Blog Tour - Christmas at Mistletoe Cottage by Lucy Daniels

Today I am pleased to be a stop on the Christmas at Mistletoe Cottage by Lucy Daniels blog tour. As a child I read a number of the popular Animal Ark books and I have also bought a couple for my daughter when she was younger. Lucy Daniels is also the author of the Animal Ark series. 

Christmas at Mistletoe Cottage is the second book in this series of books which is set at Hope Meadows, a rescue centre, set up by our main characters, Mandy, who has returned to live with her parents and help out in their vetinary surgery, while also fulfilling her dreams and setting up a rescue centre for all those animals that need to be rehomed or rescued from unsuitable owners or surroundings (including two fluffy donkeys in this book).  If I am totally honest, I read the first book in this series, Summer at Hope Meadows, and was not immediately loving the story. I really liked the characters and the settings and the storyline within the book but I wasn't sure about the actual book,  I felt that it was rather slow in places, however I have definitely changed my mind since reading Christmas at Mistletoe Cottage. I really enjoyed the story, great to meet up again with Mandy and her parents and also Jimmy, the hunky bloke who has also returned to the village and has just opened a rope adventure centre within the local woodland.  The storyline seemed to move quicker and I found myself wanting to read just one more chapter before sleep (one of my signs of a great book).

The title suggests that the book is Christmas focused and there is a note to Christmas within the book however it is not a book solely about the Christmas period, rather the winter months (first book called Summer, second book Christmas (Winter) and the third book, out next year, is Spring) and therefore it is not only for the festive period. It is great to read about the changes in season and the related changes that occur in nature. There is lots of talk about the surroundings and all the fields and woodland and also the wildlife that lives within. It is great to get lost within the book, imagining the scenery and all the animals in the surroundings.

Although this book is the second book in the series, it could be read as a standalone very easily, however reading Summer at Hope Meadows first gives the background of why and how Mandy returned to her parents home and her reasons behind opening up the rescue centre.

A great book to loose yourself in over the autumn/winter months which transports you to the middle of the English countryside. I am already looking forward to spring and our next visit to Hope Meadows.

Thank you to Hodder and Stoughton for inviting me to join the tour.