The Honeycote Collection by Veronica Henry - Escape to the Cotswolds with Veronica!

I have just binged on the three books in Veronica Henry's series, The Honeycote Collection, and I wish there were more to read! These were originally published as separate titles in the 2000s as Honeycote, Making Hay, and Just a Family Affair and, in 2017 to 2018, were repackaged as A Country Christmas, A Country Life and A Country Wedding, finally becoming The Honeycote Collection in 2020. They are all based on the ficticious, picturesque Cotswold village of Honeycote, and its brewery, Honeycote Ales, run by Mickey Liddiard and his family.

A Country Christmas sets the scene with the brewery in financial trouble and shows the ups and downs of the Liddiard family: Mickey, Lucy and their children, Patrick, Sophie and Georgina, and the people who get involved with them like Keith Sherwyn, a Solihull businessman, his wife, Sandra, and their daughter, Mandy, who have quite an impact on the future of the brewery and the family itself. It's all a bit like Dallas, in a way, with wheeling and dealing, and hot affairs! But it is so well written that you can't help getting really involved with the story, and being sorry when it's finished. However, it's not too Christmassy so you could read it at any time of the year.

A Country Life, although the Liddiards are there in the background, this book is about Suzanna and Barney Blake who are taken on to refurbish and run The Honeycote Arms, the brewery's flagship pub. They have been unsuccessfully trying for a baby and feel that this challenge will give them a new focus in life. Other new characters are Ginny, freshly divorced and making a new start with her twin teenage daughters, Kitty and Sasha, and Damien, also escaping to the country and trying to live down his dodgy past, but who also has eyes on taking over the pub.

Lastly, A Country Wedding, Patrick, Mickey and Lucy's son, and Mandy, Keith's daughter, are to be married, but her father is acting strangely, and Mayday, Patrick's platonic friend, finds that she would perhaps like him for herself. All in all, these three novels are a wonderfully engrossing read, so sit back and escape to the Cotswolds with Veronica Henry!

One Day in December by Josie Silver - A Fabulous Book!

Although One Day in December by Josie Silver starts on a snowy December day, when Laurie spies the love of her life from her seat on a crowded bus, it isn't too Christmassy as it takes us through the years, dipping in at the points when they see each other again. It is actually more concerned with her New Year's Resolutions which reflect what she is feeling about him at the time. She spends the first year trying to find him again, aided by her flat mate, Sarah, whom she has known since uni days. But when she does eventually find him it's at their Chrismas party. He is Sarah's new boyfriend! Sarah has no idea that it is him, and Jack (that's his name) doesn't recognise Laurie. How can she cope with this now that she has found him at last? However, the story is also told from Jack's point of view. He does know it's her, but doesn't say so when he has the chance, because of Sarah. Will Laurie and Jack ever get together? This wonderful book follows their ups and downs, and their relationships with others, through the years to a fabulous heart-rending finale, but will they be together or not? You will have to read it to find out!