The Magic of Christmas by Trisha Ashley

Another deliciously seasonal and heart-warming tale from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Twelve Days of Christmas and Chocolate Wishes. In the pretty Lancashire village of Middlemoss, Lizzy is on the verge of leaving her cheating husband, Tom, when tragedy strikes. Luckily she has welcome distraction in the Christmas Pudding Circle, a group of friends swapping seasonal recipes -- as well as a rivalry with local cookery writer Nick over who will win Best Mince Pie at the village show! Meanwhile, the whole village is gearing up for the annual Boxing Day Mystery Play. But who will play Adam to Lizzy's Eve? Could it be the handsome and charismatic soap actor Ritch, or could someone closer to home win her heart? Whatever happens, it promises to be a Christmas to remember! Previously published as Sweet Nothings, Trisha has extensively reworked the original novel with fabulous new extra material.

This is a reworked piece, originally published under the title of Sweet Nothings. I am a Trisha Ashley fan, however I have not read any of her early work and therefore I have read this book as a new story to me and thoroughly enjoyed it. A great story to read in the build up to Christmas.

The book is set in a small village. The main character, Lizzy, is married but unhappy. She has decided to wait until her son leaves for university, only a few  weeks, before she leaves her husband. However, her husband is killed in an car accident. The accident appears to be suspicious, but was it Lizzy who loosened the wheel nuts or was Lizzy the intended victim?

There is also a group of characters called the Christmas Pudding Circle, a group of friends, including Lizzy, who gather each year to create Christmas hampers for the older generation of the village.

Many of the chapters within the book begin with an entry from The Perseverance Chronicles: A Life in Recipes, a series of books written by Lizzy and which includes regular updates on what the Christmas Pudding Circle are up to and ideas for recipes and twists upon old recipes. This is definitely not a book to read while you are hungry or on a diet as there are plenty of delicious sounding foods.

As with all of Trisha's previous books, I found this to be a great read. Something you could relax with and read on a long afternoon. Full of fantastic characters that you could find in any village, with lots of history between them, their lives being entwined in many ways. The is a great Christmas story, with the annual village play, the Boxing Day Mystery Play, who's rehearsals play a big part in the story.

As with many Avon books, the cover is gorgeous, with the flittering on the cover looking very like snow on the village. It jumps of the shelf and so it should, a great wintry read.

I would recommend this to chick lit lovers and anyone who wants a great book to curl up with on the long winter evenings.

This book now has me looking forward to Trisha's next release in Spring 2012, Chocolate Shoes and Wedding Blues - another fantastic sounding book!

Thank you to the publishers, Avon, for sending me the book to review.