Review // With Love at Christmas - Carole Matthews

Published - 25th October 2012

Published by - Sphere

Format - Paperback
Goodreads Synopsis -
Can the imperfect family really have the perfect Christmas?
Juliet Joyce adores Christmas. She loves the presents, the tree, the turkey, the tinsel, everything. Already the festive spirit is upon her, which is just as well as this Christmas things are starting to get out of hand.Her son Tom is out of work and bringing home a slew of unsuitable partners; pregnant daughter Chloe and her little boy have moved back in; Juliet's father, Frank, is getting over a heartbreak of his own and Rita, her eccentric mother, is behaving more erratically each day. And has the chaos got too much for Juliet's husband Rick?
With the big day fast approaching, Juliet hopes that she can stop everything spiralling out of control, because the only thing she wants is her family all around her and her home to be filled.

With Love at Christmas was bought for me as a gift. These aren't the type of books I usually read but at Christmas I just have to have an easy, festive read! Honestly, this one wasn't that easy and didn't feel a whole lot festive either. It felt like I was reading someone's diary - especially as the characters didn't talk like normal people would (in my experience, anyway). I don't really know how to explain it, it just felt odd and actually quite sad. It didn't put me in the mood for Christmas but it definitely had me wanting to curl up in bed with the lights off.

That being said, I did like the book. I liked Juliet and Rick and found myself getting emotional at all of their trials and tribulations. There were parts where I actually laughed out loud and nodded along, thinking that's exactly what my family does. Although Juliet loves Christmas and as assuming from the book title it's a Christmassy novel, I felt that this could have been set any time of the year. It just didn't have enough pull as a Christmas book for me. As a normal every day quick read though, it was great. Probably not a book i'll want to pick up again next Christmastime but it was good as a one-off.