Blog Tour: So This is Christmas by Helen Rolfe

 

Bea and Greta have been close friends for years. Over the years they have written each other many, many letters, of which the annual Christmas letter is a highlight for each of them. Greta now lives back in their original home city of Vienna, after spending many years in the UK working in the hotel business. Widowed Bea lives in a care facility in the London.

Sophie works in the care home, and over the years she has built a lovely friendship with Bea. By extension she feels like she knows Greta and her husband Walter, their son Nick and their almost adopted daughter Jennie.

When Bea passes away peacefully, Sophie is devastated, especially when she realises that she had not yet posted the annual Christmas letter to Greta. Suddenly finding herself with time on her hands after her vindictive boss fires her, the idea strikes Sophie that maybe she should take the letter to Vienna herself and deliver the bad news. After all, her son is spending the holidays in America and Bea and Greta had both been suggesting that she should visit Vienna for years. Bea had even left a small sum of money for exactly this purpose.

The Vienna that Sophie lands is is dressed up in it's Christmas best. There are lights and Christmas trees, markets and Ferris wheels all bringing the beautiful city to life. But the single thing that brings joy to Sophie is the very warm welcome that she receives from the Wynter family. She is particularly drawn to handsome, single Nick Wynter. The only person that is a bit cool towards her is Jennie, who isn't sure that Sophie can be trusted and that she isn't going to try and con the family. 

Sophie and Jennie both have quite a bit in common. They both had difficult family situations and have had to overcome adversity to get where they are today. They also have both denied themselves opportunities to be truly happy because of things that happened in the past. Can they help each other give themselves the ability to forgive themselves and move forward, or will the recriminations from the past continue to shape their lives going forward.

I have read a number of Helen Rolfe books now, and I am at the point where I know I will be reading each new book as it comes out. There is an extensive back list for me to explore, including a number of Christmas themed books. 

As always I enjoy the way that Helen Rolfe weaves different themes through her stories, giving them depth but also delivering feel good, uplifting reads.

Recently a friend and I were talking about her holiday options for Christmas time. They are leaving the adult kids at home and headed to Europe for Christmas. The big question for her was where. The two options were Spain and Portugal or Germany and Austria. As much as I love the idea of Spain and Portugal when she said they would be there for Christmas, my instant response was that my vote was for Germany and Austria, if only for the Christmas markets! I am going to suggest this book to her to read before she leaves. I was already jealous of her trip, but now I am even more jealous, and I wish I was going to Europe for Christmas, but it is not to be this year. 

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews. Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy. Check out the other stops on the blog tour as well!




Rating 4/5

About the book

So This Is Christmas

Care assistant Sophie loves the holidays, and nothing makes her feel more festive than helping 82-year-old resident Bea keep in touch with her old friend Greta. In their Christmas letters, the women update each other on their lives – Bea’s in the quiet residential home in London, Greta’s in the heart of Vienna and the grand Wynter Hotel.

But everything changes when Bea passes away before Sophie’s had a chance to post this year’s letter. Devastated, Sophie struggles to imagine this Christmas without her dear friend. But then Sophie finds one last note from Bea – and this time, it’s not addressed to Greta. It’s to Sophie, telling her to go to Austria.

Which is how Sophie finds herself in Vienna at Christmas, with the snow falling, and an important delivery to make… But when Sophie reaches the Wynter Hotel, there are surprises in store, and before she returns to England, her life will have changed in ways she could never have imagined…

Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/ThisIsChristmas

About the author

Helen Rolfe is the author of many bestselling contemporary women's fiction titles, set in different locations from the Cotswolds to New York. She lives in Hertfordshire with her husband and children.

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