Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Review: Winter's Fairytale by Maxine Morrey



Step into a winter wonderland and fall in love in the snow this Christmas...
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...
A few weeks before Christmas and a sudden blanketing of snow has closed the roads and brought public transport grinding to a halt, stranding Izzy miles from home and in desperate need of rescuing.
That doesn't mean she's looking to bump into Rob and spend a cozy weekend holed up in his swanky flat watching London become a winter wonderland! Because Izzy and Rob have history... 
 Six months ago, they were standing in the vestry of a beautiful country church, while best man Rob delivered the news that every bride dreads on their big day.
But at the time of year when anything is possible, can Rob and Izzy let go of the past and let Christmas work its magic? Or will this be one holiday wish that Izzy lets walk right out of her life...
I received this ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 3 Stars

This book was simple and sweet, which is needed sometimes.

When the main event from the synopsis, that epic snow storm that strands them at Rob's for the weekend, happened within the first short bit of the book, I was worried that the rest of the novel would drag on needlessly. After that, the plot did drag on for a bit before a catastrophe brought Izzy and Rob back together. Fate can play a funny hand sometimes and it certainly did in their case. While it was quite a silly circumstance, that is the sort of thing one expects from a holiday book.

I quite like the author's description of the surroundings. For someone that does not live in London and doesn't really know what the countryside looks like, it felt like I was being welcome into the family along with Izzy and experiencing a true country Christmas.

Most of the characters came across well, though I have to say that we did not hear much about Izzy's former fiance. Obviously we are to assume he's a bit of a scoundrel, given that he left her at the altar and then went on the honeymoon by himself! I wanted to punch him for that bit there, but besides that, I didn't get a sense of what he might have been like, what it was that made Izzy fall in love with him in the first place (or what she thought was love).

The other character that made me hate her a bit was Rob's ex. She was a bit of the stereotypical ex-girlfriend that shows up to cause trouble for the main couple. You aren't meant to like her and I really didn't, which was the point of course, but I felt like I'd seen her a dozen times. Do all heroes have selfish exes? Why not have one that could actually be just as good for him as the MC? That'd add a bit of drama, yes?

Overall, the plot was a bit silly, but that helped, actually, because it made the book something relaxing that you could settle in with for the evening, perhaps snuggled up under a blanket on the couch with a nice cup of tea while the snow falls outside.

Music Recommendation

This song came to mind immediately when I thought of Rob and Izzy. As much as they might have not wanted to fall in love at the beginning of the story, when they had all that embarrassing history behind them, the course of the Christmas season brought out the love that was there, just beneath the surface.

You'll recognize it from the movie Shrek 2, but this video is the official music video from Counting Crows. It is especially silly, but that's okay. ;)









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