Christmas on Primrose Hill

In 2015 I didn't get a chance to enjoy any of Karen Swan's books at Christmas time so this year I feel really really lucky that I get to indulge in two this year and it was with great anticipation that I delved into Christmas on Primrose Hill. I was fully expecting lots of warmth, emotion all wrapped up in Christmas wrapping.

Christmas on Primrose Hill is Nettie's story, working for a marketing firm she finds herself catapulted into the public eye as an accident at work goes viral on the internet. Suddenly nobody can get enough of her Big Blue Bunny character and in order to capitalise on the publicity she finds herself doing all kinds of internet stunts for charity. Nettie's new found fame attracts the attentions of singer Jamie Westlake who begins following her on Twitter and his interest in the Blue Bunny girl it would appear that his interest isn't strictly platonic. Nettie however has a secret she's not willing to share that will threaten to come between her and her ideal man.

This book is full of some really warm and great characters, Nettie's friends and their relationships are brilliant to read about and I especially found myself warming to her long term Dan who it would appear has more than a brotherly love for Nettie. I also loved the closeness between Nettie and her dad, although we are left in doubt from the outset of the book that there is a secret tragedy in their family which is hiding just beneath the surface. It underlies the whole book and isn't explored until the last 30%.

The one part of this book I was a little cautious about was the relationship between Nettie and her megastar boyfriend, Jamie. Often author's have tried to take on this story-line where a normal girl is catapulted into the limelight as she meets a star and is thrust into their star-filled life of luxury. Sometimes we find that the hero of the hour turns out to be a bit of a jackass and I was cautious that in this case we would find that Jamie would be an elaborate romance that never reached fruition, secretly I was voting for her buddy Dan and that made me a little sceptical throughout and therefore I was surprised to find that Karen Swan actually wrote a wonderful ending for this book that broke the mould.

This book isn't so Christmas focused that you feel it being thrust at you in a cheesy way, there is just the right amount of festive moments mixed amongst the story-line and when you strip all of it away there is a really nice story at it's heart, a story of a family torn apart by the disappearance of one of it's loved ones and their search for answers as to why they left.

Karen Swan has once again delivered a perfectly pitched Christmas novel, which is no less than I have come to expect. To know that I have one more book, her newest Christmas read for 2016 still to devour this festive season leaves me with a warm fuzzy feeling inside and I can't wait to curl up in the dark nights ahead and fall in love with it as much as I did Christmas on Primrose Hill.