Festive romcom - a fun, quirky and colourful cast together with a quick moving, entertaining storyline. Very enjoyable reading and some guaranteed festive escapism.

A fun light read which is not overly festive. The characters took a while to grown on me - but loved Stanley from the beginning. A bit sad in places with the death of a close family member, a secret being discovered and the main characters life at a crossroads. But out of the sadness a new relationship develops. Throw in a few festive sweaters and a bit of Mistletoe and you have a fab read.

The writing is as light, fun, and fast as last year’s offering, and yes, I stayed up very late to finish it. I did struggle a bit with the rather thickly laid on “I’m such a failure” chorus from Daisy, and the thirteen year gap seemed too long and I had to mentally reset her age to mid twenties. Other than that, I loved it. Great the mix of characters, Stanley is a hero, and it made me cry.

There are some strong movie influences – the pair of mum’s reminded me of Bridget Jones’s mum, whilst Uncle T strongly reminded me of one of the characters from Four Weddings & a Funeral, and given the title of the book I’m guessing that is entirely intentional. Don’t want to say any more for risk of spoilers.

Zara Stoneley is an author who you can reliably sit down, open her books and get lost in. Easy to read, humorous and wrote almost like a Bridget Jones story.
This is a Christmas romp set over a period of four Christmases and obviously has the Christmas jumpers, mistletoe and turkey until it’s coming out of your ears theme.

Daisy has lost her job, her foster dog and her boyfriend and is always being compared to her childhood friend who is the perfect Son according to her Mum and her best friend who squabble to outdo each other in the “who’s got the most successful child stakes”

Ollie and Daisy are friends from infants and have slightly amusing competitive pasts. A couple of times over the years they have kissed and you sense from the off that some attraction lingers.

Ollie and Daisy both have a Uncle T who is their rock and although isn’t Daisy’s real uncle he treats her like a godfather figure always looking out for her.
He owns a fantastic quirky book store and has annual Christmas parties and things start to change when Oliver sneaks a kiss under the - you guessed it mistletoe.
Yet Uncle T holds a huge secret and the plot is heartwarming and sentimental.

Over a span of Christmases Daisy finds herself a new job and finds herself sharing an apartment with Ollie. Even Stanley the dog is rescued and comes back to live with them.
She’s got a great personality, sense of humor and this is a feel good book you will fly through to see if their past history will push them together or apart.

Stoneley draws you in and her characters are British rom-com at their best. She admits at the back of her book that she likes to write about friendships, dreams and love. Isn’t that what life should be about?

Four stars from me. Thank you Net galley and One More Chapter for the ARC

I enjoyed this book, however I think a lot of pages could have been cut with a little editing. I love a good Christmas book though!

This was a great feel good book. The characters were wonderful. The setting fantastic. Looking forward to more from this author.

First of all, I love the cover!! It's so pretty, how could you resist?

Zara Stoneley's latest offering has the makings of a hallmark movie, it's heart warming and charming but for me it's missing some of that Christmas twinkle, which slightly let it down but I still found it quite enjoyable and read it right till the end.

This was a surprisingly lovely book! I did not know what to expect when I randomly picked this book. I was rooting for Daisy and Ollie from the very start, they were such fun and special characters! Someone said in one of the reviews that it would work fabulously on the big screen and I agree! I would love to watch this movie during Christmas under my warm blanket with a cup of cocoa. This book will give you warm feelings, with laugh out loud moments but also some sad moments.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

Daisy and Ollie have always grown up together. Their moms, were good friends and always together. They shared family Christmases together as well. In high school, their Uncle T (who Daisy just called her Uncle) hosted his annual Christmas party and the two kissed.

Years later, Ollie comes to the party again. He's a surgeon with the perfect life and perfect girlfriend. Daisy has just been dumped and is still renting a room with a dead end job. It's awkward between them at first but eventually they rekindle their friendship with a little push from Uncle T.

Who knew one man could hold so many secrets and also bring so many good memories at the same time?

