With just under a month to go until the big day festive reads are high on my priority list. I love nothing more than grabbing a cuppa, a blanket and a festive themed book to snuggle down and temporarily forget how grim the weather outside is. If this sounds like you then you are in luck as today’s post is my stop on the aptly name Daisy’s Christmas Gift Shop book tour. Thank you the Rachel and ChocLit for having me and I hope you all enjoy reading my thoughts on this festive delight.
About The Book
Struggling to find the perfect Christmas gift? Step into Romantic Daze …
Daisy Kirk is a sucker for a love story, which is why she opened up her gift shop – because there’s nothing that makes Daisy happier than when she’s helped a customer achieve their own ‘happily ever after’ by finding the perfect Christmas gift for their loved one. And she absolutely does not just sell ‘soppy presents and frilly pants’ as her brother’s infuriating best friend, Eli, is so fond of suggesting.
The sad fact is that whilst Daisy is helping others with their love lives, hers is non-existent. But when unusual circumstances take Daisy and Eli on a road trip from London to rural Wales, will she finally get the happily ever after to her own Christmas love story?
Review
Daisy believes in true love and romance, if fact she has built her whole career on it spending her days offering a bespoke gift finding service to celebrate her customers devotion to each other. The only trouble is she is single despite being in love for years with the same guy, her twin brothers best friend. A brief fling in their teens has left Daisy pining for Eli despite him parading his latest conquests in front of her over the years. It’s unrequited love at it’s very worst and despite encouragement from best friend Lily Daisy has no intention of ‘moving on’.
With their relationship hanging somewhere between sibling quarrels and sexual tension the pair find themselves thrown together in order to help Daisy’s brother. Heading off on an unscheduled road trip they don’t have any choice but to communicate and find a way for their friendship to work, but will the threat of another man on the horizon make Eli realise the one for him has been there all along or will Daisy finally find the courage to leave Eli behind to find her own happily ever after?
I simply adored everything about this book as it offered such a refreshingly different take on the run of the mill rom-com’s I usually read. The story is filled with mystery and intrigue mainly focused around Ben and Eli’s job which added an added dimension to the story. I particularly enjoyed Daisy’s efforts at turning detective to help her brother, her love and passion for her sibling just dripped from the page.
The characters in this book are wonderfully written especially Ben who I think may be on the autistic spectrum? It’s fabulous to see this represented so beautifully, it’s not something I have seen done before. Daisy’s best friend Lily is another personal favourite, adding some fabulous humour with stories from her job at an adult store as well as the wonderfully close relationship she shares with Daisy.
Daisy’s shop sounds simply magical and thanks to Hannah’s descriptive writing style I could vividly imagine myself standing inside. The customers stories about their relationships were really sweet and left me grinning like a Cheshire cat with that warm fuzzy feel good feeling, the real barometer of a good romantic read.
Whilst Daisy’s Christmas Gift Shop is marketed as a festive read I wouldn’t be discouraged if that’s not your thing as it’s not too ‘in your face’. Yes, it’s Christmassy and yes it’s certainly helped me get in the mood for the festive season, but there is so much more substance to the story.
This book is a quick, easy read that gave me all the feel-good vibes that I love alongside a whole heap of action and mystery that I wasn’t expecting. This is the first of Hannah’s book’s I have read, but it certainly won’t be the last as I loved every second of this one which has left me wanting more! A highly recommended, heartwarming story ideal for those dark nights.
About The Author
Hannah Pearl was born in East London. She is married with two children and now lives in Cambridge. She has previously worked as a Criminology researcher, as a Development Worker with various charities and even pulled a few pints in her time.
In 2015 she was struck down by Labrynthitis, which left her feeling dizzy and virtually housebound. She has since been diagnosed with ME. Reading has allowed Hannah to escape from the reality of feeling ill. She read upwards of three hundred books during the first year of her illness. When her burgeoning eReader addiction grew to be too expensive, she decided to have a go at writing. In 2017she won Simon and Schuster’s Books and the City #heatseeker short story competition, in partnership with Heat magazine, for her short story The Last Good Day.
Hannah is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association.
Why not check out what everyone else is saying about Daisy’s Christmas Gift Shop…
Daisy’s Christmas Gift Shop is available to purchase from Amazon*
Fraser’s Fun House 
This sounds great! I find some Christmas stories are a bit flimsy but this definitely sounds like it’s got a strong storyline to it.
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