This is a really beautiful and festive book. I loved it so much. So easy to read and made me feel really excited for Christmas. Absolutely wonderful.

When news from her boss crushes her dreams
Lottie Grant's offered a job - could it be as great as it seems?
Her work at the Christmas Crackers has been admired
And a job managing four highland lodges seems inspired.

However, when meeting the rest of the team
She discovers it could be a nightmare instead of a dream!
Blake Dempster, the hiking expert, doesn't like her ideas
He hates Christmas, too, could this all end in tears?

A gorgeous festive read that goes to show
You shouldn't judge others until you them know.
There's family drama, revelations and so much more
In this festive read that I adore.

A story with community, friendship and romance
Where even a grinch is given a chance!
For my complementary copy, I say thank you,
As I share with you this, my honest review.

Set in the Scottish town of Craig Brae, The Highland Lodge Getaway is an entertaining twist on the enemies to lovers and opposites attract tropes. The story features interior designer Lottie Grant, who is obsessed with all things Christmas and mountain climber Blake Dempster, who loathes the season. Brought together when both are employed at the newly renovated Rowan Moore House, these two are forced to overcome their differences in order to make the venture a success. While I tend towards the minimlist side of things when it comes to decorating, I couldn’t help but get caught up in Lottie’s enthusiasm for adding Christmas sparkle to the log cabins she is tasked with preparing for their first guests. I also loved the way she helped Blake see the benefits of getting with th Christmas program, even if only enough to promote his own hiking venture. This story is helped along by a lovely cast of secondary charcters including Lottie’s mother and Blake’s daughter, all of whom help to add warmth, personality and charm. This has been a thoroughly lovely read!

This is a real will they wont they and the Christmas season. Lovely read and well worth it. 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC

I mean what more could you want as the nights get colder and we edge closer to Christmas than a cosy festive read. I loved Lottie Grant from the moment she stepped onto the page, her enthusiasm for Christmas and personality just made her so easy to like. I loved how her and mother's grief over her father was handled/written, it's clearly a big part of their story and was woven like a little undercurrent through the main story.
I do love an enemies-to-lovers troupe, and I like how Blake and Lottie's relationship/friendship changed gradually it wasn't a few chapters and suddenly they were in a relationship, it took time for them to even get along. I so felt for Lottie when she was there trying to protect her heart after her rubbish last boyfriend(I mean who hates Christmas!) and being so unsure about risking her heart again, I was there with her mum cheering her along to take the risk.
I have to say I wish we had a shop like Christmas Crackers near me, i love the idea of a Christmas shop all year round, though I suspect my bank balance wouldn't! And the descriptions of the cabins had me looking up cabin holidays and daydreaming of booking one, and wishing I could just go to Craig Brae.
It's been another fantastic addition to my early Christmas reading and I can definitely see myself rereading it again.

Lottie Grant's holiday spirit is put to the test when the Christmas shop she loves is sold, leaving her at a crossroads. However, a promising opportunity to manage luxury cabins emerges, rekindling her festive hopes just in time for Christmas. The story takes a delightful turn as Lottie faces the challenge of dealing with the moody but handsome Blake Dempster, a hiking expert set on dampening her Christmas joy. With determination and holiday magic in the air, Lottie strives to melt Blake's frozen heart, weaving a heartwarming tale of love and Christmas wishes amid the snowfall and sparkling fairy lights

Lottie’s plans fall through when her take over to become the owner of the Christmas Cracker is soon taken away, but while she has been asked to give a makeover to the cabins she may find a little more than what she expected.
Blake is not one for the Christmas season and while the two seem to clash, it will be Lottie to changes his mind

This is a really sweet Christmas read to get anyone in the mood for the coming season. Shackman has done it again with a quick and easy read anyone will enjoy.

A fun festive read. Grumpy and sunshine, enemies to lovers, the story of Lottie and Blake. Will she be able to get him last his hatred of the festive season?

This is the book for you if you love all things Christmas! Lottie loves Christmas and is heartbroken when her plans to buy the Christmas Crackers shop falls through. She takes on the double challenge of turning around a lodge business and to change hiking expert Blake’s feelings about Christmas. A light-hearted romance!

A total gem of a read!

I loved everything about this book, it is the perfect festive read and guaranteed to give you all of those cosy warm vibes.

Lottie Grant is soon to become the owner of Christmas Crackers ( a shop that is purely dedicated to christmas all year round) but her dream is soon shattered when the lease is sold to a restaurant chain and this year will be the last year of trading for the shop.

All is not lost though as Lottie is approached to manage a set of luxury cabins and is in charge of giving them a make over ready for the launch for the very first christmas guests. Lottie soon gets to work and her visions for the lodges I have to say is just perfect, I want to go and stay in them!

