I kind of wish these books weren’t given such twee titles and covers that make me a little self-concious about reading them. Yes, they are pretty light entertainment but I’m often surprised by the themes covered and how rounded the characters are. It’s never straightforward romance and I’m glad about that. 

This one is set on the Scilly Isles, though the author has made up a few more imaginary islands rather than project characters and places onto the existing ones. And this works well. The plot concerns Maisie, who is taking over running the island pub from her parents, and Patrick, an Australian backpacker who turns up as a seasonal barman. And of course you know it’s going to be more or less happily ever after eventually but I found the ups and downs of the relationship interesting and enjoyed the background of how difficult a place a remote island, however idyllic,  is to make a living. 

I picked the book up to read because I wanted something entertaining and distracting to read over Christmas, and though it’s obviously badged as a Christmas book it’s not all Christmas all the time and you could read this any time of year really. There’s a couple more in the series and I think I’ll read those at some point too when my brain needs some relaxation as it did this week as I enjoyed this one.