Christmas for Beginners by Carol Mathews a five-star read that will put you perfectly in the Christmas spirit. I adored Happiness for Beginners so was so happy to see that we got to see more of new Hope farm, and catch up with Molly as she shapes many lives, including her own and without giving the game away I am so happy with the direction that she is taking and can only hope that we get to see more happiness. Carol Mathews is such an amazing story teller and has a way of weaving magical words that encapsulate you and make you care about even the grumpiest goat in the yard.

Carole does not disappoint.. Two very different lifestyles, an angst ridden teenager who does not and cannot relate to his self centered parent. Set in the countryside which balances the human behaviour. Hoping there is a follow up, not just for the main character but the supporting characters.

I felt that this delightful book got off to a bit of a slow start. Not having read the first book in the series I did not fully appreciate the characters and how they had developed. It turned into a charming romance but with the addition of a story line about all that can go wrong when trying to put on a nativity in a farm setting. The fact that Hope Farm is based on a real farm is heartwarming.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Little Brown Book Group for the advance copy of this book.

I really enjoyed this sweet story, luckily I had read the first one in this series so, I knew the characters and the back story. This was a continuation of the first book with a Christmas theme. It was interesting to see how the characters developed and although I guessed what would happen in the end it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of this wonderful story. I do hope that she writes more about the farm as I would love to find out more. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Loved this sequel to Happiness for Beginners. Lovely to go back to Hope Farm and find out how Molly, Lucas, Bev, Alan, Shelby and all the crazy but loveable animals are doing. Loved the new character, local Mayor Matt. A really emotional story, a great mix of happy and sad tears. Couldn't put it down.

I am a big fav of the authors books and absolutely loved this book, which I read in a day and couldn’t put this book down as its so good and will be recommend it to everyone .

I loved going back to Hope farm and meeting all the characters and animals , This book is the sequel to Happiness for Beginners , but you don’t read the other book to read this one as you will fall in love with the characters and emails.

I would give this book 5 out of 5 stars

with thanks to Netgalley & Little Brown Book Group Uk for the Arc of this book for my honest review.

I loved this book. I hadn’t read the previous book ‘My kind of happiness’ but it really didn’t matter. There’s a wonderful reintroduction in the first chapter so you know who everyone is.
I instantly felt Mollys connection to the farm and I loved her friendship with Lucas, that boy won a special place in my heart too. I tried very hard to like Shelby, I could see that whilst he cared for Molly he didn’t share her love of the farm. I was waiting for his ‘big gesture’ when he realises that he needs to put her and his son Lucas first and embraced farm life, however all that happened was he seemed to drift further and further away. When Matt was introduced I have to say I really longed for him and Molly to get together. I felt every anxious moment that Molly felt, and every joy. I loved her heart and how she helped those in need and knew just how to reach them. Towards the end I actually felt a bit sorry for Shelby as he chose to walk away from it all, he missed out on what a great person his son turned out to be and the awesomeness of Molly. Knowing that they both have Matt made me so happy.
I loved reading every minute of this book.

A beautifully written story which was a pleasure to read. It was lovely to catch up with the people at Hope Farm and meet some new characters as well. This is a heart warming and emotional read. I could have happily kept reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I always enjoy reading books by Carole Matthews, and this book brings us up to date with all the characters and animals at Hope Farm. Molly and Bev run the farm, which tries to help children with problems, and an array of animals which she has rescued. Shelby is Molly’s partner and his son Lucas is living with her while Shelby continues with his celebrity lifestyle. Although it’s good to have read the first book in the series, this makes a great book to enjoy on its own.
Molly is trying to organise a Christmas charity event to raise funds to keep the farm open. I love the light-hearted humour of characters and descriptions of animals which she has rescued, especially the alpacas. The author skilfully brings them all to life in an entertaining and humorous way. The book’s strength is within its characters - Molly cheerfully trying to help everyone at the farm, along with Bev, Lucas and handsome newcomer Matt.
Although the book has a cheerful focus, the author also looks at the difficult problems some of the children at the farm have to face each day, which can be heart breaking.
I loved this book which is an entertaining festive, Christmas read, full of fun and laughter, but with a serious side as well. I didn’t want to leave the characters behind, and hope there is another book in the series.

