Book Review - Christmas at Fox Farm by Helen Pollard

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Title: Christmas at Fox Farm

Author: Helen Pollard

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Bookouture 

Publication Date: 29th September 2021

Rating: 4 Stars

At Fox Farm, the village has gathered to decorate the ten-foot tree and carol the night away. Robins dart across frosty hedgerows and holly bushes are covered with ruby-red berries. But this year they will need an extra pinch of festive magic to keep Christmas alive…

Living at Fox Farm, with its cosy café, beautiful pottery studio and charming gift shop, is a dream come true for thirty-one-year-old Daisy. The kindly owner, Jean, and the close-knit village feel like the home and family Daisy has never had. She’s been looking forward to her first magical Christmas in the countryside.

When Jean suddenly falls ill, Daisy is the first to lend a hand. She ropes in Alex – Jean’s handsome but stubborn nephew – to help her. When the pair discover the farm is almost bankrupt, it seems like the annual Christmas celebrations will be cancelled. Alex and Daisy need a plan, and quickly, if they are to pull off Christmas against the odds and save Fox Farm.

From the get-go Daisy and Alex cannot agree on anything, from the mince pie recipe to the colour scheme for the tree. Soon, however, in true Christmas spirit, they find themselves coming together in the face of decorating disasters, tripping over each other at the holiday barn dance and tracking down a missing Santa Claus.

But when Daisy discovers the secret Alex is keeping about the future of Jean’s farm, will she run from the only place that has ever felt like home? Or will she find a way to save Christmas and the farm, and open her heart to a new beginning for her and Alex?

Grab a mug of hot chocolate and a mince pie (or two!) and lose yourself in this utterly charming and romantic holiday tale that proves home is where the heart is. Perfect for fans of Sarah Morgan, Heidi Swain and Holly Martin, this is the book that will make your Christmas!

It's been far too long since I last read a Helen Pollard book, and I had almost forgotten how much I enjoyed them. 

And this new setting of Fox Farm is just lovely. It's not an animal farm, or crop farm, but more a farm that has a cafe, and an art gallery that supports many local artists, run by the seemingly indestructible Jean. 

Well until she falls ill, and her nephew Alex needs to step in and somehow keep things running no only with his own business, but with Fox Farm too, all the while trying to honor Jean's wishes, while keeping the other nephew Sebastian at bay, who is a nasty piece of work with no redeeming features. 

And if Alex isn't busy enough with all of that, there is his fledgling friendship with the artist in residence Daisy, which is anything but simple! 

Set to a backdrop of winter, starting with pumpkin carving and leading up to Christmas, you definitely get a feel for the season.  It's also a good book to read early into your festive reading season, as it didn't really give me Christmassy vibes, but did give me smiling vibes. 

Well apart from when it comes to Sebastian, that was more I want to punch him vibes! But it's a really easy to read, enjoyable story,  that I could picture all so clearly. I enjoyed the writing, and loved the resolution, as well as the journey to get there. 

A very pleasurable book, that has me longing to visit Fox Farm for myself. 

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