St Aidan: a cosy Cornish village where friendships are made for life and it’s always cocktail hour somewhere… world’s most Instagramable festive dreamland, there’s only one thing standing in the way of her hefty paycheque – the lord of the manor.
Bill Markham could give Scrooge a run for his money but Ivy is firmly #TeamChristmas… even if her handsome host seems to be doing everything he can to sabotage her staging. Maybe she shouldn’t have stumbled in on him starkers in the hot tub?
As the temperature outside cools, things inside the castle heat up. It’s been a long time since Ivy allowed herself to give in to temptation… surely one little kiss under the mistletoe won’t hurt?
Readers are LOVING A Cosy Christmas in Cornwall
‘This is one book you won’t be able to put down, I definitely couldn’t’ Meena, 5* Netgalley reviewer
‘An absolute charm of a book from the brilliant Jane Linfoot. It’s a gorgeous, festive treat that will have you feel all warm and fuzzy for days after the end’ Jenn, 5* Netgalley reviewer
‘The fabulous Jane Linfoot is back with an irresistible, uplifting and feel-good romantic comedy you will want to devour like a mince pie and a glass of mulled wine this holiday season’ Julie, 5* Amazon reviewer
‘Oh, I love, love, loved this book, I didn’t want it to end!’ Kirsten, 5* Netgalley reviewer
‘I’m sold on any character who, when you first meet them, is talking to their dog’ Kate, 5* Netgalley reviewer
‘You know the saying… Christmas hasn’t started until you’ve seen the castle’s resident hunk naked in a hot tub’ Kerry, 5* Netgalley reviewer
‘Linfoot is known to make wonders with words and she has done it again’ Finitha, 5* Netgalley reviewer
‘Was unable to put this book down’ Mary, 5* Amazon reviewer
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This is a new Author to me, I want to read more by her. Ivy Starforth and Scrooge Bill Markham’s story that kept me smiling as I read. I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
My Rating:
4.5
Favorite Quotes:
… buying your own present might mean you forfeit those two seconds of amazement when it arrives. But the plus side is you get exactly what you want and you’re never disappointed.
And then there was a clatter of the phone being dropped, Fliss was telling Oscar not to lick his mango yogurt off the TV screen, and we got cut off. I must admit, conversations like this make me view the super-cute baby clothes in Daniels in a whole different light – the kind that has me whooshing off to Pet’s Corner. Five seconds listening to life on Fliss’s sofa is enough to remind me crooning over the tartan velvet coats and diamanté dog collars is a whole lot safer. Even if they cost ten times more than the human versions they’re cheap at the price when you consider what they’re saving you from.
It’s what my dad would call a FISH moment – frig it, shit happens.
Let’s face it, given the choice between teensy trousers or buttercream, in theory it’s great to say you’d go without and be skinny. But get a hundred percent real and squishy cupcake in your hand and it’s a whole other story. You’re mostly left with an empty bun case and a bad case of guilty regret before you even get around to thinking about your choice. I mean, who wants to be strong willed and skinny anyway, it’s hideous and boring and everyone despises you for it.
Tansy has a go at our eyebrows, and we all end up looking like we had an accident in the dark with a Sharpie and have to go and scrub them off.
I’m going to take a second to relive the last ten minutes, wrap them very carefully in tissue paper, and tuck them away in my safest memory box.
My Review:
This is my third time reading this clever and insightful author and have just realized what a witty and cunning minx she truly is. Her characters tend to be complicated and multi-faceted and not always likable, yet there are always numerous reasons behind that and quite a few layers to go through to get there, so patience and forbearance were required but trust me, the HEA reward was well worth the effort. The busy, lively, and highly amusing storylines were well-balanced in tone, cast with an unusually peculiar yet intriguing and quirky slate of characters, and hit all the feels with agile levity as well as vividly described and shrewdly detailed observations.
The eventful story occurred over a two-week span in preparations for a wealthy and extremely driven and exacting client’s family Christmas holiday and was written from the first-person POV of Ivy, whose name should have been Rose or Thorn, as she was rather prickly. She was stridently bossy, rude, snappish, judgmental, and demanding towards the yummy Bill, the unfortunate man providing the venue which happened to be a castle. Ivy seemed to have a rather large yardstick wedged in an uncomfortable place, and there were several regrettable reasons for that, but until those causalities were fully enumerated, I had a difficult time appreciating Ivy, but I got there, as did she.
I gained a fun new entry for my Brit Word List with wodge, which is British informal for a large or bulky amount. Bill must have had a wodge of money to splash out for Dior Fahrenheit cologne as after Ivy’s obsessive mentions of his delicious scent I looked it up thinking of a possible gift for my husband. Regrettably, my wallet seized and my credit card melted at the cost. 😉
A Cosy Christmas in Cornwall by Jane Linfoot is a Christmas romance featuring a manor house in Cornwall. Unfortunately nearby is castle with all the accoutrements with a similar name. Sometimes people aren’t careful when they search things on the Internet. Such was the case when Ivy’s friend, Fliss’s, older sister Libby (Liberty Johnstone-Cody) rented it for the Christmas holidays. Ivy is the advance crew. As a department store designer, Libby thought she could see to preparing the castle for the guests: decorating and such. The first thing Ivy discovers is the caretaker, Bill, is actually someone she had met, and been attracted to, several years earlier on a ski weekend with her then squeeze, George. Could things get worse? Oh, yes. Not only was it a manor house, not a castle, but it was a bare bones manor house, rented primarily for hunting and drinking weekends by men who barely cared. This obviously would not do, and the only assistance Ivy had was…Bill.
Although I love romances, and a reader can already see where this one is going, I had a lot of trouble getting in to this one. I can’t put my finger on why, exactly, but I never caught the spark. A myriad of interesting things happened in the fortnight of the Christmas party, but none provided the spark I was looking for. To boot, I learned very little of Cornwall, which was a disappointment. I did not love the book, and so, I cannot recommend it. Sorry.
I received a free ARC of a Cosy Christmas in Cornwall from Netgalley. All interpretations and opinions are solely my own. #netgalley #acozychristmasincornwall
A Cosy Christmas in Cornwall is a new holiday offering by Jane Linfoot. The story centers around Ivy Starforth, a thirtyish department store designer. Ivy gets the unbelievable opportunity to work for her best friend’s Kardashian like sister to design, decorate, and be the resident photographer for their stay at Cockle Shell Castle along the Cornish coastline. She has more than enough time accrued to take off for the job, but is somewhat surprised when it is granted at the holidays, the store’s busiest time. Ivy is in great hopes an exciting adventure such as this will help her outlook after the awful year she has experienced.
Ivy packs up her little Corsa along with her shared dog Merwyn and heads out of London and towards the Southwest. When she arrives at the castle she is surprised to find the caretaker is someone she met years before at a ski holiday. Although she hadn’t seen Bill since, she had never forgotten him or the rapport they had shared. It was a shame they were each on the trip with others. But now he seems arrogant and dismissive, but she is there to do a job.
Join Ivy in a quirky adventure as she creates a shabby chic holiday getaway for a group of upper class adults and 9 unusual children. Enjoy the quirky group of silver surfies as they join in the fun. The transformations of the castle may be nothing compared what happens for the people spending Christmas there.
I enjoyed this book and do recommend it!