I absolutely adored this book and the setting is just magical!

I am happy to read books that are based in winter, or the Christmas period at any time of the year and I happily escaped whilst reading this one on a recent holiday that was 24 degrees most days!

It was a book I had been saved as I was so looking forward to reading it after seeing the gorgeous cover and reading the blurb and I was not disappointed at all – it is a fabulous story!

I thought that the characters were lovely, so well developed and I warmed to them straight away. Their interaction was great and the author did such a lovely job with the story and had a super writing style that really suited this genre – it is 5 stars from me for this one – very highly recommended!!

As inviting and captivating as its cover, COMING HOME TO GLENDALE HALL by Victoria Walters is a wonderful story of second chances and new possibilities and I didn't want this story to end.

Beth left her beautiful home, Glendale Hall, and all those who knew her best behind ten years ago to build a life for herself and her beloved daughter. She could never forget what happened in the past but when her grandmother becomes very ill, Beth is summoned home before it is too late, but she is unsure just how she will feel being back in the home and town that had meant so much to her once. But things have changed in so many ways and as Beth begins to reconnect with old friends and her family, she soon realises that her heart has always belonged here in some shape or form. But with secrets still lurking, will the magic of the season pave the way for a new and exciting future for Beth and her daughter? Or is it always a bad idea to live in the past?

Enchanting characters in a wondrous setting, COMING HOME TO GLENDALE HALL by Victoria Walters is everything you could possibly want in a heartwarming festive read and I loved every second of it. Watching Beth as she tried to re-establish old relationships and understanding what had happened to her in the past, made it very easy to connect with her and I really hoped that she would find happiness at the end. The setting is breathtakingly described and I would pack my bags and be there in the morning if I could.

​With plenty of family drama, community spirit, old friendships, and love along the way, COMING HOME TO GLENDALE HALL is a superb read and I cannot wait to read more from Victoria Walters.

Thank you to Rachel for letting me take part in this tour and to Hera for my copy of this book via Netgalley. I read part 1 of Vicky's A Random Acts of Kindness last year and I loved her style so when I saw Vicky had written a Christmas book I was so excited!

Before you start this book I would check your hot chocolate stocks because this book really gave me the winter cravings. I was snuggled up on my sofa with a hot chocolate and my blanket and it was heaven.

Beth hasn't been home to Glendale Hall for 10 years. Her family turned their backs on her and she felt she had no option but to leave. Now she's returning with her daughter Izzy for what might be her Nan's last Christmas. Beth Williams was very easy to like. She is strong, independent and a wonderful mum. Izzy and Beth have a very strong and close relationship.

Also back in Glendale is Drew. Drew and Beth dated before she left Glendale but she left suddenly and broke his heart. I fell a little bit in love with Drew I won't lie. I mean he's a Dr, he's sweet, kind, caring and I've always had a secret love of redheads.

This book is more than just a Christmas romance though. This book is about family, community spirit and forgiveness. It's about following your dreams and letting go of the hurt and pain of the past.

This is my first Christmas book of the season and let me tell you it was a great one to start with. I can't wait to see what Vicky brings us next.

After ten years, Beth Williams is ending her self-imposed exile in London to finally return to her childhood home, Glendale Hall in Scotland, just in time for Christmas. However, coming home means digging up old ghosts and facing the family that turned her away when she became pregnant at sixteen. As the holiday ramps up and secrets unravel, she discovers a past unlike the story she was led to believe. And after an old love shows up in the village, she realizes the happy ending she’s waited for might just be possible.

Family is complicated and Beth Williams certainly understands that better than most. She’s lived her life cut between two separate ones: her mother, father, and grandfather, who she feels abandoned her when she became pregnant as a teenager, and Isabelle, the daughter she’s devoted her every moment since then to. But circumstances spurred by the Christmas season force these two sides together in an unavoidable clash.

Author Victoria Walters milks this tension for everything it’s worth. This is a group of people who have suffered from a breakdown in communication long ago, and Walters drops hints at the start that everything could work out if only everyone would start actually talking and listening. It’s incredibly effective, more so because Beth reads like such a grounded, well-balanced woman. It’s easy to read into her side of the issues, casting her mother and father as unreasonable, almost callous. And yet when everything clicks into place through an expert reveal, it’s impossible not to want to see these characters work everything out.

