Being transported to the Lake District at Christmas is a delight! This book oozies Christmas, especially with Krystle trying so hard to make everything absolutely perfect. Max, on the flip side is that classic grinch, who Krystle feels the need and desire to win over. If you like the HBO movies, this book would hit the spot. There is warmth and all the spirit of Christmas within these pages.
The supporting cast are strong and lead interesting lives too.
The message within the book about life not always going to plan is a strong one and brings that heartwarming feel that’s lovely for this time of year.
This takes readers on a trip through lovely scenery, Christmas atmosphere and second chances in life as well as making it a time to feel more complete and reconcile memories and heal from times of old.
It is a book of pure festive escapism!

Rated 4.5/5 on the blog

What a lovely Christmas read this was. From the start of the book as you are introduced to the main characters you become immediately invested in them.

Krys is Mrs Christmas, having come from a deprived background she is revisiting a childhood memory of a fairytale house with her well polished boyfriend. After a sticky start boyfriend Brett almost immediately jets off Krys is left alone. Immersing herself in local life she becomes friends with many of them and particularly one, a loner who has an equally tragic past.

Lovely characters and you are rooting for a romantic Christmas ending.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re looking for a gushy romance this Christmas, read The Christmas Holiday. The setting is perfect for a cosy white Christmas. It’s a really humbling book to read with the themes of helping others and friendships formed in that process. I loved the setting and the characters. It’s easy to predict what was going to happen in the story but I think that just adds to the charm of the book. From the moment I picked this book up, I connected with it, it was such a heartwarming book.

The Christmas Holiday by Phillipa Ashley is a really lovely festive story about love, loss, memories and community. Set in the Lake District, the main character Krys has planned a perfect Christmas for her and her partner, but as ever, things don't quite go to plan. Whilst the storyline is fairly predictable, the author soon draws you in to this feel-good book - fans of Ashley will not be disappointed.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love a festive book and Philippa Ashley nails it every time.

This on is a great story, romantic and festive with a hint of loss and sadness, life isn't always peachy so I enjoy romantic books with a pinch of tragedy or sadness, it makes it feel more real.

Reading this book made me feel like I was part of the story, staying in cottage/mansion over Christmas with my family is like my dream, maybe one day.

I love the community feel to this book, I'm all for community and I think this is what shines throughout this book, the coming together of a group of people to support someone or each other where needed, that's what community is to me.

I love the character Krys, she is a strong character but has an emotional side and she's so caring. She was my favourite character in this book and one I remember for ages after finishing it.

An absolute Christmas cracker of a book! Loved this so much I read it from start to end in 2 days.
When Krystal rents her childhood dream home for Christmas she suddenly finds herself single, grieving and with no Christmas decorations. As self acclaimed Mrs Christmas she throws herself into the community and meets her own Mr Christmas. With some twists and turns along the way Krys finally finds her happily ever after.
Loved it!
Thanks for allowing me to read and review

This was a highly entertaining ‘quick and easy’ read. I loved the story line, setting, characters and plot, and whilst it might never endure as great literature it was a good Christmas read.

Another feel good Christmas story from Phillipa Ashley, just right for snuggling down with an indulgent hot chocolate in front of a log fire. Krys aka Mrs Christmas decides to spend a long Christmas holiday in a perfect holiday location but disaster strikes even before she arrives when her boyfriend Brett manages to strand his car in a flood and her treasured Christmas ornaments that hold precious memories are lost in the water. When they are offered help by a local, Max, to stay overnight in his bothy they reluctantly agree and you quickly realise which way the story is likely to go. Just hunker down and enjoy how the story unfolds

What a heartwarming Christmas romcom with a stunning wintry setting in the lake district.
Krys, or Mrs Christmas as she is known, is a lovely character and her love for Christmas and decorating and the magic of the season was so in sync with my own self that I felt like I was living out the magical storyline myself.
I really liked all the storyline with the Mountain Rescue Team. Clearly a lot of research went into this and I found it fascinating, especially about the search and rescue dogs.
A lovely read for a snowy day.

