Home Again For Christmas by Emily Stone

 

Home Again for Christmas by Emily Stone.

Published 10th October 2024 by headline.

From the cover of the book:

Lexie is always on the move, but there is one constant in her life - her 'wish jar'; the childhood tradition from home that she couldn't leave behind.

When Lexie's estranged dad dies, she is shocked to learn that she has inherited half of his travel company in Bath. Her dad's will stipulates that she must work with Theo, her handsome but bad tempered business partner, for a year.

Once the year is over, Lexie intends to leave. But a work trip to sizzling Spain reveals a chemistry between Lexie and Theo that is impossible to deny.

Will Lexie find a reason to stay in one place? Will she discover the secret her father kept from her, and finally learn the meaning of home?

***********

Lexie loves to travel, a trait she has inherited from her estranged father, but she always takes her childhood 'wish jar' with her, and every year at Christmas she makes a new wish - even if the tradition brings just as many sad memories as happy ones.

This Christmas, Lexie does not know what to wish for. Her father has died, unexpectedly leaving half his travel business to her, and her emotions are all over the place. Finding herself back in Bath for the festive season for the first time in years, she is shocked to discover that she will not be able to simply sell the business and move on either. Her inheritance comes with the stipulation that she must work with her new business partner, bad tempered, but extremely handsome, Theo, for a year first - and make a profit if she wants to be released from her obligations.

The sparks fly between Lexie and Theo from the start, so Lexie decides that taking a back seat in the business might be the sensible choice. However, being forced into close proximity with Theo on some of the celebratory trips that the business specialises in reveals that there is an undeniable chemistry between them. Could this opportunity bring with it more than an unwanted inheritance...?

Home Again for Christmas brings with it all the festive ingredients you need to make a heart-felt winner to snuggle up with over the holiday season. The story begins in the run up to Christmas, when Lexie discovers the next year is going to be a lot more complicated that she thought... and the unexpected twists in her life keep on coming as she bumps heads with Theo, finds a way to reconcile the good and bad parts of her relationship with her late father, and heals the breach with the younger sister she has always been jealous of.

Stone incorporates a really lovely healing journey for Lexie in this story, and many of the other characters too, with emotional themes that delve into difficult family dynamics, loss, and expectation. Stone uses wishes, memories, Christmas traditions, and the theme of celebrations to perfection, and ties them to a delicious romance of the enemies-to-lovers kind that positively sizzles with passion in gorgeous locations in Europe and beyond - via the necessary mishaps and misunderstandings that make the heart-warming ending all the more rewarding. There is a fabulous supporting cast around Lexie and Theo too. I loved it! 

This is my first Emily Stone, but it will definitely not be my last!

Home Again for Christmas is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Headline for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Emily Stone is the author of Always, in December, One Last Gift, and Love, Holly. She lives and works in the UK and wrote her first novel in an old Victorian manor house with an impressive literary heritage.