This was a cute story with a cosy feel. It made me want to get all my candles together and buy a new throw for the couch. Love the cover too!

Can Danish girl, Clara, really make a difference? after arriving in a sleepy Suffolk village where nothing is available she finds herself in the local pub and after overhearing Louisa .who runs the toy shop, is leaving she makes the rash promise to take it over and make it better. Locals soon rally round and are all enthralled but she has to deal with Joe, Louisa's son. Hostility from him and Roz who want the shop for herself make life interesting.
Joe who is a workaholic and not sure what to make of Clara and her hygge way of relaxing soon becomes a fan after experiencing first hand how different like could be. Slowly but surely they fall for each other but Louisa's return upsets plans, as Joe returns to London ads Clara prepares to leave can a solution be found.

A really good read, fun, relaxing and a lesson to us all.

As you can tell from the title, the popular trend of Hygge is a major aspect in this book, as is the connected theme of home. It was marketed as a Christmas book, and although it is obviously set in winter (to allow for all that cosiness), I didn't get a festive feel from it at all. That's not necessarily a bad thing - it just means it can easily be read all year round.

Although the main characters are Joe and Clara, my favourite has to be Louisa who is so vibrant and leaps off the page at you - and really, steals the book away from the others a little.

I found this a very gentle but enjoyable read.

Like vodka, this anaesthetises the brain in a not unpleasant way.

A cozy story about embracing the concept of hygge.
At first I thought this was too slow for me, but that is the concept of hygge, calming down and relaxing.

A charming cosy romantic novel, set in the village of Yulethorpe. Clara, a young Danish woman, who seems to be in search of something, finds herself the temporary proprietor of an unloved and dusty toyshop. She works hard to bring it back to life, and starts to fall in love with the village and its rural surroundings. When the shop owner's son turns up to check on his mother's property, suspicion ensues and they get off to a frosty start. However, Clara is determined to use the power of 'Hygge' to set everything straight. Makes you want to light the candles and bring out the hot water bottle and blankets. I like to read books like this at bedtime or in the bath- no murders, no violence, just romance and cosiness (dreamed of Johnny Depp eating pastries last night after finishing this ....)
Thanks to the publisher for a digital review copy.

This book was a warm hug on a winters day.

This is a heart warming tale that makes you step back and look at life. Love this book

A warm inviting book with lovely characters and great descriptions.

I was immediately drawn into the story and loved Clara's character. I also really enjoyed the cast of supporting characters in this lovely village community. For me though the icing on the cake was the comical parrot Lady CaCa - what a fantastic animal character.

A really cosy uplifting read - a story of people trying to find happiness with some romance, cute children and genuinely lovely people. A lovely happy ending.

Perfect to cuddle up with on a cold day. Highly recommended.

So if you are a bit fed up with all the Christmas shenanigans in the lead up to Christmas and want a bit of escapism then look no further. The Hygge Holiday is a beautiful retreat that shows that home may be in the place you expect it least.

To be honest I didn't really know what Hygge was despite it being a rage on twitter earlier this year. But The Hygge Holiday sorted me out and taught me a few Danish swearwords!  I loved how Clara decorated the place to make it warm and cosy and turned a strange place into her home.

Clara arrived at Yulethorpe clearly intending not to stay long. There is clearly something in her past that she is running away from.  A reason why she cannot go home. Yet there is something about Yulethorpe that makes Clara want to stay, to make it as her home and to make a few friends. Then there is Joe, he works long hours in the capital. He is a bit suspicious about Clara's motives with his mothers shop. And finds himself heading North to sort it out. Yet when he gets there he finds more than he bargained for.

I loved how Clara transformed the shop with her creative and ingenious ideas, creating attractive window displays that attracts more people to not only the shop but also the village. Bringing people back to the quiet high street and creating a vibrant environment.

This is a warm fuzzy read, and it proves that all you need is a candle and a blanket to make the place appear cosy!

This is a brilliant read. It has lots of laugh out loud moments and pretty much helped me get out of the book ‘slump’ I was having :)
I give it 8/10

When Clara arrives in Yulethorpe she falls in love with it so when Louise in a strop says she is closing her toy shop and going to Spain Clara offers to run it for her. Clara is Danish and believes in the Danish hygge way and in no time is rearranging the shop and before she knows it customers are starting to appear.

Joe is a workaholic, nothing else is more important, but when he hears about Clara he thinks that she must be ripping off his mother and that she should be selling the shop and so decides to go and investigate..... can she win him round and make him lighten up a bit!

A lovely warm cosy book - great idea I had never heard of hygge before - great characters and community feel perfect read for curling up with on a winter's day

A book perfect for you to get your snuggle on, when the clocks have gone back and the weather can be a bit grim.
A light-hearted, romantic comedy, The Hygge Holiday by Rosie Blake, is based in the seasonal run up to Christmas. As well as being a feel-good, easy read, this book also touches on the themes of community, social and personal change, new and old friendships, priorities, trust, luuuurve and how the simple things in life can mean far more than the expensive ones.
Of course, not everyone is as they appear, secrets abound and Clara and Gavin, both have their own, that they want to keep hidden. However, secrets inevitably come out and how they are dealt with can determine the future, for all.
A Hygge Holiday is an heart-warming, funny book, bursting with believable characters and perfect for this time of the year. So pull on your woolly socks, get the fire roaring, light candles, make a mug of cocoa, grab a blanket, ignore the dark nights and rainy weather, cosy down into your favourite armchair and let Rosie Blake entertain you with her delightful tale of the goings-on in the pretty village of Yulethorpe.
I used to own a shop in a pretty village and I’m all for the Scandinavian ideals of Hygge and Lagom, so this book just hit the spot for me and I thoroughly enjoyed this light, cosy read.

