Thursday 6 August 2015

Book Review - The First Christmas Without You by Michelle Betham - #HIReadathon

Amazon UK
Title: The First Christmas Without You
Author: Michelle Betham
Format reviewed: Ebook
Source: Purchased
Publisher: Harper Impulse
Publication Date: 19th December 2013
Rating: 5 Stars


A story of love and hope at Christmas, The First Christmas Without You is an emotional and poignant novella. A truly magical Lapland fairytale…

Jessie Collins has always wanted to visit Lapland. But this Christmas, more than any other, it’s the place she feels she really needs to be as she tries to come to terms with a future she really needs to start living.

Where better to set a Christmas novella than in Lapland. I think this may be the first book I have read that is set there, and its made me want to visit Lapland more than ever before. The place sounds completely magical at Christmas time, and magic is something that Jessie really needs. 

Jessie suffered a tragedy a few weeks before last Christmas, and this year she is determined to do things her  way, so she tags along on her brother's ski trip to Lapland. On her first day their she meets Mikku, a young Sami man, and he seems to really empathise with Jessie. He also points her straight into the path of Zac.

Over a few short days, Zac and Jessie become quite close, and they are both big believers in fate. Even if you are a bit sceptical about fate, you will certainly feel a connection between the pair, and that is a connection that is strengthened when their pasts are revealed. 

For a relatively short novella, this book packs quite a lot in, and I found I was wondering certain things about Mikku, and although not completely correct, I was vaguely along the right lines. The descriptions of Finnish Lapland, even without meeting Santa Claus, make it sound like a wonderful place, and I could really picture the sky, in all of its various shades of colour, in a place that has very little sunlight in winter. 

I really enjoyed this novella, and got a quite a good Christmassy vibe from it, despite reading it in summer!

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