Ein Weihnachtswunder zum Verlieben

Evie Taylor #1

by Ali Harris

Vorweihnachtliches Treiben in London.
Nur Evie und ihre Kollegen bei Hardys - einst Synonym für Eleganz und höchste Ansprüche - drehen Däumchen. Denn das Traditionskaufhaus hat mittlerweile ebenso Staub angesetzt wie Evies Liebesleben. Als Evie erfährt, dass Hardys an einen amerikanischen Investor verkauft werden soll, schmiedet sie einen Plan. Wenn es ihr gelingt, aus Hardys bis zum 26. Dezember wieder eine der ersten Adressen der Stadt zu machen, dann wäre noch nicht alles verloren. Doch dazu braucht es mehr als Talent und Willen. Ein Wunder wäre nicht verkehrt ...

Genres: Christmas, Chick Lit, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Holiday, British Literature

608 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Ali is a magazine journalist who has worked in the world of glossy magazines for ten years.

She grew up in deepest darkest Norfolk, where she spent her formative years dreaming of the bright lights of the big city. At 18 she swapped sheep for show tunes and moved to London to do a degree in performing arts. After three years of 'studying' (read: doing jazz hands) she became.... a waitress. In her spare time she started writing a book (about a frustrated waitress, of course) and soon realised that writing was her true passion. After many rejection letters she decided just getting paid to write for a living would be a step in the right direction. One work placement at a celebrity style magazine later and she'd found her spiritual home. Surrounded by clothes, shoes and celebrity gossip she threw herself into her new career and was ecstatic when she bagged a job at Company magazine.

Ali was soon given her own dating column but then, she met 'Email Boy' and her column became focused on their blossoming relationship - she even won an industry award for her efforts. She left Company in 2005 to broaden her horizons as a freelance journalist, writing for Cosmo, Grazia and ELLE, amongst others. She also got married to Email Boy (now going by his official name of Ben) and then got lured back to the world of glossies with a job at number one women's magazine, Glamour. She left in 2009 to write books and have babies.

Ali's debut Miracle on Regent Street was published by Simon & Schuster in October 2011. Her second novel The First Last Kiss was published in January 2013. Her latest novel, Written in the Stars, is out now.

You can follow Ali at facebook.com/aliharriswriter and twitter.com/aliharriswriter or discover more about the author at her website aliharris.co.uk

Reviews

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd probably give this one a 2 1/2 stars really. The idea was sweet but the book dragged on and on a bit for me.......I think it fell short of being cute....too bad it had so much potential for chick-lit.

[Kathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm wavering between two and three stars on this one

4 stars for the beginning
3 stars for the end
1 star for the (way too long) middle

SPOILERS AHEAD (though, since I don't really recommend this book, my friends should feel welcome to go ahead and read my review!)

Although this might win my "Favorite Book Cover of 2011" Award, there is no way it will win any awards for the book itself. Unless, perhaps, it is the "Why did I bother finishing this book!?" Award. Then again, I do know why I finished it. I loved the beginning. I was lured in by the many four and five star reviews and wondered if maybe I was missing something and the end would redeem the mess made in the middle. And it was a buddy read with my sister and it's so much more fun to read a dreadful book when you have someone to complain about it with! ;-p

I should preface my review by saying that I'm major into vintage these days. And, I'm a huge Anglophile. So, I loved the idea of this book, transforming a has-been London department store to its former glory days with a vintage make-over. Oooh, yes! I thought maybe it would be a bit of a modern "Shop Around the Corner" or something like that. Well, I have to say that I did love Hardy's department store. It sounded just wonderful. I so wanted to be there and see all the made-over departments, to shop amidst the vintage fashion displays, to see the vintage Christmas decorations. Swoon! And a few of the characters there were very sweet, like the vivacious and warmhearted retired dancer-turned-store-teashop-proprietor Lily and the sweet elderly night guard Felix, trying to get over the loss of his wife. Sam the big-hearted and hunky delivery guy was certainly pleasant enough, too.

However, my biggest gripe with the novel is that the protagonist, Evie Taylor, was a rubbish human being for most of the book. She has such little self-esteem that when she is hired on for a job as the store room girl and the store staff mistake her for the old girl (they looked something alike), she doesn't have the gumption to correct them. Two years later, she is secretly angry with all of them for still calling her Sarah. Um, hello? How were they supposed to know!? She is upset that they dump on her with their problems and don't help her with her own, yet she never asks them to stop, and never shares any of her own life with them! Frustrating, but I know every protagonist must have a problem to overcome so I was content to see how it played out...

For awhile! You see, Evie knows that Hardy's is in great financial trouble. So, she decides that maybe what it needs is a return to the old glory days, especially the 1940s. So, she begins to secretlly make over each department with vintage flare, using the vintage things she finds in the stock room. Nevermind that she must have a fairy godmother or something because there is no way one human being could transform an entire menswear department in two hours, nor that all the things she would need to do so are magically found in the storeroom. When the customers start flocking in and the management is impressed, does Evie step forward and reveal that she is the one behind the improvement? No! Instead, she lets the (hugely stereotypical) gay man who works menswear take the credit to help him save his job. Now, this could be seen as very generous on Evie's part. Except that she then continues to be upset that people don't give her the time of day, so it's not really that altruistic. This continues with numerous department makeovers. I did love reading about the style ideas and the displays sound just divine, but it got a bit tedious.

