It is my pleasure to bring you my review of Home for Christmas by Camilla Isley, helping to kick off her fabulous blog tour!
Firstly let me just say – do not be put off reading this review of a novel with Christmas in the title. I know it’s February and Christmas is but a distant memory but this novel is too good for you to be scrolling past this review!
Would you share a bed with your enemy to save Christmas?
Down with a bad case of writer’s block, Riven has escaped to a mountain cabin for a prolonged writing retreat. The last thing he needs this Christmas is for his family to invade his sanctuary away from LA. What he needs even less is for a family of strangers as large and boisterous as his own to also be stuck in the same house after a double-booking disaster.
Especially when he ends up having to share a bunk bed with Wendy—a gorgeous, feisty New Yorker who quickly learns how to get under his skin.
Sharing a room with her is sweet torture and Riven isn’t even sure what he dreads more: that every passing day brings them closer to saying goodbye or that they have yet another night to spend together…
Riven is a famous author who is hiding out in a mountain cabin trying to overcome a severe case of writers block, whilst also trying to escape from his painful divorce. What he can’t escape though is his family, who insist upon him spending Christmas with them!
Wendy is a successful New York playwright, who is looking for a Christmas getaway with her family following the loss of her father. They need a new way to celebrate Christmas, and a snowy mountain retreat seems just the ticket! When a monumental mix up finds Wendy and Riven’s families sharing the mountain cabin for the holidays, of course only chaos can ensue!
This is a clear enemies to lovers romance novel – there is nothing unexpected. But that is exactly what I was looking for with this novel. Romantic comedies are supposed to be fun and light-hearted, and Home for Christmas definitely ticks all the boxes. The family dynamics were great within this novel, but the shining stars were Wendy and Riven. Both were excellent leading characters, well rounded and likeable. The tension between them was palpable, and it was so nice to follow two characters who weren’t intent on sabotaging each other. They really encouraged each other professionally, even when their working styles were so very different. There was no rivalry or jealousy – they were just really supportive of one another. Of course there was some high jinx along the way, but that just added to the fun! I can’t say I’d have been quite so forgiving as Wendy though after the ‘pink’ incident!
Home for Christmas is a standalone novel and should be read as such, but it also forms part of Camilla Isley Christmas Romantic Comedy series. If the other two novels in this series are half as good as this one I shall be grabbing myself copies!
Now for my star rating. If you have followed my reviews for a while you will know that I very rarely give out 5 stars. However, the stars clearly aligned when I picked up this book. This is the best romantic comedy novel I’ve read in a long time. It ticked all the boxes for me – great characters, light hearted fun, and a believable romance. I loved it! So I am more than happy to recommend this novel to you all. As today is publication day you have no excuse not to go out and grab yourself a copy immediately!
Thank you to Camilla Isley and Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour, and for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
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Author Bio
Camilla is an engineer turned writer after she quit her job to follow her husband on an adventure abroad.
She’s a cat lover, coffee addict, and shoe hoarder. Besides writing, she loves reading—duh!—cooking, watching bad TV, and going to the movies—popcorn, please. She’s a bit of a foodie, nothing too serious. A keen traveler, Camilla knows mosquitoes play a role in the ecosystem, and she doesn’t want to starve all those frog princes out there, but she could really live without them.
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