Loved the location and characters! I read this in a single cold afternoon in front of the fire. Reads like a film-An ideal winter escapist read to enjoy snuggled up under a blanket.

The Christmas Holiday by Phillipa Ashley

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Avon and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

Krystle didn’t have a normal childhood and longed for warm family Christmases with presents under the tree. Now she makes sure everyone else has the perfect Christmas she never had, bringing beautiful decorations to cheer as many people as possible.

With her festive business booming, she decides to celebrate by renting a secluded house in the Lakes, with a plan to make this the ultimate yuletide getaway.

But fate immediately throws a spanner in the works in the form of a broken-down car, a flooded river and Max; a man who despises Christmas.

Krystle becomes determined to show Max the joys of the holiday. She won’t take no for an answer.

My Opinion

This was a joy to read. I got so caught up in the story that I lost an entire afternoon. Krys has booked out a large house to really enjoy Christmas this year, but nothing is going to plan - instead she uses all of her experiences to make sure that everyone has a Christmas to remember.

Such a sweet story with very loveable characters. The opening pages will grab your attention and you will find yourself very invested in the story. A fabulous festive novel to read this year.

Rating 4/5

Another Hallmark-style book. I've read from Phillipa Ashley before, so I knew what to expect. And I wasn't disappointed. This was a perfectly nice book. Nothing really stood out as exceptionally good or bad, and there are probably a few dozen similar books floating around the average bookstore at any time, but it was the perfect book to drag into a blanket nest and curl up with on a rainy day.

Krystle spent her childhood longing for the perfect Christmas, so now she has made it her job to create the perfect family Christmas for other people every year. She celebrates her success by renting a house out in the country that she remembers from her childhood, intending to spend the festive period there with her boyfriend. What she wasn't planning on was getting stuck in a river, almost drowning and meeting Max, who hates Christmas. Krystle makes it her mission to change Max's mind about the holidays.

This wasn't a particularly memorable book, but it does what it says on the tin. My only real complaint is that there's quite a dark side to both Krystle's and Max's life story. At times the darkness became too much for a Christmassy heartwarming bit of escapism.

I loved this book. The description of the landscape reads made you feel like you were there. Great characters and a lovely story. Highly recommended.

Beautiful story, I really enjoyed this! I really warmed to Krys as a character, and enjoyed seeing her flourish as the story went on. Such a Christmassy book and the perfect romance story following Krys and Max’s journey. Highly recommend.

I have read a few books by this author and always liked them. This one is something else, her best yet.

It begins with a Prologue where we meet Krystle who did not have a very good childhood, her mother found a new partner and Krystle went to live with her Aunty Linda. Krystle went to an outdoor centre trip in the Lake District and seen a beautiful house......

Some years later after university Krys (as she like to be called now) and is in a relationship with Brett which is going nowhere as Brett seems to rule her. Krys is a buyer for all seasonal items to be sold in stores and garden centres and loves her job as much as Christmas itself. Krys decides she and Brett need time together and books the large house she once seen in the Lake District for Christmas.

Brett being the person he is, decides he knows best to get to the house. Ignores all the directions and tries to drive his beloved new Porche thru a Ford, with water rising and they get stuck. Max a loner who lives in a Bothy rescues them.

They stay with Max the first night. Brett makes it clear he hates the house and keeps going back to London for work. Off he then goes to New York.

Krys throws herself into village life helping out the locals. She learns about the Mountain Rescue Team.

It is a great read, have your tissues to hand towards the end, you will need them. I have no hesitation in giving 5*

a festive Christmas read set in the lake district. Absolutely adored this book and couldn't put it down! Phillipa Ashley always provides us with great Christmas reads and this was no exception. Possibly my favourite from her yet!

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I really enjoyed this book, a wonderfully festive read which I found difficult to put down.

