A Merry Little Christmas

Christmas #2

by Julia Williams

An absorbing novel about family, love and friendship from the bestselling author of Last Christmas.

With four children, a Christmas cookbook to write, and her mum suffering from dementia, Cat Tinsall has plenty to juggle. When her eldest daughter, Mel, starts going off the rails, Cat has even more on her plate.

Pippa Holliday adores her family, although often finds her hands full. When Dan is involved in a terrible accident, Pippa’s world is suddenly turned upside down.

Balancing her job as a school teacher with twins and her step-son Steven isn’t easy for Marianne North. With her husband’s ex causing trouble, life is getting even trickier.

As Cat, Pippa and Marianne help each other through a difficult year, they’re all hoping for a much brighter Christmas.

Genres: Christmas, Chick Lit, Fiction, Holiday, Romance, Contemporary, Audiobook

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2012

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

My roll of Christmas books is getting close to the end. It would be over now, but what I thought would be my last holiday read ended up being the first of a 3.5 book series, and I got hooked, lol. It’s OK though as these books actually take place over a full year so they are not what you call traditional Christmas stories.

It’s the characters and the setting that have grabbed me. Hope Christmas is a little Shropshire village where everyone knows everyone, and everyone helps everyone. The author does a great job in capturing the ambience of a small British hamlet. The plot focuses on three different families as they deal with the trials and tribulations of their lives. I like that they are determined to better the lives of others in need as they struggle with their own.

By 95% there was still so much going on that I was ready to finish up the last few pages and move on to book 3 to see how the multiple threads played out. To my shock, they were all tidied up in record time, too fast for my liking. I would have loved a slower, more detailed (and thus more realistic in my mind) ending befitting the rest of the book. Aside from that little complaint, I thoroughly enjoyed my second visit to Hope Christmas and look forward to my third encounter with these wonderful people in Coming Home for Christmas.

[Joan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got very confused while reading this book. There were too many characters really and some situations didn't make much sense to me. For example, (and please, I am happy to change this review if I am wrong) I didn't think CF made a child unable to speak or made them unable to walk. There is no mention of the intensive physiotherapy needed either. At one stage I wondered if the author meant 'cerebral palsy' instead.

And then we are told that a foetus has fingernails at 8 weeks. Nope. 12 weeks. The teacher works until 5.30 and sometimes 6 every evening. That may be from choice but there is a legal limit on 'directed hours'. The four day old (and very premature) baby is paraded at a Nativity play held in a barn and used as Jesus. A premature baby?? Outside in a barn in December?? WTF?

Then we have a mother saying on Christmas Eve that she will get the turkey crown out of the freezer for tomorrow. (I very much doubt if it would have even started to defrost by then!)

The final touch was Pippa - abandoned by her husband - 'She watched him drive out of the farmyard for the last time and felt her heart break in two' who promptly decides to find herself a new man!!

Too many unbelievable moments.

[H · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was dire. Pippa's daughter supposedly has cystic fibrosis, but there is not a single mention of the treatments needed in cystic fibrosis! Instead she is wheelchair bound, unable to talk or walk. I think the author has gotten things seriously mixed up, and not a jot of research was done here. It was really awful to read. Dan was a total bastard, the way his and Pippa relationship felt apart didn't feel natural or make any sense. And what was with Michael, like a Christmas Angel? He didn't do anything or add anything to the story. And have a newborn 6 week premature baby out and about just didn't sit with me. This story was poorly written, poorly researched. There were about 10 trillion characters vying for my attention. Just awful. I've read some fairly decent chick-lit but this wasn't one of them. This was hard work, it was boring and repetitive. And the title 'A Merry Little Christmas'!!! I read this to start getting in the festive spirit but Christmas only happens at the very, very end of the novel and there's no real thought given to the festive season, about the most we got was the mention of a turkey and a tree. Just awful, I feel really cheated that I wasted time reading this.

[Shirley Revill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy and enjoyable read but I did find it a bit slow at times.

[Frankie Frenchie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the last book I officially completed for 2021! I wanted to read a book about Christmas and the spirit of Christmas and I think on the whole the book delivers and it is quite endearing.

The town of Hope Christmas is cute and my favorite parts about the book was when it followed Marianne and Gabriel because it was all about small town living. I especially enjoyed Marianne’s narrative because she interacted more with the local folks and some parts were really funny. For instance, the whole debate about the Christmas nativity play. It did make me giggle a few times.

I couldn’t really enjoy the London bits that followed Catherine and Noel as much as the other two. Unfortunately, I found them really annoying as a couple - particularly Noel. He was just a little too defensive for my liking and I really couldn’t stand the bits where he blamed Cat for working too much.

