Twelve Days of Christmas by Trisha Ashley

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I received this book for Christmas, but with working and going away for new year I didn't get chance to sit down and start this book until January. Although being a Christmas book, I probably should have waited until Christmas 2011 to read it but I couldn't resist reading the first chapter. From then I knew I was going to have to read to the end!

The front cover of the book is just stunning, and that is what first caught my eye and drew me in. Yes I know - I'm a little bit shallow when it comes to Chick Lit. I'm a sucker for a beautiful, eye catching front cover!

This is the first book I have read by Trisha Ashley, and I have another of her books (Chocolate Wishes) sitting on my bookshelf to be read.

The book starts by introducing us to the main character Holly Brown, a young widow who hasn't celebrated Christmas since her husband died, and accepts the opportunity to house-sit in a remote village over Christmas as a way of avoiding having to celebrate Christmas! Little does she know that Little Mumming is possibly the worst place to go if she intends to avoid Christmas.

Holly was brought up as a Strange Baptist by her grandmother, who at the start of the book has passed away. We also learn that Holly has been a widow for 8 years, and although celebrated Christmas while her husband was alive, hasn't celebrated Christmas since. In fact, she will do anything to avoid celebrating Christmas.

A few days after her arrival, her quite, house-sitting assignment is turned to chaos in the form of unexpected guests, unwelcome guests, a whole lot of snow and everything that ensues!

Would I recommend it?

Yes, as long as you aren’t looking for a quick page turner, with a fast developing plot. This book is a slow burner with many interesting aspects, such as the cooking references and the excerpts from Holly’s Grandmother’s Journal, and is definitely one to curl up with in the run-up to Christmas, under a blanket, with biscuits and tea close at hand.

I like this book, but I didn't love it. It was fairly predictable in the whole, but with a few surprises along the way. I found myself laughing out loud at some of the things which happened in the book, but found some things that happened to be too predictable. But still I wanted to get to the end to find out what would happen. I found the ending a little disappointing - it ended too soon and abruptly, and I found myself wishing for there to be an extra few chapters, or possibly a sequel to the book.

Not the most memorable of books, but I am definitely going to read more books by Trisha Ashley.

3.5 stars out of 5