Coming Home For Christmas

So as Christmas continues to approach I decided to delve into Julia Williams third book based in the fictional village of Hope Christmas. Called “Coming Home For Christmas” we are reunited with the three heroines Cat, Pippa and Marianne.

I must admit to only having read one of the other two books in the series, “A Merry Little Christmas” which fortunately was the one based directly before this one. I loved how it continues the story approximately 12 months after completion of the last book.

I enjoyed returning to the lives of the three ladies finding Cat trying to deal with a flailing TV career and becoming a grandmother unexpectedly. Pippa is trying to move on from her separation from husband Dan, whom she just cannot seem to leave behind. Meanwhile Marianne's husband Gabe has asked his ex-wife to move in with them following health problems putting huge strain on their relationship.

Whilst the ladies stories were nice to revisit I did struggle a bit with this book. The relationship between Pippa and her new boyfriend Richard frustrated me as she seemed incapable of standing up for herself and she otherwise came across as a strong and very competent woman.

Also each of the books seem to feature a struggle by the residents of Hope Christmas to stop some sort of development in their small village and whilst this is a nice story it's a little staid and twee on a book by book basis.

Maybe it's just a year where I'm struggling to truly find my Christmas vibe book wise. I perhaps have too many other non seasonal books calling to me from my bookshelf that I'm keen to move on.