Sunday 15 October 2017

Annie's Christmas by the Sea by Liz Eeles


Annie's Christmas by the Sea
Liz Eeles
Rating: 4 stars
Amazon UK (K £1.99 / P £7.99)

Synopsis:

On the beautiful coast of Cornwall lies the idyllic Salt Bay, where Christmas is the perfect time for brining family and friends together...

Annie Trebarwith is happily settled in Salt Bay with her beloved great-aunt Alice and gorgeous boyfriend Josh Pasco. Snow is in the air, and Christmas is just around the corner.

But when the father she's never met, aging rock god Barry, turns up with the half-sister Annie didn't know existed, life suddenly gets complicated. Barry and Storm are soon clashing with the entire village, and their antics are even driving a wedge between Annie and Josh.

Can Annie prevent her new family ruining the festivities and repair things with Josh in time for a cosy Christmas? Or will their relationship end up as frosty as the Salt Bay air?

-------------------------------------------

I was so looking forward to returning to Salt Bay and the story certainly didn't let me down. I really loved the first one, the book surrounding a choir was something totally different to what I would usually read about that I found it completely refreshing and I was sad when it finished. I loved the characters and the drama they had. So I was so happy when I heard we would be returning there, and at Christmas too!

On the return to Salt Bay we see main character Annie meeting her long lost family that she didn't even know existed (yikes) and the story follows her coming to deal with the sudden realisation that she has more family than she thought possible! At first (like Annie) I was a bit hesitant over whether I liked Barry and Storm but towards the end of the book I found myself loving them (especially Storm) and I was pleased that it all worked out in the end (without giving too much away).

The book has some emotional moments in it, and as Annie's new family arrive it causes her to drift further away from boyfriend Josh, making me wonder whether they could get through this strange time. However, I found that this added bit of drama meant that I just couldn't put the book down. It had everything that I love to read about: drama, romance, humour and of course - Christmas.

I still loved the choir part of the book - I loved the carol singing by the Christmas tree, and the competition that the Salt Bay Choir was a part of, as it gave it a really traditional Christmas feel to the book. Although it is a Christmas book, I wouldn't say it was overly Christmassy as most of the story is set before Christmas.

Overall, a really enjoyable second book in the series. I can't wait to see if we return to Salt Bay again - I hope so! Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for a chance to read this novel, which I have reviewed honestly.

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