The story of Megan, our bookshop owner, and Xander, our elusive author, is a convoluted tale of broken souls finding each other. But it is the surrounding stories and characters that had me riveted. The book club is the Die Hard Romance Readers. Sign me up! The authenticity of the holiday party, I wanted to be invited.

This was the perfect holiday read to get me thinking about that time of year.

Thank you to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for the advanced copy; this is my voluntary review.

A Bookshop Christmas follows the story of Megan. After the death of her husband, she leaves her life in London and returns to the family bookshop in York. The move should have signified a fresh start but instead it allowed Megan to retreat into herself. Until one day in her local supermarket, Megan is rammed but a trolley, the owner of which seems brash and rude and trashes her taste in romance novels. This seems to be the wake up call Megan needs to start living her life again as she decides she needs to put this albeit sexy stranger in his place. However the path of true love never seems to run smoothly.

I enjoyed this book and then men’s of characters. It kept me entertained throughout and I was eager to see how the characters developed. Thank you to NetGalley, Aria and the author for the chance to review.

A snowstorm. A stranger. A spark. And it's Christmas!
It should be the perfect start to the perfect love story.
But real life is far messier and more complicated than in the pages of the books in Megan Taylor's family bookshop – the last few years have left this young widow in no doubt of that. Moving back home to York should have been a fresh start, but all it did was allow her to retreat from the world.
When prize-winning author Xander Stone rams his supermarket trolley into her ankles and then trashes her taste in books, Megan is abruptly awoken from her self-imposed hibernation. It's time to start living again, and she's going to start by putting this arrogant, superior – admittedly sexy – stranger in his place.
Just as she is beginning to enjoy life again, the worst happens and Megan begins to wonder if she should have stayed hidden away. Because it turns out that falling in love again is about more than just meeting under the mistletoe..
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this. I don't think I have disliked a character so quickly before but Xander was that man! Rude, arrogant and opinionated in the extreme wouldn't normally be your go to hero but Rachel Burton went there! However, her style of writing pulled it off spectacularly. The mans an onion!!! I loved the way he unravelled throughout the book revealing a little more each time although unlike Megan i am not sure i could have coped with his mood swings. The background story was a little sad but no sadder than three members of a family attempting to hold on to the family business each believing the others wanted it. Its a lovely read and i can thoroughly recommend it if you want something a little less formulaic

Megan is working in her families bookshop in York. She locked herself away there for over 3 years when her husband died. Novelist Xander Stone was launching his latest book in the shop they didn't get off to a great start. Lovely book couldn't put it down

A Bookshop Christmas is a delightful rom com. Megan has lost her husband and is trying to overcome her grief by working in her parents failing bookshop. Xander Stone is a prize winning author who is also dealing with grief of his own. They do not have a good start when they meet but Xander agrees to introduce his new novel in her bookshop. This book is a great story in the small town of York. I recommend this book.

I loved this book from the very first page. Relatable and lovabl,e characters made this story feel like home. A perfect start to the holiday season.

Fabulous Christmas story! Loved it!
Megan works and lives with her mum at a bookstore in the city of York. When she meets author Xander Stone who is booked at the store for his latest book launch, she starts to look at her life differently.
Brilliant references to the formulation of romance novels, the characters all time favourite books, and what is in all our hopes and dreams. The weekly book group are hilarious!
Great story entrenched in the world of fiction, and quite a different Christmas tale!!
Highly recommended this winter!
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read early.

A romantic novel that seems to poke fun at romantic novels! Never!
This enjoyable read points out any "tropes" and "clichés" and then tells the reader what they are and why they are useful.
Since the loss of her husband three years ago, Megan has devoted her time to working in the family bookshop in York. She meets and falls for an insufferable bore who pushes his trolley into her at the supermarket....trope number one.
I enjoyed my journey through the book looking for and being told about tropes. A very novel way of telling the story.

Loved this book 5 stars to Rachel Burton for writing it and netgalley for for allowing me to review it.A really good read.

This book is a wonderful festive read full of all the romance.

I was gripped from the very first page and couldn't stop reading. I loved it so much. It had the most beautiful characters, such a sweet story and all around such a great read.

You won't be disappointed.

You know it’s going to be a great book when you’re gripped from the first page. Loved this one so much. Beautiful characters, lovely story and such a good read.

A nice Christmas story set around Megan who is a widow of three plus years and a bookshop.
I love the authors writing style which drew me in from the first page. The characters were believable and I must say the premise was very predictable from the beginning but nonetheless an enjoyable read.
I found myself looking up the book recommendations throughout the story and now have a long TBR list!

This is a wonderful festive read full of romance which will have you hooked from the very first page.

