I’m delighted to be part of the blog blitz for The Beachside Christmas, written by Karen Clarke and published by Bookouture 🙂
Blurb:
Snow is falling and there’s romance in the air. Curl up for a cosy Christmas by the fire at Seaview Cottage…
When thirty-year-old Lily Ambrose’s latest relationship ends in disaster, she remembers happy childhood holidays in the seaside town of Shipley and decides it’s the perfect place for a fresh start.
But when Lily arrives, the town’s spirits are as low as her own: the local celebrity due to turn on the Christmas lights has gone on a cruise instead. Keen to prove herself, she calls in a favour and secures gorgeous reality star Ollie.
Lily’s neighbours are initially thrilled, but Ollie is as uncontrollable as he is good-looking. He can’t remember the town’s name, calls the Christmas decorations tacky, and manages to offend everyone. And whilst handsome but stubborn cameraman Craig tries to help, even he can’t stop Ollie’s madcap plans to stage a romance with Lily…
Will Lily be able to keep Ollie under control and bring the Christmas cheer back to Shipley – and find herself a real kiss under the mistletoe?
An addictive, heart-warming and uplifting read about friendship, romance, and Christmas spirit. Perfect for fans of Phillipa Ashley, Cathy Bramley and Debbie Johnson.
My Review:
Yay, I’ve now read book three of the Beachside Bay series. I’ve been looking forward to this since finishing book two. The Beachside Christmas is also my first festive read of 2017, woohoo! I normally ban myself from reading Christmas books until at least November, but as I’m involved in some blog tours, that rule has gone out the window this year. Not that I’m complaining, as it means I now have time to read even more Christmas books this year. Something to get excited about.
The Beachside Christmas, as implied in the title, has a festive feel to it. However, it’s not so festive that it can only be read at Christmastime. Set in the same location as the previous two novels, and including some of the same characters, this book is about newcomer, Lily who decides to try and get in with the locals of this close-knit community by helping to find a celebrity to turn on the Christmas lights.
This is an entertaining story with an overall light-hearted feel to it. There are some fun characters, romance, mischief and a bit of festive competition. Some parts made me giggle while others made me cringe with embarrassment.
I really liked Lily. Some of her swear word alternatives had me chuckling away to myself. I might have to take up using some of them. My favourites were “What the flamingos????”, “Holy shirtsleeves!” and“Oh, mother-of-pearl”.
Even Shakin’ Stevens got a little mention. He’s one of my favourite people in the whole wide world. I got front row tickets to see him live on 10th May this year. How cool am I? Not very! Yes, I get that, but I don’t really care, as I’ve loved him since I could walk.
You can read these books as standalone novels, but they’re all wonderful reads, so I happily recommend all three. If I had to choose a favourite, I did particularly love The Beachside Flower Stall.
This was another wonderful story by Karen Clarke. I really hope there’s another book to look forward to in this series.
4 Stars
Where to find this book:
About the Author:
Karen Clarke writes romantic comedy novels. THE BEACHSIDE SWEET SHOP and THE BEACHSIDE FLOWER STALL are out now and THE BEACHSIDE CHRISTMAS will be available in September 2017.
Karen has also written three romcoms with a paranormal twist, all available to download
When she’s not working on her novels, Karen writes short stories for women’s magazines and has had over three hundred published in the UK and abroad. Some of them can be read in her short story collection ‘BEHIND CLOSED DOORS…and other Tales with a Twist’
Karen lives in Buckinghamshire with her husband and three grown-up children.
Where to find the author:
Here are the details of the blog tour in case any of you wish to follow it:
LittleMissNoSleep Daydreams of Books 
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