Book Review - The Six Tales of Christmas by Anne Marie Ryan

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Title: The Six Tales of Christmas

Author: Anne Marie Ryan

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Trapeze

Publication Date:  29th October 2020

Rating: 5 Stars

Can a Christmas miracle save the bookshop on the green?

It's almost Christmas and the snow is falling in the Cotswolds. Simon and Nora, the owners of the bookshop on the green, are gearing up for the festive season - but the shop is in trouble. Nora is delighted when a customer comes in and buys a book that's been on the shelves for years - but is it enough to keep the bailiffs from the door?

Full of mulled wine and mince pies, Nora and Simon come up with a plan to rouse the community spirit, sending out six books to lonely members of their village. One by one, the villagers come to the shop, all of them touched by the gesture and feeling already a little less alone. The books fly off the shelves, but will it be enough to save the shop? Or do Nora and Simon need a Christmas miracle...?

A gorgeous, feel-good read about the power of community, perfect for fans of Debbie Johnson.

Well this is a Christmas story that would be right at home on the Hallmark Channel.  I could pretty much see it playing as movie in my minds eye at all times, and just had that really lovely and special feel to it. 

There is something just so lovely,  heart-warming, and gentle about this story, that it seeped under my skin without my realising, and I ended up with just a massive smile on my face, and towards the end a tear pricking at my eyes too. 

I know it was the cover, and the fact that there is a bookshop and Christmas involved that drew me to this book, but it was the superb storytelling inside that kept my attention as I whizzed through the pages. 

We get alternating chapters focusing on Nora and Simon as they attempt to come up with ways of saving their bookstore, their love of all things book and we get a feel for their customers and local community. 

From a start that just gets up warmed up, at the point that Simon launches the competition to send 6 books out at random to people that have been nominated that may be feeling a bit lonely, this story really gets going, as we also get chapters in the lives of the recipients, getting to know them a bit better, and seeing just how perfect each one's received book was. 

I knew nothing about this book going into starting it, and feel going in blind worked out really well for me, so I'm not going to say much more, other than you are in for a treat.  I loved all the incredibly real feeling characters and there are some important themes touched on within the pages. 

Although this didn't automatically make me in a Christmas mood, it did re-affirm my belief in Christmas miracles! It has all the ingredients for a fabulous story set at Christmas that you could easily read at any point in the lead up to the big day itself.  

Thank you to Trapeze and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.