This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Cressida McLaughlin
As I haven’t been reviewing for that long
this was my first experience of reading a Christmas book while the weather’s
still slightly sunny, and it did feel a bit strange diving into a story meant
to get you in the festive spirit. Holly and Paddy Craig live in their beautiful
family home Huntersbrook House, in the rural village of Wicklow. Their three
children grown up children Lainey, Pippa and Joey have moved to Dublin, to get
on with their own lives.
Lainey works for Dublin council and, after a difficult breakup from her last boyfriend, is slowly regaining her confidence with the help of new friend Jules. Joey is smitten with his girlfriend Sophia, but the rest of the Craig family are not so sure she’s right for him, and Pippa is living the highlife, going on a pre-Christmas break to New York with her friends and pushing her troubles to the back of her mind. They’re all looking forward to the traditional family Christmas back at Huntersbrook House, but Holly and Paddy have got some news that threatens to ruin everything.
Driving Home for Christmas is a heart-warming story with a good cast of characters all facing their own struggles in the run up to Christmas. Holly tries to distract herself from her worries by decorating Huntersbrook House with trees, baubles and endless glittering decorations, while Pippa has to face up to her recklessness and find a way to pay off her debts. Lainey is still struggling to deal with her grandmother’s decision to move to the other side of the world, and Joey’s determination to bring Sophia to the Craig family Christmas brings with it some unforeseen problems. All of the main characters are given equal attention, and I felt that I knew each of them well by the end of the book.
I found a couple of the storylines a bit unrealistic, and one of the supporting characters was too villainous to be entirely believable, which made it hard for me to get fully absorbed. But on the whole I enjoyed Driving Home for Christmas, and found myself looking forward to tinsel, hot chocolates and making snowmen a little earlier in the year than I usually do.
6/10
Emma Hannigan's website