Published 10th October 2024 by Aria.
From the cover of the book:
Olivia Bingham is unlucky in love...She's been ghosted more times than she can count, but this Christmas brings a glimmer of hope: Fraser Douglas, a Scottish chef working at an idyllic hotel in the Highlands. He's sweet and sensitive, thoughtful and funny, not to mention incredibly good looking - but there's a catch.
They've never actually met.
When Olivia tries to show her friends the hunky new man in her life, Fraser's online dating profile has vanished, and Olivia fears the worst. Frustrated and wounded, she decides she's going to confront Fraser - face to face, in Scotland.
But when she arrives, things don't go exactly as planned. Worse still, Fraser doesn't seem to have any idea who she is...
***********
Olivia does not have the best track record with men, but when she matches on a dating app with handsome Scottish chef, Fraser, she thinks she has finally hit gold. Fraser is thoughtful, funny and even shares her love of Mariah Carey, and she cannot wait to finally meet him.
Sadly, Liv's hopes of romance are dashed when his dating profile mysteriously disappears, and she realises she has been ghosted once more. Deciding she is not going to take this lying down, Liv heads to Scotland to confront Fraser at his hotel in the Highlands. However, things do not go quite as planned when she arrives north of the border in the middle of a snowstorm, and realises that Fraser has absolutely no idea who she is...
Bella Osborne's latest escapist romance is full of mistletoe magic, when Liv decides to head to Scotland and give a piece of her mind to the man she thinks has done her wrong. After a series of unfortunate incidents involving a mishap on the road and a painful encounter with a highland cow called Ginger, Liv finds herself snowed in with Fraser and his family in a dilapidated castle/hotel, pretending she has amnesia.
What follows is a delightful Highland caper full of fun and snowy frolics, as Fraser tries to get his dream of a fancy restaurant off the ground from the mire of some very complicated family history, in the midst of more than one romantic-themed mystery. There is a spark between accident-prone, social media guru Liv and grumpy chef Fraser from the start, and Osborne throws all the bumps in the road on the way to happiness that you need for the best sort of rom-com, in an atmospheric setting, with a deliciously quirky cast of characters for you to take to your heart. I just loved Fraser's adorable cousin Effie; his charismatic grandmother Dolly; Jock-O, the sock-loving dog; Robbie, the hapless, bag-pipe playing local copper; the oldsters who come to the rescue; and of course, Ginger the cow. There is even a very creditable villain for you to loath in the shape of Fraser's conniving ex, a comical interlude with unexpected guests in a blizzard, and a surprise twist that I really did not see coming.
This was a joyous little Christmas gem, with lots of moments that hit the heart-warming hot-spot, and more than a few chuckles along the way. It touches gently on some quite thought-provoking subjects about family secrets, loss, and the pitfalls of internet dating, and has a nice hit of Scottish history and culture too. Just right for getting you in the festive mood.
Mistletoe Magic in the Highlands is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.
Thank you to Aria for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.
About the author:
Bella's stories are about friendship, love and coping with what life throws at you. She likes to find the humour in the darker moments of life and weaves these into her stories. Her novels are often serialised in four parts ahead of the full book publication.
Bella lives in The Midlands, UK with her husband, daughter and a cat who thinks she’s a dog. When not writing Bella is usually eating custard creams and planning holidays.
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