Well another fantastic book by a most wonderful person. The story continues around the halls and staff of the Buckingham. The characters have become almost like my best friends and you so want a happy ending for everone. This book I felt was far more emotional than the previous two and had to stop myself from crying at one point, and this I believe is the mark of a true genius. If you have already read the previous books you must read this one. I am eagerly awaiting the next installment. I love this series.

I have read all three books by Anton now. Every time I read one of his books I am surprised that it doesn’t sound like the man we’ve seen in the television. These books are beautifully written, contain well developed plots and deep characters. I have been thrilled will the stories which unravel. This book is just as good as the last two, if not better. If you love a beautifully written spellbinding tale- this is the book for you. And if you haven’t read his others I would highly recommend them too.

This is the third of Anton du Beke's set at the Buckingham Hotel in pre-WW2 London so we know most of the characters. In addition to the lives and loves of staff and residents there is subterfuge and spying in this period leading up to war. Chamberlain may have declared "peace in our time" but we all know that this was an empty promise from Hitler. Despite the turbulent times this book still exudes a warm and fuzzy feeling. Good escapist literature.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this ebook.

I adored this story and loved the setting, I must say I am not a fan of strictly come dancing and so I am not aware of who the author is or what he does but as far as stories go, this one is fabulously festive and glamorous so that is enough for me.

This is the story of chambermaid Nancy Nettleton who falls in love with dancer Raymond DeGuise and we are now back with them in the run up to Christmas. I really enjoyed reading about the hotel and the guests staying there and how the staff go above and beyond to do their jobs whilst also keeping the secrets of the guests
I liked that this wasn’t the run of the mill fluffy Christmas story and did deal with a lot of heavy topics as well It is set in the 1930s and the country is on the brink of war and so there is a lot going on around them too.

The cover for the book is so eye-catching and absolutely beautiful, It is actually so much more beautiful in real life with its gold spine as well

A lovely addition to this wonderful series!

A Christmas to remember - Anton Du Beke

I enjoyed the touch of history in with the romance of the book as I thought this brought a little more to it than the average romance novel. Nancy's character was really likeable and I was longing for a happy ending for her. I went into this story without reading his previous books (I believe there are two before this) and do feel that this has had an influence on my review (although I would now be very interesting in reading those).

Overall I felt it was very well paced and I loved the characters and felt that they were portrayed so that I could really get to know them.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Author and publishers for allowing me the chance to read and review this book!

Anton Du Beke, King of the Strictly ballroom, television personality and now best selling author, continues his elegant Mayfair based, Buckingham Hotel series with “A Christmas to Remember.”
London 1938. As the threat of war looms ever closer, the Buckingham Hotel's difficulties grow. Still reeling from the events of last year, the staff of the Buckingham will have to struggle to keep up the hotel's glamorous reputation. However, beneath the glitz of the ballroom lies a thousand secrets and some are about to be revealed.
I’ve loved this series since the first one back in 2018 and fell in love with the wonderfully endearing characters. Anton’s passion for the 1930’s and his love of dance, glitz and glamour shine positively throughout the series and really does transport you to a completely different era. If this is your first visit to the Buckingham Hotel, I’m sure that you could quite easily read this as a stand-alone. However, due to the many diverse characters private lives and their past histories, I do believe more enjoyment would come from reading the books in order. In particular this book “A Christmas to Remember” follows Raymond Du Guise and his wife to be,Nancy Nettleton and also Vivienne Edgerton (step daughter to Lord Edgerton) and her activities at the ‘Daughters of Salvation’ homeless shelter. Both of these threads featured throughout the first two books and in my opinion the reader would benefit from starting them in order to understand the situations they are in now or how the relationships have developed.
If I was to be critical however, this was for me the weakest story of the three books and a little disappointing. Although the character development was still strong, the ambience I felt previously didn’t exist this time and I felt slightly let down by it.
Saying this, I’m sure Anton’s legion of hard core fans will love it and older readers who enjoy a gentle, heartwarming tale set in the 1930’s but on this occasion it didn’t hit the mark for me. I can only hope, if there’s a next instalment, we return to the Buckingham with its flamboyancy once again next year and the Grand Ballroom ignites with the passion and the exuberance it deserves.

3 stars

I have been waiting for this book since I turned the final page of the last one. With that in mind, I do recommend that you start from the beginning with this series and read in order rather than diving straight in with this one. It is full of the richest characters who all have backstories which in some way help define them and so, to get the very best from them, you would be better playing catch up first.
So... we are now in 1938 and war is once again looming. But before all that, we have the grand re-opening of the Buckingham Hotel Grand Ballroom. Everyone is excited for this event but, each also has their own trials and tribulations to deal with. I'd love to go into more detail here but there are so many rich and colourful characters whose stories are front and centre herein that to start would mean I'd go on and on and, well, you might as well just read the book yourself! Needless to say that the author does put certain ones through the wringer once again although he also includes enough of the good cheer to keep the book on an even keel throughout. There's love as well as loss, happiness as well as sadness and there are quite a few secrets from pasts both divulged and resolved. It's actually quite an emotional book all told - and quite meaty too. We play catch up with several old friends and are introduced to some new ones. We lose some, we gain others.
But in amongst all that is happening in and around The Buckingham Hotel, the author also weaves the history and feeling of the time seamlessly into the mix. As already mentioned, war is looming, but we also have the values and prejudices front and centre and these present quite a few challenges for many of the characters.
To say I blooming loved my time spent reading this book - to say that I consider some of the characters to be friends - to say that I felt bereft leaving them at the end - would all be an understatement. In fact, the only bad thing I can say about the whole experience is that I am now hanging for book four. A year is a long time to wait. I will however be pouncing on the Audiobook as soon as it is released so I can revisit with that extra dimension that the narrator brings.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.