While this makes for an entirely satisfying book in its own right, Walters weaves in an even bigger complications. If Beth hasn’t been home in ten years, she might as well tie up all of her loose ends in one go. Drew, Isabelle’s father, shows up in Glendale, and she has a few surprises for him. Their scenes together are utterly charming as their worlds are pulled together after so long without speaking. It’s a tour de force for anyone who enjoys a solid second chance romance.

Of course, no Christmas love story is complete without a charming, idyllic village, and Walters does not disappoint. Glendale is looking a little shabby at first, with rundown shops and a library on its last legs— a far cry from what Beth remembers. Yet as she finds an understanding with her family, she also senses an opportunity to do something about her hometown.

In the end, this all combines to form a beautiful examination of family and community in all of their shapes.

This is my first Christmas read of this year and Coming Home To Glendale Hall was hard to resist with its gorgeous snowy cover and the magnificent Scottish mansion in the background. I would class this more of a winter read, so don’t feel that it has to be saved for the festive season.

The main character is Beth who hasn’t been back home to Glendale Hall since she fled at the tender age of sixteen. She returns with her young daughter when she gets a call to say that her grandmother is extremely ill. Beth is hesitant to return to Scotland for Christmas and intends to leave straight after, back to her flat in London and her job at the local school.

However, it appears that a break down in communication has taken place with both her parents, grandmother, and ex-boyfriend Drew. Beth begins to realise how many wonderful memories she has of her childhood home. With Christmas approaching, Beth and her family host a community project to unite the residents of the village and save the high street shops from closure.

I loved the community spirit within the story and the special relationship between Beth and her daughter. The author adds plenty of suspense, secrets, and tension which keeps the plot flowing nicely. The Scottish mansion location is an idyllic setting for a winter romance novel. The story is about family and friendship, rediscovering roots and the magic of first love.

Reluctantly driving up to her family home in Northern Scotland, Beth Williams journey is a reluctant one. Along with her daughter, they are spending Christmas with her family because her grandmother is ill and her father pleaded with her to come. However, once she's back at the place she ran away from, it triggers memories and awakes passions she's long forgotten. So when fate steps in to shake up her life, she has to decide whether she can fall in love again with the place she called home and the man she ran away from. 

There's plenty within the narrative I guessed would happen but still, the author manages to inject surprise elements which warmed my heart. As a mum with such a child, I particularly appreciated the references to red hair and the prejudices often faced by those lucky to have such a striking physical feature. I admire the inclusion, highlighting both the negatives and the positives of which I'm a firm admirer of the latter. 

The message of this poignant narrative is righting the wrongs, to make peace with the past so to clear the way for the future. This sentiment is true for Beth's family as well as her relationship with Drew. It's a reminder of how damaging words can be and how they can shape peoples beliefs. Sadness aside, there's plenty of wonderful Christmassy references with a strong emphasis on community spirit. The characters are all loveable and with the beautiful Scottish backdrop, you'll be wanting to pack your bags to spend Christmas there, within this beautiful part of the world. 

Plenty of Christmas themed novels are around now and if you're interested in a story filled with hope, second chances and a happy ending, this one is definitely worth a read. 

***arc generously provided by the publisher Hera via NetGalley***

It's official! I am now in the festive spirit thanks to this wonderful and uplifting novel.

The settings of Glendale Hall and Village in Scotland are perfect for this festive family drama and romance novel.  I just wanted to put my pyjamas on and curl up on the sofa with hot chocolate whilst reading it.  The hall is a home most people would kill for and I was completely invested in saving the village - especially the library. 

Beth is just charming and although not always mature, it is easy to forget how young she is despite having a ten year old daughter.  I applaud Victoria Walters for highlighting how amazing single and teen mothers can be whilst also bringing attention to the loneliness and sacrifices that have to be made.  The character and story of Beth is written sensitively and with compassion.

