The Great Christmas Knit-Off
by Alexandra Brown
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (October 13, 2015)
Purchase Links
My Rating:
Favorite Quotes:
“This is only
a recent thing, noticing men. After
being in a relationship for five years with a man that I was certain I’d marry,
it still feels weird looking at other guys in a snog/marry/avoid way, as Cher would say.”
“‘Honey, it’s always like that!’ she says knowingly,
her voice sounding all Mae West after several hundred cigars.”
“I end up
face-planting in the snow. Thank God it’s
the middle of winter and it’s already dark so nobody can see me – the stupid,
ridiculous, and quite clearly desperate stranger from London who is obviously
going to end up ancient and decrepit and all alone with just her knitting and a
trembly old dog to keep her company.”
My Review:
I giggled and
chortled through this delightful and amusing story that kept me entertained
from the first page to the last. Both the
story line and writing style were clever, relevant, realistic, and engaging. I enjoyed each and every quirky character
inhabiting this quaint little country village, and found I was endlessly fascinated
by their traits and conversations. Not
to say the story was without sadness, tragedy or duress - as previously stated,
the story was realistic. The heroine has
been struggling for several months with the humiliation and heartbreak of
betrayal, and decides to visit a friend who has recently moved away. During her stay, she is immediately
befriended by most of the village and is particularly drawn to an elderly yet
proud woman with a struggling handcraft store.
What started as a fun project to help the fragile woman turns into a
major undertaking to save the woman’s home and business, and much of the
village also involves themselves and it is all hands on deck to fill the first
order. They “knit and natter,” the vernacular
used throughout this book was such fun. Ms. Brown is British so I praised my beloved kindle
for having Wikipedia to help me with the cultural references and vocabulary. I love
learning new words and phrases like blowsy, scarpered, on the back foot, and caught
herself out. And I was smitten with the
name of the store “House of Haberdashery” just genius! I was captivated by the inner musings,
dialogues, humor, and the author’s descriptive style; and have added all her
works - current and planned - to my TBR.
Empress DJ
About Alexandra Brown
Alexandra Brown began her writing career as the City Girl columnist for the London Paper. She wrote the weekly column—a satirical diary account of her time working in the corporate world of London—for two years before giving it up to concentrate on writing novels and is now the author of the Cupcakes at Carrington's books. Set in a department store in the pretty seaside town of Mulberry-On-Sea, the series follows the life, loves and laughs of sales assistant Georgie Hart. The Great Christmas Knit-Off is Alexandra's fourth book and the first in a new series set in the fictional village of Tindledale, following the lives of all the characters there. Alexandra lives in a real village near the south coast of England with her husband, daughter and a very shiny black Labrador retriever. Find out more about Alexandra at her website, and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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