Book Review: No One Cancels Christmas by Zara Stoneley

Christmas books equal a very happy Laura and today, I am pleased to be welcoming Zara Stoneley and the blog tour for her new novel, No one Cancels Christmas which has been released today by Harper Impulse. 

It’s the most magical time of the year, and for travel agent Sarah it’s also the busiest! But this year one man threatens to ruin Christmas for Sarah’s customers – Mr Grinch, Will Armstrong.

The Shooting Star Mountain resort is a magical place, and Sarah has fond memories of Christmas here as a little girl – visits to Father Christmas, husky rides in the snow and hot chocolate by a roaring fire. But as the resorts new owner, Will refuses to play snowball or to deck the halls with anything remotely resembling tinsel!

With customers complaining their Christmas is ruined, Sarah decides it’s up to her to convince Scroogey Will just how magical Christmas can be….

But getting Will into the Christmas spirit is hopeless – he is Bah Humbug personified! But as Sarah gets to know him better, she realises that underneath all the gloom is a man struggling with a pain of his own.

With the big day approaching, Sarah realises that the magic and sparkle can wait. This year, she’s going to spend Christmas day with someone special her very own Mr Scrooge…

Sarah works in the travel agency belonging to her Auntie. When she gets into a bit of an e-mail war with the man who runs the Shooting Star Mountain Resort in Canada, it ends up with her going to stay there for a week in order to see why this holiday destination – one she remembers as a magical place, is now getting the reputation of being the worst place to be.

Sarah wants to see for herself what is going on and more importantly, she wants to help restore the place to its former glory. She also wants to give the manager, Will Armstrong a piece of her mind.

This is one of the things I love most about this time of year. All of the Christmas books. The festive feeling of curling up with a book set around Christmas makes me very happy indeed.

Immediately, I liked Sarah (and her co-worker Sam who will be familiar if you’ve previously read The Wedding Date.) She has something about her that I clicked with. I want to be her friend. She’s quite an open character but at the same time, you realise very quickly that there is something about herself that she holds back.

I also want to go to the Shooting Star Mountain Resort. My, does it sound absolutely stunning.

Something like this must exist right?

The way Zara describes the mountains, the snow – I could imagine myself sitting in-front of that beautiful view with a hot chocolate. A perfect place to spend Christmas.

Will and Ed could not be more different but each has a charm about them that make them very easy to warm to. There is certainly a lot going on with these siblings and there is more than meets the eye. Nothing is given away too soon.

This book has humour (laugh out loud moments,) warmth, a beautiful setting and wonderful characters. This is one book I recommend get put on your Christmas to read pile.

No One Cancels Christmas was released on eBook by Harper Impulse on 19th October 2018 with the paperback due for release in December. Click to view on Amazon UK and Amazon US

About Zara:

Born in a small village in Staffordshire, Zara wanted to be a female James Herriot, a spy, or an author when she grew up. After many years, and many different jobs, her dream of writing a bestseller came true. 

She writes about friendship, dreams, love, and happy ever afters, and hopes that her tales make you cry a little, laugh a lot, and occasionally say ‘ahhh’.

Zara now lives in a Cheshire village with her family, a lively cockapoo called Harry, and a very bossy (and slightly evil) cat called Saffron.

Where you can find her -Website: http://www.zarastoneley.com, Twitter: @ZaraStoneley,
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ZaraStoneley and Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zarastoneley/

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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.