I mean overall it was a really enjoyable Christmas read and to the credit of the book, it did make me feel rather excited for Christmas this year!

[Tali · Rating 2 out of 5]

From the score, it looks like I didn't think much of this book and that's not true at all. This was a perfectly pleasant novel, although from the cover and title, I was hoping for a bit more of a Christmas-y story. The problem that I had with this novel, is that it's set over the course of a year and following three separate families and it all just gets too much. There's too many different stories and plotlines going all over the place and so you don't end up engaged with any of them. The stories that do garner some interest - Cat's struggles with her mother's dementia and Pippa's story of a child needing respite care - aren't given as much space in the book as they deserve. Instead, a huge amount of words are given over to a spiteful ex story that doesn't really go anywhere and plot involving Cat's daughter Mel is both frustrating and annoying. It's hard to be invested in reading about someone so fundamentally unsympathetic and the guide to teen-speak that goes with it at the end of the novel is a bit pointless. Disappointing but only because it could quite easily have been so much better.

[ClarkeyBooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

3 words - Family, Love, Life!
This book was really sweet but.. If I'm really honest it was rather boring.
The story is set in Hope Christmas (like Emmerdale) and not much really happens there. I found this a hard read as I was a little bored although the way the Author has made these characters was what kept me reading. I found myself caring about the characters especially Pippa, Dan and Mel. There was one point where I was going to give up but I couldn't, I needed to know what happened with them. Also considering it was a Christmas book there wasn't much Christmas in it at all.
I won't be reading this book again.

[Briansmom · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not 100% sure why I didn't like this book and just couldn't finish it. Maybe the characters were just too cloying and unbelievable. Maybe the British idioms just wore me out. Anyway, not a good book.

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just wanted a bit of Christmas fluff to read in the holidays. That is exactly what it is. Only read at Christmas and in emergencies. Middle class tripe.

[Shrishti khanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me quite a while to read this book, I really wasn’t into it. I considered to dnf it but then ended up finishing it. I didn’t feel connected to the characters. The story was slow, and Christmas only comes round at the end of the book but credits for amazing country vibes. Micheal Nicholas always shows up out of nowhere giving advice which i found a bit weird. The way they’ve written cat as a mum and her feelings towards her daughter’s pregnancy is weird. All in all didn’t enjoy it.

[MoMo Book Diary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review will be published on www.momobookdiary.com

[Siobhan Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started reading this book I did find all the characters in this book confusing as I kept forgetting who was with who and who was mum to who but after a short while I was there with all the families in Hope Christmas.  

The book spans a whole year starting with New Year and finishing on Christmas Day. A heart wrenching story in places but keeps you gripped to see how it will work out.  

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found it a bit hard going at first but then I started to enjoy the characters and their own personal struggles throughout the year, leading up to Christmas. A heart wrenching story in places but keeps you gripped to see how it will work out.

[Jaffareadstoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed for Romantic Fiction Online.

http://www.romanticfiction.org/profil...

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this one- a sequel to Last Christmas that I finished a couple of weeks ago. I was really keen to catch up with the characters- so I'm still reading my christmas selections!

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Merry Little Christmas by Julia Williams is a very charming contemporary novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. It is the second book in the Hope Christmas series but can be read as a stand-alone.
The novel is set in the Shropshire village of Hope Christmas and the surrounding countryside. There is a bank of leading characters and their families. All of whom are friends and all of whom have various challenges to face during the year.
I loved the inclusion of a character who appears real – but is he? There is an other-worldly feel to him which reminded me of Clarence in the movie It’s A Wonderful Life.
We meet farming families who pull together after a terrible accident injurers one of their own. Lives are altered as we see the strain that having a brain injury puts on a family unit.
There are families with children – step children, toddlers, babies, teens, and a beautiful wheelchair-bound young girl who is bright and funny but non-verbal. We witness the impact of withdrawing funds from a respite centre by the government will have on families. The village pulls together to fight for funds for the charity.
A teen is set to be a very young mum. We see how this alters family dynamics and relationships but ultimately love wins.
With new life, we also witness the opposite side of the coin, with loss. A grandmother who has Alzheimer’s - it is hard to “watch someone die by slow degrees.” A family mourns who she was, though she still lives.
A Merry Little Christmas was set over a year in the life of the village. There were highs and lows; friendships and foes – but over it all there was love, so much love.

