleman. I also thought his family were portrayed so well. They seem to be such a close, loving family and are so welcoming to Izzy, even though she is just Rob’s friend as he is at pains to stress to his mum. The developing relationship between Izzy and Rob was perfectly depicted so that, as a reader, you know that they could be perfect for each other even before they can see it themselves.
As I was reading I was thinking how the book showed that love can blossom unexpectedly from the most unlikely circumstances. So it was with almost a triumphant ‘aha!’ that I read and noted Jenny’s mum saying this “Beautiful things can sometimes come out of the most difficult of circumstances.” She’s not referring to Izzy’s break-up but another incident that had happened prior to time covered by the book. And I think that sums up this story for more than one of the characters – beautiful things coming out of difficult circumstances. As a festive love story, this book has it all: romance, an engaging heroine you feel you could be friends with, a handsome caring hero, misunderstandings between the main characters, lots of warmth and humour and plenty of snow. A fairytale happy-ever-after ending? Well, you’ll need to read for yourself to find out!
My thanks to the publishers Carina UK and Cara Thompson for giving me a copy of this book to review. Winter’s Fairytale was published as an e-book on 10th November 2015 and you can order a copy here: Winter’s Fairytale
Winter’s Fairytale
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow… A few weeks before Christmas and a sudden blanketing of snow has closed the roads and brought public transport grinding to a halt, stranding Izzy miles from home and in desperate need of rescuing. That doesn’t mean she’s looking to bump into Rob and spend a cosy weekend holed up in his swanky flat watching London become a winter wonderland! Because Izzy and Rob have history… Six months ago, they were standing in the vestry of a beautiful country church, while best man Rob delivered the news that every bride dreads on their big day. But at the time of year when anything is possible, can Rob and Izzy let go of the past and let Christmas work its magic? Or will this be one holiday wish that Izzy lets walk right out of her life…
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