I loved the concept of this book so much! Getting to hear about the queen while really diving into other characters was a perfect set up for this historical fiction! The story moved along very well and gave little Christmas vibes throughout. Overall, a great read.!

Favorite book of 2024! I appreciate any well written book based on the life of Queen Elizabeth. Bonus that it included Christmas. It was charming, lighthearted and full of just enough romantic to make it sweet.

Historical fiction books tend to be hit or miss for me. I either find them fascinating or boring. Unfortunately, this one was the latter for me. I'd hoped it would be the former because I loved The Crown and the blurb for the book sounded promising, but it never fully grabbed my attention. I ended up skimming a lot and never really clicked with the characters or the main relationship. The writing was decent though and I can definitely see how the story would work better for other readers.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

Christmas with the Queen is a charming and unique historical fiction novel that offers a refreshing perspective on Queen Elizabeth, told through the eyes of Olive Carter, a young reporter for the BBC trying to make a name for herself. As Olive embarks on her journey, she unexpectedly reunites with Jack Deveraux, an old love now working at Sandringham. Their paths cross repeatedly throughout the story, building tension and anticipation as they navigate their feelings for each other.

What makes this story particularly compelling is Olive's one big secret—something she's kept hidden from Jack—that almost derails their romance. The emotional depth and drama of their relationship, set against the backdrop of royal life, add a rich layer to the narrative. I am recommending to readers who enjoy historical fiction, women's fiction, or anything involving the royal family. I believe it would also make a great Book Club choice for December. Christmas with the Queen is a perfect holiday read for anyone seeking a heartwarming, romantic, and engaging story with a satisfying happy ending.

Christmas with the Queen is a charming blend of historical fiction, royalty and the Christmas season in the UK. This is a delightful novel that takes place over several Christmas seasons in the 1950s, as a young Queen Elizabeth is set to deliver her first Christmas Day holiday broadcast. When young BBC employee (and aspiring reporter) Olive finds herself at Sandringham she has an unexpected encounter with the Queen and runs into former friend Jack, a recently widowed chef helping out in the royal kitchens for the holiday season. Jack stirs up a lot of memories for single mom Olive and vice versa. Part of the same social group after VE Day, Olive and Jack lost touch. Olive, worried she will never be able to climb the ladder in a man's world, continues to try and establish a name for herself. Connecting over the next 5 Christmas seasons, Jack and Olive's past resurfaces and secrets are exposed. Will Olive be able to assert herself at the BBC while managing the complications with Jack? This question and more are answered in this wonderful holiday novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

5⭐️

If you love all things Queen Elizabeth II or even just books set in the time period of her early years as monarch - the 1950s - then you will love this delightful love story that coincides with Her Majesty!

The story of Olive and Jack is one that can be relatable to so many - right person, wrong time. I thoroughly enjoyed following the journey of two old friends (old flames??) through their early friendship, separate lives, and chance encounters while serving the royal family during Christmas that lead to the rebuilding of a new friendship… and maybe even a budding romance!

“Wherever you are, either at home or away, in snow or in sunshine, I give you my affectionate greetings, with every good wish for Christmas and the New Year.”
Queen Elizabeth II, Christmas Day 1952

Thank you HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This story was just an "OK" read. I had hoped to see a more personal side of the Queen but felt that the yearly interactions with the character Olive helping with her speech, it didn't go much further. A lost opportunity. The romance between Olive and Jack didn't do much for me. A one-night stand turns into a chance meeting each Christmas. I never felt there was enough at these meeting to make me feel that a true romance was forming.

Jack is a chef going to the royal residence in Sandringham to cook for the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth for Christmas 1952. Olive is a newly minted reporter who ends up going to Sandringham to report on the Queen’s first Christmas radio address. Jack and Olive know each other from several years ago, but Olive has a secret that could have huge repercussions for both of them. The book follows Jack and Olive throughout the next several Christmases as they grow closer, interact with the royals, and follow their own hopes and dreams. This is a very cozy historical fiction, and a surprisingly quick read! I loved the little Last Christmas in Paris easter eggs we got throughout the book, and I enjoyed getting to peek behind the curtain into Christmas with the royal family (even though it was fictionalized). I definitely liked Last Christmas in Paris better, but this one was so fun as well!

Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this book! ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Perfect holiday romance! Love everything these authors write! Love the dual timeline and charachters. Webb and Gaynor are a dynamic writing team

What a wonderful Christmas book. I love to read Christmas books at this time of year. I enjoy the happy endings, Christmas joy and new love. In Christmas with the Queen, there was all of this plus some historical fiction about Queen Elizabeth after she first took reign. We learned how she adjusted to becoming Queen so early in life; how she adjusted to her duties as Queen and Mother to young children and how Phillip adjusted to such a huge change in his marriage. While learning about this, we also got to see an old relationship between Olive and Jack become a new relationship. We saw their struggles, their careers getting in the way and a big secret kept from one of them. But they were able to overcome this and find true love.

A bit long (especially the back and forth with Jack and Olive) but an enjoyable historical fiction, Christmas read. I wish we'd spent more time with the Queen though.

This Christmas historical fiction will have you hooked with the first few pages. Royal workers have no idea that their worlds crossed paths a few years before. Each page and story will be tugging at your heartstrings.