[Alex Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

first of all this is not really a christmas book so the title is just to sell the book like
katie price's santa baby christmas is briefly featured at the end of the last three chapters .
As for the book it started well but tailed off in the middle.
the book is about three middle aged women we don't know how old they are except cat who is 42 but guessing the others are late thirties early forties all seem very old fashioned for their age.
cat is a tv cook there is pippa who has a disabled daughter lucy & mirianne who have young twins and a step-son steven this book is very kids based not a problem but got a bit confusing.
as cat has four kids going between them I really enjoyed the character of steven was great that he got on so well with his step-mum then you had cat's teenager daughter mel.
who was a horrible character big mistake to make so much of the book about her she was sixteen but acted like she was much younger a spolied brat seemed to be angry at the world for no reason.
big parts of this book featured text speak which I skimmed over I didn't really agree with the stereotyping of teenagers in this book.
also when cat got pregnant but didn't really want the baby her husband wasn't very understanding making it all about him.
then all of a sudden later in the book decides she now really wants a baby after all and now her daughter is pregnant they can look after it.
I believe there is a sequel to this the writer can write well but I wouldn't recommend this book to people.

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really lovely Christmas Read.
Julia Williams has written a book that has pulled up my heart strings with three families experiencing trouble over the Christmas period .
My favourite character was Mel, as a character she was a teenage girl who caught herself into trouble, experienced problems with her mum and as a character she really grew and her decision at the end may be so happy. Her mum Cat was an interesting character , not only had four children, a Christmas cookbook to write but a mother suffering from dementia and her problems with her daughter now, but to me she was a strong character who I liked.
The most heartbreaking story for me was Pippa and her husband Dan, the trauma they went through with not only her husband having an accident but her daughter also being disable and fighting for her care at a respite unit that was being reduced have me in tears at times. Pippa has one of those characters that you admire, love and want to have as a friend so that you can give her a huge hug at the time she needs it.
The most likable couple for me , was Marianne and her husband Gabe , as a couple with a son/ stepson Steven they were the most relatable and kind hearted family as they try to maintain a relationship with him he was at school as Gabe's ex-wife causes problems during that time.

[Marika · Rating 1 out of 5]

While I enjoyed some of this book, the parts that were inaccurate or not terribly believable were off-putting for me. I think the author may have mixed up her illnesses, because one of the characters had Cystic Fibrosis but had none of the attributes of CF nor were any of the treatments required for CF mentioned. However, the symptoms described were much more aligned with Cerebral Palsy which causes all the ailments the character had and had any research been done around these conditions, the differences would have easily been picked up. A six week premmie baby, born in a friend's barn but didn't need to stay in hospital and was able to be a part of a nativity play performed on a winter evening a few days after birth is not really believable. There were other things but these were the two big spoilers for me.

[Victoria Sigsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It's another cosy Christmas read with much of the interesting stories between 3 families being very realistic. However the disability of Lucy seems to be the wrong disability, as pointed out by other readers. I'm surprised the editor or a proof reader did not question this. There are places where it is very predictable and I'm not sure if I liked this or not. I often like the predictability because you find yourself wanting this for the characters but I am not sure in this story.
However do not let this stop you from reading this book. It is still hugely enjoyable and if you need to just have an easy read to take you out of your current reality, this is a good one. I found it easy to read and drop into. It is set through the whole of the year rather than just at Christmas which is a different idea.

[Mrs J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This took me a while to get into as there were so many characters being I introduced – 3 main characters, their husbands, children, parents, and even some of the local community. However, once you get around who’s who it is easy to follow.

A Merry Little Christmas is quite an emotional story with pregnancy, death, an accident, dealing with cuts in social services, and all the usual family drama, with a merry Christmas at the end.

It’s a well-written read with likable characters I enjoyed it and will be looking out for more festive fiction by Julia Williams.

[Heather Copping · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first started reading this book, I did find all the characters rather confusing, I kept forgetting who was with who and mum to who, but after a short while I was there with all the families in Hope Christmas. the book spans a whole year starting with new year and finishing the next Christmas day.

[Yvette · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a pleasant enough read for a light one. There were aspects that didn’t ring true for me, and that did impact a bit on my enjoyment. But it is also the second featuring these characters so that may account for some of my hesitancy.

[Rob Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

This might be the worse book I have ever read. Not at all morally bad just written terribly. All this ´read out of your comfort zone´ nonesense. There is a reason I have a comfort zone and it is to avoid reading tripe like this.

[Gale · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story about family and friends. Three friends help each other through the struggles of busy families. Cat, Pippa and Marianne help each other cope with family work and life. They hope that this year Christmas will be a happy event for each of them.

[Mandy Marr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this but did struggle to remember who everyone was and their relationships - it felt as though I should know them and their back story before. Even two thirds through I was still thinking now which one is she, which family is hers

[Paula Atkinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just couldn't get into this book. So I have decided to put it back on my bookshelf & try it again next Christmas.

[d m palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good about the town of Hope

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good absorbing story featuring three women and their families. It follows their lives for a year as they face challenges that test
them to the limit at times.

[Lorna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story when I got into it, although there wasn’t much about Christmas!