Now, this might be bad enough but it gets worse... In order to make herself feel better, Evie poses as Carly, the hip, exciting personal assistant who recently snagged the promotion to manager that Evie wanted for herself. You see, this sexy American gentleman mistakes Evie for Carly, whom he saw at Hardy's one day, and asks her out. Evie thinks, what the heck, and even though she knows Carly is interested in the guy, she goes out with him anyway. Worse, she lies to Joel, telling him all the things she thinks Carly would say (like how Hardy's should be madeover like the hip new department store Rumors), not being herself at all. While perhaps one moment of weakness could be excused, Evie goes out on more dates with him, sleeps with him (and the sex scene SO did not belong in this otherwise PG book) and continues to lie to him even when he makes his feelings pretty clear and even calls her his girlfriend. Oh, and did I mention that while this is happening, Evie begins to feel a stirring of special feelings for Sam, the delivery guy who has been her friend for two years? Only after she completely, unwittingly crushes his heart by inviting a bunch of people on the date that he thought was just going to be the two of them. Oh, and also Evie ditches her sister (and heretofore best friend) when the sister is going through a major crisis thinking her husband is having an affair. Evie justifies her actions by thinking that she has been helpful to other people all this time and now she just wants to have fun. (Fun that involves lying to another human being who is falling for you? Wow, real mature!)

Evie somewhat redeems herself at the end but not to the extent I would have liked to see. I do think the author's heart was in the right place, but it just didn't play out well. Evie's immature behavior continues when she constantly runs out on the men in her life, prejudging them for being untruthful to her, not bothering to hear their side of things or admit that she has been living a lie herself. She comes to realize some of her mistakes, but I still think she mistreated Joel terribly and doesn't really apologize for it.

While I did enjoy the beginning of the book, and found myself smiling a bit at some of the sweet moments at the end, by and large this book was a huge disappointment. I did love the vintage makeover bits, but Evie bothered me so much, and most of the book was soooo predictable, the big reveals were no surprise, and the book could use some major editing as it was so overlong and rambling in places. Not to mention the terrible typos by the editing staff. Sadly, I would not recommend this book to anyone and the best thing about it really was the cover. If you want a vintage charm Christmas story about a shop making good at Christmas, go watch Jimmy Stewart in "Shop Around the Corner"!

[Blair · Rating 2 out of 5]

Entry #145 in a series entitled 'I really need to look at what books actually are before I start reading them'. I knew this would be a very fluffy, guilty-pleasures sort of book, but because of the vintage-style cover and the blurb talking about the setting of a traditional London department store, I had the impression it was actually historical fiction. I was hoping for something like The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets, which might be girly as hell but is also a truly great book. However, when I started reading it quickly became apparent that the setting is contemporary, and Miracle On Regent Street is chick-lit, through and through.

Evie Taylor is your typical chick-lit heroine: a 28-year-old single Londoner, average-looking, average-sized, working in an average job, had her heart broken by the love of her life a few years ago and has never quite recovered, etc. She's also surrounded by an entirely predictable and clichéd cast of characters, such as the overachieving sister whose life isn't as perfect as it seems, and the beautiful and glamorous 'friend' who turns out to be a bit of a bitch. The twist in this book's case is that Evie's life revolves around Hardy's, the department store where she works as a stockroom girl. Despite having an 'invisible' job and being constantly overlooked by most of her colleagues - who don't even know her name - she's passionate about the store (where her parents met and fell in love), which represents her reverence for both old-fashioned romance and vintage style. So when she accidentally overhears that Hardy's is in danger of being shut down if sales don't improve over Christmas, she sets about using her creative ambition to give the departments a series of secret makeovers, aided by an offbeat group of fellow 'invisible' staff.

Of course, there has to be a romance as well: one that's equal parts predictable and ridiculously improbable. The main male lead's interest in Evie is completely unbelievable and all his actions (including the unexpected twists) are so artificial I couldn't see him as anything more than a plot device. I could tell from the first chapter who Evie was going to end up with; I won't spoil it for anyone just in case, but I'll be amazed if anyone who reads the book is remotely surprised by this development.

By far my favourite parts of the book were those that involved Evie's mission to save Hardy's. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that I loved this element of the plot and wished it could ALL have been about this, rather than getting bogged down in nonsense like the dull-as-dishwater subplot about whether Evie's brother-in-law is having an affair. The camaraderie between Evie and her mismatched team of 'Christmas elves' is beautifully depicted, and as cheesy as it all undoubtedly is, I found myself drawn in and moved by their mission to revitalise the store and turn its fortunes around. As an ex-retail worker myself, I liked that the story didn't patronise its characters for not having done anything 'better' with their lives than working in a shop. And the happy ending made me smile, despite myself.

This isn't anything more than a light, throwaway read, but it's sweet and heartwarming. It's definitely seasonal - the entire plot is structured around Christmas, and I'd probably have enjoyed it a little more if I'd got round to reading it a few weeks earlier. Complete fluff, but we all need a bit of something soft and sugary sometimes, don't we?

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so excited for this book – I loved the concept and the cover. But, it became clear about a third of the way through that the book was not what I had hoped it would be…

First things first -- Things I loved:

The premise:
---A throw-back girl with a throw-back style, eager to advance her career and save her beloved store (of which she's currently the stockroom girl) by reviving the store, via its decor, to what it was in its prime.
I LOVE this! I love the era our protagonist, Evie, is trying to recreate, I love those classic styles, and the idea of going through a store, department by department, doing façade makeovers is simply delightful to me!

---The supporting characters: the leading men in this story are quite yummy, kind, and fun. The older characters that Evie seeks council from are fun, too, and unique in their own rights.

---One or two plot twists I didn't see coming. These were nice and I felt enhanced the story.

Unfortunately, these things were not enough to make up for a the:

--The *incredibly* long and repetitive middle, where there "ta-da" moments don't build on each other, so the "big moments" seem just like the "big moment" that came before.

--The selfishness and self-pity of the protagonist that starts coming out a third of the way through the book and is never truly addressed.

Evie struggles with "invisibility" issues. But what bothered me, is that Evie was annoyed with everyone else for not knowing who she was, when she never bothered to correct them. Nor did she really do anything but wait for *them* to change, instead of her looking to herself if *she wanted* to change. And then, when Evie finally does realize this, she continues to fluctuate in what felt like confusing plotting, and again, no clear arc, going from 'invisible' to 'vivid' and back again with no reasons as to why. In fact, as I read through with my sister, I called her and said after one particular change: "did I miss something? Did I skip a chapter?" I hadn't...

