Book Review: Christmas at the Cabin by Rebecca Boxall

I’m pleased to be welcoming Rebecca Boxall to Novel Kicks. Today I’m reviewing her latest, festive novel, Christmas at the Cabin.

A festive, coming-of-age tale about an Oxbridge candidate and a young homeless man who find themselves in the bittersweet predicament of falling in love with exactly the right person at exactly the wrong time.

Well-to-do Jed never imagined he’d end up homeless, but family circumstances have made it his only option. Local vicar, Ben, tries to help him but there’s an element of self-punishment to the homelessness that makes Jed continue to put up with his situation – until disaster leads him to re-consider the vicar’s offer of a place to stay.

Hattie is on the cusp of adulthood, frantically trying to persuade her mum that she doesn’t want to attend an elite university, preferring the idea of pursuing her love of art and textiles. When she meets Jed, she badly wants to understand his circumstances and why, when she has everything at her fingertips, he doesn’t.

Hattie’s mum, Christine, has had a hard life and is desperate for more for her only child. When she meets Ben, the vicar who’s trying to help Jed, she finds an unlikely ally, and the two heartbroken souls find themselves drawn to each other. Until they find their relationship suddenly tested to the limit.

One thing’s for certain: none of these characters is looking forward to Christmas. It’s the worst time of year for each of them, for different reasons. But perhaps this year, the festive season could defy all expectations.

*****

Hattie first sees him from the library window, sitting in the doorway of an abandoned shop. When she approaches him and starts a conversation, it changes both of their lives, forever.

Even from the blurb for this novel, I felt there would be a little magic about this book and I wasn’t wrong.

Hattie is a seventeen-year-old with a wise head on her shoulders. I wish I’d had her confidence and self-awareness when I was that age. I also wish I had her talent with crafting as I would love to be able to make things for Christmas.

Jed is the perfect example of how we shouldn’t judge others with pre-conceived ideas. He is a wonderful character, and I found his backstory both interesting and heart-breaking. I felt the same about Ben and Christine. I loved these four characters together and enjoyed seeing how their story developed.

This book isn’t long at about 172 pages however, it packs in a lot and as a result, the plot moves at a very good pace. I pretty much read it in one sitting as I wanted to see what happened to these characters who I fell in love with very quickly. Plus, I want to visit the cabin. I want to live in the cabin.

This book is full of great characters, a heart-warming story with loads of Christmas magic. It’s a book I hope you add to your Christmas reading pile and is a must if you like stories full of warmth, family and second chances. It would be the perfect start to the Christmas season. It’s one of my favourite festive novels for sure.

I absolutely loved Christmas at the Cabin.

About Rebecca Boxall –

Rebecca Boxall was born in East Sussex in 1977 and grew up in a bustling vicarage always filled with family, friends and parishioners. She now lives by the sea in Jersey with her family and Rodney the cat. She read English at the University of Warwick before she trained as a lawyer and more recently worked at a psychiatric unit.

She is the No. 1 bestselling author of Christmas at the Vicarage and Christmas on the Coast as well as the bestselling writer of Home for Winter, The Christmas Forest and Christmas by the Lighthouse, in respect of which she was nominated for the Romantic Novel Awards in 2020. She is also the author of Christmas at the Farmhouse and her popular short story, A Winter’s Day.

Say hello to Rebecca on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. You can also find out more information via her website. 

Click to buy Christmas at the Cabin on Amazon UK and Amazon US.

by

Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.