Megan is a grieving widow who can't forgive herself or move on from not being there when her husband passed away, she has been living but not truly living for the previous three years but doesn't know how to begin her life again until she quite literally bumps into Xander a successful author who is coming to her small family book store to do a signing. Never before has Megan met a more rude and arrogant man but slowly she starts to wonder if there is more to Xander than the image he presents to the world and as they come together we get glimpses of the real Xander and see the wonderful within them both.
This story will give you all the festive feels and I cannot recommend enough.

There is nothing better than a Bookshop apart from one at Christmas, so I was right at home with the setting for this story.

And i loved Megan and Xander's stories right from the off.

Well Megan was a lot easer to get to know but Xander grew on me rather quickly too, as their pasts are revealed.

And I love the idea of a Regency Christmas party, even if Trixie does seem rather determined to have it as authentic as possible

I especially loved the Die Hard Romance book club, and their determination to take down Book snobs and revel in their enjoyment of all things romance.

It was just an all around highly enjoyable novel, that really does show you can eventually move on with your life, even when scared.

Thank you to Aria and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I love stories about bookshops and one set at Christmas definitely hits the right spot. I really enjoyed getting to know Megan and Xander and thought their stories were handled sensitively and with emotion. I thought that the more minor characters were written very well and added such support and joy to the storyline and Megan and Xander - Trixie sounded hilarious. This is certainly a Christmas read to remember and recommend- a warm hug of a book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Aria & Aries, Aria for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a review.

The setting is a quaint bookshop in York which just sounds like the best place,. We meet a grieving Megan and a grumpy author she's booked for an event in an attempt to change the fortunes of the bookshop.

A lovely festive story. Rachel Burton is an author I discovered through Netgalley and I haven't been disappointed in one of her books yet!

I loved this book. It’s set in a bookshop and in York both places are my idea of heaven. Megan thought she had it all but life is unfair and it unexpectedly changed for the worse. She retreats to her parents bookshop where she becomes engrossed in making the running of the shop better. She runs a book club that at times becomes a little rowdy when everyone shares there views of the latest book.
However this all changes when a arrogant man in the supermarket hits her with his trolley. He immediately puts her in a bad mood for the rest of the day. Thinking she will never see him again, she is not only shocked/ horrified to find he is the author due to hold his book signing in her Bookshop, Her life is changing but is it for the better or worse.

💞📚Bibliophiles fall in love👥

This, my first Rachel Burton novel, was a good one, with thirty-something lead characters who connect over their similar experiences with grief and the difficulties of moving on. Meg, a young widow running a bookshop, and Xander, a successful author, meet and grow in affection against a pre-Christmas setting in the northern English city of York.

Burton introduces enough subplots to keep the action interesting even when Meg and Xander are not together. This is a lovely book for readers who adore books, sweet romance mixed with the bittersweet, and the trials and tribulations of finding oneself after a brutal tragedy knocks the stuffing out of life. Little sausage dog Gus was a nice added touch. The book's ending and message is positive and poignant.

Thanks to Aria Books and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

You knew what this book would be and how the story would play out before even reading it. With the obsession with romantic novels and their storylines being outlined and referenced throughout.

Having said that, it didn’t take away any enjoyment from reading it. A really sweet story, great main characters (The “die hard s” were a little weak as supporting characters, but, again, there was enough going on with the main story, Megan and Xander for this not to be an issue).

Emotional in parts and incredibly moorish. A really nice and light Christmas romantic story.

I enjoyed reading about these "little" bookshops that are in our neighborhoods and the struggles to keep them running with author events and ways to attract customers.
Megan Taylor moves back home to New York, after her husband loses his battle with leaukimia. SHe moves in with her mother & the family bookstore is in a struggle to stay alive.
Can anyone save it? Including her father, and this family bookshop originally belongs in his fmaily bloodline.He has been living in another place apart from her mother.
Megan's parents relationship status with each other is also a story in itself and warms the heart.
What I enjoyed about this romance holiday novel is the romance is kept clean . I enjoy reading romance but when the story gets too raunchy, it takes away from the love affair.,in my opinion.
Author Xander Stone first walks in Megan;s life as the rudest man, in the supermarket, setting her off the wrong way . They exchange rude words to each other and she is fuming.
Little did she imagine he is the author who is going to launch his new book in the family bookshop.
Megan and her freinds have a book club meetings every week and the humor in these small getogethers had me chuckling, especially when two males (Xander Stone one of them) are included to discuss romance novels.
The outcome of this forming romance is delighful and the holiday scenes for Christmas has me ready for the holidays!
Thank you Netgalley for this preview read and this is solely my opinion..