Families are complicated and often, even as adults, things are not always handled well.  For me, the family drama is at the heart of this novel.  Mistakes and misunderstandings from years ago have haunted most of the main characters some moments in this book had me in tears.  Watching the Williams family piece their town and their relationships back together slowly was so heartwarming and comforting to read.  When you add the romantic element of the story into the mix this is a novel that just leaves you with a warm glow.

An entrancing feel good read, well written with lovely characterisation.
A story of building bridges and learning from past mistakes, a perfect Christmas read. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It is absolutely impossible not to fall in love with Victoria Walters’ charming, feel-good and emotional page-turner, Coming Home to Glendale Hall. A spellbinding tale sure to appeal to fans of Harriet Evans and Veronica Henry, Coming Home to Glendale Hall is a wonderful treat for romantics everywhere.

When Beth Williams had fallen pregnant at sixteen, rather than risk the censure and disapprobation of her family, she had run away from the Scottish estate she had called home in order to make a new life for herself and her beloved daughter, Isabelle. Beth hasn’t been home since that day she had decided that Glendale Hall was no longer her home, however, the time has come for her to face the music and to go back to the house that is full of memories and to the family she hasn’t had any contact with for years.

Returning to Glendale, Beth finds herself confronted by echoes of the past and bittersweet memories that have shaped and moulded the past ten years into a narrative that might not have been as truthful as she had initially believed. As old ties are restored and broken bonds renewed, Beth realizes that Glendale has always had a very special place in her heart – especially as it was where she had met and fallen madly in love with the person whom she has never quite managed to forget: Drew. As the two come face to face after so long, feelings that have been buried and suppressed for quite some time come rushing back to the fore with a vengeance leaving them to wonder whether a second chance at love might be on the cards for them…or whether their relationship should be consigned to ancient history once and for all.

As she begins to feel at home once more in Glendale, Beth wonders whether she can lay old ghosts to rest and forgive her family and herself – or whether she should run away once more and never set foot in Glendale ever again…

I loved this book! I started reading Coming Home to Glendale Hall thinking that I was going to get a wintry romantic comedy, but I got so much more besides. A brilliantly written, highly emotional and immensely captivating tale of healing from the past, redemption, forgiveness, renewal and love lost and found, Coming Home to Glendale Hall is a book that will stay with you and linger in your mind and heart weeks after you’ve finished reading this book.

Victoria Walters is my new favourite author and I shall not only devour every single thing she’s written since, but also count down the days until her next release. Full of charm, heart, humour, pathos and emotion, Coming Home to Glendale Hall is a brilliant read I absolutely adored.

Heartwarming Family Tale, Women's Fiction
This is a heartwarming tale of several generations of a family becoming closer over the Christmas season. I don't want to spoil the plot, but this book is so good it's almost haunting. I will be re-thinking this book for quite a while. I know that I will re-read it again soon. I love that the story is tied up at the end, but leaves plenty of room for the reader to daydream about the characters and their futures. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

Beth Williams is returning home to Glendale Hall in Scotland after living in London for the past ten years, the city she fled to at sixteen when she found out she was pregnant and that her family wouldn’t support her decision to keep the baby, her daughter Isabelle (Izzy).

Her Grandmother and owner of Glendale Hale is terminally ill and her parents have asked that she return to the house for what seems will be her Grandmothers last Christmas. Tensions are high as family secrets and broken relationships are still at the forefront, plus things don’t get any easier for Beth when she bumps into Drew, the love of her life when she was a teenager and Izzy’s absent father.

To top it all off it looks like the local village is about to be bulldozed to make way for flats leaving all the local shop keepers without a place to work. Beth soon realises that she isn’t a scared sixteen year old anymore, she is a grown-up and she needs to take grown-up action to sort all of her problems out.

What I loved about Coming Home to Glendale Hall was how realistic it was, especially as I come from a family where hardly any members talk to one another. It was like a close friend telling you about their Christmas, with family fights, secrets released, and tensions running on high, as well as all the fun and laughter they had.

The characters are all so delightful, even those that you find out have made serious mistakes, it’s hard to stay mad at them. I must say that housekeeper Sally and ten-year-old Izzy were the two characters I fell in love with. Why is it that the housekeeper always has all the answers and wisdom?

The family home was so picturesque and made you feel all festive, with snow-covered gardens and twinkling Christmas lights, this is a book that really gets you in the mood for the festive period and when it comes to me, that isn’t easy.

