Coming Home For Christmas by Jenny Hale

Teaser

Allie Richfield loves Christmas, so when she lands a job as House Manager for the amazing Ashford Estate—which includes organizing the Marley family festivities—she is in her element. With a budget bigger than her life savings and a team of staff, how hard can it be?

As one-by-one she meets the Marleys, she’s about to find out... Allie’s new boss, Robert, might be gorgeous, but he’s also colder than the snow outside and refuses to come home for Christmas. Robert’s playboy brother, Kip, flirts with her relentlessly; and his sister, Sloane, arrives home with baggage—both the divorce-kind and the Louis Vuitton kind. Their ninety-two year old grandmother, Pippa, spends her day grumbling at them all from her mobility scooter.

With Robert intending to sell Ashford, it’s the Marley’s last chance to create some happy memories in their family home—and Allie is determined to make it happen... even if it takes a little Christmas magic! With the festive spirit in full swing, she might even discover a little happiness of her own...

My thoughts

Are you feeling christmasy yet? Read Coming Home for Christmas then you’ll be in the perfect mood for Christmas! First of all, I absolutely adore the book cover. I love the font and everthing matches perfectly to the story! What a wonderful design! The publisher did a very good job!

Coming Home for Christmas is a wonderful romantic debut novel by american author Jenny Hale. A prefect magical Christmas tale which puts you in the festive mood for Christmas.

Jenny introduces us to Allie Richfield, the main character of the story. A woman in her early thirties moves back into her childhood room at her mother’s house after losing her 11-year job as a live-in nanny. Her sister Megan, a successful estate agent, suggests her to apply to be the house manager of Ashford, home to the very wealthy Marley family. After some consideration and the flip of a coin, Allie agrees to meet with Mr. Marley. When Allie meets Robert, the oldest son and the person responsible for Ashford House, there is an instant connection between them but what happens when she meets the rest of the family? Filled with warm history and intriguing characters the Ashford Estate sets the stage for an exhilarating turn of events.

Allies job is to look after the other staff in the house, arrange the family Christmas ‘meeting’ and keep an eye on Roberts elderly grandmother, Pippa. Expecting to receive her daily tasks from Robert, Allie is surprised to learn that he won’t be attending the family Christmas, and instead will deliver a daily itinerary to her by email. Working with her mysterious boss and his family, Allie gets tangled in complicated relationships, as she tries to restore faith in family and friendship.

In many ways, christmas got very commercial by the years. For kids it’s only all about presents, presents and more presents. Jenny Hale shows you what christmas is really about - love, peace, family and faith. I felt very connected to the book because there are a few similarities to my own family. Pippa reminded me of my grandmother. She was the bond between our families. Because of her we were seeing each other at least on christmas and birthdays. After she passed away a while ago, things changed a lot.

There is one thing I didn’t liked about the story. Sometimes I thought Allie acted like a teenager, especially when it came to Kip. He is a womanizer but very likeable and I liked his funniness and enthusiasm. Kip was always polite and sweet, sometimes a little childish in his attempt but he wasn’t treated all that fairly. Allie seems to be aware from the beginning that she is not interested in him in a romantic way, and yet goes along with all of his plans and gestures. I wished Jenny had been writing this a bit differently.

From the very beginning, I was drawn in wondering what would happen next. The estate and the surrounding she is working are described very detailed, that made it an realistic and easy read.

This was a great and very enjoyable read. I loved reading this book because I couldn't wait to learn more about the Marley family members to find out the history behind their relationships. Many romance and chick lit novels are very predictable. This one isn’t. The story keeps you guessing right to the end as to who will get their happy ever after.

Good news for everyone who wants to read more of Jenny Hale! She is writing on her second novel at the moment. Let's cross our fingers that it is going to be published in 2014!