Book Review - Meet Me In Central Park by Jo Bartlett

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Title: Meet Me In Central Park

Author: Jo Bartlett

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Boldwood Books

Publication Date: 20th September 2023

Rating: 5 Stars

Will their Christmas wish come true?

Libby Cooper hasn’t celebrated Christmas since the night her parents died in a terrible accident. She wants to forget that the season of goodwill even exists; but her grandmother has other ideas. It’s time for Libby to start living her life just as her parents would have wanted her to do.

First stop New York!

What better way to immerse herself in the celebrations, than working in her great aunt’s Christmas shop, just a few blocks from Central Park? Making new friends in the Big Apple is the easy bit, but leaving the past behind proves much harder than Libby imagined.

Long walks in gorgeous Central Park help, and here she meets Harry Stanwick, a Central Park Ranger. Harry seems to know instinctively when Libby wants to talk or when she just needs to sit quietly on their special bench with him by her side.

Slowly, Libby begins to feel some of the pain of her past slipping away. And as New York begins to work its magic and her friendship with Harry grows, so too do Libby’s feelings for him.

But can she ever be truly happy without the people who matter the most to her? Or can Harry convince Libby that she deserves her own Christmas miracle -and her chance of happiness – sitting with him on their bench in Central Park?

There is nothing more magical than Christmas in New York, and this was a truly enjoyable story with just that setting. 

However Libby is trying to avoid Christmas completely, so isn't convinced that being sent to help her great-aunt in her Christmas all year shop, is going to be a good idea.  She is after all still grieving for her parents, and feels a lot of guilt too. 

But this is a story of healing, and slowly but surely New York and the festive season, including Thanksgiving, creep up on Libby. 

There are some fabulous new friendships, so really funny lines and then there is Harry. He's a Central Park ranger, and Libby instantly feels as though she already knows him,  I totally loved Harry from the start, and was rooting for the obvious pairing. 

This was such a joy to read, on one level it is a story of forgiving yourself and grief, and on another it's a tourist's guide to New York, plus a Christmas shop and all manner of festivities present. In addition to some very great new people. 

I just loved every second of this book and was finding myself so absorbed I had no idea where I was when I looked up when reading on the tube! Just shows that Jo Bartlett as well as writing about Cornish Midwives incredibly compellingly, she can also set books in New York that can transport you! 

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