Christmas on the Little Cornish Isles: The Driftwood Inn

Phillipa Ashley

Sep 2017 · The Little Cornish Isles Book 1 · Sold by HarperCollins UK

About this ebook

’Scandals and secrets in the Scillies – sheer joy!’ Katie Fforde

Christmas has arrived on the Cornish Isles of Scilly, bringing mistletoe, surprises and more than a sprinkle of romance . . . Fans of Poldark and Carole Matthews will love this brand-new festive read from the author of the bestselling Cornish Café series.

For Maisie Samson, this Christmas is going to be different. After years working in a busy Cornish pub, she’s moved back to quiet Gull Island where she grew up, to help her parents run the family inn.

But even though she can’t wait for the festive season to arrive, Maisie cannot shake the memories of what happened to her last Christmas – the day she lost everything. She keeps herself busy, setting up the tree and hanging mistletoe ready for her first proper family Christmas in years.

Until a new arrival to the island walks into her bar and changes everything. Australian backpacker Patrick is looking for a job for the low season. When Maisie takes him on, she doesn’t expect him to last the week, but to her surprise Patrick is the perfect fit. Charming and handsome, could Maisie allow herself to hope that she and Patrick could be more than just colleagues?

As Christmas approaches, Maisie finds herself dreading the spring, when Patrick is due to leave. With the help of a little Christmas magic, can Maisie get the happily ever after she always dreamed of?

Christmas on the Little Cornish Isles is the first in a stunning new series from Phillipa Ashley. The perfect book to snuggle up with this Christmas.

Praise for Phillipa Ashley’s bestselling Cornish books:

‘Warm and funny and feel-good. The best sort of holiday read.’ Katie Fforde

‘Filled with warm and likeable characters. Great fun!’ Jill Mansell

‘A glorious, tantalising taste of Cornwall, I could almost taste the salt of the sea air as I read it.’ Jules Wake

‘The perfect read for wherever you take your holiday but chances are if you read this first you’ll want to be heading to Cornwall!’ Bella Osborne

‘An utterly glorious, escapist read from a one of the freshest voices to emerge in women's fiction today. I loved every gorgeous page.’ Claudia Carroll

Ratings and reviews

Travel to the Scilly Isles, just off the coast of Cornwall, Gull Island and the Driftwood Inn become the focal point in this story of the islanders, their independence and the struggle to make a living and a life in a picturesque if remote location. Maisie has left her job on the mainland to come home and run the family business, The Driftwood Inn. After years away from family and a traumatic end to a relationship that left her bruised and grieving, the short tourist season is ending and the off season looms: a time to find money and energy to keep the inn viable and appealing to customers. While Maisie is determined to keep the locals on island, and working together to keep the independent spirit and unique flavor of the island, she’s battling against an upscale resort property on a neighboring island, with an owner with deep pockets and a ruthless determination to purchase the whole island for his own company’s growth. Patrick is an Aussie on island for a bit of backpacking and some personal research. The season is ending, but he’s met Maisie and wants to know more, both for his own personal quest and to answer questions about the attraction he feels for her. After losing his parents at a young age, he was at loose ends and often in trouble, until a couple stepped in and provided him security and guidance, and a bit of tough love. After losing the man who was more a father figure to him, he’d retreated into grief and this field trip to Cornwall and the Scilly Islands is part of his own quest for answers and healing. Philippa Ashley brought these islands to life and light: one would never assume that life was easy, but the balance of scenery, friendship and community shine through. From moments of grey fog through the bright sunshine contrasting with seascapes, wind and wildlife, every new moment of description adds color and depth to the visual images. Maisie and Patrick are both intriguing characters: both with secrets and agendas, neither willing to give over fully (at first) to the attraction that is building between them. With secondary characters that add both depth and angst to the story, plenty of moments to worry for both Maisie and her father, and a single-minded Labrador retriever who deserves his own story, I read this book in one sitting and wanted to go back for more. 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: al conclusions are my own responsibility.

I purchased this book last year but ran out of festive season before I could read it and somehow reading Christmas books outside of November and December feels just plain wrong. So, I hiked it high up on my 2018 list of reading musts for Yuletide. To be honest, I rather wish I hadn't as I never really sank in to the tale and found it all a little predictable and dare I say it (dare, dare!) boring. The writing is actually rather good and there is a nice wry humour and a gently unfolding plot that should soothe the reader in to the story and absorb you in the place and the people. To be entirely honest I think it may have been the setting that did it for me - I live in a small town but a town nevertheless and the sheer rurality of the Little Isles and their reliance on the weather to get the most basic of necessities to them is so far from my sphere of experience that I spent a lot of time mentally wondering how I would cope in that place rather than inhabiting the fictional world. That said I did find the characters to be all a little flat. Maisie was the best of the lot though, with her conflicting emotions warring within it made you unsure exactly how she would react in any given situation. This just made her feel like a woman determined to grab her life with both hands and enjoy it as best she could for as long as she could and I really enjoyed that about her. Sadly the other characters were a little bit two dimensional for my tastes. Patrick infuriated me, somehow despite all his layers and personal tragedies and triumphs he never really became more than a bunch of words on the page. This is a real shame as if had just had the same sprinkling of author dust that Maisie got this would have probably been a much better review. This is not a bad book by any means but it really didn't make me want to reach for the other Cornish Isles books. If you enjoy the genre (as I do) then I would say give it a go - just because I didn't thrill to it doesn't mean you won't and a lot of people seem to disagree with this reviewer about this one.

About the author

Phillipa Ashley writes warm, funny romantic fiction for a variety of world-famous international publishers.

After studying English at Oxford, she worked as a copywriter and journalist. Her first novel, Decent Exposure, won the RNA New Writers Award and was made into a TV movie called 12 Men of Christmas starring Kristin Chenoweth and Josh Hopkins. As Pippa Croft, she also wrote the Oxford Blue series – The First Time We Met, The Second Time I Saw You and Third Time Lucky.

Phillipa lives in a Staffordshire village and has an engineer husband and scientist daughter who indulge her arty whims. She runs a holiday-let business in the Lake District, but a big part of her heart belongs to Cornwall. She visits the county several times a year for ‘research purposes’, an arduous task that involves sampling cream teas, swimming in wild Cornish coves and following actors around film shoots in a camper van. Her hobbies include watching Poldark, Earl Grey tea, Prosecco-tasting and falling off surf boards in front of RNLI lifeguards.