Book Review - A Christmas Hamster by Stephanie Dagg

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Title: A Christmas Hamster

Author: Stephanie Dagg

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Author Supplied Copy

Publisher: Self Published

Publication Date: 13th December 2019

Rating: 5 Stars

Cam’s career and romantic prospects take a nose dive once she becomes guardian to her young nephew. She leaves a bustling Dutch city to move to a small, dull country town in England, and where once she restored magnificent old paintings to their former glory, now she operates the paint-mixing machine at a soulless hardware store. As much as she adores little Rowan, life has lost some of its sparkle.
However, a handsome and charming customer causes her heart to flutter once more. Fate, alas, seems determined to hamper any possibility of them getting together. So what chance does a tiny, naughty hamster have of bringing happiness this Christmas?
This is a festive, light-hearted and uplifting romcom.

The Harley is one of my favourite all time animal characters in a book. As you may have guessed from the title, he is the rather adorable Christmas Hamster who has a rather amusing habit.  

All I'll say is from the moment that Cam agrees to look after this hamster for a few weeks, the book becomes really amusing, and I loved seeing what the little scamp was getting up to next! 

Rowan her nephew, is also really sweet and the pair of them just adore animals, so much so that they have a mini zoo in a spare room with a wide variety of creatures!  And their dog and cat are also fabulous - although I'll admit to not paying enough attention initially when the animals were introduced and spent half the book thinking that they were taking their chinchilla out for walks... and not their Chihuahua.  No clue what I thought I was reading, but was very glad I did work it out!! 

Full of Stephanie Dagg's wonderful wit, amusing writing, and just a few animals as I have come to expect from this author, I really did love this easy and quick to read story. 

If you love a festive novella, full of a laughs, interludes between the chapters written from a fabulously unexpected point of view, a will they ever actually meet again after a great meet cute, plus all manner of other things to make you smile -  then this is certainly the story for you. 

Thank you to the author for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - Hate Bale by Stephanie Dagg

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Title: Hate Bale

Author: Stephanie Dagg

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Author supplied copy

Publisher: Self Published 

Publication Date: 17th April 2019

Rating: 4 Stars

Grumbling guests and escaping piglets are precisely what Martha doesn’t need. She’s already struggling to run a holiday cottage and a rather large smallholding single-handedly. Since her husband Mark died, three years ago, her rural property in France, beautiful as it is, has become an increasingly heavy millstone around her neck.

So whilst she’s horrified to stumble across a corpse at the local farm supplies shop, it does at least distract her from her own woes. Best friend Lottie swoops in to offer moral support, and encourages Martha to join her in some unofficial sleuthing. Meanwhile, police officer Philippe Prudhomme, a former fellow chess-player of Mark’s, undertakes a rather more professional investigation. 

However, the killer remains at large. And when more bodies (one and a bit, to be precise) come Martha’s way, it definitely feels like he’s closing in on her… 

There’s humour, suspense and excitement in this entertaining cosy mystery set in the French countryside. 

I'm rather partial to a cozy mystery, although I find I don't up reading them as often as I would like, so this made a pleasant change to my reading.   Having enjoyed Stephanie Dagg's Christmas rom-coms featuring llamas - I wasn't too surprised to discover this book was set on a farm, 

Not just a farm, but one with a real menagerie of animals, both furry and feathered. Not to mention Martha's faithful companion Flossie who seemed adorable.   

Martha really did have a knack of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, as she stumbles across two dead bodies, and has a bit of one delivered to her farm, in not the most usual way of transporting body parts (not that I'm sure what the norm is, as after all cutting a body up into pieces is rather sadistic). 

I loved the authors humour, as Martha and best friend Lottie decide to do some amateur sleuthing, they even comment that they are just like characters in cozy mysteries.  The exact line really did make me giggle out loud.  

I really enjoyed this piece of rural France, with its small cottage let to holiday makers, one of which who was an utter nightmare, Martha starting to get back int to the swing of life after her husband's sudden death a few years previous, the new interest in cycling, and even the mystery surrounding the dead bodies. 

This has all the trademarks of a good cozy mystery and I really hope this isn't the last we see of these characters. After a bit of a slow start, just as it took me a while to get into the swing of the story, I found myself really looking forward to each time I could steal some time to find out what was happening next. 

Thank you to Stephanie Dagg for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - Deck The Halles by Stephanie Dagg

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Title:  Deck The Halles

Author: Stephanie Dagg

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Author supplied copy

Publisher: Self Published

Publication Date: 

Rating: 4 Stars

It’s next Christmas at the little French llama farm.