This was another lovely read from Ashley and I enjoyed how passing references were made to characters from other books that are set in the Lake District. Full to the brim of romance and Christmas, this was a sweet story with likeable characters from start to finish.

The dramatic opening scenes were an unusual way to start a book by this author but it immediately grabbed my attention. It is clear that Krys has invested a lot of time and emotion into this Christmas getaway with her boyfriend. But, being stranded in a rising ford and with the rain lashing down is hardly the start to the perfect holiday she had imagined. Krys is devastated by the damage that is caused by her Christmas decorations because they have such sentimental value. And this is what summarises Kry's character: she is devoted to Christmas and thrives off the joy spread through decorations.

Settling into Holly Manor, Krys finds she is spending more time with the local community than with her boyfriend. I enjoyed watching the locals embrace this city stranger and how easily Krys interacts with others. Yes, her arrival in the village has not escaped local gossip, but Krys does not let this deter her. Whilst she may be considered as a materialist character, I enjoyed Ashley's portrayal of Krys as she helps out with the local mountain rescue team, uses her work contacts to help spread Christmas cheer, and even spends lot of time at the local youth centre. This last location was particularly special to Krys because of the memories it provokes and I liked seeing how she gives back something to a place that came to change her life forever.

The mystery that is behind Max adds fuel to the story. For Krys, he is a bit of an enigma and I enjoyed seeing how their paths cross frequently. After all, they are practically neighbours and Max's withdrawn behaviour from the village simply raises questions about his background. Over the course of the novel, Max moves from being an unreadable stranger to a character you sympathise with and I relished in the dramatic final scenes that show Max revealing his true self once and for all.

Escape to the Lake District with plenty of views and cold weather. This the perfect read to snuggle up with in the winter months and I loved Krys's drive and appreciation for Christmas. Her energy is palpable and the warmth and cheer she spreads even reached out beyond the pages as I found myself thinking of her whilst putting up my own Christmas tree! It's a great read from Ashley and one that is best served with tinsel and hot chocolate.

With thanks to Avon books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Christmas Holiday is another fabulous and thoroughly enjoyable festive read from Philippa Ashley and if that stunning cover doesn’t draw you in, then the story that awaits you between the covers most certainly will. Often books that claim to be Christmas reads have the merest mentions of allusions to the time of year that we all look forward to but in this wonderful read Christmas is mentioned in abundance and it couldn’t fail to be seen as our main protagonist Krystle is a seasonal buyer and she thinks about Christmas from the first of January right up until the big day itself. This is a story that will give you all the Christmas feels and get you excited for the preparations leading up to the big day but there is also a more human and emotional side as well as we learn more about Krystle, what motivates her and how her life has led her to the point at which we meet her. There was a fabulous balance between warmth, humour and at times there was a more serious side but it all weaved together so wonderfully as Krystle tries to show Max that Christmas is the most wonderful time of year and at the same time learns an awful lot about herself.

The main strand of the story revolves around Krystle who as I have mentioned is a seasonal buyer. She works very hard all year round sourcing decorations for department stores, garden centres and interior shops. She loves the buzz and excitement of her job but it is endless. But Krystle had a tough childhood moving from flat to flat with her Mum, there was a lack of money and regular school changes were common place. On a school trip to the Lake District she came across a house that was perfectly decorated for Christmas and which just gave her all the feels and a deep longing that one day she too would have a picture postcard Christmas house and the Christmas that she deserves. Fast forward many years later and Krystle is about to embark on a make or break holiday with her boyfriend Brett. They are renting Holly Manor in the Thorndale Valley in the Lake District and after 25 years she believes she has found the Christmas house which has long lived on in her heart and mind.

