The Secret Mistletoe Promise by Cressida McLaughlin

 

When Imogen leaves her fiancé at the altar and escapes to her grandmother’s cottage by the sea, the only thing she wants to do is disappear.

But in a village curious about their new arrival, Imogen finds hiding out harder than expected, especially with the charming local baker Dexter around to distract her.

As secrets unravel and the festive season draws near, Imogen wonders if she’s been running from the wrong things all along.

Will the runaway bride find her happy ever after under the mistletoe?

My first festive read of 2025 was a no brainer for me as I am a HUGE fan of Cressida McLaughlin and with her new release The Secret Mistletoe Promise set in Mistingham which is the same cosy seaside town her previous book was set in I was ready to be re-united with the community I fell in love with including the troublesome Jumper wearing goat Felix!

This time we arrive in the town alongside a new character Imogen who is a runaway bride who has come to hide out with her grandmother but there this community welcomed her with open arms and rather than hiding away we watch as Imogen begins to flourish as she helps the locals with goat hunting, decoration making as well as taking part in Christmas festivities. There is a sparkling gentle romance fizzing through the pages and new friendships made making this the perfect foundation for a winter romance which I adored. Dexter was a character who I loved from the previous book and I was so pleased that Cressida featured him in this book so heavily as I was hoping for a happy ever after for him.

If you haven't read The Secret Christmas Bookshop yet you can read this one as a stand alone however that was a wonderful read where we really start to get to know the characters and where the antics of Felix the naughty goat will have you chuckling away so treat yourself to both this Christmas.

Available to purchase here

One August Night by Victoria Hislop

 

25th August 1957. The island of Spinalonga closes its leper colony. And a moment of violence has devastating consequences.

When time stops dead for Maria Petrakis and her sister, Anna, two families splinter apart and, for the people of Plaka, the closure of Spinalonga is forever coloured with tragedy.

In the aftermath, the question of how to resume life looms large. Stigma and scandal need to be confronted and somehow, for those impacted, a future built from the ruins of the past.

Many years ago I remember reading The Island by Victoria Hislop and it well and truly left its mark on me as it was a remarkable story that opened my eyes and gave me an insight into the history of Spinalonga and how leprosy suffers were treated. 

Fast forward and I am now on holiday in Crete and thought what a better time to reconnect with the characters we met in The Island in the sequel One August Night. 

A cure has now been found and the surviving patients are ready to leave the island but the thought of Maria’s return is unsettling for both Anna and Marteau who have kept a secret romance all this time. 

But the day of Maria’s turn sparked a dramatic change for all our characters.

The storyline bounces between our characters as Maria spends time building her life in Crete with her new family but also but fulfilling what she feels is her duty visiting the prison whilst Manolis escapes to Athens to find a new life and come to terms with his loss.

This author has such a wonderful writing style that brings our characters to life but also creates such awareness and intrigue into the places she writes about and issues that are faced and she has done such a great job of piquing my interest that after finishing this book I have now booked on a trip tomorrow to visit Spinalonga.

I was once again enraptured by this storyline, maybe not so much as The Island but none the less it held my attention the whole way through and is certainly one I would recommend.

Available to purchase Here

A Scar in The Bone by Sophie Jordan

 

It’s been a year since Tamsyn transformed from the enemy in Fell’s bed to the wife he sacrificed himself to save. From an ordinary girl to Penterra’s best hope to keep magic from disappearing forever.

With Fell torn from her side in the dangerous swirling mists of the Crags, Tamsyn is alone among the dragon pride. An outsider learning to survive in her new home, she trains until her muscles burn and her blood spills. And slowly, a warrior emerges.

But is Fell truly beyond Tamsyn’s reach? Their bond pulls at her, as does the fierce drive to protect both humans and dragon kind from a relentless enemy determined to destroy her – and all magic.

I was a big fan of A Fire in the Sky so I was looking forward to reconnecting with Tamsyn and in this follow on A Scar in the Bone we watch as Tamsyn is adapting to life living with her kind in the Crags but she still has a strong bond with Fell despite being told his brother telling her he has died. The former whipping girl is growing in strength and self worth and as the storyline progresses we can see that after being controlled her whole life she craves a life of freedom and a life where she can live peacefully embracing both her human and dragon form.

