Home Again For Christmas by Emily Stone

 

Lexie never stays in one place too long, she loves travelling. When her estranged father dies she returns home to Bath and is shocked to discover he's left her half of his travel business. The only stipulation is that she has to help run the business for one year.

I was fortunate to receive a copy of Home Again For Christmas by Emily Stone from the publishers. Its arrival was perfect timing as I was just finishing my current read and I hadn't read anything festive. Romantic fiction with a festive theme is perfect for this time of year, you can't beat the warm and happy feeling it produces. 

We meet Lexie in the Swiss Alps at Christmas where she currently works as a nanny. It's just one of the many jobs Lexie has done to finance her lifestyle of travelling. An unexpected phone call from her mother turns her world upside down when she learns that her father has died.

Lexie and her father, Richard, had a difficult relationship. Their relationship fizzled to nothing when Richard left Lexie's mother and started a new family. It comes as a complete shock to Lexie when she discovers that her father has left her half of his travel business. Lexie's immediate reactions are completely understandable, particularly wanting to sell her share of the business and use the money for travel. However, her father has left a stipulation, she must stay and work in the business for a year. Not only has Lexie never stayed in one place for such a long time she also takes an immediate dislike to her business partner, Theo.

The story treads the usual tropes of will they, won't they, but we all know it's more a case of when? Personally, I didn't warm to either character so wasn't really invested in what happened between them. What did grab me was the travel descriptions. The Lemon Festival in Menton, France sounded amazing and I immediately wanted to be transported to Madrid.

A year later we join Lexie at Christmas on another trip, once again the descriptions are magical. Decisions have been made about her future and her relationships. You'll just have to read the book yourself to find out what those decisions are.

Author Details

Emily Stone wrote her debut novel Always, in December in an old Victorian manor house in Chepstow with an impressive literary heritage. She now lives in Bristol.