Brett is charming, handsome and ambitious but I could tell from the outset his mind was more on his career than Krystle. He came across as pretentious and self-obsessed. Krystle needs this break from her job as she is on her knees physically and emotionally and she hopes for a reset in her relationship too. Things get off to a disastrous start when Brett’s car ends up in a ford in a storm which was comical at some points but sad too as Krystle lost many decorations which held so many special memories for her. But said incident allowed for the introduction of Max who plays a pivotal role throughout the story. Krystle is left on her own as Brett goes to America for work and that certainly wasn’t in the plan. But there was no messing around which I loved and through one thing and another Brett shows his selfish and unreliable side and it allows for different avenues of the plot to open up and be developed. I disliked Brett from the get go and was delighted to see what happened as it allowed more attention to be focused on Krystle and how she tries to make Max see that Christmas is a joyful time full of love, laughter, giving and fun times.

I adored Krystle as a character. I loved her enthusiasm, drive and ambition and that she was so resourceful and creative when it came to her job and that she loved seeing people happy. Max was the complete anthesis to her. He prefers to keep himself to himself living in his bothy near the mountains. He feels he is of no use to anyone and that he is better off hiding away from the world. He is a recluse who has many changeable moods but deep down the reader senses that there has to be a good and solid reason for why he has cut himself off from the world so to speak. Max rarely interacts with the villagers but the arrival of Krystle forces him to slowly come out of his shell and the further I read I was eager to know what had caused the residents of the village to view him as an eccentric character who needed support.Therefore, persuading him to join the mountain rescue team was a big thing.

I loved how the work of volunteer mountain rescue teams was explored throughout the story and it also helped establish a real sense of community and warmth of which Krystle soon became a part of. You could tell that she longed for a family and to feel really part of something. Her experiences in her childhood with her tough upbringing had damaged and altered her but I loved how she didn’t want this feeling to last through her adulthood and coming to the Lake District although for all intents and purposes it was to rescue her relationship with Brett really she began to discover an awful lot more. She suffers hurt and disappointment but tries to turn it into something positive and maybe perhaps all roads were leading her back to the Thorndale valley for many years and now is the time to grasp and hold on to the opportunities coming her way?

The trip was really Krystle trying to plan and curate the perfect Christmas and the perfect life to make up for when she wasn’t able to control things as a child and coming back to Thorndale was enabling her to lay some ghosts to rest. I loved how she threw herself into helping and organising things in the village and this is where the real festive feeling started to come into play. I could visualise the landscape, berries, trees, mountains and streams and nestled all amidst this was the village and placing herself at the forefront was Krystle. I enjoyed reading about how she sets about organising things and her experience in her job definitely came into full affect. But alongside this as mentioned in the blur she is doing her utmost to melt Max’s Grinch like heart and he too is showing her that things don’t always have to go to plan to take you somewhere magical. Will things go awry for the Krystle and her plans or will Christmas work its magic as it has done time and time again in the past?

The Christmas Holiday is an entertaining read that really got me in the mood for all things Christmas. Suffice to say I read it months in advance of the season because I couldn’t leave it lingering on my Kindle for too long. I am glad I did so because I loved following Krystle’s journey. It was captivating and sparkling with warm lovable characters although some do need to thaw out from when we first meet them. Krystle is exuberant and full of energy and you will be rooting for her that her childhood promise to herself will come true. More and more Christmas themed books in this genre are being published each year and although I don’t this market is being saturated there is a danger that you could miss out on a real gem of a read but don’t let that happen to The Christmas Holiday it deserves your time and attention. Amidst all the Christmas madness you’ll definitely be glad you chose it from the shop bookshelves.

Krystle has her perfect christmas planned at the postcard picture house she discovered as a child but of course life is never that easy. From being almost drowned on the way there to her boyfriend having to leave the country can she find the christmas and life she is really looking for.

Oh I do love a Phillipa Ashley christmas book. They're always sweet and a fun read. This of course lived up to my expectation. Had everything you could ask for, romance, miscommunication, heartache, drama, snow and of course christmas. The story touches on grief quite a bit showing different ways people deal with it, The ending was perfect and I loved how their story finished, The plot was a slow burn but there was a brilliant dramatic moment towards the end. Perfect festive read.