Christmas Wishes by Sue Moorcroft is a lovely, heart-warming festive read. It follows the tale of Hannah and Nico. They’re meant to be together but fate is keeping them apart. When Hannah bumps into Nico in Stockholm they quickly rekindle their childhood friendship. There’s an attraction but Hannah has a boyfriend and Nico had two children. When Hannah has to move back to England to her parents small village, she finds Nico has also moved there. Could Christmas work it’s magic and inject some festive love be in the air?

I really enjoyed this book with its likeable and relatable characters. The story flows well from chapter to chapter and you have a real festive feel from it.

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

If you are looking for a heartwarming read to get you through the chilly winter days then this is just the book for you. Set in both Sweden and East Anglia in the weeks leading up to Christmas, this has all the ingredients to keep the reader turning the pages. The heroine, Hannah, has both personal and professional challenges to face, the hunky hero is a tortured soul in recovery and there are a couple of cute children as well as a well drawn cast of secondary characters. This is feelgood Christmas romance writing at its best.

This is the Christmas book for warm cozy, a cup of hot chocolate and a lazy afternoon. Absolutely loved reading this book. A brilliant story of two lives and a brilliant character in Nico, a Single dad with complex ex issues. Nico is just lovely.

Hannah's situation with her boyfriend is not a happy one and from them start of the book I wanted a cozy get together for two lovely characters.

Hannah lives in Sweden and the descriptions of Stockholm are wonderful.

A must read for Christmas 2020, loved it!

#NetGalley #SueMoorcroft #ChristmasWishes
#christmasreads2020 #bookreview

This is a delightful holiday romance. The characters are sweet and entertaining. It's just the kind of light story that's perfect for the holidays.

There is nothing more romantic than a cozy Christmas story and this one is it. It was sweeter and more comforting than a Hallmark Christmas movie. Loved everything about it and the setting of Stokholm was perfect. I devoured this in 24 hours!!! It definitely put me in the holiday mood- something we need now more than ever!

What a very special book!! Hannah is living in Stockholm, with a family wedding coming up back in the UK. Her brother's best friend Nico drops in to see her, and their old friendship is warmly felt.
The story takes us from Islington in London to the country village of Hannah's family, to Sweden and Stockholm with Nico's family.
The amazing warmth and festive traditions from country English village to Sweden are wonderfully atmospheric.
After finishing the book I was inspired to make Swedish cakes, and only I could carry on in their world.
The characters and descriptions are really good, and will immerse you in a quite surprising and very real world.
Highly recommended for a fantastic Christmas read or present.

I so enjoyed this story and the setting of between Stockholm and Middledip was perfect! The perfect cosy Christmas story!

Another fantastic Christmas book by this author. I loved that we were transported to Icy cold Sweden during the festive season and back to the loveable town of Middledip and lots of previously loved characters from the town. It was nice to have a single dad character suffering an eating disorder. Sue is wonderful at her characterisation, creating relatable and unique characters each story.

I really enjoyed this book, it was a fabulous story, with characters that I found myself becoming attached with. Nico was so endearing, you couldn’t help but fall for his kind and gentle heart!
I loved the travelling between Stockholm and Middledip, seeing the different customs .
Hannah was inspiring too, and it was mesmerising watching her re connect with Nico.
Some very emotional themes, but written in such a thoughtful and honest way, it brought a very different dimension to the story that created a positive and uplifting end.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Although it is autumn and early (for me) to read books about Xmas but saying that I really enjoyed this nice easy cosy read. Great storyline and nice characters.

I loved the growing relationship between Hannah and Nico. The children were adorable. The only thing I found hard were the unpronounceable place names in the Swedish scenes. I much preferred the sections of the book that took place in lovely familiar Middledip.

I love Sue Moorcroft books and this one was no exception. It did take me a couple of chapters to acclimatise to this one, but once I'd got into it I couldn't put it down, sneaking off to read at every opportunity.

This book deals with some difficult issues, but with care and compassion. I liked it that these issues touched the hero too, as so often in novels it is the woman who has the problems.

Lovely to be back in Middledip and to see the character Ratty again. The chemistry was special between Nico and Hannah. Enjoyed the secondary characters too, especially Josie and Maria. Twists and turns galore to keep you reading.

Yummy Christmas Read.

This was an enjoyable story and an engaging Christmas read. The writing flowed nicely and it kept me turning the pages from beginning to end. I found the Swedish Christmas traditions fascinating to read about and they definitely added to the Christmassy feel of this book.