This is the review that I posted on Amazon.
The full review can be found on my blog, link below, and I will also save it for my Christmas Special show (Sunday Girl on Siren FM)
http://wtdn.traceyedges.co.uk/#post7

This book is brilliant.
Just hygge! (Is that a thing!) Carefully written, lovely characters beautiful setting and optimistic

In the past I used to dread winter but thanks to this book it has changed the way I think. I am now going to embrace it with warm blankets, soft cushions, scented candles and hot chocolate. Of course, the story is just as heart-warming as you might imagine as it reaffirms what is important in life. If you read nothing else this winter, then make sure that this book is at the top of your list - I absolutely loved it. It will suck you in, wrap you up and leave you with a happy feeling of contentment, exactly like a good book should.

Over the past year or so I have repeatedly heard people across social media refer to “Hygge”. Intrigued I decided to find out more about this Danish simple way of life. The idea of surrounding yourself with cosiness, your favourite things, and the people you care about is highly appealing to me, especially as a crafter who loves nothing more than being cosy!

When I first saw this novel, The Hygge Holiday, I immediately wanted to read it…and I’m so glad I did!

Curled up with my favourite candle lit, a lovely cup of tea, and my kindle, I delved into Clara’s story. If it is possible for a book to by hygge, this one definitely would fit the bill! I loved every moment of this novel, and I was hooked from start to finish.

With laugh-out-loud moments, enchanting setting of Yulethorpe (even the name is charming), and fantastic characters, The Hygge Holiday is the perfect novel to cosy up with this Autumn. Now I’m off to curl up with a new book and a cuppa. Happy reading lovelies!

*****stars from me!



I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book, it was so easy to read and I enjoyed it from the start. Clara takes over Louisa's toy shop to look after her animals, the shop is now quiet and mostly empty until Clara starts her magic. Louisa's son Joe comes to stay but is suspicious of Clara and decides his mum is better off selling. It's a predictable story but an enjoyable and warm one. Can't wait to read another book by this author

I am a huge Rosie Blake fan, so was very excited when I heard about this book. Then I saw the cover – wow! It's beautiful, honestly you need to go to a shop, find it and stroke it. Oh and then buy it, because it is the perfect book for a cosy autumnal afternoon.
Blake has a sharp wit that has had me laughing out loud to the point of tears when reading her other books, and whilst 'The Hygge Holiday' has some really humorous moments, it feels like the focus is more on getting the reader to stop and pay attention to the world around them. That, after all, is what underpins the whole hygge concept.
On a side note, I have heard some people moan about people/ companies jumping on the hygge bandwagon and labelling anything and everything as 'hygge' in an attempt to encourage sales. Having read about the Scandinavian concept and grasped the primary concept is to embrace the world, embrace the approaching winter and celebrate it, Blake's book encapsulates just that.
The characters are charming, the setting is idyllic and the writing is engaging. 'The Hygge Holiday' is the perfect book to cuddle up with this autumn.

A warm-hearted, warm-hug of a book that had me feeling pleased summer is over and embracing all things knitted jumpers, hot drinks and tea-light ambience! A must read this autumn.

[[Posted to Goodreads and Amazon UK]]

This book certainly started off with a bang, in a bar with a theatrical woman storming in demanding a G&T and saying she'd had enough and was off!

Clara is the main character and was staying in the B&B, travelling around but originally from Denmark, and the reason why all becomes clearer as the book goes on. Louisa (theatrical pub woman) decided she's had enough, is shutting her toy-shop in the village and jetting off to Spain, which happens really quickly. Clara gets this idea in her head and pops round to offer to house-sit and keep the toy-store open while she's away. Eccentric Louisa accepts and leaves everything in Clara's hands with hardly any instructions at all! So it's all completely mad at the beginning of the book, but in a nice way.

The village this all happens in is a quintessentially pretty English village that has fallen on hard times, shops are shutting and closed up and people moving away. The toy store, and the pub of course, were really the only places left open.

Clara decides to start updating and clearing the shop, doing lovely window displays, and customers start coming back. Then Louisa's son, Joe, arrives to see who this person is who is looking after his Mother's shop, sure she is up to no good. I found Joe a really difficult character to like and he really irritated me. He was a workaholic and only thought of work, no time for anyone else, and a very distrusting person who was all about appearances and how much things cost, although he did eventually change and mellow by the end of the book.

Louisa eventually returned out of the blue, a bit like she disappeared, and things changed around again in the toy shop and for Clara. A pleasant story with a nice feeling.

First off, I must say that I love the cover. Not very often that I mention the cover in my reviews, but it is so inviting I couldn’t resist reading ‘The Hygge Holiday’.

Clara is a sweet young woman who is carrying a lot of guilt with her, thus making her want to help others out, and always see’s the best in people. Joe is a workaholic. He lives, breathes and sleeps (or not), his city job, dealing with billions of pounds contracts. He does have a soft, but he is forever pushing it deep inside, him not wanting to show it.

The story has a lovely array of secondary characters too, including, Gavin and Craig from the village pub, Clara’s new tired friend, mum Lauren, and even battleaxe Roz – the character you’ll love to hate.

However, there was one character that had me laughing though out, Lady CaCa, Louise’s parrot. Imagine a parrot that comes out with movie quotes all the time, especially ones at inappropriate moments.

This is a warm, inviting book that I was so hooked to I ended up finishing it in the early hours of the morning, not realising how long I had been reading for. It will make you feel all warm and cosy. It is a book that from the beginning you have an idea where the author is going to take you, but the journey to get there is just wonderful.