Tuesday 19 November 2013

Calling Mrs Christmas by Carole Matthews

 
 
Cassie Smith hasn't had the best year. After being made redundant, she has struggled over the past few months to find a new job. With increasing debts and Christmas looming, Cassie is starting to panic when she cooks up an idea for a new business venture. Cassie has always loved Christmas so she decides to put her passion to good use and offer a range of festive services, from sourcing and wrapping gifts to writing cards and decorating trees.
 
Prison officer and Cassie's partner, Jim is supportive when she suggests starting up her own festive business but his encouragement begins to wane when Cassie takes on millionaire Carter Randall as a client. Not only does handsome Carter want Cassie to organise a trip of a lifetime for him and his two children, he wants Cassie to accompany them.
 
Calling Mrs Christmas is my first festive read of the season and I wasn't disappointed. Cassie is stuck in a bit of a rut but inspiration soon strikes and she sets up her business, Calling Mrs Christmas! It's a lot of hard work but Cassie has support from both Jim and her sister, Gaby. As a huge fan of Christmas, I loved the idea of a business specifically aimed at the festive period. Cassie gets to relive the magic of decorating trees over and over again and there is an abundance of mince pies and cupcakes.
 
While Cassie's business starts to take off, it does take its toll on Jim. Jim is a lovely, supportive man and he does his best to help Cassie even when his own workload is getting him down. Jim is reliable and hardworking but he is also human so I could understand him being put out when Cassie flies off to Lapland with another man. Some of my favourite scenes take place with Jim and two of the young offenders who he takes under his wing and I loved the bond the two boys formed.
 
Another favourite part of the book was the trip to Lapland, which sounds amazing. I'm not always a fan of snow but Carole Matthews makes the trip sound so beautiful and magical and it was an absolute joy to read.

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