The Mistletoe Matchmaker
Felicity Hayes-McCoy
Rating: 4 stars
Amazon UK (K £0.99 / P £13.99)
Synopsis:
It's winter on the Finfarran peninsula and, as Cassie Fitzgerald, fresh from Toronto, is about to discover, there's more to Christmas on the west coast of Ireland than mistletoe and mince pies.
Enchanted by the small town where her dad was born, Cassie gets involved in a competition for the best local Winter Fest, and joins local librarian Hanna Casey's writing group in Lissbeg Library.
But the more she's drawn into the town's run-up to Christmas, the more questions Cassie encounters. Why does her sweet-tempered grandmother Pat find it so hard to express her feelings? What's going on between Pat and her miserly husband Ger? What happened in the past between the Fitzgeralds and Hanna's redoubtable mother Mary Casey? And what about Shay: handsome, funny, smart and intent on making Cassie's stay as exciting as he can. Is he the one for her?
As Christmas Eve approaches, Cassie discovers that love, family and friendship bring the real magic to the festive season - even if the locals of Lissbeg need an outsider to help them see it.
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When this popped up on Netgalley, I knew I had to read it. When I read the blurb, I knew even more that I had to read it! I absolutely loved the fact that this was set in Ireland, and upon reading it, loved that I recognised some of the places they were talking about! Sometimes, even with a book set in England, I struggle to know where exactly it's set because I haven't travelled my own country enough - but it was so lovely to read this book and know some of the places named (such as Carrick - all thanks to my lovely boyfriend).
One thing I must say is that I absolutely fell in love with the cover. The dark blue sky with snow drifting across it, the coloured lights draped in-between the cottages and the lone Christmas tree in the centre, they make the cover look so beautiful. I do believe that covers play a big part in your wanting to read a book, and this is definitely one that will constantly be picked up.
Now for the story, I hadn't read any other novels by Felicity Hayes-McCoy so wasn't sure what to expect - however, I did love her style of writing and really enjoyed reading it. One thing that I was slightly confused about was the amount of characters that were introduced in the beginning of the novel. I understand that this is the third novel in the series so I think I should have read the other two before this, just so that I understood and knew the characters a bit better in this one.
I must admit that the story wasn't confusing - that wasn't the case at all. I just wished I had read the first two beforehand so I had a better feel of the other characters. The story focuses a totally different person than the first two, but the story does flick back to the first two main characters and I think that's where I got a little confused. However, the more I got into the story, the better it became and I really did enjoy it. I found myself really relating to main character Cassie and I loved the character of Cassie's gran Pat. She was so lovely and caring that I just found the story so heart warming.
Overall, a really interesting novel set in the beautiful Ireland. Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for a chance to read this novel, which I reviewed honestly.
When this popped up on Netgalley, I knew I had to read it. When I read the blurb, I knew even more that I had to read it! I absolutely loved the fact that this was set in Ireland, and upon reading it, loved that I recognised some of the places they were talking about! Sometimes, even with a book set in England, I struggle to know where exactly it's set because I haven't travelled my own country enough - but it was so lovely to read this book and know some of the places named (such as Carrick - all thanks to my lovely boyfriend).
One thing I must say is that I absolutely fell in love with the cover. The dark blue sky with snow drifting across it, the coloured lights draped in-between the cottages and the lone Christmas tree in the centre, they make the cover look so beautiful. I do believe that covers play a big part in your wanting to read a book, and this is definitely one that will constantly be picked up.
Now for the story, I hadn't read any other novels by Felicity Hayes-McCoy so wasn't sure what to expect - however, I did love her style of writing and really enjoyed reading it. One thing that I was slightly confused about was the amount of characters that were introduced in the beginning of the novel. I understand that this is the third novel in the series so I think I should have read the other two before this, just so that I understood and knew the characters a bit better in this one.
I must admit that the story wasn't confusing - that wasn't the case at all. I just wished I had read the first two beforehand so I had a better feel of the other characters. The story focuses a totally different person than the first two, but the story does flick back to the first two main characters and I think that's where I got a little confused. However, the more I got into the story, the better it became and I really did enjoy it. I found myself really relating to main character Cassie and I loved the character of Cassie's gran Pat. She was so lovely and caring that I just found the story so heart warming.
Overall, a really interesting novel set in the beautiful Ireland. Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for a chance to read this novel, which I reviewed honestly.
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