Genre: Chick-Lit, Contemporary, Romance

Pages: 252

Expected publication: October 19th 2016 by Bookouture

Step inside a beautiful winter wonderland where love, laughter and cosy nights by the fire will make this Christmas one to remember.

Neve Whitaker loves managing the Stardust Lake hotel. She gets to work alongside her wonderful family and she’s spending Christmas on the most enchanting, snow-covered island in Scotland. So why is her heart so heavy this festive season?

It might have something to do with the gorgeous actor Oakley Rey, the man she finished with before he left for California and the man she loves more than anything. With Oakley’s career in Hollywood soaring, Neve is convinced she’d only hold him back. She had to end it with him – at least that’s what she keeps telling herself.

But now she has a secret she’s struggling to keep, and when Oakley arrives on Juniper Island determined to win her back, Neve is thrown off balance. Will Neve’s fear of having her heart broken again push Oakley away for good, or is it time for her to take a leap of faith?

Get swept away by this deliciously sweet and heartwarming tale, and spend an unforgettable Christmas on Juniper Island.

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Generally, I’m not really a fluffy romance reader. I use them to break up my time between big books that I know are going to take a lot of the wind out of my sails and so I choose a smaller, fluffy book that doesn’t exactly take a lot of brain power but is well written and cute. That being said, this book reads like a Hallmark movie, so if you’re looking for a warm hearted, quick read then this would be it.

This book has two stories in it, a total of four main characters. Neve, Oakley, Adam and Ivy.

Neve is the manager of Stardust Lake hotel, in Scotland, she recently broke up with her up and coming movie star boyfriend, Oakley and she’s harboring a secret. What’s more is that her previous boyfriend has broken her faith in men and she has taken it out on Oakley. He comes back to spend Christmas with her and to win her back.

Adam is the assistant manager of the hotel, it’s a temporary job and he won’t be around for long. His ex-wife broke his heart but when he stumbles on Ivy when he’s out on a search, it’s love at first sight, but she has a heartbreaking past, too.

I largely preferred the story between Oakley and Neve, they had an established past and therefore more believable. Oakley was by far the strongest and most believable character out of the bunch, Neve was rather immature and foolish for a 31-year-old. She continuously jerked Oakley around and lied to him. Not counting the initial break up, she hurts him two times in a big way.

Adam and Ivy’s relationship seems to happen too fast, things become seriously really quickly in a short period of time and it just left me blinking. I also found myself flicking through their scenes because I couldn’t connect with them and really just wanted to get back to Neve and Oakley.

All issues are resolved and wrapped up by the end of the book, the epilogue is also adorable. I found the beginning of the book stronger than the half way mark and onward. What I initially would have given would have been a 3 crown rating, but I feel as though it lost me along the way so a 2.5 it is.