Christmas at Hope Cottage is a bit like a Sarah Addison Allen novel, transplanted to Yorkshire instead of the Deep South. Sweet, and a little magical, Christmas at Hope Cottage is a perfect Christmas read.

Things could be going better for Emma Holloway, she is dumped by her boyfriend and then gets knocked over by a parcel delivery van. To add insult to injury, the delivery van was actually delivering a parcel for her.

Contained within the parcel was 'The Book' sent to Emma to help her make some decisions. The only decision now is getting well again and it is going to a long process as Emma finds herself back at Hope Cottage with her eccentric grandmother and two equally as eccentric aunts nearby.

Now 'The Book' is back at Hope Cottage we start to see the magic that it may have and that perhaps the way to health, happiness and the future is to bake it. Trouble is magic can be seen as witchcraft and it seems these women are known locally and feuds and disputes go back years, hundreds of years.

So it will not help Emma, when her first love arrives back on the scene and happens to be from a family who hold onto family folklore and certainly don't believe in magic.

But perhaps when faith is tested, people will look to any means to aid them. Can hope be restored from the pages of the book, the walls of the cottage and Emma and her grandmother?

This is a wonderful tale of love and hope, of believing in something you perhaps cannot explain but know is right. Emma's story starts quite abruptly and her injuries from the accident that find her back at Hope Cottage were frightening and life altering, but it made her think a lot more about her life up until that point. The author uses this in the form of flashbacks so we can see how Emma found herself to be away from her family home, how her mother made the same decisions that she had and how the presence of something unexplainable can actually cause deep resentment in a community.

The book has everything you want from a Christmas novel and more, strong female characters recognising the fact that it is okay to be different, a sprinkling of snow and romance and delicious baking to wake up the tastebuds.

Perfect reading in the run up to Christmas and you cannot go wrong with Lily Graham's novels as I have read and enjoyed everyone. A wonderful storyteller.

I was completely captivated by this book; the writing style, the delicious recipes, the quaint comfort of Hope cottage, and the eclectic mix of characters all combined to pull me in and wouldn’t let go.

The dilemmas faced by Emma as she is forced to return to her childhood home was something I really connected with; that part of being an adult and from an independent life but drawn back home and, in many ways, back in to feeling childlike and vulnerable. Emma’s difficult background and how the flashback sections revealed her quest to find out about her parents and her family was very touching; the pain and animosity from the neighbour disputes and “curse” of the family was a very interesting aspect. The overwhelming pull of this book I feel is the wonderful sense of family and love that exists between Emma, her Grandmother Evie, and her Aunts. They are all eccentric, unusual and completely loveable in their own ways and you feel part of that close knit clan as you lurk on through their story.

I’ve read a few books with a mystical and/or paranormal element and this really worked here successfully; an air of nostalgia and tradition weaved through the storyline well and you could feel the importance and duty that the Halloways held for their community. Sandro’s story of being pulled to the countryside village and his dreams for his own cottage was a nice touch and I’d be interested in reading his story, or perhaps a sequel.

This book is uplifting, magical, romantic and full of hope which is exactly what you want in a good Christmas story.

A bewitching Christmas read!

Christmas at Hope Cottage is a lovely feel good festive read by Lily Graham. It’s set in Yorkshire and follows the story of Emma Halloway. Recently single and suffering a serious accident, she returns to Hope Cottage to be carried off by Evie and her aunts.

Emma has previously run from her crazy family and their baking antics, but now back in Whistling, Evie fries to bake Emma back to health and happiness - something the Halloways have done for generations. With her family and friends around her, and the help of Sandro, Emma slowly makes progress. Then in walks Jack, her first love bringing with him old feelings and family feuds.

This is a lovely book that I read in a few days, the characters and plot are heartwarming and it definitely gets you in the festive spirit.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the chance to review.

Review: I adored a Christmas book by Lily Graham last year so when I got the chance to review and be apart of the blog tour for this book I jumped at the chance.

This is a quirky read, with family history which courses drama over christmas and a new lodger that makes even the oldest pulses race. A new romance or an old romance which will be the happy ending for Emma.

I enjoyed cozying up with this book. Lily has a gift and can create the most eccentric of characters that leave a warm cosy feeling inside.

For me Lily Graham equals Christmas.

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This is a lovely charming Christmas story full of romance and families and being together when you most need it. The little village where hope cottage is situated is such a cute village where family feuds are evident and it's hard to over come. Emma is a food writer and lives in London but is knocked off her bike in London and is injured quite badly and can't live on her own so had to go and live back with her grandmother in beautiful hope cottage. As she starts getting better she comes to understand and believe her families traditions more. Then she sees her ex Jack and it brings up the family feud that they had but can she go with her family or go with her heart and who she has fallen in love with. A beautiful read but did find it a bit slow in places but certainly full of Christmas and romance.

This is my first book by the author and the cover is divine. I loved the characters. A totally georgous setting based around christmas... comes alive. I will definitely read another of hers again.....

A difficult one to get into, since there are apparently a few books ahead of this one in the series, but once you've gotten the hang of the background, it's quite simple to follow. The characters are unique and well-developed, and you're not quite sure how the book is going to end...which makes for a nice surprise!

Following an accident Emma returns to her home village on the Yorkshire moors to live with her grandmother Evie. Emma didn’t have a happy childhood here, moving there following her parents’ death and then being bought up by her grandmother Evie, who she’d never met. It also didn’t help that the whole village viewed the Halloway family as some sort of witches, probably due to their big recipe book and their ability to ‘help’ people. During her convalescence Emma meets up again with her childhood love, Jack. Jack was never really allowed anything to do with Emma because of the family’s ‘feud’, and things haven’t really changed! The one thing that has changed is the arrival of Sandro, a Spanish god who has the ability to turn women’s heads without the use of any magical powers.

This book was so not what I expected! I thought it would be a chick lit type book with lots of Christmas trees and snow! What we got was a magical story of friendship, love and family. And when I say magical I don’t mean Christmassy sparkly type of magic….I mean proper magic, from a big old magical recipe book which has been passed down through the ladies of the Halloway family! I love the stories from Emma’s childhood, and the tales of the ‘curses’ the Halloway ladies used to put on people. I also loved the stories of their recipes being put to some good for the village people who truly believed that they could work magic.

Emma’s character was lovely, but you really had to feel for her. Not only for the injuries sustained in the accident, but for the love that she has always wanted from Jack, but was never allowed due to his and her families “disagreements” throughout the years. She really didn’t have an easy childhood, and by moving back has bought everything back to her.

A thoroughly magical Christmas read but remember magic isn’t just for Christmas!!

5 Stars!

Only food and the comforts of home can soothe Emma Halloway when her life turns to crap. Home in Yorkshire, Emma’ grandmother will comfort her granddaughter with baked goods, and her old boyfriend, Jack will help heal her heart with friendship and laughter. With her sights set on turning the family’s love of baking into a going concern, and her attempts to convert a grumpy lodger from a grinch into a jolly old elf, Emma will be too busy to dwell on her unhappy past. A sweet, feel good Christmas story guaranteed to charm Scrooge himself

Cosy take reminiscent of Practical Magic but set near the moors. The whole village thinks the Halloway ladies are witches because of their big family recipe book that seems to influence people and situations. Some take advantage of this coming to the ladies for help and others...not so much.

When the youngest Halloway, Emma, is forced to go back to Hope Cottage where she spent her childhood lots of old problems resurface. There are some new things in town though. Most notably a dashing Spaniard named Sandro.

Lily Graham serves up a tasty romance here. I couldn't put this down and read it in one sitting.