Also, this book has a very nice, very sweet premise, with a protagonist who pines for eras-gone-by (cool! Love it!). The book was quite PG for the first third or so. Very little language, no explicit sex, all quite innocent.
So, I was frankly rather offended when, out of the blue, a rather detailed and fairly explicit sex-scene appeared. Now, it’s not that I took offense to the scene (I mean, personally I’d rather not read that, but that’s personal and that’s not what offended me). It was the fact that it came with no warning, was completely different from the beginning of the book and didn’t fit at all.
But what made all this really bad, was that at this point in time, Evie has been lying about who she really is to the man she hops into bed with. Not only does she lie about her name and her job, but also her ideas, likes and dislikes, and frankly just about everything.
I kept waiting for her to realize how wrong this was and to apologize. And, a bit of a spoiler here, but she never really does.

Instead of trying to explain Evie’s selfishness, I think it’s best to provide some examples. After a particularly hard break-up with a long-time boyfriend, Evie's sister, Delilah, lets Evie stay at Delilah’s house rent-free, in exchange for babysitting Delilah’s kids. This is fine for Evie... until she starts to get opportunities to do something else. After not coming home to babysit the kids (nor calling) one evening, Evie gets upset at Delilah for being upset that Evie bailed. And another time, when Evie has already committed to babysitting she calls Delilah to find out if she can get out of it because she has a date offer for that night. Now, I don't have any issue with Evie’s asking, but it's her attitude when Delilah (who also has been going through a very difficult time) tells her that she really needs Evie to babysit:
“I’m twenty-eight years old and I feel like a child asking her mother for permission to go round her friend’s house on a Saturday night. Shouldn’t a woman of my age have more freedom?”
Now, personally I don’t think anyone ever reaches any age that allows them to back out of commitments without asking and getting the “okay.” Plus, instead of seeing how much Delilah needed a break, Evie only thought about what she wanted…

Here’s another perfect example:
Evie’s contemplating her relationship with Joel, the man to whom she’s been lying to. Anyway, here’s Evie’s “logic”:
“It’s one thing to pretend to be someone I’m not, but I’m trying to make things as uncomplicated as possible. As much as I’m relishing my time with Joel, I know that it can’t go on forever. Either he will discover that I’m just a lowly stockroom girl and will never want to see me again, or he won’t find that out, things will go on being as wonderful as they are, and then he will want to get closer to me than I can let him. You know, meet my family and friends, introduce me to his, and obviously that can never happen. Ultimately it’s a no-win situation but I’m trying not to let that thought cast a shadow over everything, because for the time being I want to wallow in this imaginary world where I am a girl like Carly with a gorgeous man and a fabulous job. I know it can’t last, but the prospect of going back to my old life, to the old me just yet, doesn’t bear thinking about. So all I can do is block out any thoughts of what will happen when Joel finds out who I really am and focus on the here and now.”
Again, absolutely NO thought to how this might affect Joel, who’s obviously falling for “Evie” and who has, himself, recently come out of a bad relationship. Maybe this will hurt him? But no, Evie couldn’t possibly be bothered to think about that. :-\

I couldn’t tell if the author was okay with Evie’s selfishness, if she wasn’t aware of it, or she was trying to rationalize the plot. Whichever it was, it didn’t work – at least not for me.

Plus, I felt certain endings to certain plots and the reasons behind them, were a bit of a cop out.

There are so many other things I took issue with but I hope this is enough to give an idea.

Quite honestly, the best part of this book is the cover (which is so gorgeous!).

I really don't like writing negative reviews, but this book was not very well written, the structure was bad, and after the first third of the book I stopped pulling for the protagonist, which pretty much puts a damper on the whole book…

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Evie Taylor has been living an invisible life at Hardy's department store for a couple of years and is working in the stock room. One day her friend Carly gets a promotion over her. A new guy is in the store an American named Joel and she thinks he wanted to see Carly not her so pretends to be Carly for a while. I honestly would have just told Joel i was Evie from the start, it dragged out way too long. Joel is not a horrible guy and would have preferred the truth long before he gets it.

Next Hardy's is on the blink of closure I like the business and Christmas side to the book and I feel in the middle there is not enough of it. It's all about the romance and I just didn't feel the romance in this book. The romance with Joel to me is just a lie all the way through. Saying that though the relationship with her family is even more annoying Deliah treats her as a personal dogsbody babysitter getting in a mood when she wants a life of her own. Then there's her old fashioned parents her dad's comments to me are so rude when he's the one having an affair. Her mum does however grow on me. The Sam thing is thrown in somewhere along the way and it's obvious he likes Evie and they do make quite a good pairing but again the romance side of this book didn't really have me gripped in any part.

I just didn't like Evie trying to be something she wasn't and I liked it when she realised this herself. This book took me longer to read than I thought it would, It was a little bit of a disappointment from what I was expecting it wasn't even bad just really not the best book I've read. The middle really went on too long.

[Kay D · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've given this book 2 stars on the basis that I loved the setting for this story. Hardy's sounds like somewhere I would go. It reminds me of my favourite department store from when I was in single figures.

I didn't really like the rest of the book, however. Now, because I don't tend to read much chick-lit because every book I've read of this genre is pretty much the same, I've kept this out of my review because that isn't the fault of the book.

The main issue with this book, for me, was the protagonist, Evie. I went off her in the opening chapters when she revealed herself as totally selfish, in that she stole somebody's job. As I read I imagined a parallel story of a poor girl who turned up for her first day at work only to be turned away because the job had already been taken. It that happened to me I wouldn't have just gone home, I would have fought for my job. Gaping plot hole? From that point on I knew this story would be far-fetched and that Evie and I would never get on.

