Published By: Headline
Pages: 384
Released On: 10/08/2024
Lexie is always on the move, but there is one constant in her life – her ‘wish jar’; the childhood tradition from home that she couldn’t leave behind.
When Lexie’s estranged dad dies, she is shocked to learn that she has inherited half of his travel company in Bath. Her dad’s will stipulates that she must work with Theo, her handsome but bad tempered business partner, for a year.
Once the year is over, Lexie intends to leave. But a work trip to sizzling Spain reveals a chemistry between Lexie and Theo that is impossible to deny.
Will Lexie find a reason to stay in one place? Will she discover the secret her father kept from her, and finally learn the meaning of home?
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Headline for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I read a fabulous but gruesome thriller before this and felt I needed something light-hearted and Christmassy afterwards.
I do own another of Emily’s books but for some reason I haven’t read it, and so this is my first book of hers and it’s festive and so it’s already off to a good start.
I felt a kinship with Lexie straight away. Not that I’m like her at all, but to lose a father just before Christmas, I’ve been there. I liked her, and I really liked her development across the novel. And even Theo, I eventually did like him, he’s probably got the biggest journey to go on, and even though he acted like a petulant child to start with, I did warm to him.
I liked the travel aspects of the book. I’ve not been to many places abroad but I’ve always admired them from afar and so it was like I could travel alongside the characters. And I found out about the Fête du Citron in France which is effectively a festival celebrating lemons, oranges, and other citrus fruit, and considering I have a lemon tattoo, this definitely peaked my interest and now I want to go.
Yes it’s about Christmas and romance and that’s all very nice but it’s also about loss and grief, complicated grief when you feel you should be really sad but you might not have been fond of that person when they were alive; it’s about finding your place in an uncomfortable world, it’s about traditions, family, passions, pride, forgiveness, and memories.
It is a Christmas book yes, the title and cover sort of give it away, but it spans an entire year with Christmas at the start and the end, and so whilst it is festive at heart, it could be perfectly enjoyable all year round.
It’s the classic will-they won’t-they storyline which you think would get tiresome, but Emily has handled it well that it is completely fresh.
My one slight negative, is that it did feel a little long, which is weird given that it’s less than 400 pages. But I found myself looking at the page number quite often. It wasn’t boring or slow or heavy, so I can’t pinpoint what it was really, and I was enjoying it, but it did feel a bit stretched sometimes.
There are some flaws – I’m not 100% sure how convincing the main plot point is (as mentioned in the synopsis above – her dad’s will stipulates she must work with the company for a year) – but overall it was a cosy, warming, festive, inspiring, detailed, romantic, beautiful story and I highly recommend it, and will definitely be digging out that other book of hers I have.
Books By Your Bedside 