I enjoyed this book although I did find it lacked the adventure and excitement of the first book and I feel that Fell's absence from this book was a big contributor to this. At times the pace felt slow and like there wasn't much going on but then on the flip side the last 20% felt like it was rushed. 

I loved the introduction of the new characters as they were from the Dragon pride and I wanted more dragon content in the Fire in The Sky and this was definitely stepped up in this book which I was pleased about. This is definitely not a book to read as a standalone so be sure to immerse yourself in the storyline of A Fire in the Sky before picking this one up.

Bea's Book Wagon by Julie Haworth

 

After impulsively jacking in her dead-end temp job and investing her life savings in a ramshackle old horsebox, Bea sets about turning her dream of running a bookshop into a reality, and opens Bea’s Book Wagon. But it’s not all smooth sailing, and as Bea struggles with the challenges of running her own small business, she can only hope that her love of literature and the power of reading can help transform the lives of her friends, her community and herself in the process.

I have been really looking forward to the release of Bea’s Book Wagon because I love books about fictional entrepreneurs especially when it involves bookshops!

This book really didn’t disappoint it was such a wholesome read that I didn’t want to put down, I was routing for Bea to make a success of her mobile book business and I was also rather envious of her courage to take such a big risk and put everything she has into this business. 

The support she receives not just from family and friends but also from the community who she is managing to bring together with thanks to a mutual love of books which was so comforting. With the book being set around Rye it all felt very easy to visualise with the thanks to the authors descriptive writing but also this was helped with this being a location not too far from where I live so this gave the book an added sense of excitement and familiarity.

Although the romance side of this book had a predictable outcome I still loved watching every moment unfold, I could smell a bad egg straight away when meeting one of the love interests and also could see early on that there were a couple whole were clearly meant to be so the romantic in me was cheering from the sideline!

This is one of my favourite reads of this year full of ambition, love, friendship and a love of books. If your looking for a wholesome feel good read then this book will tick all the boxes.

Available to buy here

Uncharmed by Lucy Jane Wood

 

It's time to break the spell of perfection . . .

Andromeda Wildwood is practically perfect in every witch way. Her life is a haze of pink, magic and impossibly high standards. The proud owner of Celestial Bakehouse, a bustling London bakery, Annie devotes her powers to pleasing others, and while perfection exacts a magical toll, it’s a price she is more than willing to pay.

However, when Annie is tasked by her coven with mentoring a troubled teenage witch, her charmed existence is thrown into chaos. She couldn’t be more different from fiery, stubborn Maeve. Or from Hal, the gruff but handsome owner of their temporary lodgings, who is not best pleased to find the coven has offered up his woodland cottage to two headstrong witches.

As the unlikely trio slowly bond, outside forces begin to take an interest in Maeve’s extraordinary powers. Will Annie risk everything to protect the true magic she’s finally found?

After thoroughly enjoying the magical escapism that was Rewitched last year I didn't waste a moment in picking up Lucy Jane Woods new release Uncharmed and sorry but how can any one walk past this absolutely stunning cutesy cover!

Don't fear if you haven't read Rewitched because this is a stand alone although previous characters do make an appearance. But our practically perfect main character Annie is fresh and new and pulls us into a slice of heaven from the first chapter. The author has such deliciously good descriptive writing which needs to come with a warning because it had me drooling over all the sweet treat in the first chapter and I found myself praying for my diet and willpower!

This book is magical but with such a warm cosy charm to it which I am finding is my happy place when it comes to fantasy books because there is no crazy challenging world building for my ADHD brain to get my head around I am just enveloped in a welcoming hug of sorcery.

Annie soon shows us and learns for herself that perfection isn't all it is cracked up to be and that being true to yourself will bring the best form of happiness and attract the right people to be around you, likeling you for you and not who you are trying to be.

I loved Annie she was our ray of sugary hope and on the flip side we also meet our little storm cloud Maeve and watching these two come together to help each other find their place in the world and show their true colours was exciting and joyous to watch.