So she's in a stolen job for two years and is perfectly happy for nobody to respect her, or even know her name. The person before her was well known, so it wasn't a general lack of respect for the person running the stockroom. We have an invisible character, who spends lots of time moaning and winging about being invisible, but not doing anything about it. So she deceives the people she works with by going under someone else's name, deceives the man she starts dating by assuming someone else's personality ... this is not a person I would want to associate with.

The other staff at Hardy's were an interesting bunch of people, highly sterotypical and bordering on cringeworthy. I liked Lily, she brought the sparkle to the story. The foreign cleaning team irritated me no end and I found the way they were portrayed quite insulting. Carly had no sense whatsoever, and clearly didn't respect Evie, but Evie saw her as a good friend for some unfathomable reason. Felix and Sam were nice. Delilah used Evie, which was also ok. I didn't like Joel. Another cringeworthy moment: when he was trying to win Evie back and told her she reminded him of his ex-girlfriend. Good grief ...

The idea of the secret makeovers (more anonymity) was fun, although it got highly repetitive in the story. The imagery was good. I was grateful that the book wasn't written on the assumption that every reader knows London intimately, so that was a plus-point.

The writing style was ok, it worked with the story, although the book was terribly overlong. If all the descriptions of every single thing every single character was wearing were omitted, the book would be quie skinny. There were also some hideous typos /grammatical errors in the book (not the fault of the author).

To end, I wouldn't recommend this book. It just didn't work for me.

[Leonie]

Dnf. Awful book. Do not recommend (unless you like a protagonist like a doormat).

[Irena BookDustMagic · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 stars. Review to come later...

[Agi · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars.
I have bought this book because I'd read many wonderful reviews and hoped it will be the next jackpot on my list.
Unfortunately, it wasn't. It took ma a lot of time to read this book because in between I have read every other book that I got/bought. Everything other was much more interested.
First of all, one can't like a book when one doesn't like the main hero, no? I think I have not met a girl with such a low - esteem as Evie, Sarah or whatever her name Many times I wanted to stop reading this book, especially after the words "why can't they remember my name?". The whole idea of pretending to be someone else, or wanting to be someone else was totally not my pair of shoes, I couldn't understand how someone can think so bad about herself and feel so low in her skin.
Then I had some issues with the family of Evie. She thought her parents had the best marriage ever, but I have never met such a sexist man as her father. Just typical: a man hunts, a woman takes care about children and home and the man is allowed to have fun and other women. If it is the vision of perfect marriage than I'd say, thanks but no thanks. And the way he treated Evie, totally no go.I understand also that Evie wanted to repay her sister for her hospitality but on the other hand how old was she to call and ask her if she can go on a date???
Then the idea of friendship with Carly. How naive must one be to think that this what they had was friendship???
Then the stereotypes: cleaners from Poland, a gay in menswear...
Then the idea of the shop makeover itself. Sorry, but totally out of place for me, no offence but Cinderella comes to my mind immediately, although I think Cinderella had more gut than Evie. Hocus - pocus and the shop is saved because of some makeovers. Yeah.
Then the long, long descriptions of everything, vintage clothes, shop, makeovers, meetings... I skipped a lot of them and didn't feel that I lost something.
The cover promises that I'll fall head over heels for Ali Harris. Not with this book, sorry.

[Susan in Perthshire · Rating 1 out of 5]

Totally bewildered by the 5 star reviews. This was awful. Evie, the heroine is a miserable, selfish, dishonest young woman. Everything is always other people’s fault and she shows virtually no self awareness or insight into the effects of her awful behaviour. Her treatment of Joel and her sister is disgraceful. Sorry, but I like heroines who exhibit strength of character and compassion not ones who blame everyone else and treat others so badly.

The middle is like walking through treacle. There’s only so many times we can go through another amazing transformation without getting bored. This section was so weak. We’re supposed to believe that with such limited resources, she can achieve all this?

The cover appealed but the execution was disappointing.

[Sarah Broadhurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. A fantastic story, great to reminisce about how department stores used to be, full of history and family members. There is the old fashioned spirit of Christmas and all the magic of shopping in big stores at Christmas time with their special displays. A real nostalgic book that kick starts the Christmas reading for me.

This is the author's, Ali Harris, debut novel and after reading this book I can't wait for the next book!

The main character within the book is Evie, a stockroom girl in Hardy's, one of the oldest department stores in London, a family run business which has been passed down the family, but is now feeling very dated and staff are despondent and down hearted as to the future of Hardy's. Evie, works all day in the stockroom, a job she got by accident, when she was confused for someone else, and accidentally started working at Hardy's. Hardy's was a shop that Evie grew up with, her parents used to work there and they got engaged there too. However, just about all staff call Evie, Sarah, because they didn't realise anyone new had started. However when Sarah unpacks a new box of stock for the designer section of the store, she finds a top she just has to try on and when she walks around the shop floor, a young, gorgeous man approaches her and they end up going up on a date, even though the man thinks Evie is someone else, Carly, the personal shopper manager who is later promoted to assistant manager of the store and tasked to make Hardy's more profitable.

The story does have romance in it, but the main story is about Evie and how she takes the future of Hardy's into her own hands, deciding to become Hardy's Secret Fairy who does makeovers of the departments in the early hours to help increase profits. After deciding to also get her true friends together for an evening, when she thinks she is getting the job promotion she deserves, she is disappointed to find out Carly gets it instead, however the get together goes ahead and Felix the aging, nighttime security guard, accidentally lets slip that it is Evie who is the secret fairy and the group of friends decide they want to be part of it too. What follows are more inspirational and nostalgic displays which brings more customers to Hardy's and profits rising.

There is a love story too - Evie, pretending to be Carly, with the mysterious American, who says he is over from US, where he is part of a family run department store, but Evie is not sure. There is also Sam, the delivery van driver who visits the store each week to deliver goods to Evie's stock room, however Evie thinks he has a girlfriend but does he?


