Firstly I wish to thank Noelle Holten of Bookouture for inviting me onto the Blog Tour for THE BEACHSIDE CHRISTMAS by Karen Clarke

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Snow is falling and there’s romance in the air. Curl up for a cosy Christmas by the fire at Seaview Cottage…  When thirty-year-old Lily Ambrose’s latest relationship ends in disaster, she remembers happy childhood holidays in the seaside town of Shipley and decides it’s the perfect place for a fresh start.  But when Lily arrives, the town’s spirits are as low as her own: the local celebrity due to turn on the Christmas lights has gone on a cruise instead. Keen to prove herself, she calls in a favour and secures gorgeous reality star Ollie.   Lily’s neighbours are initially thrilled, but Ollie is as uncontrollable as he is good-looking. He can’t remember the town’s name, calls the Christmas decorations tacky, and manages to offend everyone. And whilst handsome but stubborn cameraman Craig tries to help, even he can’t stop Ollie’s madcap plans to stage a romance with Lily…  Will Lily be able to keep Ollie under control and bring the Christmas cheer back to Shipley – and find herself a real kiss under the mistletoe?  An addictive, heart-warming and uplifting read about friendship, romance, and Christmas spirit. Perfect for fans of Phillipa Ashley, Cathy Bramley and Debbie Johnson

Amazon Links:

UK 🇬🇧 http://amzn.to/2sDORY6

US 🇺🇸 http://amzn.to/2sy5clI

 

HERE ARE MY THOUGHTS AND REVIEW

How I love this series as my jaw literally aches from laughing, not chuckling but proper laugh out, make my eyes run laughing. I listen to my books while I walk to work so now I have gone from being the book lady to the one that looks like she has lost the plot! I couldn’t help it and I couldn’t control it or hold it back. What looks I got. The bonus was it is the first time that I got a table to myself in the canteen.

This is a feel good Christmas story and the seaside town of Shipley is buzzing. It isn’t just the children that are excited, each year the people of Maple Hill have a competition for the best decorated house and let me tell you from the seriousness of these competitors I am sure that Shipley would be able to be seen from any orbiting space ship. But for every competition it requires a judge, not an easy task with so many keen participants that are eager to win. Hence the departure of last year’s judge as he makes a swift exit on a slow boat to anywhere that heads away from the maddening crowd as quickly as possible.

Enter new resident Lily Ambrose desperate to make a good impression on her new neighbours so quickly uses her connections to acquire someone famous to judge the competition.  I loved Lily from the start especially as she was often the direct cause of a lot of my laughing. Being accepted into this community means such a lot to the emotionally battered 30-year-old Lily. Just loved the writing scenes by Lily, Just brilliant.

Karen Clarke has created a series that literally keeps you going through from spring to summer to winter, a book for most of the seasons and I hope that a fourth can just fill that niche. It was lovely to find some of the characters crossing over between the other books too. Brilliant story and one that happens in many towns at christmas time with characters that remind you of people you know. There are some lovely visual scenes described that just stick round in your mind way after you finish reading too. Loved it!

 

HERE IS A LITTLE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen Clarke writes romantic comedy novels. THE BEACHSIDE SWEET SHOP and THE BEACHSIDE FLOWER STALL are out now and THE BEACHSIDE CHRISTMAS will be available in September 2017.  Karen has also written three romcoms with a paranormal twist, all available to download  When she’s not working on her novels, Karen writes short stories for women’s magazines and has had over three hundred published in the UK and abroad. Some of them can be read in her short story collection ‘BEHIND CLOSED DOORS…and other Tales with a Twist’   Karen lives in Buckinghamshire with her husband and three grown-up children.

Author Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karen.clarke.5682

Twitter:     https://twitter.com/karenclarke123

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard

Website: http://writewritingwritten.blogspot.co.uk/