Member Reviews
This was a fun, quick read! Flora is following her dream to have her very own Christmas shop. And if it happens to be in a van in Lapland, well, all the better! I enjoyed this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and HQ Digital for the opportunity to read and review this book.
I really enjoyed Flora’s Travelling Christmas Shop by Rebecca Raisin. I devoured this book in one sitting I could not put it down. To me this book was like being wrapped in a huge warm hug, with a cup of hot chocolate and mince pies. A lovely feel good read of Flora and her adventures in her camper van. Definitely a Christmassy read.
I received an ARC from Netgalley. Flora's Travelling Christmas Shop, by Rebecca Raisin. Flora is not like other women, she definitely does stuff her own way. Connor is the exact opposite of her. Can Flora convince Connor about the magic of Christmas?
Lovely and heartwarming tale just in time for Christmas.
The plot and characters were interesting and kept me engaged. Really good book.
I always enjoy Rebecca Raisin's books. Flora is a new Van Lifer and watching her get adjusted to her new life is both amusing and slightly cringey at times, but you're rooting for her! The Christmas Market is magical and, as usual, I find myself hoping we get books about some of the side characters.
If you need a quick read to get you into the holiday spirit, go visit with Flora for a bit!
Straight talking Flora loves Christmas and excels at spreading the Christmas spirit so is the ideal person to work in a Christmas shop. As a Christmasphile myself, I connected to her immediately and adored the descriptions of Deck the Halls. It reminded me of my favourite shop, Käthe Wohlfahrt in York where I’d love to work. I understood her motivation to own a Christmas shop and travel to Lapland, another one of my dream places to visit. She is zany and over the top in many ways but has a heart of gold which gives the novel warmth and cosiness you need for a Christmas read. Connor was a great character and the vision of him in an elf suit made me chuckle and the idea of van life was intriguing and made this novel different to others.
This is an enjoyable escape to Lapland for some festive romance and fun with a Christmas loving heroine. You can’t help but feel in the Christmas spirit when reading and it makes you want to put your tree up already.
I was gifted my copy in exchange for an honest review.
Another festive delight ticked off the list. I am a huge Rebecca Raisin fan and this was just great. I love her "Travelling" series and anything in a cute little van is just for me and this was just great. Flora is christmas personified, festive Flora but she struggles to keep her thoughts to herself sometimes, she is passionate about what she beileves in but that has been known to get her into trouble in the past. When she finds herself in trouble once more and with no job just before christmas she gets the perfect chance to follow her dreams all the way to lapland.
She plans to loose herself in the festive atmosphere the place has to offer but when she meets Conor. He is everything she imagined herself finding in her hallmark inspired adventrue. The one problem? He isnt a fan of christmas. So Flora takes it upon herself to change this and so follows an adventure of mishaps, laughter and some petty competition.
I loved this book, Flora was a wonderful character to read about, the festive feels were second to none, i could imagine myself sampling the foods, experiencing the atmosphere and befriending some of the locals whilst actively avoiding others. A wonderful read.
Review
If I ever win the lottery, I'm buying a campervan that I can enjoy with my boys because that is what Rebecca does to me everytime I read one of her travelling stories. I've got the other two books in this series but they are complete standalone books.
I loved Flora. I consider myself to be Mrs Christmas' sidekick so I instantly warmed to Flora and her love for the festive season.
I devoured this book within 24 hours, it made me feel warm, cosy and full of love. There has been a book by Rebecca that I've not enjoyed.
If you've not read anything by her before, you are definitely missing out.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Flora's Travelling Christmas Shop by Rebecca Raisin is a sweet prelude to the holiday season. Flora is a quirky young woman who LOVES Christmas. After a series of personal setbacks, she buys a camper van , sets up a Christmas shop and heads out to embrace the VanLife adventure.
This is a light and lighthearted read. Flora is energetic, and sometimes draining. She simply cannot understand anyone who does not love Christmas the way she does.
I found this book to be a little repetitive, with conversations rehashing previous encounters, almost verbatim.
This book will put you in the mood to head out for a little holiday shopping, put up your tree and crank up the carols.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review.