It is a great book to read this winter time, full of nostalgia in a store full of old fashioned values and team spirit within the staff, especially those who work behind the scenes, who the customers and shop floor staff are unaware of. The book is written as a countdown to Christmas within the store and it added to the excitement, would Hardy's be saved, would Evie do what she has set out to achieve.


I loved Ali Harris's writing style and I devoured it quickly, easy to read but addictive and hard to put down. A great book for a lazy afternoon curled up in a chair!


I am already looking forward to the next book by Ali Harris and I will be recommending this to all my friends as the perfect book to read this winter.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for sending me this book to review.

[Sophie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a fine example of everything I find stomach-churning about 'chick lit'. Predictable, schmaltzy tripe. Yes great if you want something to get you into the Christmas spirit and don't want to be challenged at all. It's fluffy, festive fun, but the characters need more than descriptions of every stitch of clothing to become 3-dimensional. The main character Evie annoyed me so much - she may be mousey and lack in self-esteem, but would someone really not correct the people she works with for getting her name wrong? And the stock room she is responsible for, I think it must have been a Tardis. It smacked of fairy story here as this detail was just too much to believe. Anything and everything that was needed to make over the department store was magically found if Evie rummaged deep enough in the stock room. And would giving each department a makeover really turn a struggling shop into a booming sales success overnight. I don't think so.

This is the sort of book that makes my head hurt it is so full of stereotypes - the Eastern European cleaner... the gay male shop assistant of menswear (you get the message). I suppose being stuck in an Austrian hospital over Christmas whilst reading this probably didn't make me particularly charitable in my response to it, but it was pretty nauseating stuff. And typos to boot - that, dear editor, is pretty sloppy.

Just made me remember why I don't read this genre, but it was reviewed so well by one blog that it tempted me.

[Hayley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review written after reading the paperback version from 3 to 5 December 2011

I've given this novel five stars as I absolutely loved the story, it was heart-warming and a perfect Christmas read. However, my copy (which wasn't a proof copy) contained too many errors. There were grammatical errors, words used incorrectly (are instead of our is one example) and details about characters changed halfway through the book. It's a real shame because the story itself is fabulous but the editor and proof readers have let this author down.

[Aoife · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

Evie Taylor loves her job at Hardy’s department store in the middle of London. It has class and style not to mention history, or at least it did. Hardy’s is failing, and when Evie overhears it’s in danger of closing she’s determined to save it in the run-up up Christmas.

This was a sweet, festive book that made me really wish Hardy’s was real so I could visit in the heart of London, a city I love! I loved all the visual descriptions in this book from the different makeovers Evie completes in the different departments in the store to the types of clothes she begins to wear from her wardrobe of vintage goodies.

I also really liked that Evie got together a group of people that would often be overlooked or be ‘invisible’ in the running of the store - the tea-lady, the cleaners, the night security man and the delivery man. They mad up a very nice, mismatched group and it became clear they all cherished the company and the mission to save Hardy’s. I liked the little message the group portrayed that some people just need someone to talk to them, and realise they exist.

Evie is definitely a frustrating character at times. She’s definitely a wet blanket - she goes two years of allowing everyone she works with to believe her name is Sarah because she doesn’t have the courage to speak up and correct them. Near the end of the book, Evie gets very frustrated about how people have treated her but i personally don’t think they were all in the wrong. Yes, people could have asked her more questions about herself, and listened to her problems as much as she listened to theirs but at the end of the day they all often used her name (or what they thought was her name) and did seem to appreciate some of the work and help she did and gave.

The book was also slightly too long for me, and drawn out. The lies in her relationship with Joel could have ended a bit quicker especially as it was so obvious who she would end up.

I liked Evie’s relationship with her sister and her mom too!

[Sharon Goodwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evie really is invisible in the London she inhabits. She’s not called by her correct name at Hardy’s by the staff who visit her in the stockroom to tell her all their problems or by the yummy mummies at the nursery her niece and nephew attend. She also dresses in drab clothing. Evie has cultivated this ‘non identity’ for reasons that become clear to the reader as the story unfolds.

Rupert, the great grandson of the founder, now manages Hardy’s. We get to know Evie’s history with Hardy’s, which is linked to the perfect relationship of her parents and the sparkle of her childhood. Evie has an idealised view of her parent’s love that’s been perpetuated by them. Falling into the job in the stockroom she is such a success at it that two years later she is still there. Her aspirations of promotion are denied and then she overhears the conversation that changes many things in not only her life but in her colleagues too.

Evie is living with her elder sister Delilah throughout the story. She’s always looked up to her and wanted to emulate her. Delilah is married with two children and Evie looks after the children before work and afterwards. The stresses on a relationship of family life with young children are portrayed very well. We also get to experience family life when Evie and her siblings go back to the family home for a meal – a tradition that is held once a month.

There are some brilliant characters in Miracle on Regent Street, not least of them Evie herself. Evie tells us the story and despite what she sees as herself failing, is such a warm and chatty person, asking rhetorical questions that pull the reader in, making them feel a part of the whole journey. She is a ‘fixer’ – listening to everyone’s problems and subtly making suggestions that help to make changes. Being invisible suits her for where she is in her life but we get to see her start believing in herself and blossoming. The characters of the store employees are also brilliant – especially the group who see Evie for who she really is.

The romance of the story is not just about Hardy’s trying to recover its former glory, but also about the two leading men … Sam, the down-to-earth delivery guy and Joel who is gorgeous and charismatic (and who is a friend of Rupert’s). I couldn’t make my mind up who was right and so wasn’t sure who I really wanted to ‘support’. These storylines were cleverly crafted!


I absolutely adored 'The Wardrobe' ... and the part it plays in Evie coming to life. The night in with sister Delilah left me wanting to know what other gems were hidden in there!

