Review: The Hygge Holiday by Rosie Blake

The perfect recipe for hygge this autumn: make a hot chocolate, draw the curtains, snuggle under a blanket and read your way to happiness!

It's autumn in Yulethorpe and everyone is gloomy. It's cold, drizzly and the skies are permagrey. The last shop on the high street - an adorable little toy shop - has just shut its doors. Everything is going wrong for Yulethorpe this autumn. Until Clara Kristensen arrives.

Clara is on holiday but she can see the potential in the pretty town, so she rolls up her sleeves and sets to work. Things are looking up until Joe comes to Yulethorpe to find out exactly what is going on with his mother's shop. Joe is Very Busy and Important in the City and very sure that Clara is up to no good. Surely no one would work this hard just for the fun of it?

Can a man who answers emails at 3 a. m. learn to appreciate the slower, happier, hygge things in life - naps, candles, good friends and maybe even falling in love?

Review: I love a Rosie Blake novel. This one felt quite different from her previous novel, but then I think that the subject matter made it feel just a lot cosier and it was still really really enjoyable. I actually started this book before going to sleep and then didn't put it down until I had finish it. I didn't realise that I was reading it until the wee hours of the morning because I was just so engrossed and absorbed in the story, costing up with the characters and enjoying a little bit of me time away from everything else. I know people often talk about reading a book in one sitting and it therefore being an easy read but I know I will suffer the next day because of staying up reading but I don't care because I had such a good time wrapped up in this story!

Clara was such an interesting character to have as the protagonist of this novel. Unlike a lot of other main characters, this story isn't really about her as a person and we really don't learn an awful lot about her personality in this book. But we do learn about the effect that she has on people and places and the way that she choses to live her life and to conduct herself around others. I found this a very refreshing way of reading and I think that this is one of the reasons the book kept up at such a pace.

Because this book is set in a small village, there are very few other characters, but the characters to do me are just that, real characters. From Louisa and Roz, both big brash women with a bitter rival.ry, to harassed mum Lauren and Gavin who runs the pub and is just trying to do the right thing. We also get to know Joe who is a complete contrast to Clara in his London city lifestyle. I did worry about Joe and really wanted to see him happy, another thing that keep me turning the pages. 

This book truly is warm and cosy. I knew nothing about Hygge going into this book but now that I know about it, I want to read more. I also want to go out and buy lots of cosy cushions and throws and candles and make rice pudding and fondue, but thats by the by. You really don't have to know anything about Hygge to read this book because you will feel its essence as you go along. You also don't have to have read any of Rosie's other books to read this one because it is a standalone, although I would love to have a sequel-please?! So whether you are already a Rosie Blake fan, like me, or this is the first time you are picking up one of her novels, you won't be disappointed. This is just a lovely read and will leave you warm and cosy, and wanting to buy candles and throws!

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