Milly Johnson is one of my favourite authors. Her books are always full of fun, wonderful observation humour and have a great balance between fluffy, entertaining romances and more touching emotional issues. Settling down with one of her books is like snuggling down with a big mug of hot chocolate- comforting, warming and always a pleasure.
A Winter Flame is the story of Eve. Struggling to deal with life, especially Christmas, after her fiancé is killed in Afghanistan, Eve is the last person who would want to open a Winter theme park. However, her elderly aunt has other ideas, leaving Eve the plans for a Christmas theme park, along with instructions to work in partnership with mysterious stranger Jacques Glace. Can Eve overcome her dislike for Christmas and her distrust for Jacques?
A Winter Flame perfectly describes how whilst Christmas is a time of joy it can also be a time of great sadness, particularly for anyone who has lost someone they love. However, it also has plenty Milly's trademark humour (I adored the sections from the local newspaper with outlandish typos-hilarious!) to keep you upbeat.
A sweet festive tale which definitely got me feeling Christmassy! I loved it.
A Winter Flame is out now, published by Simon and Schuster.
9/10
Milly has been kind enough to share her Christmas traditions with us and why routine is an important part of the festive period for her. Here's what she had to say...
Cold wintry Christmases are one of the reasons why I doubt I’ll ever emigrate to somewhere mild which has never seen a snowflake – and therein lies the irony as I moan a lot during Winter. I hate that the daylight is over by 3.30pm, I hate that I have to scratch ice off my windscreen every morning. I hate walking the dog in slush and watching him shake his muddy self all over my white walls as soon as he walks in. I hate that I can’t sit in the sunshine and have a beer. But the season has its compensations. We always put up the tree on the 1st December so that the house is all festive for my son’s birthday on the 3rd. Going for the tree is something my sons and I love to do, despite the fact that we always get one that is far too big for the car and we end up having half of it hanging out of the back with ribbons on it to alert drivers behind us – happens every year, we never learn. And there is nothing nicer than coming into a warm house that smells of spices from the freezing cold, kicking off the wellies and chilling out in front of a log burner. And it feels the right thing to do to have lots of hearty warming soups and stews on the hob. Christmas is made up of favourite rituals – shutting the world out and putting on Home Alone and It’s a Wonderful Life. We never get tired of watching them. Although my sons are growing up fast and it won’t be many more years before they’ve got their own houses and own Christmas trees and own kids to watch the films with. Their wives will be making the big dinner and not forcing them to eat their sprouts. Times will change. That’s why, for now, these samey-samey Christmases are precious to me.
Books with Bunny will be running Milly Johnson week to help you beat the January Blues. This will include reviews and giveaways to cheer you up on those cold winter mornings. Milly Johnson week starts in January.
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