Guest Review: Snowed in for Christmas by Sarah Morgan

A family gathering

This Christmas the Miller siblings have one goal – to avoid their family’s well-meaning questions. Ross, Alice and Clemmie have secrets that they don’t intend to share, and they are relying on each other to deflect attention.

An uninvited guest

Lucy Clarke is facing a Christmas alone, and the prospect of losing her job – unless she can win a major piece of business from Ross Miller. She’ll deliver her proposal to his family home in the Scottish Highlands and then leave. After all, she wouldn’t want to intrude on the Miller’s perfect family Christmas.

A Christmas to remember

When Lucy appears on the Miller’s snow-covered doorstep, she is mistaken for Ross’s girlfriend. But by the time the confusion is cleared up, a storm has hit and Lucy is stuck. As everyone settles in for a snowed-in Christmas, tensions bubble to the surface and suddenly Lucy finds herself facing a big family fallout with a family that isn’t hers…

Review: I have been eagerly awaiting Sarah Morgan’s annual Christmas book. It is generally one of my favourite reads of the season, leaving me filled with Christmas spirit after reading of snow, delicious food and family gatherings. This one is set in the Scottish highlands and certainly promises plenty of snow and family drama.

The story centres on the Miller family. All of the Miller siblings (Ross, Alice and Clemmie) are coming home from London to spend Christmas with their parents and grandmother in the family’s lovely lodge. They are all hoping to avoid ‘interrogation’ from the older members of the family as they all have secrets they would rather not share with them. Also heading from London for the village where the family live is Lucy, a marketing specialist who is hoping to save her job and indeed the entire company by procuring a contract from Ross Miller. She intends to deliver her proposal and leave, but a misunderstanding and the weather between them contrive to see her stranded in the Miller home and unable to avoid intruding on their Christmas preparations. With all the secrets being bottled up in the household, the atmosphere is anything but relaxed and Lucy finds herself trying to hide away from the inevitable conflict, wishing to be back at home but, as a person with no family, at the same time envious of the warmth of the Millers’ family home.

As anticipated, I absolutely loved this story. It is full of such interesting characters and situations that could be found in any family, but not generally all at once and in a confined space. The older Millers are well-meaning, but they do tend to pry, and I could understand why the others wished to keep things from them. For me the star of the story was Nanna Jean, who understands her family best of all and refuses to be shocked by anything; she definitely added humour to the narrative. Of course, in the cosy family home there was lots of cooking going on and all sorts of tasty meals being served up. In addition, the Miller family has been producing shortbread for generations, so there is plenty of that being eaten as well; I was intrigued by the whisky shortbread. When I started reading this book, I thought I could predict the ending, but I had no idea of the twists and turns ahead of the characters. I can confidently recommend this book for anyone looking for a truly Christmassy tale with warmth and romance, and lots and lots of snow.

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