Blog Tour - The Beachside Christmas by Karen Clarke

Today I am pleased to welcome Karen Clarke to my blog to celebrate the launch of her new novel, The Beachside Christmas, which is again set in the fictional seaside town of Shipley. This is the third book in the series and we, the readers, again meet up with some of the favourite characters from The Beachside Sweet Shop and The Beachside Flower Stall. 

Snow is falling and there’s romance in the air. Curl up for a cosy Christmas by the fire at Seaview Cottage…

When thirty-year-old Lily Ambrose’s latest relationship ends in disaster, she remembers happy childhood holidays in the seaside town of Shipley and decides it’s the perfect place for a fresh start.

But when Lily arrives, the town’s spirits are as low as her own: the local celebrity due to turn on the Christmas lights has gone on a cruise instead. Keen to prove herself, she calls in a favour and secures gorgeous reality star Ollie. 

Lily’s neighbours are initially thrilled, but Ollie is as uncontrollable as he is good-looking. He can’t remember the town’s name, calls the Christmas decorations tacky, and manages to offend everyone. And whilst handsome but stubborn cameraman Craig tries to help, even he can’t stop Ollie’s madcap plans to stage a romance with Lily…

Will Lily be able to keep Ollie under control and bring the Christmas cheer back to Shipley – and find herself a real kiss under the mistletoe?

An addictive, heart-warming and uplifting read about friendship, romance, and Christmas spirit. Perfect for fans of Phillipa Ashley, Cathy Bramley and Debbie Johnson.

I really enjoyed this book - it is one of those books that will have the reader laughing out loud one minute and then feeling sorry or upset for a character later in the same paragraph.  I really like Karen's writing style, the book is an easy read, has small chapters which make it great to pick up during a spare five minutes and in a town similar to many places we may have visited one summer in years gone by. The residents all know one another and have built their own alliances when it comes to town business.  

Lily returns to Shipley following a relationship breakdown and, when invited to her neighbours, is introduced to the Christmas Lights committee who are planning this year's event and are looking for a celebrity to do the grand switch on. Lily believes that she can help and offers to fill the space, her friend owns a management agency and she has a reality star on her books who needs to raise his profile and this seems the perfect job for him to do just that. However, as readers can probably guess this does not go smoothly and a number of residents are upset but following a surprising event will the residents of Shipley think of Lily as one of their own or will she have to move away following the lights switch on.

This is the perfect book to get readers in the mood for Christmas - Christmas lights switch on events are a big events in many towns and the Christmas cheer is spread throughout the book.

Thank you to the publishers, Bookouture, for inviting me to take part in this blog tour. I am already looking forward to my next visit to Shipley.