Synopsis
What if you had nowhere to call home for Christmas?
When Fee Winter books a winter break at the remote Black Cherry Retreat in the small town of Pine Ridge, Tennessee, it’s with the idea that the peace and quiet will help her recuperate from her hectic life as a photographer..
But what she didn’t bank on was meeting Tom Chambers and his huge, interfering yet lovable family. With them, could Fee finally experience the warmth and support that’s been missing from her own life – and maybe even find a place to call home in time for Christmas?
Angela Britnell
Angela was born in St. Stephen, Cornwall, England. After completing her A-Levels she worked as a Naval Secretary. She met her husband, a US Naval Flight Officer while being based at a small NATO Headquarters on the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark. They lived together in Denmark, Sicily, California, southern Maryland and London before settling in Franklin, Tennessee.
Angela took a creative writing course in 2000 and loved it so much that she has barely put her pen down since. She has had short stories and novels published in the US. Her novel Sugar & Spice, won Choc Lit’s Search for an American Star competition and is her UK debut.
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Oh what a joy to read.
I found myself daydreaming about Tennessee and Black Cherry Retreat on many occassion.
As is usual with me – if I daydream or can imagine myself in the plot – i’m sold.
The book had a lovely plot with enough emotion to have you laughing out loud on minute to causing a lump in your throat the next.
Fee and Tom have had their share of grief and are very reserved when they first meet each other.
I loved how this story kept growing and giving more every time I had an opportunity to read it. It drew me in and I won’t lie, felt a bit lost when it ended. I just wanted the story to continue.
I really enjoy Angela Britnell’s novels and Christmas at the Black Cherry Retreat is yet another I can chalk up as a five star read. Tom Chambers and Fee Winter’s characters are brilliantly written. They both have painful pasts and take their time coming together. Tom is kind, gentle and means well but at first has an uphill struggle with prickly and suspicious Fee. Gradually they get to know each other, helped by Tom’s large, boisterous family. His tiny niece Lulu is an absolute star – and I don’t usually warm to children in books.
Not wanting to give the plot away, all I can say is that this is not your usual festive romance. There’s much more to it. It’s a deep story with both characters trying to sort out their pasts in order to make a future together. There is sadness and reconciliation, hope and love in the mix which for me, made it a special and enjoyable read. More please!
This is a great story. Longer than a lot of romances but a lot of story for your money! The twists and turns throughout the book keep you wanting to learn more. The lives of Tom and Fee on the face of it are so different but as the story progresses the similarities emerge. Their love seems impossible initially, but as in all good romances, comes good finally. I loved learning of Fee’s history and meeting Tom’s family. By the end of the book I wanted to book a holiday at The Black Cherry Resort.
Wonderful romantic story with a full cast of super characters. I devoured this book in a weekend and did not want to leave this heart warming place.
It has everything you could want in a great story, including a troubled handsome hero and a heroine with a difficult past. Throw in his enormous loving but interfering family and you have a great read.
Possibly one of the best reads of the year!
Once again, Ms Britnell manages to combine her love of things Cornish with that of the American South – very satisfactorily. Fee is a world renowned photo journalist at the end of her tether and needing an escape to recover, regroup. She goes to stay at Black Cherry Retreat, a country haven owned by Tom Chambers who has his own demons with which to deal. The extensive Chambers family folds a resisting and solitary Fee into their lives and matters progress. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, reading it in a very short time because I couldn’t put it down until finished, and can easily recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good ‘proper romance’. My only other comment is that Christmas doesn’t really feature much (despite the title) so don’t let that deter you (if it would).
What do you expect from a feelgood book? For me it’s simple. It needs a fluent writing style, a mixture of sadness, joy, laughter, love and a happy ending. Well, the story ticks all these boxes. Add the festive season as a background and you have found a perfect Christmas treat.
You might want to seek peace and quiet, but you get a lot more than you bargained for. This does not necessarily mean a bad thing. On the contrary I would say.
What’s not to like about this story? I for one have not found one thing that I thought could have been better.
So I would suggest that you snuggle up somewhere nice and warm with a hot drink and a biscuit or with a cold drink or an ice cream on a sunny beach and enjoy this heartwarming story.
Thank you, Angela Britnell and Choc Lit.
Having read and enjoyed other books by Angela Britnell I eagerly awaited this her latest novel. She keeps me entertained with her storytelling ability by using characters who are adults, have experienced life and received scars along the way, sometimes mental scars, sometimes physical scars.
Needs a warning on the cover: if you start this book, you won’t want to put it down until you’ve finished.