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Home for Christmas. Cally Taylor

by Cally Taylor (Goodreads Author)

3.94 · rating details · 31 ratings · 8 reviews

Beth Prince has always loved fairytales and now, aged twenty-four, she feels like she's finally on the verge of her own happily ever after. She lives by the seaside, works in the Picturebox - a charming but rundown independent cinema - and has a boyfriend who's so debonair and charming she can't believe her luck!

There's just one problem - none of her boyfriend...more

Paperback, 368 pages

Published 2011 by Orion

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Home for Christmas. Cally Taylor by Cally Taylor

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Lost Dogs And Lonely Hearts by Lucy Dillon

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Love Christmas 2010-2011-2012

2nd out of 23 books — 1 voter

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(showing 1-30 of 118)

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Dec 20, 2011

Kirsty (Book - Love - Bug) rated it

This book has alternating chapters which tell Beth and Matts’ story. I really enjoyed being able to read different perspectives, sometimes of the same event. Beth is both ambitious and looking for her happy-ever-after. Matt is trying not to be a dick. Can they help each other on their quests?

Cally Taylor is a fantastic writer – very witty, she had me giggling all the way through! There are some real gems buried in this book! Taylor does a fantastic job at creating 3D characters...more

· see review

Nov 10, 2011

Rea rated it

· review of another edition

I have previously read a book by Cally Taylor, Heaven Can Wait and I remember it being an enjoyable easy read. I have just finished reading her new novel Home for Christmas as part of my Best Christmas Book 2011.
In this book our main character is Beth who I found to be a very loveable and caring character who seems to have had nothing but disasters when it comes to finding the love of her Life. If it isn’t bad enough that she has yet to find a man who tells her he loves her, the rest of her...more

· see review

Dec 22, 2011

Georgina rated it

http://chicklitaholic.blogspot.com/2011/...

When Christmas time rolls around each year, I love to read as many Christmas chick lit novels as it is physcially possible to do so. After reading and being captivated by Cally Taylor's novel Heaven Can Wait, I knew that Cally's latest novel Home For Christmas would be on the top of my reading pile as soon as I received a copy.

Beth Prince, a twenty-four year old romantic, works in the Picturebox, a charming independant cinema. Beth ...morehttp://chicklitaholic.blogspot.com/2011/...

When Christmas time rolls around each year, I love to read as many Christmas chick lit novels as it is physcially possible to do so. After reading and being captivated by Cally Taylor's novel Heaven Can Wait, I knew that Cally's latest novel Home For Christmas would be on the top of my reading pile as soon as I received a copy.

Beth Prince, a twenty-four year old romantic, works in the Picturebox, a charming independant cinema. Beth has a boyfriend she believes is her dream man, theres just one problem, none of her boyfriends have ever told her they love her. Desperate to be told 'I love you' for the first time Beth decides to take matters into her own hands and then wishes she hadn't. With Beth feeling low, bad news arrives in the handsome shape of Matt Jones, the regional director of a chain cinema who is determined to get his hands on the Picturebox.

Home For Christmas is told from two different viewpoints; Beth and Matt's, with each chapter alternating between the two characters. I really enjoyed being able to gain two perspectives on events that unfolded throughtout the novel. Usually in chick lit novels, the male characters feelings and emotions are not portrayed, so this was a refreshing change that I would love to see in more novels. At many points in the novel I did find myself literally laughing out loud. I really enjoy any book that I read to be humourous, even if only in a subtle way. Home For Christmas really excelled with the humour injected into the characters, adding an extra spark to the novel. Cally Taylor's wit is one of the reasons she is such a fantastic author that I will always look out for. The characters were another contributing factor as to why I enjoyed Home For Christmas. Cally Taylor has managed to create characters that I really cared about by really bringing them to life. Beth, while at times being a little naive was caring and extremely likeable. I couldn't help hoping that she would find love and be able to keep her job at The Picture Box cinema. I also really enjoyed reading about Carl, although I detested him as a character, he definatly made certain moments within the novel very entertaining.

I did find that unlike Cally Taylor's previous novel, Heaven Can Wait, Home For Christmas was a little cookie cutter for my tastes. While I, and most chick lit lovers, enjoy a romance story that is neatly wrapped up, I do enjoy a little originality, and in my option that is where this novel lacks. I also would have liked to see a little more of the Christmas theme within the story. While the novel ends at Christmas time, there is very little mention of Christmas for a book entitled Home For Christmas.

Home For Christmas is a very enjoyable, quick and charming read, that I managed to devour in just one sitting. I would reccomend this book to anyone looking for a cozy Christmas read over the holidays. I will be looking out for more of Cally Taylor's novels in the future.(less)

· see review

Dec 07, 2011

Aileen Russell rated it

Beth Prince is 24, she has a great boyfriend Aiden, and a job she loves at Picturebox Cinema, and she lives in Brighton. She’s very happy but no man has ever said the words “I love you”. Beth plans to tell Aiden how she feels but what could possibly go wrong?
Things turn out no better when gorgeous Matt Jones South East Manager of Apollo turns up and announces the owner is selling Picturebox to Apollo, Beth can apply for the Manager’s job but will she be successful?
I really enjoyed th...more

· see review

Nov 03, 2011

Leah rated it

Shelves: for-review, books-read-2011

Back in 2009, Cally Taylor’s debut novel blew me away. I loved it. Heaven Can Wait was one of the most refreshing and enjoyable, not to mention unique, Chick Lit novels I’ve ever read. The magic set it apart from all other Chick Lit novels and I was gutted Cally’s second novel was pushed back to 2011 from 2010. Slowly, slowly, though, the release date for Cally’s second book has been arriving and I was thrilled to pieces to receive a bright pink proof copy of Home For Christmas.

