Kiltie’s Advent Book Calendar – 8th Dec

Christmas at Wynter House by Emily Harvale; Crescent Gate Publishing

Page Count (e-book) – 350

The Blurb:

After a frosty welcome, things soon heat up at Wynter House…

Neva Grey is looking forward to spending a quiet Christmas with her family in the cosy cottage they’ve rented in the picture-postcard village of Wyntersleap. Nestled between rolling hills and a gently burbling river, it’s going to be idyllic.

Except it’s not. Torrential rain causes the river to burst its banks and the quaint little village isn’t quite so cosy with water lapping at the doors. Add to that a power cut and a sudden blizzard and Christmas is looking bleak … until gorgeous Adam Wynter invites them all to Wynter House.

Although not everyone is happy to share the ancestral home. Adam’s elder brother, Rafe is less than pleased. Their grandmother, Olivia extends a grudging welcome. And for Carruthers, the oddly arrogant butler, unexpected guests are a Christmas surprise he could do without. Especially one as troublesome as Neva’s eight-year-old niece.

But something’s not quite right at Wynter House. What is Rafe intent on hiding behind the locked doors of the old barn? And what really happened to his first wife? It’s a good thing Neva has a sense of humour. She’s going to need it this Christmas at Wynter House.

My Review:

Last Christmas I had had the pleasure of reading my first Emily Harvale Christmas novel and I loved it. So, when I discovered she was plating up a new offering for this year, I was right there waiting, champing at the bit to get it downloaded onto my trusty little Kindle. My anticipation turned out to be totally merited – this book is a delight! Despite the lack of snow and the abundance of rain – well, it is set in the UK, what else would you expect? – it still held all the thrills and festive offerings you would expect from a Christmas-themed novel.

Now, I do have to say there were occasions when I found Neva, our leading lady, to be downright bloody annoying! She would jump to conclusions without allowing others to explain themselves properly and then walk away before they could correct her wayward thinking. That said, she still appealed because she’s no shrinking violet and was wading (almost literally) right in to help when help was needed and in some surprisingly practical ways. For this rather independent lady, that was good to see.

Adam and Rafe are the potential love interests here and are both quite yummy in their own way – one is deeply charming, the other deeply dark. Their mother, the matriarch of their family, rules their home with a tight hand and seeing her so underwhelmed by the surprising onslaught of unexpected house guests raised a few chuckles. Rafe, however, is keeping a rather big secret from her and it is this secret which also means he holds Neva at arm’s length.

A the story draws to a close, Neva’s irritating little wrinkles began to smooth out and I’m looking forward to reading more about her for, (cue little skip of joy…) this is the first novel in Ms Harvale’s new Wyntersleap series. I have one or two sneaky little suspicions that I know what might be coming next but you’ll have to read if for yourself if you want to know too. 

Available in e-book and paperback on Amazon