I think I may have actually enjoyed this one a tad more than Rewitched which is a rare thing I find in second books. If you are looking to kick of your cosy sorcery reading this autumn then I have just found the perfect one for you.

Available to buy here

All Wrapped Up by Heidi Swain

 

In Wynbridge, the scent of autumn is on the breeze and love is in the air…
 
Clemmie Bennett has been renovating beautiful Rowan Cottage on the outskirts of the small town of Wynbridge, for eighteen months following a very public heartbreak back in her childhood hometown. The popular Instagram influencer, lost her husband, sold their home, and has been cosied up the Fens and living a very private life, but now she feels it’s time for a change.
 
A chance encounter with co-owner of The Cherry Tree Café, the bubbly Lizzie Dixon, pulls her into organizing Wynbridge’s first-ever Autumn Festival, and her once quiet life is soon a distant memory. With the whole town rallying behind the event, she discovers a new sense of purpose.
 
 And when local vet Ash falls hard for Clemmie, she begins to wonder if she’s ready to move even further on from her past and fall in love again…
 

The excitement is real, we are off for another trip to the idyllic village of Wynbridge in this latest release by Heidi Swain and as ever this book didn't disappoint.

We are introduced to a new character who out of all of Heidi's previous characters I felt like I could really relate to, Clemmie us instantly loveable and we can see that she is healing in her own way from the loss of her husband, throwing herself into her home renovation and shutting herself off from the world. If anyone is going to heal and start living again after loss then being in the cosy community driven village of Wynbridge is the perfect place to be.

We reunite with so many characters in this book which I loved but if you are late to joining the love of Heidi Swains novels then do not fear you can still read this as a standalone although I a word of warning you will rushing to go pick up The Cherry Tree Cafe straight after! 

The Cherry Tree Cafe has long been my favourite read by this author so I loved spending so much time back at the cafe with Lizzie and Jemma. The excitement can be felt through the pages as we watch the Autumnal Festivities take off.

If you love Autumn then this book is screaming out for you to pick it up because it is oozing Autumnal festivity from start to finish I would even go as far as to say its the most Autumnal themed book I have ever read. Wrapped around this cosy comforting setting is the burning embers of a new romance that is navigated so delicately and made for such a heart-warming read.

This Wasn't Meant to Happen by Ali Harris

 

This wasn’t meant to happen. But it did.

Sofie Jensen has always lived by logic ― calculating risk, staying in control, believing that if she did everything right, life would follow the rules. But nothing could prepare her for the unimaginable: the stillbirth of her baby boy.

Now, grief carves a hollow space where joy once lived, and love ― so fierce, so fragile ― teeters on the edge. Nothing adds up anymore. Not the life she had. Not the future she imagined.

I have read all of Ali Harris previous books and I have really missed her writing so I couldn't wait to read another book by her but this book hit completely different. As I finished reading this book I just had to sit in peace for a while because this storyline really did hit hard. This is such a raw honest and brave storyline that feels so personal and heartbreaking and at one point I found tears rolling down my cheeks without even realising I was crying because I was so enveloped in Sofie and Rory's bubble of grief that I lost track of the outside world.

This story so so delicately and carefully told and for me it really did open my eyes. I have never been a greatly maternal woman and I have no children of my own so I wasn't sure if this book would touch my heart but it not only touched it but broke it into pieces. Seeing how men and women deal with the grief of losing a still born baby differently and not always being able to navigate this cruel journey together makes everything so much more heart wrenching. It also highlights how challenging it is to try and fit back into " normal " life again after the loss has reshaped you it shows how far we still need to come in future in helping those who are grieving to be able to take the time they need and be able to offer the support needed without hurdles and pressure constraints.

What broke my heart even more after reading this book was discovering that the author herself has and is living similar footsteps as Sofie and the courage and bravery for her to write her experiences into this storyline is remarkable and I really hope that this book gets into the hands of readers who will feel like they are alone in their journey of baby loss to feel a sense of understanding and being seen.

This is quite simply the most heart-breaking and thought provoking read I have read in such a long time and it is certainly going to leave a mark on me.

Available to buy here