I did enjoy this book. I think it was a little drawn out but still cute also. Of course the ending was obvious but their were a few other surprises along the way as well. It's a good read when you want to take a break from the suspenseful reads and just enjoy a good story. This could easily be a Hallmark movie of you like that sort of thing.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Daisy has just lost her boyfriend, her job and probably her dog. The only thing keeping her sane is the annual Christmas party at Uncle Terrence's bookstore. She loves these parties, they bring all her favourite people together, and they are in her favourite place, bookstore. However, every single Christmas party, she has to endure hearing of Oliver Cartwright - they grew up together and were best friends for ever, but now they are not as they went their separate ways after Ollie went to university and became a doctor and Daisy... well, Daisy's dreams of being a vet have never came true. Her mum and Oliver's mum are best friends but they both love to boast about their children, and Ollie, well, Ollie wins at life, right? But then, after 13 long years, Oliver also comes to the party and oh boy, he's hot! And lovely, and friendly and soon Daisy finds herself sharing an apartment with him...

As usual, the book is full of brilliant, sharp and witty banter between the characters, especially between Daisy and Oli. I loved their dialogues, they made me smile so often, and it always makes reading so much nicer and lighter. There is a lot of character development in the story but I think that the biggest self - discovery journey was Daisy's one, she for sure was a totally different person at the end, a person that I liked much more than at the beginning - as I only had a teeny, tiny problem with Daisy, to be honest, as I had a feeling that the author has tried too much with her - to make her too funny, too dramatic, too lost, and this altogether has made her simply too overdone. I liked her, oh my word, I really liked her but because of all these "too" I couldn't warm to her completely. Also, I am not a biggest fan of creating holly characters, characters who could do no wrong, who are always right and full of wisdom, and so the whole subplot with Uncle Terence, instead of making me weak at the knees, made me roll my eyes a bit.

The read was so engaging that I honestly haven't spotted the three Christmases. Oops. The writing style so sentimental and light and chatty that I haven't noticed time is passing by. The author has so easily drawn me into her characters' lives and worlds that I really didn't want to leave.
Altogether, it was a fun, witty and heart - warming rom - com, filled with quirky characters, some secrets, embarrassing situations, just what you could expect from this kind of book and from this author. However, it is not only a light - hearted, not too demanding read, it's full of deeper and more serious moments, and I loved this perfect mix of fun and poignant. It was the perfect Christmas story to start getting you in the festive spirit. Let's be honest, Zara Stoneley has did it again, she delivered another brilliant read full of great characters, the perfect blend of will they/won't they, filling the book with a self discovery journey full of secrets, discoveries, friendship, love and stealing dogs. Truly recommended!

“He tastes of whiskey and mince pies. And something else, something that is Ollie and nobody else. Something I want more of. And a small part of my deep inside, that I didn’t know existed, has woken up leaving me all breathless and shaky” - Daisy

Daisy is one of those characters that you just start to love- funny and girl next door vibe. I want to see her Christmas jumper! Everything is falling apart in her life but slowly she gets is back. Ollie is the family friend she has known forever but hasn’t seen since the last time they kissed -- 13 years ago, with so much of their life changed.

Uncle Terence you wish was your uncle as he is helpful, heartwarming, true romance guy, and mastermind behind a lot more than they know until the end. The Christmas Eve parties is were all the action happens and where Daisy and Ollie meet again and again.

Zara does such a good job on the little town especially that bookshop, I just want to visit! You know the author did her job when you wish it was real and could go shop around.

This just screams Hallmark movie! It is very heartwarming, romantic, happy ending type of book that reads well even not during the holiday season.

Overall, this book was good. Might add to your TBR pile during the holiday season if you love this type of books/movies but it also is very “hallmark movie” with not much new ideas/thought, bookstore, normal girl, hot boy, mother that drive her crazy, aka its very predictable. But its a very nice happy for the most part read but it does have its sad and hard to read parts. So I give it 3 stars.

Daisy and Oliver are childhood friends who have lost contact into adulthood despite Uncle Terrence's annual Christmas party at his bookshop. Each year Daisy feels defeated by the epically responsible and glamorous life Ollie leads...as compared to her single, dreadful, sad state of affairs. Thirteen years after sharing a kiss under the mistletoe as teens, Ollie is back in town with his model girlfriend. This could not happen at a worse time, as Daisy is struggling to keep a hold of her boyfriend, her job, and even her dog! But with some support from Uncle T, and even a little from Ollie, too, Daisy is able to see that the strength to get control of her life was within reach all along.

