Book Review: What Happens at Christmas

By Sara Steven

The holidays are usually a time for reflection. We often think of our loved ones, family. The people who are still with us, and the ones we’ve lost along the way. What Happens at Christmas is the perfect book to engage in this time of year. Here’s a synopsis, courtesy of Goodreads:

“For the perfect Christmas…

When career-girl Holly Brice learns that her estranged father has died, she decides to take a trip down memory lane and find out about the man she never knew.

Arriving in the sleepy little Dartmoor village, she’s shocked to discover that she’s inherited the cosy little cottage she remembers so fondly, a whole load of money – and her father’s adorable dog, too!

Head to snow-covered Devon!

And as the first snowflakes begin to fall and Holly bumps into her gorgeous neighbour, Jack Nelson, life gets even more complicated! Men have always been off the cards for high-flying Holly, but there’s something about mysterious writer Jack that has her re-thinking her three-date rule…” (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

Holly has a long journey ahead of her. She knows absolutely nothing about her father. All she’s been told is that he abandoned her, and her mother, many years ago. That is the impression she’s held onto for most of her life, and it’s hard for her to let go of that. It’s also caused issues for her, when trying to form relationships with men. It’s easy for her to walk away and not invest herself or her heart, afraid that if she does, the man she loves will leave her.

As with most scenarios, there are always two sides to a story. Holly discovers much more about her father and her own past, by going to Devon, visiting his cottage, talking to the residents of the small-town, who loved and adored him. Along the way, she forms a connection with her neighbor, Jack, who had a close friendship with her father. But when she decides to let him into her world, he backs off considerably. Has he been kind to her out of obligation, or is there more to the story?

I thoroughly enjoyed Holly, and her journey. Having read and reviewed another one of T.A. William’s novels, When Alice Met Danny, I have come to expect that I’ll be whisked away to places I’ve never seen before and probably will never get to visit in my lifetime, but T.A. brings it to life, so much so, I feel like I’m virtually there. It makes me yearn for the chance to live in my own little cottage in a beautiful, remote town in England, just like Holly does, while she’s re-discovering who she is and what (and who) she wants out of life.

Thanks to T.A. Williams for the book in exchange for an honest review.

See what T.A. Williams wants for Christmas and enter to win an e-book of What Happens in Cornwall from This Chick Reads. (Worldwide. Ends 12/26.)