A gloriously festive, warm and cosy hug of a book. If this doesn’t get you in the mood for mince pies, eggnog and pine tree scents, nothing will!’
Flora loves Christmas more than anything else in the world, so she’s gutted when her Scrooge-alike boss fires her from Deck the Halls Christmas emporium. But now she finally has a chance to follow her dreams – and what better place to start than the home of Christmas?
Before she can say ‘sleigh bells’, Flora’s on her way to Lapland in a campervan-cum-Christmas-shop. She can’t wait to spend her days drinking hot chocolate and taking reindeer-drawn carriage rides, but something Flora didn’t expect was meeting Connor, a Norse god of a man who makes her heart flutter and snowflakes swirl in her stomach. There’s just one problem: Connor hates Christmas.
Can Flora convince Connor of the joys of Christmas – and will she find a festive romance along the way?
A quirky heroine, a lovely story and filled with festive vibes – just fabulous
Heartwarming, magical and enchanting, Rebecca Raisin’s Flora’s Travelling Christmas Shop is a warm and comforting hug in book form.
Christmas is Flora’s favourite time of year. There is absolutely nothing else in the world she loves more than the festive season, so she is devastated when her grouchy Scrooge of a boss fires her from her dream job at Deck the Halls Christmas Emporium. Flora is completely gutted and is upset that her Christmas has been ruined by her awful boss, but rather than a painful disappointment, her sacking will give her the courage and drive to make her dreams a reality and go after what she has wanted for so long. And what better place to start than at the home of Christmas itself: Lapland…
Flora can barely contain herself with all the excitement. Lapland more than lives up to all of her most cherished dreams and fantasies and Flora cannot wait to settle in and spend cosy afternoons sipping hot chocolate while going on a reindeer-drawn carriage ride. Flora can barely recall a time when she had been so happy and it looks like her happiness is going to increase when she meets the gorgeous Connor. Looking like he has just walked straight off a magazine cover, Connor is handsome, charismatic and oh so sexy, but there is just one tiny little problem: Connor detests Christmas!
Will Flora mange to show Connor just how truly magical the festive season can be? Will their differences end up putting paid to any hope Flora had of a future with Connor? Or will a Christmas miracle end up providing the two of them with everything they’ve always wanted?
I’m a massive fan of Rebecca Raisin and she is at her mesmerizing best with Flora’s Travelling Christmas Shop. Sprinkled with Yuletide sass and sparkle, Flora’s Travelling Christmas Shop is a dazzling and delightful charmer that gladdens the heart and lifts the soul with a wonderful cast of characters, gorgeous descriptions of Lapland and plenty of warmth, whimsy, emotion and humour to keep readers completely and utterly riveted to the page.
An absolutely gorgeous romantic tale I just loved curling up with, Rebecca Raisin’s Flora’s Travelling Christmas Shop is feel-good festive reading at its absolute best.
This was a dnf for me. I read about 30% and had a very hard time staying engaged. The premise felt too silly and Flora was hard to sympathize with. I also don’t believe that she would make a lasting match with a hater of Christmas and didn’t want to take that journey. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review.
I have been a fan of Rebecca’s work for a little while now. I haven’t quite caught up with everything that she has written but I am getting there. I read the synopsis for ‘Flora’s Travelling Christmas Shop’ and it certainly sounded like the fun and feel good sort of story I have come to expect from Rebecca. I couldn’t wait to dive in and so without further ado I grabbed a cup of tea, grabbed my Kindle and settled down for what proved to be a fun afternoon of reading. I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Flora’s Travelling Christmas Shop’ but more about that in a bit.
I absolutely adored the character of Flora and I warmed to her from the very start. In fact I ended up feeling as though she had become a good friend and I felt all protective of her. She is a lovely lass, who is completely obsessed with all things Christmas. She has the almost perfect job of working in a Christmas shop and she loves what she does although the manager is a bit of a dragon. Flora is kind, considerate, gentle, sensitive, generous and warm hearted. The fact that she is so warm hearted and so generous often get her into work related pickles. Something happens which means that Flora has to reassess her life and her potential career. What happens? Well for the answer to that question and so much more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.
