Book Review: Not Just For Christmas by Natalie Cox

Charlie hates the holidays, and this year is shaping up to be her worst yuletide ever.

Her boyfriend has left her for his personal trainer, her flat is out of bounds after a gas leak, and her mother has gone to spend Christmas in Melbourne with her fifth husband.

Finding herself single, mildly concussed and temporarily homeless, Charlie hesitantly agrees to dust off her wellies and spend the festive season in Devon, looking after Cosy Canine Cottages, her cousin Jez’s dog-care centre.

However, her plans for a quiet rural Christmas with only the four-legged friends for company are dashed as soon as she meets Malcolm the deaf Great Dane, Hugo, his gorgeous (but engaged) owner, and Cal, the undeniably attractive but unbearably haughty and patronising local vet.

I am very happy to be kicking off the blog tour for Not Just For Christmas, the new novel by Natalie Cox which is due to be released in paperback on 29th November by Orion.

Not Just For Christmas focuses on Charlie. Having just become single, she then has to move out of her flat when it gets damaged in a gas leak. Her mother is in Melbourne, her father in Russia, Charlie has no choice but to go and spend Christmas in Devon with her cousin, Jez. She soon finds herself alone though running Cosy Canine Cottages.

The setting for this novel drew me in to begin with. I love to visit Devon and this brought back memories of lovely holidays I have spent there and the friendliness of the residents.

Charlie is a great character. She’s a little bit all over the place but there is something incredibly likeable about her. I warmed to her straight away. Natalie develops both her and the plot/setting well so I could really get emerged in this book.

Charlie gets herself into many hilarious situations. I was laughing out loud in many places. Add in two very handsome men, Christmas and cute animals and I got completely hooked.

Not Just For Christmas has warmth, humour, buckets of charm and is a lovely festive story that made me smile and laugh throughout.

If you’re planning on reading any festive novels in the next few weeks, I truly recommend that this one get added to your list. This is the first novel I have read by this author but it won’t be the last.

About Natalie: 

NATALIE COX is a lifelong fan of romantic comedy and decided to write her own when she finally ran out of stuff to read. She is also a big fan of dogs and wrote this book with an ancient chocolate Labrador panting by her side.

Together, they placed second in the Dog-And-Owner-Most-Alike Competition at their local county show, and no doubt would have taken home the trophy if they’d worn matching collars.

Sadly, the day she received the UK publication offer for this book, Natalie’s canine muse went to that great dog park in the sky. She divides her time between the Brecon Beacons in Wales and London.

Say hi to Natalie on Twitter – https://twitter.com/NatCoxWrites

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Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.