Published By: HQ
Pages: 384
Released On: 18/10/2021
Sasha Hansley hates Christmas. As a child, it was her favourite time of year, but ever since the tragic death of her mother, it has completely lost its magic. But when she gets an unexpected phone call from her eccentric estranged father, she’s forced to dust off her snow boots.
He has been running a Lapland style Christmas village in Norway and after suffering a heart attack, he is on strict doctor’s orders to slow down. Eager to reconnect with her dad, Sasha books the next flight out there. Only she has never actually been on a plane before, let alone to the Arctic Circle. Met at the runway by drop-dead-gorgeous Taavi Salvesen, they sleigh ride their way through the snow with the Northern Lights guiding their way.
When Sasha uncovers sacks of unopened Santa mail – letters that children and adults from all over the world write to Santa every year – she realises that she can send a little bit of magic out into the world by replying to some of them. With Taavi on hand to help, will Sasha rediscover her own excitement for Christmas and find love among the letters?
*****
Thanks to HQ for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I have read an awful lot of Christmas books in my time, and especially in the recent weeks, but this one will take a lot to trump. I’m going to struggle to put into words just how magical this book is but hopefully, once you read it, you’ll understand just how important it is.
I have never wanted to visit a place more than I do the North Pole Forest. The NEED I have to experience it is inexplainable – I can feel it in my very soul. The need to have this world within our own is immense. I have never needed a place to be so real before. I won’t give too much away about the characters, the joy of discovering them for yourself is more important, but I think all adults will see a bit of themselves in Sasha – the headstrong, practical type – but a part of their childhood in Tav – the want to still believe the world can be a magical place, no matter what it throws at you.
If you grew up in a Christmas-celebrating household, then you’ll have grown up with your own image of Santa’s workshop and elves and reindeer, and whilst they’re fundamentally the same, our ideas will differ. And yet the way Jaimie has written about it, it’s almost like she’s gone into all of our heads and picked out what means the most to us and written it down. Everything sounds so twee and yet not corny, it’s exactly what we expect Santa’s village to be like. Even down to the snowfall and the hot chocolates – it’s all so inviting that I will hold on to my wish that such a place exists.
I still believe in Santa at 28. I don’t understand why people say “surely you’re too old to believe in that”. Why? Why is it such a bad thing to still want to hold on to that magic, to believe in that magic. Even the very idea of believing in Santa is enough to help people, so just think how important a figure like him can be to children and adults alike. Why is it that children are encouraged to believe in Santa and elves and magic, but for adults, Christmas is just another stressful and expensive time? Why can’t we still hold on to that magic?
This is more than just a jolly story about Christmas and about believing in Santa. It’s about believing in yourself, your friends and family, in love and friendship, in the ability to heal, and above all, believing in magic. I think it’s going to mean a lot to a lot of people
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