It took me precisely one second to get into this book. As soon as I started reading, I knew that I was going to become addicted to this story. I was spot on too. Reading this book soon became an addiction and I was constantly like an addict in need of her next fix. I would pick this book up only intending to read a couple of chapters to fill in the odd half hour but I would become so wrapped up in the story that I lost all track of time and just how quickly I was getting through the book. The pages turned increasingly quickly as I became ever more desperate to find out if Flora got the ‘happy ever after’ ending that she so deserved. I found ‘Flora’s Travelling Christmas Shop’ to be a fun and festive read, which held my attention from start to finish and which left me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.
‘Flora’s Travelling Christmas Shop’ is superbly written but to be fair all of Rebecca’s books are superbly written. Rebecca has one of those easy going writing styles that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. In fact, reading one of Rebecca’s books feels more like a chat between friends than reading an actual book. I hope that makes sense. For me the story hit the ground running and maintained a fairly gentle pace throughout. Rebecca cares about her characters and this shines through in her writing and in the very vivid and realistic way in which she describes them. She describes them so well that they seem just as real as you and I. I felt as though I was part of the story, which is all thanks to Rebecca’s very vivid and realistic storytelling.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Flora’s Travelling Christmas Shop’ and I would recommend it to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Rebecca’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.
I have always loved books by Rebecca Raisin and this great book was no exception. It was well written and packed with great characters. The book leads you into the story of the two best friends during their daily lives and this was totally relatable to me and my bestie especially with Christmas now just around the corner. Packed with lots of laughter and that made me chuckle out loud a few times and just cemented my love of the book.
We are introduced early on to a male character and as the insults fly, I found myself really buying into the characters and the antics caused me to laugh out loud and causing me to have to explain about what I was reading and why I was laughing. I love how there is the influence for Flora not to change and to stay true to herself and her beliefs as their two worlds collide.
This is what I would call a proper proper chick flick read, I loved it and just couldn’t put it down as I wanted to know where the plot twists would take me and what would happen as I neared the end of the story. I love this author, her books are always a fabulous read and this one is right up there with the best of them.
This was my first Christmas read this year and it was the perfect way to start the festive season and my festive reading! This was such a lovely little story with engaging characters and a perfect setting. I loved Flora and her eccentric nature and obsession with Christmas, and was rooting for her to be successful with her travelling shop venture. I loved the setting of the Christmas market in Lapland and all the different stalls/vans and I could picture everything clearly when I was reading it. It definitely gave me the festive feels and I loved the added romance. I know this author has a lot of other books and after reading this I will be having a look out for those.
I'm a huge sucker for stories with a sweet, sunshiny female that captures the attention of the grumpy guy who just refuses to be happy. It's a weakness.
So, of course, this book checks that box. Also, it's incredibly well-written and the characters just shine.
The fact that it takes place during Christmas is just a bonus!
Poor Flora loses her dream job--at the Christmas Emporium--and has to relocate...to Finland. So, she does that--in a van. Where she runs her own Christmas shop. Yes, she's that into Christmas.
This story was charming, lovely, and full of Christmas cheer--just what I like this time of year!
Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this book! My review will be live, at the link given, on 11/08/21.
Flora loves Christmas so much she has her dream job working in a Christmas shop, until she is fired! She packs up to follow her dreams and buys a camper van which she converts into a Christmas shop.
Flora looks forward to her new life with the van lifers but gets a bit of a shock when she meets some of them. She also meets the Norse god Connor, who she's attracted to, but unfortunately he hates Christmas. Flora’s mission is to convince him to enjoy Christmas and has many plans for him.
I loved this book. It is full of fun, festivities and laugh out loud moments with some wonderful characters. It was nice to have a fiesty lead although this did get her into bother at times. I loved the description of the Christmas Market and could visualise myself there. If you love Christmas you will love this book.
This is the first Rebecca Raisin book I have read but will definitely need to look out for her others.