Last Christmas infamous Australian author Nick bought the farm, that was meant to be furnished and without llamas. The reverse proved to be the case. Noelle had been sent to pet sit the llamas until his arrival. After a decidedly frosty start, Nick and Noelle’s relationship warmed up rapidly and they’re now happily living together, with an ever growing assortment of animals.

They’re looking forward to a quiet, romantic Christmas together but at the last moment Noelle is called on to find a venue for the annual national llama show. The local agricultural halles are free so she books them, thinking that’s all she’ll have to do to help. She couldn’t be more wrong! On top of that, various relatives start turning up on her doorstep unexpectedly, as the result of assorted crises. The farmhouse is about to burst at the seams. Add in a few other events, such as playing the part of a pixie at a Christmas fête, organising Nick’s book launch and training a non-cooperative  llama for the agility class in the show, and Noelle is pushed ever closer to the end of her tether. Can she hold it together and stay as calm as a llama? Or will she be the next member of her family to make a bolt for pastures new?     

This festive, feel-good and fun novel is the sequel to ‘Fa-La-Llama-La: Christmas at the Little French Llama Farm’ but can be read as a standalone.  

Did you know that llama shows exist, similar to dog shows? Different classes of llama, plus some fun categories.  Neither did I until I read this book, but seeing Noelle determined to enter her llamas into two categories of the upcoming show just before Christmas, 

And which categories is she trying to enter? Well those would be fancy dress and agility.  Yes I never knew llamas could do agility courses either, and all of Noelle's attempts to get any of her llamas ready and amenable to taking part are utterly hilarious. 

This book picks up a year later than Fa-La-Llama-La  and if you haven't read it then don't worry this can definitely be read as a standalone.  We get to see what Noelle and Nick are up to a year on.  I am delighted to say the house is far more of a home than it was, but life is anything but simple. 

Over the course of the book, all of Noelle and Nicks best laid plans for the Christmas season go completely awry, with a series of unexpected visitors and their accompanying issues.  

Deck the Halles has many characters but the focus at all times is with Noelle, so it doesn't get confusing with what could have easily been many perspectives.     

There is so much humour thrown into this quirky festive tale, I loved every moment of it.   If you are looking for a slightly different Christmas book, filled with all sorts of animals, charismatic characters and just  a lot of fun, then this is definitely a book to look out for. 

Thank you to the author for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - Fa-La-Llama-La by Stephanie Dagg

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Title: Fa-La-Llama-La

Author: Stephanie Dagg

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Author supplied copy

Publisher: Self Published

Publication Date: 15th October 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

It’s very nearly Christmas and, temporarily jobless and homeless, Noelle is back at home with her parents. However, a phone call from her cousin Joe, who runs a house-and-pet-sitting service, saves her from a festive season of Whist, boredom and overindulging. 

So Noelle is off to France to mind a dozen South American mammals. She arrives amidst a blizzard and quickly discovers that something is definitely wrong at the farm. The animals are there all right, but pretty much nothing else – no power, no furniture and, disastrously, no fee. Add to that a short-tempered intruder in the middle of the night, a premature delivery, long-lost relatives and participation in a living crèche, and this is shaping up to be a noel that Noelle will never forget.

Fa-La-Llama-La is a feel-good, festive and fun romcom with a resourceful heroine, a hero who's a bit of a handful and some right woolly charmers.

The second I heard this book existed, I had a feeling I may need to read it - I mean France, Llamas, Christmas - what better combination, or at least when else will you have ever read a book featuring all three of these. 

This is not the France you know, this is off the beaten track, in the middle of nowhere, with large amounts of snow, and not much in the surrounding area.  And Noelle who is sent to pet sit over Christmas, was not expecting the house to be unfurnished. 

She also wasn't expecting Nick, who apparently is the new owner of the house, but he was expecting furniture and power, and no llamas.  Well the llamas were still there and so Noelle decides to stay to try to look after them.  

I learnt a large amount about these wonderful creatures and its clear from the writing that the author not only knows her llamas but also loves them too.  They are responsible for all the best moments in the book, I I am utterly besotted by with Holly and Gabrielle. 

This book is a lot of fun, it is not your typical Christmas, although there is a nativity to remember, and a big meal, and perhaps just a bit of magic of the season in some of the happenings.  This is the first book I've read by Stephanie Dagg but I will definitely be reading more from her. 

She has a way of describing everything really clearly but without it being too wordy.  You get a real picture for what is going on, and I just thoroughly enjoyed the story. Taking place over only a few days, the pacing is good, and you get a good grip on the characters,    Easy to read, this will transport you to a location like no other for a Christmas book.  I can't wait to return in Deck the Halles. 

Thank you to Stephanie Dagg for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.