A charming fictionalised idea of the Royal Christmas at Sandringham House in Norfolk , England. There’s a running romance blossoms between a young couple reunited for the festivities too . Jack Devereux and Olive Carter , she’s a single mother ,typist and aspiring reporter at the BBC. She jumps at the chance to cover the holiday celebrations and when she meets the young queen . She even gets to help her with her Majesty’s Christmas radio address .Jack is a renowned chef from New Orleans originally, he has heartbreak in his life too and jumps at the chance when a friend points him the way to the palace. He accepts the job of working in the palace kitchen as cook. When he meets an old friend ,their spark is reignited. He and Olivia have a history and catch up. Over five consecutive Christmases the pair share their lives and become closer as their lives intertwined at Christmas time.until that first televised Christmas speech. And we catch an imaginary insight of the queen in residence at Christmas time. Sublime writing and great forethought to the characters , scenes are well described too.

I loved the history in this book, so much so that I after reading it, I did further research and watched a compilation of snippets from Queen Elizabeth’s annual Christmas broadcast from 1957-2021, the first of which is highlighted in this story. I enjoyed the alternating narration between Olive, Jack, and the Queen. I was not quite as interested in the love story between Olive and Jack in this book. I would recommend it!

Thank you very much to NetGalley and William Morrow for the advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

“Christmas with the Queen” is a sweet slow burn historical romance set against the backdrop of the Royal household in the 1950s.

Olive and Jack met on VE Day but fell out of touch. Now he is a widower working as a chef for the Royal family and she is a single mother covering the family for the BBC.

They reconnect and spend years getting to know each other again.

The pace of the book was a little slow for me, and featured one of my least favorite tropes (lack of communication) but ultimately was just what the doctor ordered when it comes to holiday historical fiction.

I’d highly recommend this book to readers who love The Crown, Downtown Abbey, and mid-century British historical fiction. This book won’t disappoint!

Historical fiction and holiday books are two of my favorite genres, so I was thrilled to read one that combined both! And I absolutely loved this book. It’s my favorite holiday book I’ve read so far!

This is the story of Jack and Olive. Two friends who meet on VE Day in 1945 and continue a friendship over several years. Jack is a chef who cooks for the royal family and Olive is a BBC reporter who gets assigned to the queen’s Christmas reports. Their paths haven’t crossed in a few years, but they are excited to see each other. Jack is still dealing with the loss of his wife, and all of us a single mom to a beautiful daughter, Lucy. The two friends only see each other at Christmas time at Sandringham, but they try to meet up more often. They had good chemistry when they first met, but they went different ways.

I loved that Olive was so ambitious and that she was able to work her way into getting that Christmas reports and even seeing (and helping!) the Queen. Jack and Olive had so much in common; I really admired the way that they both went after their dreams. I also loved all the description of the holiday foods that Jack cooked and his New Orleans background. Overall, this was just a really fun and interesting novel.

Thank you @suzyapprovedbooktours @williammorrowbooks @hazelgaynor and @msheatherwebb for my gifted book.

Wow, these 2 authors did it again. Their historical fiction is the best. This tells the story of Olive and how she earns/gets an opportunity to be near the Queen during one Christmas season. Olive ends up being an ear for the Queen to try out her first Christmas speech to the country. Olive then ends up near the Queen during several more Christmas seasons and events. It was fun to read the behind the scenes happenings of the palace and the estate. The story gets interesting as we find out that Olive knows a chef who is also at the estate and then we also find out their history from several years prior. This was a great story and I couldn't wait to find out how it all played out for Olive and Jack.

1952

The newly crowned Queen Elizabeth is experiencing her first Christmas as Queen and is busy writing her first Christmas speech. Christmas will be celebrated at Sandringham.