The story is so heart-warming and touching. This is one of those books that you just want to grab a hot chocolate, don your fluffy socks and robe and settle down by a roaring fire with. I loved every minute of it and it is as perfect on the inside as the cover looks.

16 and pregnant, Beth makes the very hard decision, after a ultimatum from her grandmother, to leave home to have her baby. Now 10 years later she and her daughter are back in Scotland. Returning to the grand home she ran away from for Christmas.

Beth is saddened to see the village she once loved has fell into disrepair, so she encourages the community to stand together and fight against the developers. Repairing family feuds and friendships along the way.

But, she isn’t the only one who has returned to Glendale this Christmas. Her first love is also home, is this a second chance for Beth to have the family she always wanted?

This was a great story. It was very Gilmore Girls-y. I felt emotionally connected to the characters from the first chapter. I really would like to revisit Glendale and read more about the supporting characters.

My first festive read of the season! I am so disappointed by Christmas books that are barely Christmassy, but this one is full of festive fun. There’s snow, lights, family dramas…everything you expect at Christmas. Actually, most people don’t have snow.

The book is mostly set over Christmas and New Year and in the fictional village of Glendale in Scotland. It’s a lovely romance with lots of secrets and miscommunication causing problems. Forgiveness features strongly throughout the book too.

This has got me feeling all Christmassy with 3 months to go until the big day. I was even reading it whilst listening to Michael Bublé’s Christmas album, and eating a Terry’s chocolate orange (I didn’t mean to eat the entire thing in one sitting…!)

Fantastic book to add to your friends stockings this Christmas.

❄A young single mother learns you CAN come home again: cozy and charming!🎁
👍😊🎄👨‍👩‍👧
What a heartwarming story of second chances. It's full of family connecting, rehashing mistakes and might-have-beens, and taking action to achieve a better, happier life. Beth, the narrator of the tale, comes north to Scotland with her young daughter Izzy to see her failing grandmother and finds a small community fading away, parents withdrawing from each other, a dying, regretful grandmother, and a surprise reunion with the love of her life. The character Izzy is energetic, joyful and the center of Beth's world. For her, she makes efforts to reconnect with her family, community and Drew, the man she's afraid is lost to her forever. In one Christmas school holiday in Scotland, their lives are set on a new course.

I really enjoyed the story and its cozy chats over hot chocolate and holiday feel. I did find it somewhat longer than necessary and repetitive in rehashing Beth's feelings rather than just getting on more quickly with the action. Telling it from only Beth's point of view also restricted me from connecting better with characters like Drew until his inner thoughts finally came out in a letter like the hero in Austen's Persuasion. Beth frustrated me by dragging her feet and not taking sound advice as she avoids expressing her true feelings time and again.

Thanks to publisher Hera Books and NetGalley for providing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.

This is the time of the year when I look forward to more "Feel-Good" novels, something comfy to read that makes me smile and feel warm inside.
Coming Home to Glendale Hall completely delivered.

Ten years after having run away from home, young, unmarried and pregnant, Beth Williams, rebellious daughter of the family from the "big house" returns. Her grandmother, matriarch of the family, is down to her last days. It is time to clear the air and make peace, before time runs out.

It seems that Grandmother is not the only one running out of time. The entire village seems to be dying. Can Beth find it in her heart to do something about a place she once loved?

Speaking of love -- someone very special from Beth's past is home for the holidays. Is it time her daughter meets her father? How will he respond to this incredible young person he never knew?

Change is inevitable but it comes from so many angles this holiday in Glendale.
Who will be strong enough to survive it all?

With aspects of Gilmore Girls as well as a bit of the formality of Downton Abbey (the later years) this is a heart warming read about what can be accomplished when you put your mind and heart together for a purpose.

Coming Home to Glendale Hall is a lovely Christmas book that kept giving me the best kind of Gilmore Girls vibes. At 16 Beth feels she has no choice but to leave her home, Glendale Hall, and escape to London to give birth to her daughter, Izzy. For 10 years they've been on their own, with only strained relationships with Beth's family. When Beth receives word that the matriarch of their family is ill, she realizes she has no choice but to return home for Christmas. Coming home offers unexpected opportunities, disappointing discoveries, rekindled friendships, and clarity to decisions made 10 years ago.