Daisy reminded me a lot of Bridget Jones with a dash of Becky Bloomwood, and the town had flavors of Jenny Colgan's creations. Basically, it was everything I love in a British women's lit book!

I really liked how Daisy's personal development was handled. Instead of trying to become better to win a man, Daisy's goal always seemed to be just to beat the negative voices inside her head (and expel the outside negativity from her life). Uncle T's advice to her in this regard is really potent: "If you believe in yourself, anything can happen dear girl. Surround yourself with positivity." This isn't meant in a 2000s Disney channel message of just "dreams can happen;" but rather that a key component in one's success is the belief that you actually have the ability to achieve something. In order for this belief to flourish, you must silence the negativity in your life that tears you down.

There were some things I didn't like....Frankie for one. She is AWFUL. I think she is supposed to be so awful to help us see Daisy's personal growth, but I just hate such a horrid woman having so much focus in a story. And I also thought some of the more emotional moments were brushed over a bit quickly (can't say too much without spoilers), but the overall message and larger cast of characters is still worthwhile.

Really cute holiday read, with some definite lol moments, and just heartwarming in general.

What a fantastic book!
I enjoyed this book from start to finish. It does not just cover Christmas time but follows the lives of Daisy, Oliver ( Oli) and their families over a period of time. The rivalry between the two mums, Daisy and Oli having met at school was hilarious! The character of uncle Terence fantastic, Stanley, Daisies foster dog adorable.
This book is not predictable, and I never guessed the big secret!
Zara Stoneley has wrote a winner, the reader feels they become part of the characters lives- enjoy '! I didn’t want it to end.
Thank you to Netgalley! Harper Impulse and Zara Stoneley for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review

A story based around Daisy and Ollie: from their first teenage Christmas kiss to the present day. This is an enjoyable festive read with great characters and unexpected secrets coming to light. A warm fun story about love and romance which was an entertaining read.

What a delightful romance and I agree with the tag line: This is like Bridget Jones watching Hallmark Christmas movies. Though the book focuses on various Christmas events, the book does spread through out the months in between the holidays, giving this a nice “anytime” read.
The main characters, Daisy and Ollie, are a sweet blending of childhood friends and sophisticated grown-ups. The question throughout the book is will they ever cross over the friendship line? The tantalizing tension is quite fun over the years. Daisy has many emotional obstacles to overcome, issues she has set up for herself at the cost of her self-esteem and ambition. Watching her stretch and grow in this book was just right.
The side characters could almost carry their own books. How I loved Uncle Terrence, a flamboyant and charming as the owner of a beloved bookstore and Ollie’s uncle. I had a handful of aunts and uncles which were not related by blood but by the friendship to my parents, yet I loved them just as much. Stanley, the dog, was another fabulous addition to the story. A perfect touch to keep an emotional character grounded at times. And Daisy and Ollie’s moms were a hoot of themselves. The competitive friendship coated a deep love and respect between them.
A fun book for any time of year, not just the holidays.

Daisy hates Uncle Terence's Christmas party. Every year, she hears about how well everyone else (mainly Ollie) is doing and Daisy is a failure. No job, no boyfriend. Until one year, Ollie turns up. Their paths reconnect and Daisy is determined to change her story.

I really struggled to get into Daisy's story but once I got half way, I was hooked. I loved the chemistry between Daisy and Ollie and read the second half in one sitting as I was desperate to see how the story would end.

Four Christmases and a Secret is Heartwarming with lots of lighthearted humour, loved it

Great book to start the lead up to Christmas (or any other time also really). From the very first page, there's humour. It's well written, it makes you smile, sad and laugh at different stages.

If you like Bridget Jones Diary, you'll love this book, it has the same sense of wit/style. For me I think it was even better, great thing with books, always more detailed.

This book is based around Daisy, Olly and families. Each Christmas starts Christmas Eve where Uncle T arranges a party in his much loved book shop. And as the title suggests, family secrets.
There are some great characters in this book, highly entertaining.

A definite most read.

What a fun holiday feel good book! The characters were quirky and kept you interested in their stories.

Uncle T was a darling and realised that Daisy was meant to be with Oliver. Lovely family get together at his book shop at Christmas time with many laughs. Just a shame it took til after his death for the truth to come out.