Book Review - Christmas Carols and a Cornish Cream Tea by Cressida McLaughlin - Blog Tour

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Title: Christmas Carols and a Cornish Cream Tea  

Author: Cressida McLaughlin

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Harper Collins

Publication Date: 25th November 2021

Rating: 5 Stars

Can she spread Christmas cheer in Cornwall this year?

All Meredith Verren has ever wanted is to escape the holiday season without having to wear a Christmas jumper. Her new job at the cosy gift shop in a picturesque Cornish tourist spot is making it impossible for her to maintain her scrooge-like manner.

With their seasonal hampers on everyone’s wish list, Meredith must paste on a smile and fake some holiday cheer. Then she meets handsome new arrival, Finn, who wishes it could be Christmas every day and wants her to feel the same way too.

Can she embrace the holly and the ivy before the decorations are packed away for another year?

I absolutely adored this book, and there is a lot to love about this rather Christmassy tale. 

There are small things like the references Emma makes every time she talks to the choir she leads that made me smile, as they are linked, but I'll leave it you to work out what I'm going on about.  Then there are big romantic gestures, directions the story goes in that enhances it but were rather unexpected, and a wonderful awakening of the Christmas spirit in Meredith. 

For fans of The Cornish Cream Tea series, like I am, be aware this is set just down the coast from Porthgolow, in another small Cornish town, and there is only a small cameo from Charlie. It is in fact a whole new story, which does feature cream Tea hampers, but from the shop Meredith works in Cornish Keepsakes and not from the Cornish Cream Tea Bus.  Despite being the fifth book in the series it does as a result work completely as a standalone novel.  However I would have loved to see more from the characters I was expecting. 

But that is my only slight disappointment with the book, and once I checked the blurb, and realised that it was clearly separate, I stopped thinking about that, and moved onto just thoroughly enjoying this new book instead. 

Everything else was utter brilliance, I loved the interactions between Meredith and Finn, I loved Anisha, Meredith's best friend, and the massive all town Christmas plans they come up with. Despite Meredith normally doing her best to avoid all things Christmas.  And Finn is gorgeous and has the gift of the gab, plus he loves Christmas and even offers to be Meredith's reindeer for some VIP hamper delivering. 

I loved seeing how both of them developed over the course of the book, and indeed the Christmassy level of the book ramp up as it proceeded.  

This is a lovely warm and cozy book, that kept me on my toes, packs in a large amount of story and development, plus Christmas, and left me feeling emotional but very much smiling and happy too. 

If you love books set in Cornwall, featuring Christmas, small beagle puppies, handsome men, a large amount of Christmas music and a whole lotta festive feeling then this is a fabulous book and highly recommended for you. 

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

Please do follow along with the rest of this blog tour to hear what others think of it too.