This book keeps you entertained and wanting to read more, but is light and stress free. It is a wonderful read and definitely worth adding to your holiday season reading list.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of Coming Home to Glendale Hall in exchange for my honest opinion.

Oh my goodness this storyline had everything, twists and turns, romance and a mother daughter relationship to rival that of the Gilmore Girls! Seriously if you love Lorelai and Rory, you will love this book too!

This is a Christmas story but this just happens to be set at the most wonderful time of the year so this would absolutely be alright to read at any time of year. I loved the festive touches here and there and the effect the cold had on our main characters but this book is really a homecoming and everything that comes with that. There are secrets to be uncovered, romances to be had, more secrets to be uncovered and bonds to be rebuilt and I loved the balance of all of these aspects f the plot, they were just woven together so beautifully.

Of course I love the characters and well, Beth and Izzy are a great mother daughter combo. Beth is such a great character because she is independent and yet she isn't quite sure how she's going to move forward from the position she has found herself in. I loved her vulnerability whilst still being so strong! Izzy just provides the counteracting point to some of Beth's moments and together they are just such a cute little family. Of course Beth is home to see the rest of her family and there are many skeletons in closets and past mistakes that need to be explored there but I loved watching them reconnect and grow together.

And then there are the friends the Beth left behind, we have Drew, Rory and Heather and they form a great squad when they are all in the same place. I loved Rory's comedy moments, he and Izzy really do lighten the atmosphere sometimes.

This book is also about a sense of that lost community spirit from so many of our smaller towns and villages, I loved watching Beth rediscover what is was like to grow up in a small town and see the perils facing that community as a whole. This is a great take on what modern society can and has become and possible suggestion in how to fix it.

I would love to see a sequel to this book, perhaps with a business plan from lovely Beth and I really really hope there will be one because I would love to revisit these characters and Glendale hall again. Highly recommend.

Another wonderful read by a fantastic author, picking up a book by Victoria is a guaranteed route to a smile and a happy heart. I love a story full of second chances, romance and Christmas, this has such loveable and cute characters, a great story about family and coming together.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Wow! This book was amazing - kept me hooked from beginning to end. Once I started I just wanted to keep reading. Kept me up late.

The story line kind of reminded me of Gilmore Girls.

We follow Beth Williams the now 26 year old through her return to Glendale Hall. At 16 years of age Beth became pregnant and left home. For 10 years she has done everything for her daughter Isabelle and kept away from Glendale Hall as she was sure her family didn't respect the choices she had made.

However Beth returns home when her Gran is sick and is told she may not make it through the Christmas. When Beth returns home she finds out things weren't really as she thought and that her Gran had kept secrets. Can Beth forgive her Gran before she passes?

However Glendale isn't the same as Beth once remembered, its now run down and possibly will be lost to a developer. Beth is reunited with her best friend Heather and together with her mum will the three of them be able to save Glendale?

Isabelle the sweetest kid ever has always wonder about her father and always wanted to meet him. On their return to Glendale Beth runs into Drew - Isabelle's father. Will she tell Iz that he is in town or will she keep the secret to herself? The other question is does Drew even want to be in Isabelle's life? Beth tried to contact him once and he never responded but she has some serious decisions to make! Will she make the right ones?

Well you'll just have to read on to find out yourself. Thankyou Netgalley, Hera Books and Victoria Walters for allowing me to read this book.
Fantastic writing skills, made me feel I was right there in the book and along for the journey!

After finding herself pregnant at 16, Beth leaves her home in Scotland to start over in London and raise her daughter. 10 years later, daughter in tow, Beth returns upon hearing her grandmother is on her deathbed. Beth's return causes her to deal with family matters, build a different kind of relationship with her daughter, mend fences with others, and help try and save her hometown.

I absolutely LOVED this book. I could not put it down. I started reading it expecting it to be a traditional Christmas book and found so much more. The characters were well developed, the stories were interesting and unique, and I enjoyed every minute. I found myself invested in what happened not only to the characters but to the town of Glendale as well.