A nice festive read about a couple who face and tackle their relationship issues. A little slow at the start but it picked up and I was rooting for them to sort out their problems.

Thank you to Netgalley, publisher and the author for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review #drivinghomeforchristmas

Kate is a career driven divorce lawyer and her childhood sweetheart is a music teacher. They are floating along in the mundane routine of life until one day they realise they are heading in different directions. Will their motorway ever meet again or will it always be parallel?

The wintery cover and title drew me to this book.

This book is OK. It gives you the happy ever after romance you are looking for but despite the title their is minimal about this book which is Christmassy. You get a token Christmas segment in the very beginning and in the epilogue but that's it.

I do find books which skip around both characters and time frames in each chapter can get a bit confusing whilst needing to concentrate very hard so limits the places I can read.

This is a simple easy read but there is limited/ no twists and turns with very little happening other than their own introverted sorrow.

Imagine the ultimate Christmas road trip gone wrong – that's Kate and Ed's story. Their usual festive drive turns into a colossal fight, and suddenly, their ten-year relationship is toast. But get this, they still tough it out through family gatherings, facing three Christmases of pure awkwardness, an unexpected ex-love, and drama that puts soap operas to shame.

This book? It's a riot! Seriously, it's got all the holiday vibes, tons of laughs, and a truckload of heart. It's like this perfect mix of funny, heartfelt, and utterly addictive. You won't want to put it down, trust me. If you're up for a read that's both cozy and a rollercoaster of emotions – from laughs to warm fuzzies – this one's an absolute gem. It's like a Christmas miracle wrapped up in a book!

This was an easy enough festive read with a good dose of comedy. However, I sadly found it to be too repetitive and that meant I struggled to stay engaged with it. But that's just my opinion. You may really enjoy it.
#DrivingHomeforChristmas #NetGalley

I found the start of this book a little slow, which made the rest of the book hard to get into.

From the cover and title I expected Christmas to be a large aspect to the story, however it really takes a backseat to Kate and Ed's relationship breakdown, and the majority of the book actually takes place in the months after Christmas. It felt like a marketing trick to me, and I was rather disappointed to see it.

Kate and Ed’s story. A great read which I really enjoyed. The characters are believable, heartfelt and the reader is rooted in hoping they can work things out. This book was extremely funny in places and quick moving. Beautifully written and would recommend
Thanks to Netgalley, Quercus Books and Joanna Bolouri for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review

This was a fun, relatable, easy Christmas read. I loved the couple that it featured around and liked that their situation was realistic and believable. It showed that love isn’t always perfect. It was laugh out loud funny in parts and a joy to read. Perfect for a cosy night in!

Fun read with festive feels, Kate and Ed have decided this Christmas will be their last, this is about a couple who fall in love again.
Thank-you to Netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

When I saw the title I just knew I had to give this one a go.

Initially I wasn't too sure about this story, it all seemed a little juvenile and I found myself growing frustrated with Kate and Ed. The arguments and bickering was a little heavy for me. I am pleased that I persevered though as the alternating chapters and flashbacks definitely kept me intrigued. I loved getting to know Kate and Ed in their early relationship.

Overall a good story with all the cosiness you'd expect of a romance read.

Three Christmases will really put the festive cheer into you. You can feel the lights sparkling and the snow falling. So grab a warm drink and settle into this fun and festive book.

Driving Home For Christmas by Joanna Bolouri

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

Blurb

Three Christmases.
Two broken hearts.
One hell of a journey.

Driving home marks the start of the holidays for Kate and Ed, who have made this journey every Christmas of their ten-year long relationship. Normally the seasonal hits blare from the car stereo, and they are guaranteed to be wearing ridiculous jumpers in anticipation, but this year a frosty silence fills the car...

A massive argument leads to the immediate collapse of their relationship. But the show must go on, so they decide to brave their families together one last time.

With three Christmases to celebrate, an old flame waiting under the mistletoe and a shed load of expectation around their future together, this most wonderful time of year is anything but. There will be turkey, tiffs and tantrums galore, but it's sure to be a Christmas they'll never forget.

My Opinion

I enjoyed Kate and Ed's story and how Joanna Bolouri told it through alternative timelines and viewpoints. Ed and Kate have plans to visit family over Christmas and when they break up on the journey cannot bring themselves to ruin Christmas for everyone. An engaging read with a lot of family drama - just what is needed at Christmas.

