Mandy Baggot

Mandy’s latest offering is a tale set on the sunny Island of Corfu, a place that Mandy (and myself) knows very well and loves. This shows in her writing as it is the little details in the story that only someone who lived on the island for a great deal of time would really notice. She really enlivens the story with a host of great local characters and the often-hilarious incidents that happen within the book. During the course of the story which involves romances both past and present and many twists and turns, we are taken from England to Corfu and Italy and as usual Mandys love of these places and her descriptions really enrich the story. I really hope that there is a continuation of the story at some point because the ending does leave you wanting more. Another fabulous read from Mandy.… (mais)

When Jens boyfriend David has to cancel their planned trip to Paris due to work commitments in Athens Jen decides to fly out there to meet him as a surprise (well she had already booked the time of so it would be a shame to waste it.) However, when she lands David is there and when she finally finds out why she is left with two choices; either go back home to her business ‘Christmas Every Day’ or take some time off to do some research into how the Greeks celebrate the festive season. She decides on the latter and not wanting to go alone takes her best friend Bonnie as well.
It is in Athens that we (and Jen) meet Astro who is the total opposite to Jen as he really is no fan of Christmas and we later learn why they both have total opposite feelings about this time of year and that they really do have more in common than it first appears. As the story progresses Jen tries to convince Astro to get into the Christmas spirit and in turn, he shows her the ‘real’ Athens away from all the tinsel and sparkle of the lights and tourist hot spots.
It was certainly different to read a story set in Greece in the wintertime but as usual Mandy creates a wonderful cast of characters that really bring the story to life. I love the ‘slow burn’ romance and how we are gradually let into the backstories of all the characters as their relationships blossom and grow with the stories progression. I also found the description of Athens during the winter to be a pleasant and interesting ingredient in this book, and Mandy is fantastic at adding the little details that really help the reader to immerse themselves in the story.
Another cracking Christmas read from Mandy.… (mais)

SPOILER ALERT
So, I started reading this and wasn't sure about it, but then was captivated by the characters. My favorite was Jared (Of Course) and Mia was great. Honor was a damaged artist with a lot of baggage that needed to learn to grow again, and open herself up for new relationships. Jared sure helped with that. He was a sexy, talented bad boy who's passion shined through! I saw reviews that people didn't like the last 20% of the book. I found the end to be slightly rushed (Hence 4 star) but not enraging like others did. I was mad at Honor for not listening to Jared, but that is part of the story. It is good to be mad at a character once in a while, otherwise it is boring! There was a lot packed into the end, but their story was wrapped up in a great big bow. I enjoyed my first Mandy Baggot book that I received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.… (mais)