Kiltie’s Advent Book Calendar – 1st Dec

Lizzie’s Christmas Escape by Christie Barlow; Bookouture

Page count (e-book) – 370

The Blurb:

Every Christmas Lizzie promises herself that things will change and she will leap into the new year a new woman. And yet here she is again, at the beginning of December and nothing is different. Her girls have grown up and left home, her husband Henry is slumped in front of the TV and she is alone in the kitchen, seeking refuge in the cooking sherry and talking to her Gary Barlow calendar. She’s also been very diverted by handsome new neighbour Marcus and she knows she shouldn’t be …

So when best friend Ann suggests a weekend away in the country, Lizzie jumps at the chance. Will this Christmas escape give Lizzie some much needed perspective and allow her to mend her marriage? Or will Marcus prove to be too much of a distraction?

My Review:

It seems only fitting that the first book in this little Advent marathon should be the book which kick-started my writing career. It was not the story which prompted me to be more serious about the novel I’d started writing many years before but the author bio at the end. Locations were mentioned throughout the story which were more than a little familiar to me and it was these which made me pay attention to what had set Ms Barlow on the writing path. Reading how she’d always wanted to write a book and, in order to prove to her children that you can do anything you set your mind to, went ahead and did so, made me realise that writing was something I’d always enjoyed so it was time to put more effort into it. I dusted off the old, neglected chapters of that long-forgotten novel and look at where it has led me… So, for that, this book has the honour of being the opener for the next twenty-four days.

As the blurb states, Lizzie is a lady of middle-age whose marriage has become more of a trench than a rut. She lays her soul bare to Gary Barlow – not in real life, obviously – but to her treasured calendar which keeps her company when she’s in the kitchen. A room she seems to occupy most of the time as husband Henry takes up residence in front of the television every evening. They no longer have anything to talk about and, since her children have left home, the loneliness bites just a little sharper with each passing day.

Her best friend, Ann, is the life and soul of the book, providing laughter and being the kind of friend every woman should have – the friend who is irreverent, speaks their mind and always knows the right thing to say. Well… most of the time, that is.

When handsome Marcus moves into the neighbourhood, Lizzie’s head is slightly turned. Well, she might be married but that doesn’t mean she can’t check out what’s on the menu – it’s only the indulgence part that is taboo. As the days and weeks pass by, a friendship grows between Marcus and Lizzie. He’s new to the area and she believes it is only ‘neighbourly’ to show him around and bring him up to speed on the best dog walking routes among other things. However, the more time they spend in each others company, the closer they become…

This is a classic ‘will they / won’t they’ kind of tale and the reader is swept along on this easy to read story, wondering how it is all going to end.  There are highs and there are lows because, without either of those, it wouldn’t be a proper love story for the Christmas period. Naturally, I am NOT going to tell you how it ends but all I will say is this that it finished in a most satisfactory manner.

This book is highly enjoyable and definitely a worthy opener for my advent of book reviews.

Available in e-book and paperback on Amazon