I absolutely loved this book. It took me a while to get to but I'm glad I did. A spectacular Christmas book (read in April!)

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Beautifully told, I was engaged from start to finished and enjoyed the descriptive writing style of the author, A recommended read.

Wasn’t one of my favourite reads
I read it till the end
But it didn’t draw me in
Would still read more by this author
Thanks NetGalley

Beautiful story about reconnecting with the ones you love!

Eva & James fell in love over a library bookshelf, over the next 10 years they fell in love, got married and prepared for a family until one Christmas three years ago, since then they’ve been drifting apart.

Hoping to reconnect at a friends Christmas party in a familiar old Manor House in Cornwall, Eva unexpectedly wakes up in the body of a different guest, reliving Christmas Day from different perspectives of those closest to her.

I cried many tears reading this, how we don’t realise how much we are hurting others when just trying to deal with life yourself, how not letting others in or help you hurts them too but we are blind to it.
It was an emotional rollercoaster but a necessary one and had a beautiful ending.

Eva has promised her husband that she’ll spend some time with him over Christmas. They’re going away with friends. For the last 3 years Eva has put all her time and energy into her new business after losing her gran and having a miscarriage. She’s lost interest in everything else, even her marriage is suffering. Can she keep to her promise or will her business rule her head?
Christmas morning isn’t great and when she awakes the next day she finds she’s reliving Christmas morning but in someone else’s body. It happens again and again, each time as a different person. She realises how much her life has fallen off track. Can she sort it out or is it too late??

Usually not a fan of groundhog day/ time loop books and I probably wouldnt have requested it had I not have been drawn in by the cover, but this was really spectacular!!

I really enjoyed this book. It was a new take on the groundhog day situation I haven't seen before and loved it mixed with Christmas.

This is a perfect, feel-good, cosy up with the fire and Christmas tree lit behind you kind of book. Perfect Christmas read, simple and easy

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

A modern take on A Christmas Carol crossed with Groundhog Day. The book is not afraid of emotionally taxing plot lines, with warnings for grief and miscarriages. You can tell that Eva is struggling in more ways than one from the start as she throws herself into work to avoid other troubles, and it's costing her more than she realises. In the rush to get her new business up and running, she sacrifices a lot, and with a Christmas break in the way of her launch she risks losing it all. Before her Christmas past ghost materialises and she sees herself through the eyes of those around her and gets the chance to change. Not an easy going, light-hearted read but still moving and you want to read on to see if Eva really can change her future.

This was a good take on time loop/Groundhog Day Christmas story. Eva is struggling to cope with her marriage, friendships and opening her new business after the death of her Gran. This story has her reliving Christmas Day through the eyes of her friends and loved ones, discovering things about each one and herself in the process. A good tale overall. Enjoyed it!

So this might not be your typical Christmas story but I did enjoy this one. It’s a bit of a mix between Groundhog Day and Freaky Friday!

Eva is a workaholic and to be honest I really wasn’t keen on her but as the story went on she did grow on me. I loved how as she experienced things from other’s perspectives she did begin to realise her mistakes!

It is so sad in places. But I was pleased that things were perhaps looking hopeful for Eva in the future.

I would liked to have learnt more about some of the other characters who were important in Eva’s life too. Like Hallie and Kian.

I was shocked to discover that this was a debut novel! I loved the authors writing style and I’m looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.

This was a really enjoyable Christmas read covering the story of Eva who has reached a crisis point in her life, following a period of grief and hiding herself away in other things. Suddenly over a Christmas away her gran re-appears to her and this is the cue for ghostly intervention.

I felt this was a very cleverly put together book that gave the right amount of time to introducing us to Eva’s life, the ghostly interventions and what happened following this intervention. Eva, and the reader, definitely goes on a rollercoaster of emotions seeing her life crisis from different viewpoints, and there are some hard hitting punches thrown in there too. I love the plotting of the book and the characters were cleverly written so that you ended up caring about all of them.

I loved the ending to the book and some of the messages that it delivered, as well as seeing the changes in Eva, it do be aware this isn’t all sunshine and roses.

I would definitely recommend this book, and would be keen to read more books by this author.

A modern take on A Christmas Carol, Eva has become so focused on building her business, that she has neglected her family and friends and has taken advantage of her employee.. A trip to a place close to her heart results in Eva reliving Christmas Eve, Is she dreaming, or is it an opportunity to put things right?

This wasn’t exactly what I expected and isn’t what I usually choose for my Christmas reads (I prefer something more lighthearted). It did feel long-winded, with me wondering what the point was for about a quarter of the book. However, it did pick up and, by about half way through, I was really interested in how it would work out and I really wanted it to work for Eva.

This book is worth a read - just stick with it!

A Christmas Carol meets freaky Friday. I really enjoyed this one. It’s not a ‘feel good’ Christmas book, however I think it has a lot to say about society and the pressure we put on ourselves and others when it comes to work.

Eve’s life is a mess, she’s spending so much time opening a business that she’s let go of friends, ignoring her partner and working so hard she’s not taking care of herself either. She attends a Christmas party, is haunted by ghosts, body swaps with her friends while reliving the same Christmas morning over and over again until she learns more about them, about herself and about what’s really important.

Trigger warnings: Miscarriage and child-loss

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

3.5 🌟

Thank you to netgalley for an arc of this book!