What a wonderful book with chapters that went between Olive, a young emerging journalist trying to break into covering good stories working for the BBC and a young chef working for the royal family. The Queen has a couple chapters too and the characters interact with the Queen and Prince Philip predominantly at Christmas at Sandringham around the 1950’s when the Queen was emerging as a young monarch and delivering Christmas speeches. The characters are connected in more ways than one and it was a lovely story especially at the holiday season.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book through NetGalley. Christmas with the Queen is a lovely story of love, dreams, and friendship. The story was well written and the characters were rich in complexity. The story line was beautifully crafted with a variety of emotions and feelings. This is definitely a book for your to read list!
4 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️

loved, loved this christmas time book! First time reading this book by these authors and will defintitely again

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for giving me back Queen Elizabeth. I have been missing her. This was a Christmas treat. Throughly enjoyed this read.

In the latest collaboration by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb, CHRISTMAS WITH THE QUEEN introduces us to Jack and Olive, two people who met and became friends in the celebrations after VE day, then lose touch. They reconnect in the unlikeliest place, both in Sandringham for the first Christmas of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. When the usual royal correspondent falls ill, Olive talks her way into covering the royal preparations for the holidays and the Queen’s first Christmas radio address. She never expects to help the Queen prepare for her speech, nor does she expect to run into Jack working in the kitchen. Jack joined the royal kitchen as a chef, ultimately keeping the commitment he made before losing his beloved wife in a tragic accident. Seeing Olive again is one bright spot in an otherwise bleak time.
Told from three points of view – Jack, Olive, and Queen Elizabeth II – and with flashbacks from both Jack and Olive, we follow them through the years as they follow their paths and their dreams, slowly finding their way to each other. There is a secret, a surprise, and the royal family, and I loved watching the story unfold and it won’t be forgotten any time soon. This was a perfect read for Christmas or any other time of the year and another success for Gaynor and Webb’s co-writing partnership.
Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of the novel. All opinions are my own and freely given.

I enjoyed this book over the Christmas holidays. It was not quite what I expected and I would have loved to read more about the Queen rather than the romance which was the focus of the book, but I did find it to be an engaging and solid story. I very much enjoyed the descriptions of Sandringham and was delighted to learn the authors had visited and explored the house. I also loved the Easter eggs from Last Christmas in Paris, which I also recently read. I look forward to more books from these authors.

Title: Christmas with the Queen
Author: Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham, Gary Furlong, Esther Wane
Publisher: HarperAudio
Length: Approximately 10 hours and 15 minutes
Source: Audiobook Purchased from Audible

Have you ever wanted to visit somewhere else for the holidays? I’ve always wanted to go to Germany and England at Christmas.
Jack Devereux and Olive Carter had a brief romance at the end of World War II that never took off. Jack fell instead for Olive’s friend, Andrea. Years later, Jack is a widower and the two meet again at Sandringham House at Christmas. Jack is now a chef working for the royal family and Olive is a reporting on the royal family Christmas traditions when the two meet again. Will they ever be able to truly connect?
My thoughts on this novel:
• There are three narrators of this novel. Jack, Olive and Queen Elizabeth all narrate portions of the book. The audiobook has three different narrators for these parts which works out great. The primary narration is Jack and Olive.

• The novel starts in the 1950s and goes through several Christmases in the 1950s. I enjoyed that most of the action was during the Christmas season.

• There are flashbacks showing how Jack and Olive met at the end of WWII. Olive also has a brief meeting with then Princess Elizabeth celebrating the end of the war.

• The near misses in romance drove me crazy at times! I was like NOOOOOO – just tell him/her how you feel. This story is two shy people afraid to ever say their feelings and rock the boat.

• The story was cozy.

• Jack is a Louisiana native and brings spice and new dishes to the palace. He dreams of owning his own restaurant like his grandfather before him.

• Olive is a single mother. She lies that she is a war widow to hide the fact that she is an unwed mother. Her journey was interesting working as a female in a man’s world while also trying to hide that she is an unwed mother

• I liked the royal happenings throughout the story – it reminded me of The Crown.

• The ending of this novel was perfect.

Overall, Christmas with the Queen by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb is a lovely slow burn historical romance set at the Christmas season. I enjoyed reading this one!

Jack is an New Orleans born chef who finds himself mourning and alone in London in 1952. When he gets a job in the Queen's kitchen in her first year of rein, he works to prove himself and chase his dreams of happiness and opening his own Cajun-inspired restaurant.

Olive is a reporter for the BBC who is temporarily assigned to cover the Queen's first Christmas broadcast. She lives with her parents, and they help raise her little girl. She is working towards being a respected royal journalist in a male dominated industry while keeping her daughter's paternity and her love for the father, an old friend, a secret. When Jack and Olive cross paths at Sandringham, will they rekindle their friendship and make time for love in their career focused lives?

Set over a few Christmases in the Queen's kitchen and around her radio broadcast, this cozy winter story is told from the three perspectives and is a lovely Christmasy historical fiction. I really enjoyed all three points of views (although some of their actions annoyed me.) I liked this one a lot and want to go back and read these author's preview holiday book set during WWII in Paris. I really liked the setting and time period, and it was so refreshing to have a non-sappy holiday book that is memorable and lovely. I would highly recommend this one.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.