Christmas Carol by Michele Gorman

Kindle Edition, Notting Hill Press, 2013.

One winter wedding, two happy couples, three ex-boyfriends… And a very uncomfortable weekend.

Carol hates Christmas. Being recently dumped, she’s not crazy about weddings either. So her sister Marley’s nuptials, over the Christmas weekend, are making her positively Scrooge-like.

When she arrives for the weekend at the stately home in rural Scotland to find her three ex-boyfriends in attendance, Carol has no choice but to face her ghosts to discover what really happened in those relationships, learning a lot about herself in the process. As the snow falls outside and the fire crackles in the hearth, might one of the wedding guests become the harbinger of Christmases to come?

This was a lovely modern take on Charles Dickens, The Christmas Carol. Romance and fiction, this story was great for me from the first page. Carol seems to have it together – she’s single but successful at her job. Her sister, Marley, is getting married and not being a fan of Christmas, Carol is forced a little into the festivities. Carol would rather be at work with her blackberry.

When all three of her ex boyfriends show up to the wedding, she’s not sure her time in Scotland could get any worse but through the clever use of flashback, we find out why all of these relationships broke up and I found myself cheering on my favourite and I hoped she’d end up with him at the end (to my surprise, it wasn’t who I thought but once I’d got to the end and found out what happened, I was pleased.)

The story was paced well and had me laughing out loud. Michele has a great way of drawing me into her books.

The supporting characters were fun (especially Granny who reminded me a little of my Nan,) and the setting sounded beautiful. I read it in pretty much one sitting, as I couldn’t put it down. It’s a great novella to snuggle up with in this horrible weather and get you into the festive mood.  I loved it. 

Christmas Carol is now available in paperback and eBook. 

• Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/15SFTd9
• Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1gZnuO8
• And on Barnes and Noble in the US: http://bit.ly/1gm1rB3

Michele is also on Twitter and Facebook or you can visit her website: www.michelegorman.co.uk

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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.