Jack Devereux has been invited to work in the kitchen at Sandringham. He is originally from New Orleans, Louisiana and was trained by his grandfather. When his wife steps out in a thick fog to pick up some more gifts, she is hit and killed by a vehicle. Mourning her, he does not think he can be able to continue to Sandringham, but his friends encourage him to carry on.

Olive Carter is a trainee reporter for the BBC. She is an unwed mother but wears a wedding band saying she is a widow. Since her boss is unable to go Sandringham to cover the royal Christmas, she is approved to go in his place.

Olive and Jack have known one another from their earlier years when they all met up and partied together. But there is a secret Olive is keeping from him. Will she be able to tell him the truth someday?

Oh, how I loved this book. I have long been an avid follower of the English royal family and Queen Elizabeth was a wonderful woman. The almost whimsical meetings with the Queen were so well and realistically written. The hard work that Jack put into his cooking was amazing. And lastly, the love between Jack and Olive took quite some time to grow but I’m so glad of the beautiful ending. This is a delightful story and I hope readers will enjoy it as much as I did.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Super cute Christmas story! Will recommend to my friends and family that like to read seasonal books in the winter.

This is a fun, sweet escape for fans of Christmas and royal fiction. Over the course of several Christmas holidays during the 1950s, we follow the lives of a chef and a journalist who weave in and out of each other’s lives as they move in and out of the Queen’s orbit. We also see snapshots of the young Queen and her family during consecutive holiday seasons.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Happy Pub Day to my favorite Christmas Book of 2024 -- Christmas with the Queen!

I loved this Christmas historical fiction described as The Crown meets When Harry Met Sally from one of my favorite author duos. Christmas 1952 is the first year the new monarch is Queen and she's trying to figure out the tradition of the Christmas radio broadcast and meld the old with the new at Sandringham. Both Jack and Olive (fictional) are at Sandringham as part of the royal Christmas preparations and these old friends reconnect. I loved seeing both Jack and Olive as well as the Queen around the holidays each year from 1952 to 1957 and how their paths all cross.

I loved how seamlessly the fictional characters blended into the story and getting a glimpse into the Christmas preparations for the royals. It was the perfect blend of historical fiction. It was a heartwarming story and put me into the Christmas spirit!

I highly recommend reading this Christmas book this year! Thanks to William Morrow Books for my advanced copy..

This slow-moving story told over the course of five Christmases in the 1950s is primarily about the relationship between an up-and-coming royal correspondent and an up-and-coming chef in the royal household.

I didn’t always like the main female character or agree with her choices. I often felt she was full of excuses for her actions. That said, early on I didn’t much like the main male character either but he did grow on me as the story advanced.

I feel like the buildup lasted too long and the forgiveness/acceptance came too quickly.

I enjoyed the glimpses into the private life of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, and I wish they had been more part of the story.

This book got repetitive at times. It was a cute story but i felt like i needed a little something... more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this arc.. The plot and the cover really attracted me to this book. The characters were interesting and for the most part the book was good. My two problems with it was that the British slang used felt forced and overdone and could have used polishing. My other problem was that I felt the book lost momentum towards a the middle so I just started skimming pages to get to the end. I'm sure I'm in the minority and I think as a whole the book will appeal to anyone who is looking for a cozy Christmas book.

Christmas with the Queen combines three stories:
1) The young Queen Elizabeth II finding her feet as the new monarch
2) That of Olive, a single mother, and aspiring reporter at the BBC
3) And Jack, a recently widowed chef who reluctantly takes up a new role in the royal kitchens at Sandringham.
The three each have their own POV, which I usually dislike, but worked for this book.

Queen Elizabeth must find the right words to continue the tradition of her late father’s Christmas Day radio broadcast, and it is that which keeps the threads of the story coming together and then parting. I was charmed by the queen and her relationship with her husband. Olive and Jack are old friends who are surprised to be reunited after losing contact with each other for seven years.

