Kiltie’s Advent Book Calendar – 4th Dec

Covent Garden in the Snow by Jules Wake; One More Chapter

Page Count (e-book): 481

The Blurb:

Tilly Hunter has fabulous friends, her dream job as a make-up artist with a prestigious opera company and Felix, her kind and caring husband to be. It looks set to be the most perfect Christmas yet!

But when a monumental blunder forces her to work closely with new IT director Marcus Walker, it’s not only the roast chestnut stalls on the cobbles of her beloved Covent Garden that cause sparks to fly…

Super serious and brooding, Marcus hasn’t got a creative bone in his sharp-suited body. For technophobe Tilly, it’s a match made in hell.

And yet, when Tilly discovers her fiancé isn’t at all what he seems, it’s Marcus who’s there for her with a hot chocolate and a surprisingly strong shoulder to cry on … He might just be the best Christmas present she’s ever had.

My Review:

Oh my, oh my… Did I ever enjoy this one! This delicious slice of festive fun was a 2018 release which I only got around to reading in 2019 but, boy, was it worth waiting for – I was completely gripped from the start.

Tilly Hunter is frustratingly likeable and, although rather ditsy when it come to technology stuff, she’s totally on her game when it comes to her career as a theatrical make-up artist and it was delightful to feel her passion oozing from the pages as we live her life in the 6’ish weeks running up to Christmas. The male protagonist is, of course, drop-dead gorgeous with the, almost obligatory, sharp chiselled jaw but all Tilly can see is the monster dead set on dragging her little technophobe heart into the 21st century.

The story line is essentially your basic boy meets girl, boy and girl don’t get on and then something happens which changes everything but Ms Wake has cleverly woven other little layers into the mix which gives the story more depth and stops it from being too twee and too obvious. That said, I was able to deduce some of the plot as it moved along and gave little nods of satisfaction when I got it right. It did not, however, detract in any way from my enjoyment of the story and, upon further investigation, I have discovered Ms Wake has a number of other novels available and I am looking forward to reading them sooner rather than later, especially her Christmas offering for this year – Notting Hill in the Snow. With a bit of luck, and some bags-under-the-eyes-inducing late nights, I might just manage to squeeze that one in before the last mince pie of the season sneaks past my lips.

Available in e-book and paperback on Amazon