Of course no story would be complete without a love interest and here we meet Blake, a grumpy hiking expert who works in association with the lodges and a new work colleague for Lottie. They get off to a very bumpy start but nothing can dampen Lottie’s Christmas spirit.

This book has all the christmas feels, the perfect read to cosy up in front of the fire with a cup of hot chocolate.

This a heart-warming romance with oodles of festive descriptions to get you in the mood for Christmas. I was instantly lured in by the wonderful shop Christmas Crackers which is a a dream setting for someone who loves Christmas like I do. Lottie was a friendly and cheerful protagonist with enough feist to carry the story and create tension between her and brooding Blake.
Blake was a reluctant love interest but he had depth and hidden charms which made me turn the page so I could discover the truth behind his hate for Christmas. While I enjoyed the dynamics between the two of them it was the location and Christmassy feel that made his book. I long to holiday at Craig Brae in the Highland Lodges. They are idyllic perfection.

The Highland Lodge Getaway by Julie Shackman

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

Lottie Grant loves the festive season so much that she works at the incredibly successful Christmas shop, Christmas Crackers, in her pretty Scottish home town of Craig Brae. But when the shop is sold, her world is turned upside down, leaving her wondering what she will do next.

Just as she’s about to give up hope on finding a new dream job, an offer comes that she can’t refuse, managing a set of luxury wooden cabins… and opening just in time for Christmas!

As she gets to work decorating the cabins, and hanging lights on the fir trees, Lottie can’t believe her luck. That is until the arrival of Blake Dempster, a moody but handsome hiking expert, who threatens to bring down her festive joy. But never one to shy away from a challenge, Lottie is determined to change Blake’s mind about all things festive.

And as the snow falls and the fairy lights sparkle, will work-obsessed Lottie and frozen-hearted Blake make their Christmas wishes come true?

My Opinion

This was a sweet read which shows that even though things don't always turn out as planned, there is always the opportunity for success. The main character Lottie loves Christmas so of course this book is highly festive. With a heart-warming plot this will make for a great addition to your festive reading list this holiday season.

I read more than half of this book in one sitting, I just kept turning the page unaware of how much I had read as I was hooked. I thought that this was on the slow side but the interesting plot did make up for it. I have read a few of the books in this series, but not all of them so I know that this can be read as a standalone.


Can we just take a moment to admire this beautiful cover?

Lottie is living her best life as the manager of the all year round Christmas store, Christmas Crackers. She's been able to use her interior design degree to make the store nationally known with her marketing and decorating ideas. But then tragedy strikes when the store family learns the landlord has expired their lease and will turn it over to a restaurant. Lottie is at a loss for what to do...but then the perfect opportunity lands in her lap. She will turn some woodland cabins into havens for guests and tourists to enjoy all year round. Of course there are some bumps and scrooges in the road, but Lottie is determined to not let her festive attitude be swayed!

This is a very cute and fun read to explore the Scotland village life and experience the joy of Christmas all year long. The characters are loveable and there are some humorous takes. This is the perfect book to get you into the Christmas spirit and to fall in love with the wintry backdrop of Scotland.

Thank you Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

I loved this really festive story. It was so sweet and the descriptions of the mountains and the snow made me want to dash up to Scotland and stay in one of those gorgeous lodges. Although this is number 5 in the series it can be read as a stand alone. Will read more by this author. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

The Highland Lodge Getaway is bursting with Christmas magic that is sure to warm your heart.

Well, this book is an absolute delight. I read it almost in one sitting (who needs sleep anyway). Julie's writing continues to delight and charm me, and I just find myself falling more and more in love with her stories. The Highland Lodge Getaway is filled with Christmas cheer, romance, and so much heart. There is something so wonderful and soothing about Julie's writing. She is a master at telling a heartfelt story (think Hallmark-ish) with a lot of depth and sometimes a good old-fashioned mystery. In The Highland Lodge Getaway, the mystery part is more geared around the mystery of Blake's past, which I loved. Y'all know I am a big fan of small-town, grumpy sunshine romances, so this book just ticked off all those things that make a great story for me. I loved being in Craig Brae and seeing all their Christmas traditions. It just warmed my heart.

The story has a slower start; we are introduced to Lottie, who is excited to become the new owner of Christmas Crackers, but of course, her dreams of owning her own business are dashed when the landlord won't renew Christmas Crackers' lease. Feeling lost, Lottie doesn't know what her next steps are. On top of losing her business, she still deals with the grief of losing her dad. When a mysterious couple offers her a job to decorate their new rental cottages for Christmas, Lottie knows this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. At the beginning of the story, Lottie is unsure of herself. She is afraid she is going to screw up this new job opportunity. Watching Lottie grow confident and show off her talents to the world was delightful. Her passion for Christmas and decorating just leaps from the pages. I always love watching a character in their element. Lottie's character comes to life when she is setting out her vision for the rental cottages. I also loved listening to her talk about Christmas and why it is so important to her.