The miscommunications between Olive and Jack as the years went on became tedious and repetitive, however. How many times could the two of them almost get together and then part? (Apparently, many!) I would have found Christmas with the Queen more enjoyable had it been more about the royal family and less about Olive and Jack. One of my favorite things was how, over time, the new monarch embraced changing technology and public sentiments. I loved that!

Thank you #WilliamMorrow for providing this book for review consideration via #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

#RoyalFamily #Friendship #Romance

A wonderful story with the royal family as an impressive backdrop! Readers will love the storylines and the way the intermingling brings a great tale together. Highly recommended to Christmas lovers, romance lovers and royalists!!

I loved the juxtaposition of the first five years of Queen Elizabeth's Christmas Day speech with the lives of two old friends, Jack and Olive, who are reacquainted at Sandringham House at Christmas.

This historical fiction has a little bit of mystery, a dash of romance, a wonderful cast of family and friends, and a whole lot of British Christmas traditions. Something for everyone.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. I am required by law to disclose this. #ChristmaswiththeQueen #NetGalley

I loved this! Such a compelling story in post-war London. I loved Olive and Jack and their hardships, the connection, their jobs. I also loved the snippets from the Queen that made you jump right into her life. I loved the Christmas setting and of course, the happy ending. Very well done.

A charming and light holiday-themed piece of historical fiction. Less schlocky than some of this author duo’s previous offerings, and great for fans of the British royal family.

Though the central love story here was a bit too saccharine for my taste, it’s a well told story, and I really liked the protagonist. I can get into the romantic idea of repeatedly encountering a lost love while working at Sandringham at Christmas even if the details of their history felt a bit maudlin and far fetched.

The holiday content is fun, and Elizabeth and her family make for charming historical reference points as well as likable secondary characters.

Like most Christmas books this is less holiday-focused in its details than I would like, but it does a better job at it than most.

CHRISTMAS WITH THE QUEEN by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb is a work of historical fiction spanning the years from 1952, when Queen Elizabeth gave her first Christmas speech, to 1957. I had really enjoyed Hazel Gaynor's The Last Lifeboat, but found this latest collaborative offering to be more predictable, though still entertaining. CHRISTMAS WITH THE QUEEN is told from three points of view: mainly Olive Carter, an unwed mother and young reporter with the BBC, and Jack Devereux, a budding chef who suffers a loss and ends up working for the royal household, although Queen Elizabeth is also quoted and adds some commentary. Olive and Jack have known each other for a long time (flashbacks to 1945) and the spark of attraction never seems to line up in a more permanent way which involves much of the story's tension. If readers liked The Crown, they will enjoy the behind the scenes glimpses involving the royals, their homes, and yacht. The authors clearly have a great deal of affection for Sandringham, in particular, and make that evident in their final note as well as through the descriptions in the novel itself. Gentle and fun with a festive air.

This was an interesting and enjoyable holiday read. I loved being back in this world, with minor appearances by Tom Harding and Evie from a previous Christmas novel. This was a nice escape from the news cycle currently and I would love a new holiday read from these authors each year.

Christmas With the Queen by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb was a heart-warming, historical fiction book that was a joy to read with Christmas approaching. The book is centered around the annual Christmas Day speech given by the reigning monarch, a tradition started by Queen Elizabeth's grandfather, King George V in 1932 and continued to this day.

Olive is a journalist trying to work her way up the ladder at the BBC by covering the Queen's speech. Jack is a young widowed chef who is working in the royal kitchen and hoping to open his own restaurant someday. Olive and Jack met at the joyous end of WWII and have lost touch until their paths cross at the royal residence on Christmas in 1952. The potential romance between Olive and Jack consumes most of the story, and the Queen's appearances are limited to the Christmas season over the course of five years. I loved the quotes taken from Queen Elizabeth's Christmas Day speeches, since they added authenticity to the story. The slow burn romance tested my patience, but I must admit I loved how the story came together.

I will recommend this to readers who like historical fiction and are looking for a light holiday read.

Thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.