Donna Ashcroft + Christmas + Scotland = the best literary combination.

An all-year round Christmas resort in Scotland? Sign me up! It sounds so delicious and if it really existed I would move in tomorrow.

Yes it's an ideal book for those dark cosy winter nights, but it's also perfect when its 33 degrees outside and you hate summer, and just want to lose yourself in a cold environment.

I adore Holliday, she is the sort of Christmas-loving person I aim to be, and I just loved her. And then when I grow up (I know I'm technically already grown up but go with it), I aim to be Bonnibell, she is absolutely gorgeous. I really liked Damon too. Yes he's the enemy at first, but the festive spirit soon seeps into him and he is really lovely. There's an array of other characters, guests, friends, relatives, employees, animals. And there isn't a dud among them. I knew I could count on Donna to create a wonderful family of characters. There are some that feature in the previous Sottish Highlands book which was a nice touch but it's perfectly fine to read this one first.

It's a small thing, but I love all the festive baking involved. Baking was my thing before I go ill, and so I do miss being able to do it as much as I used to, especially at Christmas time, and so just reading about the smells of mince pies and gingerbread biscuits, oh it was so familiar and yummy.

It isn't just a happy, cosy festive book. I mean, it is. But it's deeper. It's about loss and grief and love and friendship and wants and desires and dreams and community. It's a really thoughtful and moving book wrapped up in a merry Christmas package.

Ok so I do know that there is already a Scottish Highlands series, of which this is a part, so that's good that (hopefully) we will be getting more. Having said that, I really want a sequel of this exact story, with the same characters. The ending is perfectly lovely, but I want to live in this Christmas world for a bit longer please.

In this heartfelt and festive enemies to lovers tale, sweet and hopeful Holliday Harrison is overcoming a tragic past through her time working at Christmas Resort, the very place that surly Damon MacAndrews is threatening to buy and bulldoze along with his memories of a former heartache. Author Donna Ashcroft continues to deliver with her signature style that has become the paperback equivalent to curling up with a mug of hot cocoa and turning on a feel good holiday rom-com under the twinkling lights. At just 200 pages and aptly paced, it’s a quick read that could easily be picked up by Hallmark and turned into a must watch on their Christmas lineup.

The main characters of Holliday and Damon are written with ample amounts of heart making them an easy couple to root for, but it’s the cast of quirky characters who work and stay at Christmas Resort that truly enchant. Their storylines infuse the book with so much festivity and cheer; we may know where the story is headed, but their presence makes getting there all the more enjoyable. Not only is Ashcroft able to transport us so completely to the charming location of Christmas Resort (set in a village written with great warmth and care) that it feels like another important character in the story, she is also able to transport us to that almost indescribable holiday feeling of togetherness and cheer leaving the reader with nothing but hope and comfort for the season ahead. The saddest part of Christmas Secrets in the Scottish Highlands is turning the last page and saying goodbye.

This author continues to to be a reliable choice when it comes to picking up a story packed with all the trimmings of a holiday classic making it an easy recommendation to add to your holiday reading list for this reviewer.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the digital advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions.

This book is a show stopper - one I would give to my friends. I would buy multiple copies of this book for people! Beautifully crafted, richly detailed with captivating characters. I was not fully prepared to completely fall in love with this book! A Christmas delight!

The story of two people stuck in the past, one trying to hang on to memories and one trying to bury them. I enjoyed the story and the setting of Christmas Lodge. A very quick read.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for a copy of "Christmas Secrets in the Scottish Highlands" in exchange for my honest opinion.

Set in Scotland at the Christmas Lodge - a resort where Christmas is celebrated every single day of the year. Guests at the Lodge get the full Christmas experience anytime of the year including decorations, gifts and a big dinner. Christmas biscuits and mince pies are always close at hand. The book is told in two persons - Holliday and Damon.

Holliday Harrison had been living and working at the Lodge since her fiancé Adrian Robinson was killed in a train crash two years ago. Some might say that she was hiding from life at the lodge where she had made many happy memories with Adrian.

The Lodge is up for sale and Damon MacAndrew arrives to look over what he plans to buy and raise to the ground. He's been to the Lodge before but instead of harbouring all the happy memories that guests and Holliday have, he resents the place and feels that if he eradicates the Lodge, his bad memories will go with it.

Holliday, Bonnibell, Connell, Innis and everyone at the Lodge have to figure out how to convince Damon not to destroy the Lodge and everyone's happy memories. Many of the guests return year after year to celebrate happy times. Their is great food, dancing lessons, arts & crafts, music.

Holliday has a fluffy white cat named Frosty who plays a fun part in the story. Reader's of Ms. Ashcroft's previous books will be delighted that Edina Lachlan and Bob her delightful donkey from "Christmas in the Scottish Highlands" make an appearance in this book as well.

Once everyone - staff and guests alike - realize that there is a healing power to the Christmas Resort, everything falls into place the way it was meant to be.