Hope Farm is home to all sorts of people and animals. Animals who need a safe home and people who also need nurturing and help in life.
The owner Molly is planning a Christmas open day to raise funds but it is looking very challenging and she wonders if it will actually be ready in time.
Her relationship with the famous actor, Shelby, is becoming more and more difficult with his commitments and all she wants is a Christmas with the people she loves and her animals.
But will there be a surprise for her?!

I absolutely loved this book!! If I could give it more than five stars in a review then I would!!! It is by far the best festive novel I have read this season (and I’ve notched up quite a few!) but also, it’s one of my favourite books so far this year!

I hadn’t read the first book, Happiness For Beginners, but you don’t have to. Carole Matthews draws us in and explains the back story- bit like arriving late to a drinks party and someone is in the middle of a story, but a friend fills you in on what you’ve missed, so you don’t feel left out.

I loved most of the characters, Bev and Alan are wonderful, and I even found myself trying to guess which band t-shirt they would be wearing every day!! However…Lucas! Wow! What a spoilt brat he was – he never appreciated what anyone did for him, and sulked around everywhere and Mollie seemed to tolerate it which sometimes (often!) annoyed me.

I found myself waking up to read a little bit more in the middle of the night as I wanted the characters in my life, and now I’m a little sad that their story is wrapped up– although I’m really hoping there will be another one in the series.

Absolutely fantastic!!

Really enjoyed this book, have read the rest of the Hope Farm series and this is an excellent addition. The story hits some tough subjects but in a well handled way.

A heartwarming festive-themed read, Carole Matthews proves herself yet again the master of the feel-good romance genre with Christmas for Beginners.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, Happiness for Beginners, so I was excited to make a second visit to Hope Farm. Here we encounter Molly and her motley crew of farm animals as well as the staff who assist her daily to create a haven not just for unwanted animals with behavioural issues but for young people in the community who also struggle with learning and social difficulties.

A little time has passed since we last saw Molly - she is now the guardian and surrogate mother to teenager Lucas, who works and lives with her in a caravan on the farm. Lucas is the son of her boyfriend, soap star Shelby, who was quite the knight in shining armour in the first book and proves less so in this sequel. That was disappointing, but another romantic hero presents himself and you do find yourself rooting for Molly, even though she's a bit of a push-over at times, to find and claim the happiness she deserves.

Carole Matthews manages to make you laugh out loud on one page and have you in tears the next. It's a beautiful story about love, family, heartbreak, community, near misses, endings and new beginnings. And some Christmas cheer, and some horny llamas with no sense of decorum!

I truly enjoyed it and would recommend to anyone wanting an escapist read. I would say you do have to have read the first novel to get the full weight of the story and characters' backgrounds, but that book is also amazing and well worth a read as well.

I do hope Carole will take us on another visit to Hope Farm in the near future!

With thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an ARC.

Warm, Witty, Wonderful
Molly Baker is organising a Christmas open day at Hope Farm to raise some much needed funding. As speaking to strangers is totally out of her comfort zone she is dreading it but realising her beloved animals need all the money she can raise she is doing her best to rise to the challenge.
With a lot of help from her best friend Bev, her partner's son Lucas and her students the event is slowly coming together. The one person she really needs support from however, her partner Shelby Dacre, is conspicuous by his absence. Pleading filming commitments and business meetings Shelby never seems to be around when Molly needs him.
Molly is hoping that spending Christmas together as a family will bring them closer together but as Christmas draws closer Molly and Shelby seem to be further apart than ever.

I loved this delightful Christmas treat of a book. It made me smile, it made me laugh, it made me cry, and most of all it made me want to visit Hope Farm and meet all the characters, both human and animal.

I loved how this book carried on from Happiness for Beginners and showed that not all happy ever afters are straightforward, but that the messy mixed-up journey is the best part. And I know I'll be revisiting this book at Christmas time for years to come.

Christmas is nearly here and Molly needs to raise funds for Hope Farm. So she agrees to hold an open day what could go wrong?

This left me feeing very christmasy and wishing I lived on a farm.

I haven’t read Happiness for Beginners, yet that didn’t hinder my enjoyment of this sequel.

