I absolutely enjoyed this book. I love cozy, romance stories and this is all this and more! I didn't know this book is part of a series, so I would definitely read the other book soon!

A sucker for a good romantic comedy, this book was right up my street and even features a sassy, fluffy cat!

A down on her luck Londoner escapes to a remote island to lick her wounds and almost falls off a cliff as well as falls for a grouchy recluse. All set on a wild, beautiful Norwegian Island. What's not to like?

We all need community and sometimes it takes a village (or a fluffy cat and his human butler) to heal a soul..

Perfect read on those dark winter nights in front of a cozy fire or snuggled under a warm blanket with a cup of hot chocolate. 

An easy going heart warming story.

**Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't realize when I picked this up to read that it was a sequel to another book. This one was cozy and enjoyable, so I will definitely be picking up the first.

Absolute pure escapism. From start to finish I was enthralled. The characters, the setting, the story and the food! All of these elements harmonise into something special. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be hoping for a return to the Island soon. 

Thank you Netgalley.

I may not have read this at Christmas, but in mid Febraury when the snow and temperatures sure made it feel like Christmas. That didn't hamper my enjoyment of this at all.

I loved seeing some of the characters we know and love from Summer Island, namely Alma, but also being introduced to new faces in the same setting. It's one of my favourite things about series and I can't wait to hopefully visit these people and places again.

I love a grumpy x sunshine romance and this book has that in DROVES. I loved seeing Tor warm up to Holly throughout the book. I also love a love interest who has a cat.

One thing I felt missing from Summer Island was recipes we could try out, so I was so glad to see some recipes at the end of this book. I'll definitely be trying them out.

Well, that’s that. I’m officially ruined for all other Christmas stories EVER. I loved this book and its world so much ❤️I'll be searching for more books by Normann for SURE!

A comfortable read with romance and sweetness, but lacking in the drama that comes with so many of this genre. The author writes this book well and I enjoyed learning about the Norwegian Customs that I rarely hear about during Christmas when a lot of culture mainly focuses around the American kind. There was some really great writing and I really enjoyed learning about Holly, our main character but also the information about Norway helped along the way. 

Their food definitely sounds right up my street and it sounds absolutely wonderful, the warmth of their Christmas traditions had me hooked and I felt that this was such a lovely read, heartwarming with some great writing, I loved it and couldn't put it down. 

Well done, Natalie Normann, I was hooked. This was the best festive escape. 

With thanks to NetGalley, Natalie Normann and the publishers for my free ARC in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.

I really struggled to get into this and put it down to try later and never came back to it. I think it was me rather that the book as such

Absolutely delightful read, full of such festive warmth and I just was so in love with this read it in one sitting. The descriptions were just so gorgeous I could actually have been in Norway and I desperately want to go even more now. Great characters, fabulous story, wonderful happy feelings, what more could you want m pick this up for a smile.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

What could be better than travel (culture), Christmas and romance. I loved the descriptions of Norway traditions having been to Norway I could picture the occasion.  Definitely a book worth reading.

This was a wonderful Christmas romance novel full of Norwegian food and traditions. This story follows our MC Holly after she escapes the troubles of her life by taking a Christmas vacation to an island off the coast of Norway to visit her brother. When Holly arrives, she is saved from falling off a cliff by a mysterious man and his wonderful cat, Frøy. The two are iffy about each other at the start, but soon start spending time together bonding over Christmas festivities and food.

I really enjoyed this story! I could really picture the island where this story takes place and so wish I could travel there. I also really loved the abundance of food in this book! I learned so much about traditional Norwegian food and culture in this book and it was lovely.

The romance between the two MCs was cute! You have the typical rough mysterious one falls for soft-pretty one trope, but it was still enjoyable. My favourite character was actually the cat, Frøy! He was a much needed character and I loved his little personality.

Overall, this was a cute Christmas story full of traditions and culture! I highly recommend it to people looking for a cozy Christmas read.

*Thank you to Netgalley and One More Chapter for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review*

I really enjoyed this one, I love visiting different places in books, that's what reading is all about for me, escapism.
I like all of the characters very much and felt that they were very real, having been to Norway a couple of years ago.

The setting was perfect and well described and I liked learning about the different foods, and the recipes at the book were a really nice touch. 

All in all a lovely cosy read.

Too cheesy for me unfortunately. This book was out of my comfort zone and I really hoped I would like it but I found the characters and plot to be too cheesy.

