Katy’s driving home for Christmas – except an empty, cold caravan hardly seems like home, and it’s not feeling much like Christmas.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this: a few months ago she had her dream cottage, a loving fiance, and big plans for a perfect wedding. Now she’s in her car, travelling through the snow along dark, country lanes, heading towards a Christmas spent by herself, with nothing more to look forward to than a frozen turkey dinner and a box of Quality Street.

With her friends busy with their guests, her parents on a cruise, and her ex-fiance miles away, the only person Katy is expecting to see at all is Luke, the builder who has been working hard to transform Katy’s cottage before it goes up for sale on the other side of Christmas.

Arriving at last in the Holderness village of Weltringham, she’s disappointed to find both the cottage and the caravan in darkness, and Luke nowhere to be seen. It seems everyone in the world has abandoned her to her gloomy fate.

Is she doomed to have the worst festive season ever, or is someone about to save Katy’s Christmas?

I read a lovely review of The Other Side of Christmas at Being Anne and knew straight away that I had to put this book on my festive TBR and I’m so glad I did!

I loved this book! It opens with Katy leaving work pretending that she’s going to spend Christmas day with her parents when in reality she’s going to stay in her caravan on her own with no company at all.

As Katy begins her drive home we discover that Christmas wasn’t meant to be like this. Katy was supposed to be living in her dream cottage with her fiance and celebrating plans to marry. Instead she’s on her own as all of her friends are busy, her parents are away and all Katy has is a meal for one in a cold caravan. She’s hoping she might see Luke, the builder who is renovating her cottage but recent phone conversations have been quite stilted.

I was engrossed in the story of Katy and her fiance and was keen to know what had happened to leave her on her own over Christmas. I was also very intrigued by Luke and how he fit into the picture. Most of all I was just rooting for Katy to find happiness again, to get everything she wanted and for her not to be alone.

The sense of place in this novella is wonderful. It’s set in Yorkshire, around Hull, and you really do get a sense of place. It’s a part of the country I know so well having grown up near there. I no longer live there or am able to visit so it’s wonderful to find a novella set there that really brings the place to life in my mind. It gave me such feel-good vibes.

The Other Side of Christmas really is such a gorgeous festive read, it is the perfect length for the story being told and it leaves you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. I recommend this one!

The Other Side of Christmas is out now and available here.