This was a lot darker than I expected but it’s a very real portrayal of how things can derail because of grief. Eva has lost her way and by going through all this she was able to see what she’s been missing for the past 3 years.

I didn’t expect the big event towards the end as I thought it would end differently, but it does have a good message that not everything can be controlled and end up how you want.

I couldn’t give more than 3.5 🌟 purely because I wouldn’t read it again but it was a good book that helps to put out messages to the reader.

Perfect read for December - nothing gets you in the mood for the holiday season quite like some timey-whimey magic!

This was a surprising Christmas read that really brought on the tears (unexpectedly). I loved the idea of reliving the same day through other people’s eyes to really reflect on what is happening around you.

One Christmas Morning by Rachel Greenlaw

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and HQ and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

They say you know when you meet the one.

The moment Eva locked eyes with James over a library bookshelf, she knew she’d found her soulmate. Over ten years, they fell in love, got married and made plans to start a family. Until everything changed one Christmas three years ago, and they’ve been drifting apart ever since.

Eva hopes a friend’s Christmas party at an old manor house in Cornwall will give them the chance to reconnect… but the last thing she expects is to wake up on Christmas morning in the body of a different guest. As Eva’s forced to keep reliving Christmas Day from the perspectives of those closest to her, she realises just how much her life has fallen off track.

My Opinion

This has that feeling of A Christmas Carol with the day being relived whilst Eva learns how to be a better person. I thought that this book was quite intense, and not the light-hearted festive book that I expected. Whilst this book mostly takes part on Christmas day, it is not as festive as you would expect. I enjoyed this book and when I promised I would finish reading it at the end of my chapter, I found that I kept on reading.

Rating 4/5

Last year when I was on the lookout for Christmas books this one caught my eye and I’m so glad it did. If you are a fan of time-loop stories with heart-felt, heart-breaking storylines I would certainly recommend this one.

The moment Eva and James locked eyes, Eva knew she’d found her soulmate. Over ten years, they fell in love, got married and made plans to start a family. Until everything changed one Christmas three years ago and they’ve been drifting apart ever since. Eva hopes a friend’s Christmas party at an old manor house will give them the chance to reconnect.

But, the last thing she expects is to wake up on Christmas morning in the body of a different guest. As Eva is forced to relive Christmas Day from the perspectives of those closest to her, she sees just how much her life has fallen off track.

As someone who is a huge fan of time-loop stories, I’m always looking for a new one that puts a twist on the story. One Christmas Morning does just that. Whilst we see the day repeat itself, Eva lives it through the eyes of a different character each day. I feel like this allows the book to feel unique and adds something unexpected to a story that quite literally repeats itself.

Eva is quite a complicated character and I didn’t know whether I wanted to root for her at the start of the book. But, as the book progresses and we see Eva go through all the time-loops you can’t help but want the best for her.

If you are in search of a completely light-hearted Christmas read, then you may need to think about reading this one. Yes, it does have a large amount of heart-warming moments but there are quite a lot of upsetting moments throughout this book. We see how past trauma and mental health affect not only from the main character but all the other characters in this book. At times this can be quite a lot to read but I understand why this is necessary in moving the story along.

I’m certainly going to be keeping an eye out for further books by Rachel Greenlaw. This is an excellent debut novel and I’m sure future books by her will be entertaining reads.

Overall, One Christmas Morning is a unique take on a time-loop story at Christmas. Although not always light-hearted it still has its heart-warming moments and is an enjoyable read. I would definitely recommend it.

A Christmas Carol meets Groundhog Day meets Quantum Leap meets The Seven Murders of Evelyn Hardcastle…

Okay, don’t worry there are no murders! I added that last comp purely because this is a super story that involves consciousness swap into a number of characters that share Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the same big house.

Eva has lost herself, following two tragic losses in her life three years before. Her response has been to delve into her business, which now includes her first shop opening in the week between Christmas and New Year. Her business has consumed her, and her marriage to James is falling apart. James manages to get Eva to agree to spend a few days away from London in the countryside, where their close friends are gathering in the huge old house where her grandmother used to live.

The author makes super use of the windswept, cut-off-from civilization troop, that sends Eva into a spin as she is forced to confront her actions and the consequences they’ve had on the people who have been closest to her in her adult life. All while still grieving a loss of her beloved Gran, her surrogate parent as her actual parents were very absent during her childhood.

I’m not giving too much away by saying that we have the Ghost of Christmas Gran popping up to show Eva the error of her ways. That’s a very simplistic way of describing what is a solid study into actions and consequences as we consider grief, love, relationships, friendships, responsibilities, and balance in life. In a repeating day—Christmas Day—Eva’s consciousness will inhabit different characters… Can Eva see herself in a new way and learn from the lives of others? And if she can, will she have the chance to repair the damage done over years?

This is a fully engaging and absorbing journey into oneself, forcing the reader to stop and examine their own choices. We ask ourselves whether our choices and have created happiness and balance in our own lives? And when we look at ourselves in the mirror, can we say that we fulfil our responsibilities to others that we love and care about in our lives?

This is a superbly executed mildly paranormal emotional drama set at the time of year when we’re supposed to come together and celebrate what’s good in our lives. It’s instantly become one of my favorite-ever Christmas stories!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.