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Title: In The Greek MidwinterAuthor: Mandy BaggotFormat reviewed: EbookSource: NetgalleyPublisher: Boldwood BooksPublication Date: 6th October 2023Rating: 5 Stars
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Title: In The Greek Midwinter
It was supposed to be a holiday of a lifetime…
But when Jen’s boyfriend David suddenly cancels their romantic Paris trip, needing to urgently travel to Athens for work, it’s best friend Bonnie who suggests they surprise him.
Having already booked the time off from her events company – Christmas Every Day – Jen decides an impromptu and romantic gesture might be just what their relationship needs.
Arriving in Greece and finding David is not there, Jen has a lot of questions. And when she gets her answers she has a choice – should she go home or should she stay a while?
With the help of Astro, the handsome yet Christmas-hating waiter from the local bar, she sets about a little Greek Christmas research. But what starts as a ‘business trip’ soon turns into something more…
I think this might be the Mandy Baggot book we have all been waiting for, for I know she is the queen of the summer Greek romance, and also has previously written Christmas books set in some stunning typically festive locations - but the one thing I've wanted is a Christmas Book set in Greece!
And boy has she delivered, and even more surprisingly instead of one of her beloved islands, it is set in Athens itself. (Something that wouldn't have surprised me had I actually read the blurb at any point!).
When you say Athens to me I instantly conure up one of my port stops on a cruise, and just how ridiculously hot the city is in the height of summer. So I was very curious to see just how the Greeks celebrate Christmas and indeed what the weather would be like.
And I can safely say that Mandy Baggot has sold me on the idea of visiting Greece in the winter months, especially the run up to Christmas, as it sounds gorgeous, while also not causing humans to melt!
Some of the locations I could picture so clearly from my own day in Athens, or from researching the city for a different cruise - and I loved how I could imagine everything and it felt like I was there.
And the characters, special shout out to Jen's assistant Natalia who has a fabulous turn of phrase, and some rather insane sounding brothers. And to Kathleen and Bonnie who are also both fabulous in their own ways. These ladies are essentially Jen's family and have her back the whole time and I just loved all their dynamics.
Seeing Jen and Astro develop over the course of the book is great. I loved getting to know Astro, Peri and Achilles especially.
And they really are opposites in their views on Christmas, but in terms of upbringing there are some similarities which I think they recognised in each other. And seeing them open up and reveal parts of themselves that others rarely see was beautiful.
I just loved every single page of this story, and couldn't get enough of it. A total triumph, left me smiling and keen to fly to Greece!
Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
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