Book Review “Flora’s Travelling Christmas Shop” by Rebecca Raisin
NOVEMBER 6, 2021 ~ NIKIPRESTON
SYNOPSIS/BOOK BLURB
Flora’s Travelling Christmas Shop
‘Tis the season for mulled wine, mince pies, and magic under the mistletoe…
Flora loves Christmas more than anything else in the world, so she’s gutted when her Scrooge-alike boss fires her from Deck the Halls Christmas emporium. But now she finally has a chance to follow her dreams – and what better place to start than the home of Christmas?
Before she can say ‘sleigh bells’, Flora’s on her way to Lapland in a campervan-cum-Christmas-shop. She can’t wait to spend her days drinking hot chocolate and taking reindeer-drawn carriage rides, but something Flora didn’t expect was meeting Connor, a Norse god of a man who makes her heart flutter and snowflakes swirl in her stomach. There’s just one problem: Connor hates Christmas.
Can Flora convince Connor of the joys of Christmas – and will she find a festive romance along the way?
Purchase Links
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3gtWYSS
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3ycZ6UM
Amazon AUS: https://amzn.to/3sHpYLx
REVIEW ~ NIKI PRESTON ~4 STARS
Flora’s Travelling Christmas Shop is one of those you need to read wrapped up in a cosy blanket, fire roaring and Christmas Carols playing in the background. It’s the only way to read this exquisitely festive frolic to Lapland.
Normally I don’t read Christmassy books but this year I have found myself giving them a go and actually I am having a right ball, A Christmassy bauble of a time, you might say. This book is a lovely gentle read and throws you head first into the Season of good Will. Flora is a funny character that has it all, a Christmas job, but all year round, a perfect boyfriend and a happy life until she doesn’t have it anymore. What to do now? Well what any sane Christmas loving girl would do, hop in a camper van and off to the real Christmas, Lapland!
The relationship she then finds herself in is with a Christmas hating Connor. This is something Flora can not grasp. I mean who doesn’t like Christmas. It must be easy to turn this mans frown upside down? surely if anyone can change his mind, Flora can, can’t she?
I would have to say, although this book is full of wonderous over the top Christmas cliché’s it definitely a book worth reading. Seriously what is a Christmas read without a few cliché’s along the way. Flora and her antics will certainly put you in the spirit of Christmas, just make sure you have plenty of mince pies and good cheer.
AUTHOR BIO
Rebecca Raisin is a true bibliophile. This love of books morphed into the desire to write them. She’s been widely published in short story anthologies, and in fiction magazines. And now she is focusing on writing romance.
Rebecca aims to write characters you can see yourself being friends with. People with big hearts who care about relationships and believe in true love.
Social Media Links –
https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaRaisinAuthor
www.twitter.com/jaxandwillsmum
https://www.instagram.com/rebeccaraisinwrites/
Oh how I loved this book from start to finish. I loved Flora and her accident prone, disaster attracting ways! I loved her supportive best friend, how she was grabbing life and taking a chance at moving into a camper van, the people she met (including the obligatory mean girls!!). It is so much how I want to live my life and she is so much me - caring, kind and a total disaster!! I wanted to read more. I loved the adventures she went on and the people she met. A great endorsement and accurate representation of van life!! More please….
This is one of those joyous festive reads which I loved. Flora is an interesting character, with some quirky traits and the tendency to wear her heart on her sleeve. She has never quite felt that she fitted in anywhere and sets out to join the van Lifers and travel to Lapland. She is the ideal person to do this with her absolute love of all things Christmas and her firm belief that the Christmas spirit enhances everything. Once there, she meets up with a whole variety of characters, not all of whom are as keen on festive celebrations as she is. Connor, the manager responsible for making sure the Van Lifers follow the rules. He hates Christmas as much as Flora adores it.
Any reader of this romcom is going to love the setting with its glorious northern light skies and beautiful snowy forest rides. The local Christmas market sounds so inviting. I also smiled at Flora's love of the Hallmark movie and egged on by her friend how she wanted to be the heroine in her own Hallmark story. Friendship is shown to endure no matter the distance as Flora looks for somewhere to call home and someone to belong to.
In short: finding romance below the northern lights
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the book