December books

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

My three favourite reads from December are:

Sue Moorcroft - A Skye Full of Stars

I always read a few Christmas novels at this time of year, and this book was a particularly good one. Second in the Skye Sisters Trilogy, it follows middle sister Ezz as she starts her new promoted position as manager of Rothach Hall on the Scottish Isle of Skye. Her sister Thea also works there, as head gardener. They and their elder sister Valentina were all adopted, and are very close. Now it's approaching Christmas, and the family who own the Hall have decided to visit for the season - Grete and her son Mats with his two young children. Eric, Grete's husband, is staying in Sweden to work. Ezz has always liked Mats, but is surprised when she discovers he's now divorced. The children's mother has a new partner, and Mats is trying to shield them from the difficulties of the divorce. As a current of attraction begins to flow between Mats and Ezz, both are distracted by their own family concerns. Can the backdrop of clear starry skies, magnificent snowy landscapes, and Scottish seasonal traditions melt everyone's hearts and inspire them to come together for a heartwarming Christmas?

T.W.M. Ashford - The Final Dawn

This is the first in a science fiction series. Engineer Jack lives on Earth at a time when the sun has developed violent solar flares that are beginning to devastate the planet's climate. All countries have come together to research ways of finding a new home for the inhabitants. The plan is to save a select few in several spaceships named Final Dawn. But the scientists don't know if there are any other inhabitable planets, and how long it will take to reach them. Jack never completed his pilot's training, but when he hears that they need a test pilot for a new invention that might be the answer to finding a new home, he volunteers. His reward will be a ticket for himself and his wife on the Final Dawn ship. But the experiment results in him floating in space in an unknown part of the Universe. When he's rescued, he's astonished to discover that his saviours are sentient Automata robots. They agree to help him to discover a way back to Earth, while they make their own way to a refuge planet where they can be free and not slaves to 'Fleshies'. As their journey unfolds, Jack begins to bond with his unlikely rescuers. Full of humour, action and adventure, with villains to evade and new horizons to discover. The story is great, and I look forward to reading the next in this series.

Helen Buckley - Strictly Christmas Spirit

Another enjoyable seasonal read. Emily once had a brief appearance as a professional dancer on TV programme Strictly Dancing with Celebs. But seven years on, she's unknown, working as manager of a drop-in centre in London for the homeless and those struggling with life. Constantly juggling finances and desperately understaffed, the last thing she needs is to deal with the most unlikely volunteer worker. Bad-boy Hollywood actor, Blake, has been sent there to work out his community service order for drunken damage to a hotel room. Blake sees it as a way to restore his image with the public, nothing more. Blake and Emily rub each other up the wrong way almost immediately. But as they prepare the Christmas festivities, there are plenty of people who need help. While Emily works her fingers to the bone, Blake begins to listen to the stories of the people coming to the centre. Somehow he begins to engage with his job. Both Emily and Blake have dark times in their past that they are reluctant to expose. Guilty secrets, distrust, overwork and disappointment surface as the sparks begin to glow between them. When Christmas arrives, their time together will end - or will all they have learned about themselves and each other bring something more lasting?