The Best Little Christmas Shop

Maxine Morrey

Nov 2017 · Sold by HarperCollins UK

About this ebook

From the bestselling author of A Winter’s Fairytale and The Christmas Project

Curl up in front of the fire this Christmas with The Best Little Christmas Shop – perfect for fans of Sarah Morgan and Philippa Ashley.

Home for the holidays...

Icing gingerbread men, arranging handmade toys and making up countless Christmas wreaths in her family’s cosy little Christmas shop isn’t usually globe-trotter Lexi’s idea of fun. But it’s all that’s keeping her mind off romance. And, with a broken engagement under her belt, she’s planning to stay well clear of that for the foreseeable future...until gorgeous single dad Cal Martin walks through the door!

Christmas takes on a whole new meaning as Lexi begins to see it through Cal’s adorable five-year-old son’s eyes. But, finding herself getting dangerously close to the mistletoe with Cal, Lexi knows she needs to back off. She’s sworn off love, and little George needs a stability she can’t provide. One day she’ll decide whether to settle down again – just not yet.

But the Christmas shop in this sleepy, snow-covered village has another surprise in store...

Praise for Maxine Morrey...

‘A delightful wintery tale full to the brim with drama, passion and heartwarming cheer.’ – Gem~Bee

‘As a festive love story, this book has it all: romance, an engaging heroine you feel you could be friends with, a handsome caring hero...lots of warmth and humour and plenty of snow.’ PortobelloBookBlog

‘A real wintry treat, with all the snow nicely contrasting with all the warmth the story exuded. I couldn’t help but find myself laughing away or sighing with happiness... I just want to read it all over again and probably will do in Christmases to come.’ Sophie at Reviewed the Book

‘This is a beautiful fairytale for adults, set in and around Christmas, with a healthy helping of romance...this story draws you in and won't let you go. It is beautifully written, very easy and pleasurable to read.’ Rachel’s Random Reads

‘Fantastic strong characters, along with beautifully descriptive writing enabled me to immerse myself into their world and become a fly on the wall. I love books that transport me to Christmas and make me feel all festive and warm and Winter’s Fairytale certainly delivered for me.’ Jill Loves to Read

Ratings and reviews

A gentle enough tale for the Festive Season full of family, decorations and the obligatory touch of snow and romance. Lexi has returned home after blowing her job and is helping out in the fanily's seasonal store which of course means lots of decorations. Something about Lexi doesn't read quite right for me and I could not really get invested in the what had happened between her and Mario and why she had left her job with no notice resulting in her being summarily sacked. She is irritating and keep being told how "good" she is only cemented my feelings about her. She has the sort of family you only read about in books. They all love each other and can say absolutely anything to each other at any time without it resulting in week (or month) long charged silences or feuds. As the only girl of 5 children she has grown up a tomboy and because she has missed so many family functions due to her high flying job they all appear to think she is about 5 and needs their constant correction and permanent fussing over. The will-they-won't-they relationship with Cal Martin and his angelic son George also didn't grip me. Whether I am just faded because I have read so many Christmas themed romances of late I cannot be certain but all I know is this one didn't do it for me. The characters were a little too shiny and polished to be real people and although the village and the store itself were unendingly charming they simply weren't enough to lift this book for me. The writing itself is on the good side of competent and the plotting of the book leads to a nicely paced unfolding of the tale. Sadly, it was a tale I didn't really care for but that likely says more about me than the work of Maxine Morrey. I would definitely give her books another try as I didn't hate it, I just found it all a bit meh.

Lexi came home after her career as a chief engineer in F1 hit a wall, with all of the associated paparazzi attention as she was involved with the team’s driver at the time. The baby in the family with 3 older brothers, she’s always considered herself a tomboy, and is uncomfortable with all things ‘girly’ as she grew up rushing about to keep up with her brothers. Now home for the first extended time in years and finding herself enjoying her remove from the racing circuit more than she thought she would and working at the family’s shop: now transformed into a Christmas wonderland, she’s biding her time until the new year as she waits for a new offer from a racing team to return to the life she’s ‘meant to have’. Oh Lexi – it is so obvious to everyone BUT you that being home, pitching in at the store, spending time with your family and friends makes you happy: happier than the job offer you received. But when a little boy appears, a teddy bear with a wonky head and his gorgeous father appear in the shop, instantly Lexi offers to ‘perform surgery’, fixing Bear and giving him a jaunty new scarf. Thus Lexi meets George and his father Cal: new to the village, with plenty of interested females, single and attached, watching his every move. Cal, a successful businessman who works with classic cars moved to the village with his young son George to give him a better life with more space and fresh air out of London. Taking full responsibility and custody of George after his mother refused to be involved, Cal is hoping to give George a good life- far better than his own in foster care. Cal is both fiercely protective of George and his feelings, and slightly flummoxed by the boy’s questions, interests and parricularly his instant attachment to Lexi. Not interested in allowing anyone in enough to hurt either him or the child, but somehow he just can’t stop running into Lexi. Of course, her best friend’s husband and her brother both work with Cal, and George has become friends with her nephew and niece, and her family has done (in typical fashion) everything they can to welcome Cal and George to town and making them feel a part of the family and community. Cal is hard not to like – his relationship with George and his determination to keep him safe and happy is wonderful, and you can’t help but appreciate his warmth and willingness to help out those he likes. Lexi, on the other hand, while a wonderfully kind and clearly welcoming person was frustrating – SO frustrating as she first couldn’t see what was in front of her, then refused to let go of her fear of all the bad things that could happen if she took a chance. Oh the back and forth wore a hole in the carpet here: everyone: from her mother, her friends and even her brothers see just how well-matched she and Cal were – and if that wasn’t enough, her ex Marco, F1 driver and former fiancé saw it – and it was his surprising offer and words of sense that finally made a difference. Full of emotions – this story fairly oozed family acceptance, love and goodwill. Even when Lexi was at her most frustrating, her brother Dan’s and her parents’ support and acceptance, even extending to quiet reprimands and gentle nudges into the fray of confusion she was experiencing was wonderful – everyone deserves family and friends just like that. When you add in a Great Dane that can’t help but be adorable even as he snores away in the warmest place possible, the Christmas festivities and the wonderful additions to the family and the holiday themed store that can’t help but put you in the spirit, the story fairly flies by to a conclusion that is expected yet surprising in just how well it works for everyone. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

absolutely loved this book.

About the author

Maxine has wanted to be a writer for as long as she can remember and wrote her first (very short) book for school when she was ten.

As time went by, she continued to write, but 'normal' work often got in the way. She has written articles on a variety of subjects, as well as a local history book on Brighton. However, novels are her first love.

In August 2015, she won Harper Collins/Carina UK's 'Write Christmas' competition with her first romantic comedy, 'Winter's Fairytale'.

Maxine lives on the south coast of England, and when not wrangling with words loves to read, sew and listen to podcasts. Being a fan of tea and cake, she can (should!) also be found doing something vaguely physical at the gym.

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