The plots of romance and family life are played out with the backdrop of Hardy’s there all the time. I loved the descriptions of the architecture of the store and of how it used to be. Once changes started happening, I loved the descriptions told through Evie’s eyes. There are some fabulous scenes in Hardy’s that made me laugh, made me cry and made me sigh with longing! The finale was just perfect (as was the epilogue).

There were a couple of twists that I didn’t see coming. Not that I needed that as Miracle on Regent street had my full absorption from beginning to end. I don’t think my review has done it justice!

If there is one book that I thought would be fabulous as a movie it has to be this one. It would be an amazing chick flick and not just for Christmas. It would be one to watch again and again for that feel-good factor (and would knock my favourite, Pretty Woman, off the top spot).

You can also read my review on my book blog Jera's Jamboree http://shazjera.blogspot.com/

[Jennifer Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evie Taylor feels invisible; she's been working at Hardy's for two years yet nobody knows her real name. Instead, they call her Sarah, who was the previous stockroom girl she replaced. But when Evie overhears a conversation between the store's management, revealing the threat of closure of the hundred year old store, Evie knows she must do something to save all their jobs.


First of all the cover (because they are important, despite what we are told about not judging). I loved the cover of this book. The turquoise and black with hints of pink were gorgeous, especially with the teeny sequins. It was perfect and definitely drew me in before I'd even read the blurb.


After the gorgeous cover, the story didn't disappoint. It was warm and light with great characters and I was willing Evie to stand up and tell everyone who was behind the makeovers at Hardy's. The store itself is like another character who just needs a bit of love to make her sparkle again.


I loved how the chapters were grouped into the days counting down to Christmas. There was a deadline for Hardy's to be saved and you feel it drawing closer with each day that passes.


I really enjoyed reading Miracle on Regent Street and found it to be a perfect Christmas read.

[Aimee Sealey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite this taking me forever to actually finish, and the fact that it didn't half feel as though it dragged on for no reason in the middle, I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!
This book is everything that a book should be to reminisce about old department stores and how they would look at Christmas time, and the hustle and bustle of the festive time of year.

It's a shame that it felt as though some of it was unnecessarily dragged out for no particular reason, but I really can't take anything away from the beautiful writing and how well you were made to picture literally every detail about the store and the makeovers.

As for the characters, I loved each and every one of them. Yes, at points throughout the book there was a couple of people who were slightly annoying, but by the end they had all managed to squeeze inside a place in my book heart somewhere. This is a proper feel-good, heartwarming book which really does focus on friendship and getting across the point that you don't have to pretend to be somebody you're not to impress or please someone, you don't have to change yourself for others, it's okay for you to be exactly who you are and you should be proud of that!

[Melindam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love books on makeovers, even the unbelievable ones & if they get combined with Christmas, yes, please just give them to me.
So, the makeover part on how Evie, the MC, is transforming Hardy's for Christmas is lovely & interesting, even though totally improbable I mean, the part where customers start flocking to the shop minutes after a department is turned over. That's just too good to be true. . It kept me reading the book to the end, which is good, for I found Evie frustrating and in serious need of psychological counselling.

I mean, what kind of person goes on under a false name for 2 years at a workplace, never bothering to let people know who she is & then getting upset that her colleagues do not recognize her for who and what she is. Seriously?

[Natalie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Literally nothing is happening.....there's about 5 pages of just her getting changed. It drags, and Evie is doing nothing but complaining. Pages and pages of boring work days.
I can't finish it.
DNF.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it even though the main character of Evie was a bit ditzy which I thought might irritate me. A great cosy read and a feelgood storyline.

[Hannah Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

an absolutly amazing book that has had me in tears an giggling (very loudly in inpropriate places ( like coffee shops and on the bus lol)

[Book_withquotes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evie Taylor, a girl with a big heart, is lost in the big city. For the past two years, Evie has lived an invisible life in London: her neighbors think she’s just moved in, her sister mistakes her for a live-in nanny, and even Evie’s manager can’t remember her name. But this Christmas, everything changes. Working in the stockroom of Hardy’s, an old-fashioned, family-run department store, Evie learns the store will be sold unless its fortunes improve by December 26th. Determined to save it, she plans a secret transformation. Amidst the flurry, an accidental romance with the enigmatic Joel offers her a chance at a new identity. Will Evie finally be noticed?

Overall, this book was a great disappointment, even though I did appreciate the beginning of the book and found myself smiling a little at some of the endearing parts. While the concept of the covert makeovers (greater anonymity) was entertaining, the plot became somewhat repetitious. The store itself is like a different character that needs a little tender loving care to bring back her radiance. This is a very endearing, feel-good book that emphasizes friendship and the idea that you shouldn’t change who you are for other people or try to impress them; instead, you should be proud of who you are and not feel the need to pretend to be someone you’re not!

It took me longer to finish this book than I had anticipated. While it wasn’t particularly awful, it wasn’t the finest book I’ve ever read, which was a bit of a letdown. intricately intertwined narratives about several characters and what transpires when they become aware of one another. Though a bit formulaic, this is a charming, cozy, and Christmassy novel that isn’t too overly festive to read in the summer.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really cute and the audio book narration was great!
Perfect read just before Christmas and oh so wonderfully British. :)

[Debbie Coates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just loved this book, a great read in the run up to Xmas.

[Hannah ⚔️ Jaedia · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the gorgeously elegant cover art to the utterly cheerful atmosphere of the entire novel, Miracle on Regent Street is a book that I will definitely be rereading and recommending for years to come and it has got me into the Christmas spirit more than any tinsel or music ever could without needing to vomit Christmas. The entire novel is split into chapters and then days as it counts down the time Hardy's has until store closure and the time Evie has to secretly transform the store and hopefully draw in enough customers to vastly increase profit takings in that time.