Home ...moreBack in 2009, Cally Taylor’s debut novel blew me away. I loved it. Heaven Can Wait was one of the most refreshing and enjoyable, not to mention unique, Chick Lit novels I’ve ever read. The magic set it apart from all other Chick Lit novels and I was gutted Cally’s second novel was pushed back to 2011 from 2010. Slowly, slowly, though, the release date for Cally’s second book has been arriving and I was thrilled to pieces to receive a bright pink proof copy of Home For Christmas.

Home For Christmas is an enjoyable Christmassy novel. I can see the novel’s point, I read it in a matter of hours, but at the end of the day it’s nothing more than an enjoyable Christmas novel that I will have forgotten this time next year. Home For Christmas is lacking everything Heaven Can Wait had. The only thing that’s retained from Cally’s first book to her second is the humour and the lovely characters. The rest is gone. There’s no magic to speak of (apparently, magical novels don’t sell very well, so Cally had to take all of it out. And it shows) and it just has the kind of plot I feel like I’ve read a million times before. That doesn’t necessarily make it a bad book – because it wasn’t, I didn’t want to throw it out a window – but it’s not very memorable. It’s like I could see what Cally was trying to do and she did it well enough… But it just wasn’t good enough. It was good, but it wasn’t great.

The novel ticked all the right boxes to be a good novel, but when I got to the end I just felt disappointed. I liked it, but it has the kind of plot many authors have done before and there was nothing that particularly stood out to me. The plot was fine – Beth loves working at the Picturebox and when she learns a bigger company are trying to buy it, she’s devastated. Enter Matt, who works for said bigger company. Throw in a ditzy best friend, a psycho ex-girlfriend (on Matt’s side), a total idiot of an ex-boyfriend (on Beth’s side), chuck in a pushy mother who wants to move to Austrlia (Beth’s) and a Granddad who just wants to see his Grandson happy (Matt’s), stir and you’re done. Oh, and not forgetting Carl, the total creep Beth works with and allows to bully her considerably. And it’s set at Christmastime (score one for Cally Taylor writing an obligatory Xmas novel, woohoo!). I know that probably sounds flippant; heck I’m sure the entire paragraph sounds flippant but I was expecting more from the book and I felt it was all just ho-hum.

The characters helped to keep me reading. Sure, they’re all carbon-copy cookie-cutter Chick Lit characters – Beth with her hopelessness in life/love/job and her ability to wear ridiculously tight pants to go abseiling thinking they wouldn’t split(!) and Matt who despite thinking his girlfriend Alice is a psycho, still allows her to walk all over him when most people would tell her exactly where to take herself, but despite their foibles I did like them. Beth was charming in a strange sort of way, despite her stupidity over the pants and despite the fact she let Carl The Creep treat her like crap. She made me laugh, and I found her very amusing. Matt, too, was endearing at times. I did find him a tad weak (re: Alice) but I liked his banter with Beth, I thought they got on really well together. The rest of the characters were fine, with Matt’s Granddad being the stand-out character for me, I absolutely loved him and his and Matt’s relationship was just amazing to read.

I know I probably sound like a Debbie Downer on the novel, but it honestly wasn’t a bad novel. It just sort of ticked all the requisite boxes without really challenging itself. I think Cally having to take out the magical elements is probably what caused its downfall because it does feel as though something’s missing. It does feel a bit soulless. But like I said, I did enjoy it (and I know if I keep saying that, you’re all going to think I doth protest too much) I just expected a better follow up from the author who brought us Heaven Can Wait. It kills me that authors have to write to an expectant publisher and take out any elements that don’t follow the Chick Lit handbook. Doesn’t how much I – and many others – loved Heaven Can Wait prove that a bit of magic isn’t going to kill a novel dead? I would love to pick up a German copy of this novel, as Cally was allowed to keep in the magic and I’d love to see how that differed with all of its originality in tact. (Of course, I would have to learn German first, sadly.) It’s an alright novel. I feel bad I didn’t love it as much as I wanted to, but it just wasn’t a patch on Cally’s first novel.(less)

· see review

Dec 11, 2011

Karen Gooderham rated it

Shelves: favorites

I loved this book, it is a real christmas romance book along with lots of laughter.

I loved the main character Beth, she so badly wants someone to fall in love with her and tell her that they love her. Beth works at the local cinema 'Picturebox' but her boss is an elderly lady and wants to sell it to a chain 'Apollo'. So she also has this as a problem (not knowing if she is going to have a job after christmas).

You follow Beth trying to keep her job and also being dumped by her...more

· see review

Nov 13, 2011

Penelope rated it

Shelves: chick-lit, fiction, christmas

A very mediocre chick-lit novel that felt as if the Christmas theme was tagged on. Disappointed!

· see review

Nov 18, 2011

Sandra rated it

I couldn't get Bridget Jones out of my head whenever Beth's story was told , but I particularly enjoyed Matthews voice/ story.....all In all a cracking romp of a read

· see review

Feb 20, 2012

Angela rated it

· review of another edition

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About Cally Taylor

Cally Taylor lives in Bristol with her boyfriend and their ridiculously large DVD/book/music collection. She shares her 'study' with the washing machine and ironing board and writes her novels in any spare moments she can squeeze in between the day job and her social network addiction . She started writing fiction in 2005 and her short stories have won several awards and been published by a variet...more

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