Rating 4/5

Awww what a lovely story....1st time reading from this author and what a good read it was.Will look out for more of her books

A brilliant read and one I really enjoyed. The characters are loveable and varied, the plot is one that is engaging and medium paced. I found myself completely drawn into the story and enjoyed the writing style.

Fantastic Christmas read. Warm with proper laugh out loud moments! It may be predictable but that’s what I wanted. I found myself rooting for Kate and Ed. Thoroughly enjoyable and a great read anytime of the year.

Thank you Netgalley

What happens when break up with your long term parter while driving home to your families for Christmas?

Thats the dilemma Kate and Ed face in Joanna Bolouri's Driving Home for Christmas.

Lawyer Kate and teacher Ed have been together for fifteen years. Despite wanting to be a human rights lawyer, Kate is overworked and stuck handling divorces, while Ed has long put aside his dreams of pursuing music to become a music teacher. En route to Yorkshire from London, simmering resentments burn and they break up, but they decide to pretend to play happy families over the break.

This book has been gently written, examining how Kate and Ed view each other, their relationship, and their lives as indidvduals. No one is the bad guy here, but you can see that while there is still a lot of love for each other, they need to get to tackle the root of their problems.

For Kate, she feels stuck working long hours for a demanding boss. At the same time she has been constantly pressured to marry and have children, something she still is unsure she wants, but everyone from Ed's mother to her best friend expect her to do so. She's also frustrated by Ed remaining stuck as a teacher, instead of pursuing his dreams of music. [Sidenote: I really loved Kate's blow up about the kids expectation, though I wish the author did push back further on all the other characters who applied that pressure (why do people always caution that ultimately motherhood is what they should do? Yeah kids aren't the end of having a career, etc but not everyone is cut out for it and women do bear the burden of parenthood/career breaks etc)].

Meanwhile Ed is frustrated by Kate remaining in a job that makes her unhappy. However he too is unhappy with himself and can't recognise how he's stuck in his own rut.

I really enjoyed this book, especially since the action takes place over a few months - with both Kate and Ed working on how they can remain together, and work through their issues. It's an emotional, but heartfelt book where you find yourself rooting for Kate and Ed to work it out. I especially loved the unconventional epilogue which was a huge change from the standard marriage and babies epilogues which I hate.

I enjoyed this book, but found it a bit slow to get into. it was well worth keeping going, and fell in love with the characters esp Gubba and Tom. Worth a read!

This was a fun, relatable, easy Christmas read. I loved the couple that it featured around and i liked that their situation was realistic and believable. It showed that love isn’t always perfect and for something to work you have to work at it. It was laugh out loud funny in parts and a joy to read.

I am a big fan of Joanna Bolouri's writing and I have read (and enjoyed!) all her previous books. I remember I especially loved her Christmas release last year so I had very high expectations for this one. All in all, I have to say that this was a very good read, it has hilarious moments, heartfelt moments and of course, festive moments. So it certainly delivered on all the accounts.

Being in a long term relationship myself, I could relate to our main characters a lot. I especially warmed to our hero, Ed. Although both had their flaws I think they came in a very self-discovering journey during the book that made them realise whether they really worked as a couple.

It might not be my favourite book by this author, but as I said, I had a great time reading it and I would highly recommend it to old and new readers of Bolouri.

This was an enjoyable read that I finished reading in one day. I liked the story but there wasn't anything exciting or unexpected to give it the higher marks. The characters were nice and realistic. I am glad I read it, and it was well written. The pace was nice and relaxed. I am gutted that I didn't connect with it more. It could be the perfect novel for you, so I always suggest you read a sample to see if the book works for you. I did find myself laughing out loud a few times.

Many thanks to the author and publishers for creating an enjoyable story.
The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog today https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/driving-home-for-christmas-by-joanna-bolouri-quercus-books-3-stars under ladyreading365

I was in the mood to read a Christmas book, but didn’t want one that was overly innocent and sappy. This was a perfect one for me.

Kate and Ed had been together forever. This year, they were about to start the annual long drive home for Christmas when they got into a massive argument which ended their relationship before the trip even began. However, they decided they would still go through with the holiday festivities before breaking the news to their families. Would they survive the three Christmas celebrations together, while not being ‘together’?

I loved that this book didn’t go overboard with the holiday ‘magic’ aspect. It was comfortable, and realistic. Everyone who has been in a relationship for a long period of time would understand Kate and Ed completely.

I also loved the second-chance romance aspect of it. I appreciated the independence and confidence that Kate and Ed each had - because they were such strong individuals, they could have a healthy relationship together.

This was a more realistic version of a holiday romance for grown-ups.