It is written in the present tense which usually throws me off for a little while when I first pick up a novel but not this time. The beauty of Ali's gorgeous descriptive imagery drew me in so quickly that I didn't even notice the tense. If anything, it added more to the novel as you feel just as if you are there watching over Evie's shoulder. "It feels as if I have been magically transported back in time as I cycle into Portland Place. No vehicles are on the streets and I can't help but imagine them when they were cobbled and filled with horses and carriages." Evie herself is quite the dreamer and the descriptive passages reflect greatly on this as she imagines how things could be and might have been, and the writing style is just so warm and delightful, the only thing that was missing was a big mug of hot chocolate. I read most of this book with a smile on my face and when I wasn't smiling I was either frowning at a nasty character or trying to ignore the tears in my eyes when the big emotional scenes happened near the end. Miracle on Regent Street is a book that just makes me happy and it's extremely hard to put down. Seriously, if this book isn't made into a movie one day I will be sorely disappointed!

But the thing that really made the novel for me was the amazingly diverse characters. Evie, for starters, is such a kind-hearted individual who just wants to be noticed. She's let herself fall into obscurity and nobody she works with on the shop floor even knows her real name. However, underneath her mask of plain, invisibility she has this creative flair and very chic retro style that is so perfect for her task at Hardy's to secretly transform the store into a great place to shop once more. She is just so easy to love with all of her self-doubt, I think we've all been there at some point. It does bother me, however, when characters overhear part of a conversation, jump to conclusions and run off crying without even attempting to confront anybody about what they have heard. Evie does this a lot and I just wished she would go to the person and say, "Excuse me, are you doing x?" Because then they could have chance to explain themselves! Perhaps it's just me. The drama as a result does bring about a gripping story after all. As for everybody else, every single character is so different from the next with different looks, styles and personalities that you really believe they could exist, and alongside all of the Christmas cheer there is also the bitter drama of real life from all angles. It's very real and I like that, but it is by all means a highly animated story.

I knew I would love this book before I even started it because it just sounds so wonderful, doesn't it? As such I have already recommended it to several people and I will continue to do so but now with more knowledge of just how wonderful it is. With all of its' cheer and sparkle, Miracle on Regent Street is a fantastic book to beat the Winter blues and I can't praise it enough. I love it!

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I gaze out of my bedroom window into the dark winter morning as the snowflakes fall softly outside. Is that it? I wonder. It’s not a sudden change in the wind, like the one that carried Mary Poppins to the Banks family, or the tornado that carried Dorothy to Oz, but maybe, just maybe, this downfall is the universe’s way of telling me that my life is about to change …”

That’s Evie Taylor, waking up on the first day of December.

She hasn’t quite got back on her feet since the first boyfriend, who she had thought was going to be her one true love, abandoned her. So she lives a quiet life in London, lodging with her sister and her husband and children, and working at Hardy’s.

Hardy’s is a department store, on the wrong side of Regent Street. It used to be wonderful, magical, but now Hardy’s has fallen out of fashion and into hard times.

Evie works in the stock room, though she has the talent to do much, much more, barely noticed by many but good friends with all of the other who worked hard but went unnoticed. Cleaners. The security guard. Delivery men. The lady in the teashop.

One overheard conversation changes everything: Evie learns that, if Hardy’s fortunes don’t turn around by Boxing day, the store will be closed.

Evie is horrified. She has loved Hardy’s ever since she was a small child and her mother told her wonderful tales of the days she worked there. So Evie sets out to save the store.

That leads her on a wonderful adventure. An adventure with so many ups and downs. It will change Hardy’s. It will change the Taylor family. And, of course, it will change Evie herself.

Evie’s story was a joy to read. Her voice was warm and engaging, and she brought to life so many wonderful characters and painted such vivid pictures of the store she loved so much.

At times I had to suspend disbelief, and I was more than happy to. Because this is a book with so much charm. And because the emotions ring completely true.

It made me think of Cinderella. It made me think of the Tailor of Gloucester. And when a small group visited a tavern on Lambs Conduit Street I thought of Persephone Books. And of Miss Pettigrew.

Most of all I thought of Frank Capra.

I’d love to see Miracle on Regent Street on the big screen.

To see the vintage clothes that Evie loved. To see the wonderful merchandise that Evie found in the darkest corners of her stockroom: gold compacts, vintage trilbys, satin corsets …

To meet the people. Felix, a security guard with many talents. Sam, a delivery boy with grand plans. Lily, the tea-shop lady who carried on with style – as she had ever since Hardy’s heyday …

To see Hardy’s come to life, as it did so beautifully on the page.

And most of all to meet Evie again, and share her emotional journey.

Her story has style, substance, and just the right mix of reality and magic.

It was a joy to read.

[Rhi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is pure chick-lit through and through.
Do I think it's great chick-lit? Not really. Do I want to write a full review on why I don't think it's great chick-lit? Not really?
I'm aware it's the author's first published novel, and I guess perhaps that best sums it up. It reads like a first published novel. And it's not a bad first (chick-lit) novel. Not at all. I have read far worse.

I do love that the author clearly loves London. It's a little frustrating that yet again it is that whole wealthy, middle class part of London that is depicted. Primrose Hill. West End.
Don't get me wrong. I too have sat on a bench on the top of Primrose Hill and shed solitary tears. But I guess I would really love to see some love for the nitty gritty bits of London depicted in a novel. Mile End station at midnight on a Saturday. Spitalfields Market on a Sunday afternoon. Not the beautiful, tourist trap places.

There was a lot of unnecessary detail in here. I understand it was kind of a novel about fashion, but did we really need to know what everyone was wearing at any given moment? Lot's of adverbs and description. It's like Ms Harris has sat in on one of my GCSE descriptive writing lessons and actually listened to me.

So in brief - I found the main character to be meh. Really I should have been enthralled and excited by her, she loves vintage clothes! She is relatively kind! She listens to others! But in reality, I just think her character was under-developed if anything.
Who works somewhere for two years and doesn't once correct people when they get your name wrong? Why did they even get her name wrong?? Sharon employed her, she knew the previous stockroom girl had left! Did she just think they coincidently had the same name?