I wanted to love this book SO BADLY, but it really missed the mark for me.

Holly travels to the the remote town in Norway to escape a tricky work situation back in London - the only problem is that her idyllic vision of a Norwegian Christmas is far from the truth.  Instead of twinkling lights and romantic settings, it's freezing cold and dark.  Shortly after embarking in town, she gets lost and is rescued by a surly Viking-like man, named Tor and his gigantic cat, Froy.  Just like Holly, Tor is working through some personal issues of his own, but the two seem to keep crossings paths.

I was so looking forward to a fun, lighthearted Christmas romance, but the chemistry between Holly and Tor was lackluster.  Their narrative starts off with a meet-cute, but Holly's standoffish-ness was borderline rude.  The dialogue between the two was a bit clunky and I just wanted the story to go more in-depth with character development.

Overall an easy read, but left much to be desired. 

Thank you to Net Galley and Harper's Collins UK for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for a fair and honest review - all of my opinions are my own!

2/5 - ⭐⭐

I read Christmas Island by Natalie Normann fittingly right around Christmas time and it was precisely the kind of book that I was looking for.

It is filled with humor, charm and the perfect amount of feel good characters. I highly recommend reading this one either around the holidays or when you are feeling nostalgic for holiday season.

I read Summer Island by this author and adored it. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this one and it didn’t disappoint! It was so so good! I loved the characters, the story and just everything. Be sure to pick this up!

RATING~
🌸🌸🌸

TW~
𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦

BLURB~
𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙃𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙮’𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙨 𝙪𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚-𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙟𝙤𝙗 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙮, 𝙇𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙢𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙤𝙣 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙙, 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙄𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚.

𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙤’𝙨 𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙚𝙧, 𝙏𝙤𝙧, 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨. 𝘽𝙪𝙩, 𝙖𝙨 𝙏𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙬𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙧𝙪𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙩 𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙚, 𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢.

THOUGHTS~
In the end, I enjoyed this book. I was very in the mood at the time for a book that was bursting with Christmas traditions and rituals and this one certainly delivered in the second half.

I found the first half to be rather slow at times. In the beginning, nothing was happening. I didn’t find many of the characters likeable in the beginning and the side-plot about Holly’s job wasn’t intriguing enough for me so I found it a little difficult to be motivated to read on.

However, once the Christmas Market was mentioned it did pick up pace and I began to be invested in Tor as a character in particular. I also loved Holly’s brother and his little family warmed my heart more than the relationship between Tor and Holly did.

My absolute favourite thing about reading is that we can learn something new, even in a fluffy fiction like this. I adored learning about Norwegian Christmas traditions and the descriptions of the food were mouth-watering. The recipes of various traditional foods was also a lovely touch in the end.

I felt very christmassy and ready for my own traditions to start!

Huge thank you to @netgalley; @onemorechapterhc; and @harpercollinsuk for the ARC in exchange for an honest review! 🌸

•

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Cue all the wanderlust! This was the PERFECT cozy read for a winter day. Holly escapes to a small island on the coast of Norway after a hard work situation. There she meets the most wonderful islanders and hermit Tor. Tor likes being on his own, but feels drawn to Holly. It was so cute how much Tor liked Holly. I love a gruff hero and Tor fit it to tee. Also, I'm not one for cats, but Froy is the best part of this book.

This story is crammed full of Nordic traditions. It is full of the atmosphere of dark Christmas nights (and I mean dark!), seasonal food, good company and old traditions. Set in the middle of all this are the two central characters, Holly and Tor. They both have their own reasons for wanting to escape to the Norwegian island. You can't help but like Holly. Family means a lot to her and her determination to help her brother shines through. Tor seems more complicated. You see glimpses of a softer side when he skypes his old friends and through his care of the redoubtable Froy. 

    The descriptions of the island are vividly written and you can visualise the community. Set off the mainland, it seems to offer warmth through the efforts of its inhabitants. This is a gentle, comforting read which charms the reader and leaves you rooting for Holly and Tor.

In short: Escape into a Nordic Christmas
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the book

Loved the coziness of this story! The wintery setting with all the cliffs over the cold sea really made me so happy to be snuggled up on a warm sofa, reading. The love story was perfect for the characters - slow and a little bit goofy - and isn’t that just how some romances continue on? Best cast member was the pup, who helped develop the story with all his antics!