Christmas Eve At Cranberry Cross by Kate Forster

 

Christmas Eve at Cranberry Cross by Kate Forster.

Published 29th September 2022 by Aria, Head of Zeus.

From the cover of the book:

An absolutely charming and uplifting Christmas love story of hope, forgiveness, and the true meaning of Christmas. From the bestselling author of Starting Over at Acorn Cottage.

No one loves Christmas more than editorial assistant Eve Pilkins.

But when her boss hits her with a huge deadline on Christmas Day, it looks like Eve's favourite time of the year might be cancelled. Armed with as much enthusiasm as she can muster, she travels to the coldest part of England, tasked with ensuring brooding author Edward Priest finishes his latest novel on time.

The festive spirit at Cranberry Cross is as dark as the house itself; without a fairy light in sight, it looks like only a Christmas miracle can save this one. Will Eve be up to the task?

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Editorial assistant Eve Pilkins is looking forward to spending the usual over-the-top Christmas with her family, especially since it is not only her birthday on Christmas Eve, but that of her younger brothers too. But Eve's hopes of a happy holiday are dashed when her unpleasant boss tells her that she will instead be spending the festive season with one of their top authors, Edward Priest, who is struggling to meet his deadline - and she is under no illusion that if she does not ensure he finishes his novel on time, then she will be looking for a new job come the new year.

Eve normally loves everything about Christmas, but when she arrives at Edward's enormous home, the gloomy Cranberry Cross, it is apparent that this festive season is going to be different to the one she had planned. The house is freezing, the atmosphere is creepy, and Edward is nowhere near finishing his book - not to mention that he is downright rude to her from the moment she arrives. Can Eve pull off a Christmas miracle?

What an absolutely glorious Christmas story! Eve is an aspiring editor, but she has found herself stuck as an assistant to a dragon of a boss who is more than happy to exploit her talents and take credit for them. It is hardly the publishing career she envisaged, and now the family Christmas she needed to revive her spirits is out too, in favour of babysitting an entitled male author who clearly does not want her around. It may seem an inauspicious beginning, but Eve is not quite so easily cowed, and this being Christmas, there is, of course, a little magic in the air.

All the ingredients for an enchanting festive tale are here in abundance, with Eve as the catalyst for some major changes for all at Cranberry Cross, especially with the help of her warm and loving family, which is the polar opposite of the desperately sad domestic situation Edward is living with when she arrives. Forster's writing sparkles with warmth and humour, while the delicious romantic suspense builds between Eve and Edward as she helps him see the way forward with his writing, and his family, in a way that plucks nicely on the heart-strings. 

I enjoyed the way Forster sets her tale in the world of publishing and cleverly uses the context to spin something of a fairy tale for her characters, but she also does something really special by threading in lovely little nods to both Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, to ramp up some delicious Gothic vibes with a modern twist. This introduces an undercurrent of sinister darkness, which is unusual for a rom-com, and I loved it! I tip my hat to Forster for making this work so beautifully with the affecting subjects she touches on around Edward's family circumstances, to bring in poignant themes of troubled mental health, addiction, broken families, and abandonment. This adds satisfying weight to the story, and brings an extra note of heart-warming loveliness to the ending Forster crafts.

This book draw me in and became so much more than the light festive story I was expecting, and it was a delight to consume. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it even scared me more than once, and it made me fall completely in love with Eve, Edward, their families and the hopeful future they make together. I loved it from start to finish, and am so impressed with Kate Forster's style that will be making sure I go back to read every one of her previous books too!

Christmas Eve at Cranberry Cross is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Aria for sending me a Netgalley widget for this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to take part in this blog tour.

About the author:

Kate Forster is a best-selling author of Starting Over at Acorn Cottage, ThePerfect Retreat, Finding Love at Mermaid Terrace and many more books that she would want to read herself, so she wrote them.

When not writing, Kate loves hanging out with family, friends, and her dogs. A dedicated houseplant lover, Kate also enjoys outdoor gardening and is the founder and moderator of one of largest online women's writing support groups on Facebook.