But to add to that, you have a girl who really wouldn't say boo to a goose, who appears to have some serious self esteem issues and is also possibly a little insane, (hello? Pretending to be somebody else do get a date? Can I get a crazy up in here?) yet she has more than enough balls to immediately shut down said date when she believes he is trying to sleep with her on their first outing. It was a bit strange to me.

Whatever. I took a little issue with the representation of women in general. In order for her to fully become herself she ultimately just had a bit of a makeover.
Her ideal of romance was based on her parents relationship, which was actually sexist, controlling and unhealthy. Were we as readers supposed to think her parents meet-cute was romantic? I thought daddy was a douchey from the beginning!

Again. Whatever. It's chick lit. What am I expecting?

[Marjorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evie is almost invisible, in fact most of her colleagues call her by the previous Stockroom Girl's name. In her self-imposed uniform of black trousers and white shirt she mans the Stockroom at failing family Department Store Hardy's. It's not exactly a busy place and once she had the shelves sorted to her satisfaction the highlight of her week is the Delivery Guy Sam - although, what he is delivering who knows as there is still pre-war stock sitting in the dank little room. When she discovers that an American chain, Rumours, is looking at buying the property and turning it in to a super fashion-forward, high tech store she is appalled and sets out to save this charming old store. Ably assisted by the background staff that no-one really notices - Felix the aged security guard, the team of Polish cleaners, Sam and the inimitable Lily from the basement cafe - Santa's Elves get cracking on transforming the store to it's old fashioned glory.

There are a lot of things that I could pick at about this novel as they just make no sense. However, the whole is so charming I decided to let go of things like putting 1950's cosmetics on sale. Ali Harris really brings Hardy's to life on the page and you can almost smell the dusty air and hear the hush of the customer free departments slowly coming back to life. It is a huge heap of nostalgia and full of New Look type Glamour (and believe me it needs that capital letter).

Alongside the tale of trying to rescue the store there is Evie's private life. Having had a disastrous relationship that ended 2 years ago she is still living with her high-flying sister, Delilah and her "something in the City" husband Will. All that changes as she meets the dashing Jacob in the store and she starts to dream of more than just baby-sitting and working. Although, Evie does have an unrealistic expectation of adult relationships and it is all her parent's fault - after all their's is the fairytale she aspires to and also the reason she loves Hardy's so much.

I really loved this book and particularly enjoyed every second in the store. From finding out snippets about the people running those departments to dealing with the rather ghastly Carly. The descriptions of the displays Evie creates solo and then with the help of her team of Elves are vibrant and it kind of reminded me of the film Mannequin with a 1950's twist.

A genuinely good fun, feel good book that is perfect for the season.

[Cath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evie works as stockroom girl in the once-famous store Hardy’s. Now, after hundred years nobody knows the department store anymore and sales numbers are decreasing every day.
Evie is so unnoticed that people don’t even know her real name, but when she overhears a conversation between her boss and the manager in which is said that the store will close soon, Evie comes out of her stockroom and starts changing the shop floor in order to attract new customers. It is nearly Christmas and Evie wants to make the place a wonderful winter-wonderland.

There is Joel, a handsome American man, who helps her boss with the financial part of the store. By coincidence, Evie gets in touch with him and sparks start to fly… Is he the one she was always looking for and is she able to stay herself with him?

An amazing story which will make you happy and wanting to go to Hardy’s yourself!

Wow, I enjoyed this book so much! I love the cover and the characters and the setting and… I can go on for a while, so I have to admit that this was one of the best chick lits I have ever read! Some people may say that it is a Christmas book, but I don’t mind the time of the year and I think, as it is still Winter, it was a perfect read.

The descriptions of the shop were nice and cosy and I wanted to be there in real live. The whole old-fashioned style of a time where I didn’t live… it seems so nice to rediscover and apparently this is the perfect department store to do so. And the personal shoppers! That something I can only dream of her in Belgium!

Though some some things were not realistic (about changing names etc), it made the story funny and I couldn’t put this book down. When I neared the end, I was really surprised, because I had expected some totally different situation.
The whole guy-thing was really nice and I had a lot of respect for what Evie did. She was the perfect example of the 21st century independent woman.
The cover is also gorgeous and I think it perfectly matches the story.

This is a keeper and probably I will re-read it in a few years, maybe then I’ll do it around Christmas…

What can I give else than 5 stars? This was a very nice, entertaining story which I really enjoyed.

[Ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hardy's is an ageing department store on the wrong side of Regent Street. The weeks before Christmas should be the busiest of the year but there's more staff than customers. It will need a miracle in order to survive. In the depths of the stockroom, Evie has a plan, if only her colleagues can remember her name.

It's certainly a contemporary tale. For many of us, the run up to Christmas is all about the shopping and the decorations. In the last few years hundred of stores similar to Hardy's have closed across the nation and it's a heart-warming tale of hard work and loyalty in places. Nostalgia reigns supreme with hidden treasures found amongst dusty, forgotten stock and beautiful descriptions of Evie's secret vintage wardrobe.

I have to admit I wanted to slap some sense into Evie. Not only does she not bother to correct colleagues who keep calling her by the wrong name after years of working with them and hearing their secrets but she refuses to take credit for her hard work. I get the idea of Santa's secret helpers changing the store mysteriously but Evie just came across as a bit of a wet blanket. She then decides to pretend to be someone else. Not just in a faking a personality way but she actually impersonates someone she counts as a friend to get a date and the charade continues for much longer than I could bear. Aaaargh!

There's plenty of romance and fashion to please most readers though and the above niggles are a personal thing. It's a bit like when a character hasn't killed anyone but goes and hides the body in the boot of their car...I just get frustrated! I ended up feeling quite sorry for the losing man by the end.

Certainly a festive read and I enjoyed it when Evie wasn't avoiding telling the truth.