I did like that characters of Hannah and Nico, as well as the two sweet children, Josie and Marie. Although at times, I did feel they needed a bit of a kick, but still, they worked well together. Add in a villain in the form of Hannah's boyfriend and Nico's ex, a loving family, some misunderstanding and there is a really good cast of players.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. I felt some scenes were a little awkward and maybe overworked but I still thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Christmas Wishes is a cozy holiday read about second chances that captures the essence of the holiday season. Hannah and Nico had great chemistry and the added elements of their back stories made them all the more interesting. Love that this book transports you to Sweden with pepperings of Swedish words and traditions.

A charming Christmas story from Sue Moorcroft! The whimsical cover suggests a fun holiday tale but there is so much more to the story! It took a while to get into, but I'm glad I stuck with it. Each character had their own set of struggles, but there was also laughter, warmth and a whole lot of love! Josie and Maria were adorable and I ended up loving their relationship with Nico and Hannah. Overall, a good holiday story!

Christmas Wishes, Sue Moorcroft


Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: general Fiction, Women's Fiction, Romance

* sigh * women's fiction, I seem to have been moaning about this genre for ages now. Its 2020, men write romance, men read romance, lets stop with the sexism.

Anyway, its Sue Moorcroft, an author I only discovered recently and I adore her writing style. This book was the usual well plotted, cleverly laid out story, that kept me reading right to the end. ( Sometimes I get impatient and skip bits when authors waffle...doesn't happen with “good” - for me - books)

I loved the characters, loved when Hannah first met Nico again and thinks he's fallen on hard times. She tries to help him by taking him for a meal, and it turns out she chooses the worst place for him ;-) How easily good intentions have the wrong result.
Albin, Hannah's boyfriend was deliciously wicked, one of those folk you're happy to thoroughly dislike, he was cold, calculating, cruel, and I wondered what Hannah ever saw in him. I guess he presented his best side to her then. I like a character like his in a novel, it adds to the drama. Manipulative described him well, and also Nico's wife and mother in law. Its a treat to get some truly unpleasant characters in a novel ;-) Set against that Hannah's family were lovely, close, accepting and encouraging. I adored Nan Heather, a loving and practical lady. There were a mix of other characters, some really lovely, tenants of the new shopping courtyard, others were not so much, like the owner of said place.

Its a fun story, hot and cold in that neither Hannah nor Nico really know whats happening to the other, and their attraction is there but the action hampered by misunderstandings and bad timing.
The real star of the show for me was Maria, “ Yozee! Snow!” Poor little girl. Sadly there are many like her, with unwilling or incapable parents, and Nico showed just what a big and caring heart he had.
The happy ending comes but there's a long and angst filled journey to it – perfect for me. I love the drama of some angst and heartbreak....

Stars: 5 A fabulous romance, with realistic characters and a heartbreaking story line at times.

Arc via Netgalley

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

The perfect Christmas book to get you ready for the festive season.

It’s set in the locations of Middledip in UK and Sweden, where, in wintertime we are treated to local traditions.

Hannah lives with her boyfriend Albin a nasty person in Stockholm, he really is a horrible person and I was happy when Hannah finally realised that their relationship was not what it should be, especially after the way he treated her which was appalling.

At the same time, her brother Robs friend Nico flies to Sweden on business, he visits Hannah at her shop and a spark is felt by Hannah.

But Nico comes with baggage, he’s living a life, juggling a demanding job, childcare and a eating disorder, not to mention an alcoholic ex,

It seems a new romance is never going to be plain sailing.

The children Josie and Marie in this story were cute and their innocence a delight, which made for a lovely family feel.

Another lovely book from Sue.

This didn’t work for me. The relationship between the leads felt Really forced. The romantic scenes made me cringe with embarrassment. Hannah referring to her store in full name all the time was irksome. It was pretty obvious to the reader what her ex was up to, why do the female leads in these stories act like airheads most of the time? It’s uncomfortable.

The whole eating disorder storyline didn’t seem to fit in either.

Overall just not for me.

This book was very sweet but I found some bits a tad long-winded. Once I persevered I enjoyed the conclusion, Josie and Maria are adorable - and loved how Nico’s help brought Hannah back to Middledip and her new life.

I'm a sucker for anything Christmas related and yes I'm saying the C word in September.

Anything festive puts me in a good mood.

Xmas vibes plus a sweet romance, what could be better?

Sue Moorcroft has written a simple yet satisfying read.

My only real complaint was that Nico's daughter Josie sounded too grown up for her age, the dialogue felt less natural because of the words used.

Over all a feel good book perfect for the winter season.