Plot:

Blast the Michael Bublé, wrap your hands around a cinnamon latte and enjoy this warm, hilarious Christmas novel!

Ivy loves Christmas. As owner of Christmas Every Day, the year-round festive store, you’d expect nothing less!

The only thing missing in Ivy’s life is a dash of romance – something her twin sister Holly will not let her forget…

When her mother passed away, Ivy vowed to take over the running of her mother’s store and keep the Christmas spirit alive in the idyllic seaside town of Marram Bay.

But all this changes when an enigmatic businessman moves to the town, threatening to bulldoze her beloved shop to make way for holiday complex.

Review:

First novel I am reading of Portia MacIntosh and I must say that I really loved this book!

This very festive novel, and I found it fun to read. There are a few situations happening in the book that made me laugh out loud. I also liked the fact how Ivy never gives up her dream to keep her Christmas shop alive even when this beautiful business man wants to destroy it although at times she did annoy me with how naive she is when it comes to business transactions. This novel is also about family love. And finally to top it all, there is a beautiful romance happening in the novel.

Ivy and Holly, sisters live in a household that loves Christmas and that runs the Marram Bay village Christmas Shop all year long.  Ivy shares her love of the holiday with her late mother and Holly hates the season.  After their mother’s death, Ivy has decided to take over the Christmas shop.  One day, while not expecting it, a handsome man named Seb comes into the shop.  He is charming and the two end up under the mistletoe.  Later, Ivy learns that Seb is a developer and is in the market for the property the Christmas Shop sets on.  As Ivy tries to figure out a way to keep her beloved shop and not become a bad person during the holidays, she develops some friendships including one that could be more if it wasn’t for the current situation.

This book is such a feel-good little book.  There is so much tied up into it including lost relatives, family legacies, new friendships, new romances, family editions, the power of love and family at Christmas, and community which makes it an excellent combination to find a theme that relates to you at the very least.  There isn’t a sad ending in this book at all, and even at points where the plot did hint to something negative or could have turned towards that, it didn’t. 

I will say that perhaps my favourite element of this book is the character of Ivy because she isn’t your typical woman looking for a man for the holidays.  She is strong-willed and self-sufficient, and even hard-headed most of the time.  Even when Seb makes fun of her Yorkshire accent, she faces him and doesn’t let that bother her.  In fact, she tries to brush off and ignore Seb for a while because he threatened her village, even though she did feel attracted to him.  I really admired her attitude and how she lived her life for herself.  A strong female character is always a plus in a book!   

4/5 Stars