I’ve read and enjoyed all of Carole Matthews books and Christmas for Beginners was no exception. The book gives us the chance to revisit Molly Baker and Hope Farm from Happiness for Beginners and is set a few months after we last met Molly. This book is set in the run up to Christmas as the title suggests and gives us chance to catch up with all of the characters from the first book including Shelby, Lucas, Bev and the kids that attend the farm on a daily basis as well as her menagerie of rescued farm animals. There are some new characters as well. The book is written in Carole’s usual style, including short chapters which meant I just kept reading thinking ‘oh just one more chapter before I go to sleep!’ as the story swept me along. The book is warm and funny and feels like a hug on a cold day. I loved Mollys story and found myself cheering her on as she faced some challenges. I particularly love Molly’s relationship with Lucas, her partners son, which feels real and genuine. It’s perfect for curling up in front of the fire with a mug of hot chocolate in front of the Christmas tree. I absolutely loved it!

I really enjoyed the motley crew in Happiness for Beginners so was pleased to know there was a sequel and now I’ve read it I think it was even better than the first. This is a genuinely uplifting book with some very relatable humour as well as some thoughtful moments regarding the kids they are helping, as a parent of a child who suffers from mental health issues some comments in here resonated deeply but I really did enjoy this tremendously and appreciate that humour is a great way of dealing with the bad days and Molly, the main character, has bucketloads of it which chimed so well with my own sense of humour. I think this is my favourite Carole Matthews book yet and wholeheartedly recommend this if you want an uplifting, feel good read.

This follow up to Carole Matthew's wonderful Happiness for Beginners is the perfect escape from our wretched world, become reacquainted and entranced with Tina Turner, Rod Stewart and Johnny Rotten, the obstreperous trio of alpacas, Anthony, the aggressive and anti-social sheep, one legged chickens, the pygmy goats and more, all animals rescued from traumatising circumstances or were unwanted, on the new Hope Farm in Buckinghamshire. Hope Farm is run by loner Molly Baker, in her late thirties, as a alternative school for struggling children with issues in mainstream education but is in constant need of funding. The children have behavioural and/or emotional issues, been excluded, or are on the autism spectrum, but respond well to what the farm offers, and whilst there are certainly extremely challenging days, for kids and animals, Molly could not love them, her misfits, more.

It's the run up to Christmas, and Molly is hoping for a loving and unifying time with her new partner, Shelby, a famous soap star celebrity, and his son, 16 year old Lucas. Father and son are in a constant state of conflict, but Molly loves Lucas as a son, and he is living with her in the new, all mod cons, caravan. Shelby is not a regular visitor to the farm, allergic to the animals, and what with their different dreams for their lives, will Molly and Shelby's relationship survive the rocky path in front of them? To make matters more pressurising, Molly is being pushed out of her comfort zone by best friend Bev and is organising a festive open day with a nativity tableau for the farm to raise funds and introduce the farm, kids and animals, to the local community. On top of it all, Lucas, the angry poet, is in the throes of his first love relationship, and there's a new mayor who wants to help the farm project.

Matthews has a winner on her hands here, particularly with the unforgettable animals, all of whom have their own characters, many with issues, much like the children who attend the farm, and Lucas, now with an apprenticeship on the farm and studying Animal Management. There are a raft of serious issues that arise, including a nasty case of domestic abuse in the home of one of the children, not to mention the chaos, mayhem and madness that goes hand in hand with taking care of a wide range of animals. However, the festive season and planning for the open day also brings out the best in the children, and there is plenty of charm, warmth, and quirkiness in the storytelling to beguile the reader and perhaps, just perhaps, Molly is becoming less of a loner. A lovely read. Many thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.

Carole Matthews has done it again!
I was so happy to be able to visit the gang at Hope Farm again, having truly enjoyed Happiness For Beginners, and Christmas For Beginners did not disappoint.
Molly is settled into Hope Farm's new home, complete with a state of the art mobile home for herself, her trusted friends Bev and Alan, a surrogate son, Lucas, living with her, and not forgetting the crazy animals who help to create the education she offers to the children who. come to visit the farm.
All that's missing is a more regular appearance from Shelby, her partner, who also happens to be Lucas's father, and a famous soap star.
From the off, I was feeling a sense of 'things aren't quite right' between Molly and Shelby, and I rooted for her to make the right decisions, on several occasions. (Which she does, eventually.)
There is laughter in this. book, thanks to unruly animal, heartache, loss, but also, an overwhelming amount of love, both romantic, and otherwise, and above all, hope.
Such a lovely read.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.