Snowy Nights At The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Karen King

This is one of the best festive reads I have stumbled across this year - and I did stumble across it in my usual trawl for a seasonal read by an author I have never tried before.  Always a bit of a gamble but occasionally that gamble pays off and this was one such time - it was very welcome too as I had just finished a handful of quite disappointing reads.

It is quite predictable in its plotting but somehow that doesn't really matter as this is more about the characters in the book than the actual story.  The characters are richly written and by the end of the book you do feel like you have known them all for a very long time indeed.  Although it did set me wondering just why so many books seem to be currently set in Cornwall, I know it is a beautiful part of the British Isles but if all the fictional characters suddenyl appeared there the country would upend itself

Saffy is an absolute joy to read about.  She is a perfectly normal human being with prejudices of her own and forced family jollity appears to be one of them.  All she wanted for her Christmas was to stay in her Singletons flat and party with her friends but her sister has other ideas.  Ideas that mean she has to uproot herself and put on a party for the local single parents in her sister's absence.  There is a lot of humour in the situations Saffy finds herself in and the writing is well observed and draws you in to the story.

Even better there is a gay couple in the book who are treated as just another couple with their own set of problems.  The main one being Robbie and Duncan split up just before the big day - I loved that they weren't caricatures but a real couple and it was refreshing to read in a mainstream chick lit book. 

Then there is single dad Logan and his bubbly, polar bear obsessed little girl Chloe.  Single parenthood is painted with slightly rose tinted spectacles but many of the struggles of real life are shown which gave that extra touch of realism.  When Chloe's mother comes back on the scene demanding to spend time with her daughter we get to feel Logan's worries about this and he doesn't always deal with things the "mature" way but it did feel like his reactions were normal and not ramped up for dramatic effect.

A good strong read with a sprinkling of Christmas Magic.