We don't meet Blake until about a quarter through the book. And let me tell you, he is one prickly and grumpy man. Lottie and Blake find themselves working together at the new cottage rental place. To say they get off on the wrong foot would be an understatement. Blake's dislike for the Christmas season causes him to lash out at Lottie, and he tries to undermine her décor ideas. The sparring that happens between these two is a bit addictive to watch. Lottie and Blake clash for the first half of the book. I devoured the tension that existed between these two. And then, ever so slowly, Blake started to become less and less prickly towards Lottie. Boy, when that man starts to show his softer side to Lottie, it had my heart pitter-pattering. Lottie and Blake's story just had this wonderful, warm, slow-burn feel to it. Don't be fooled; there are some hurdles that they have to overcome, mainly Blake's unwillingness to talk about his past.

The Christmas Highland Lodge Getaway is a satisfying and fun romance and a perfect read for a wintery night.

Thank you, Rachel Random Resources and HarperCollins UK for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

🏞Grump and sunshine meet over the tinsel of a new project🎄

4.5🌟 stars
This Christmas-themed romance, with all the holiday decorating and seasonal trappings and events I could hope for, was a fun trip to an adorable setting with a sunny versus grumpy romance. Winter in the rural Scottish Highlands was a winner to start and the romance combined with the heroine's personal growth to make for a very positive, low-drama read with a really lovely epilogue HEA.

Blake Dempster, the mountaineer grump who is new to the area, has secrets and a history that only gets pried out of him when he gets an unexpected visitor. In the meantime, he rails against all the glitter and good cheer (and even tries his hand at sabotaging Lottie Grant, local lass who's had the joy of the season drummed into her by her sadly departed, Christmas-loving father).

Lottie is first shattered by broken dreams and then inspired by a new, unexpected opportunity to test her interior design credentials. I loved her hard-working, can-do attitude, her constant forward thinking and her love for her community. Imagine: donning a garish elf costume to keep the kiddies happy!

A good hot-chocolate-in-hand, cozy-up holiday tale with plenty of sweet stirrings of longing and attraction not to be denied. No steamy stuff but, in my opinion, it hit the romantic mark.

Thanks to Harper Collins UK/One More Chapter and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Publication date: October 20, 2023

The Christmas Highland Lodge is a grumpy/sunshine holiday romance story set in a small Scottish village. This is my first book by Julie Shackman but I would certainly add her other books to my TBR.

Lottie Grant is Christmas crazy. She loves Christmas, the holiday season and all things tinsel. She even manages the local boutique shop called Christmas Crackers that sells Christmas products all through the year.

Lottie is set to purchase the store from the owner who will be retiring and moving to the States with her new fiancé. After waiting so long for the day to take over, Lottie is delivered the bad news that the landlord is selling the building and she won’t be able to take over.

Lottie is offered a chance at a new job that will allow her to bring her flair for Christmas and her interior design degree to use.

Blake Dempster is the grumpy anti-Christmas owner of the hiking tour business that Lottie needs to partner with on her new job. They don’t hit it off during their first meeting and then it seems to spiral from there.

Doing their best to avoid each other, they can’t quite seem to stay away. As they spend more time together, Lottie senses there is more to Blake’s dislike for
Christmas than he lets on.

I enjoyed Lottie and Blake’s story. I think there were a few draggy parts that could have been avoided but this is a 3.5 star read for me. This is a cute, closed door romance great for a light holiday read.

#NetGalley #julieshackman #thechristmashighlandlodge

A lovely festive romance! A gorgeous setting, a lover of all things Christmas and a brooding, grumpy male lead - perfect recipe!

Thank you to @rachelsrandomresources for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you want a Christmassy read, then look no further. It has more Christmas than Christmas itself! Lottie is Christmas obsessed, she lives and breathes Christmas even working in a Christmas shop with her mum. She’s due to buy the business from the owner but this all falls through at the last minute and she finds herself looking for work.

The Styleses come into the shop and headhunt her to turn their failing before its started lodge business into a success, the same as she did for Christmas Crackers. Soon after taking the job, she meets Blake, the rambling misery who she takes an instant dislike to.

There’s so much of everything in this book besides Christmas, hard work and determination, love and heartbreak, fun and laughter. And Christmas of course. As usual, Julie’s writing is so easy to read - telling the story in such a way that you breeze through it in no time and finish before you realise. I’ve read a few now by Julie and will read more I’m sure.

A thoroughly enjoyable festive read that was filled with pure joy, love and Christmas spirit. I loved the characters, the community and just a wonderful story

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.