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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Bookbub profile: @helenrolfe

Blog tour: The Austrian Bride by Helen Parusel

 

As much as I love WWII fiction, I do need a bit of a hook to pick up a book from a new to me author. Yes, I have the authors I already know and love so I will pick their books up without too much thought, but there has to be a reason to pick up a new author.  So what was it that persuaded me to give this book a chance. Firstly, I have read books set in Germany, France, Italy and the UK, but I don't think I have read much set in Austria. And technically, this probably isn't truly a WWII story given that it starts with the events of the annexation of Austria in 1938.

This was such an interesting read, touching on many aspects of pre-war life. Ella Mayer is a young woman who lives in Linz in Austria, a town that the Fuhrer has a connection to. Austria has struggled economically for years, so the arrival of German rule brings with it promises of jobs and prosperity. We follow Ella and her family as they begin to realise that the reality is very different from the promises.

Everything was the same as every summer, and yet nothing was the same. It was the perfect June day that was anything but perfect.

It doesn't take long for fear and violence to become part of life in Linz and Ella and her mother Marlene find themselves caught up, each outwardly trying to be fine upstanding citizens, but secretly involved in activities that would mean certain punishment if they are caught. One of the interesting things is that the two women are not aware of what the other is involved in.

Ella's boyfriend Max is handsome and dashing, and is pursuing Ella with great purpose, and she falls head over heels. However, the longer their relationship goes on the less that Ella likes who he is. As Max has some great contacts within the Reich, he is able to facilitate Ella's enrolment in the Reich Bride School, where she is taught how to be the perfect Reich wife. This was one of the most interesting aspects of the story for me.

Ella is able to use the contacts that she has made in order to protect those that she loves. The author is able to share quite a few interesting stories, including about the brother of one of the most infamous Nazis who is involved in resisting them. There is also mention of some famous sites of Linz that apparently can still be seen today.

In the meantime, Marlene is pondering an event from years before which could have meant that the world would have ended up in a very different place.

I did have one issue and that was with a name of one of the characters. The first time I read the name it really threw me out of the story for a good few hours. I am sure that the author found real people with this name but to me it felt like a name that didn't come into popularity until the 1990s. I ended up spending some time googling the name and it's history. It's funny how just one little thing can affect you in that way.

As an aside, it is very difficult for me to type the word Austria without automatically changing it to Australia.

I am sharing this review with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.

Thanks to Rachel's Random Resources, the publisher and Netgalley for the review copy. Check out other reviews on the tour too.

Rating 3.5/5

About the book

The Austrian Bride

Austria, 1938

After years of hardship, Ella is full of hope for a better future for Austrians, and when Hitler marches into Linz, she can’t help but become swept up in the euphoria of her boyfriend, Max.

But she soon realises her mistake. When she witnesses a woman being shot in the street and a childhood friend’s Jewish department store is closed down, she knows she must do something.

It’s a dangerous time to be a resistor, especially when her fascist boyfriend proposes to her. Knowing the secrets she can uncover, Ella enlists in a Reich Bride School, finding herself propelled into the social elite of the Nazi circle.

Ella knows she has a duty – to her family, her friends, and her country – so while Europe teeters on the brink of WW2, a desperate race begins to save the people she loves. But betraying the Nazis could be her death sentence…

A powerful and unforgettable story of the strength of women and the unwavering courage of those who seek a better world. Fans of Suzanne Goldring, Mandy Robotham and Debbie Rix will devour this heartbreaking tale.

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

About the author



Helen Parusel is a debut historical novelist, having been a teacher and a clothes buyer for M&S. She lives in Hamburg, and her first book is based on the Nazi invasion of Norway in 1940; while her second is inspired by war stories from her mother’s homeland of Austria, where she spent her early holidays.

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Bookbub profile: Helen Parusel Books - BookBub