Trisha Ashley
RAISED on an isolated Welsh mountain commune, Meg Harkness
has never experienced a ‘proper’ Christmas… but this year looks set to be a
cracker in more ways than one!
The run-up to the festive season just got an extra injection
of sparkle with an invitation to cosy up with a new winter warmer from
Lancashire-born author Trisha Ashley, the much-loved queen of funny, feel-good
rom-coms. A beguiling blend of dark Lancashire humour, heartwarming
romance, the finest foods, and characters so quirky, lovable and exquisitely
portrayed that they become your own friends (or enemies!), are just some of the
many reasons why Ashley’s clever comedies have won her an army of fans.
And this Christmas, we return to the bracing moorland air
and rural charms around Ashley’s home town of St Helens for a tasty confection
of love games, mystery and intrigue – and a side helping of skulduggery to
spice up the Yuletide drama.
Portrait painter Meg is definitely not in the Christmas
mood. After years spent with her adopted ‘spiritual’ grandfather, River, who
only observes pagan festivals at his commune in the remote Black Mountains of
Wales, Meg has never gone in for tinsel, baubles and mistletoe.
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| SERVING UP A TREAT: Trisha Ashley |
This Christmas she is feeling particularly low after a spell
in hospital with pneumonia… but when she is invited to spend the run-up to
Christmas in the snowy countryside of Lancashire, rather than her home in wet
and dreary London, she can’t refuse.
Eccentric crime novelist Clara Mayhem Doome and her husband
Henry, a renowned poet, have commissioned Meg to paint their portraits and are
keen to have her stay at their home, which is perched on an isolated hilltop.
Click here for
Lancashire Post review
Arriving at the warm and cosy Red House, which Clara and Henry share with their great nephew Teddy, Meg soon falls under its spell and begins to wonder what a real Christmas might be like. But just as she is beginning to settle in, she spots a familiar and unwelcome face… Lex Mariner, Clara’s nephew and Meg’s ex-boyfriend from college days.
Click here for
Lancashire Post review
Arriving at the warm and cosy Red House, which Clara and Henry share with their great nephew Teddy, Meg soon falls under its spell and begins to wonder what a real Christmas might be like. But just as she is beginning to settle in, she spots a familiar and unwelcome face… Lex Mariner, Clara’s nephew and Meg’s ex-boyfriend from college days.
Meg and Lex share ‘old wounds’ that are still raw for both
of them, and the animosity is almost visible. Despite the festive cheer, Meg
suddenly wants nothing more than to get as far away from him, and their past
secrets, as she can. But if she stays, could this be the year she finally
discovers the magic of Christmas…
Ashley certainly knows how to please her audience and there
are some unforgettable, larger-than-life characters – not least the irrepressible,
avuncular Clara – and lots of show-stealing moments in this joyous Christmas
package of reading delights.
With some familiar names from past novels, a storyline
brimming with warm insight and wry observations on human frailties and foibles,
and delicious recipes to tickle everyone’s taste buds, this is the perfect
starter to the festive celebrations.
(Bantam Press, hardback, £12.99)
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