Tried this as a quick festive read. Don't know how it's got 4 stars! Most of the book is really dull. For a short book it had a lot of padding and waffle. Some elements of magical realism but Cecelia Ahern would've done it so much better. Edit: Also, the part about finding the perfect red velvet dress in the shop reminded me exactly of the bit in 'Lessons in Laughing Out Loud' by Rowan Coleman, where the woman buys 'magical shoes' that turn out to be meaningless. A lovely, light-hearted, easy, seasonal read of the chick lit variety, available as a Kindle Single.Hailing originally from Gloucester, former Denmark Road school student Chrissie Manby apparently owes her career to achieving only a lower second class degree at Oxford, which meant that she had not scored sufficiently highly to get in the graduate programmes and therefore didn't become an accountant. (If only I'd worked a little less hard at Uni!)Several very successful chick lit novels later, I doubt Manby regrets her degree result. In this e-book novella, Milly Arnold loves Christmas; until, that is, her boyfriend of 11 months dumps her at the end of November. Despite not feeling at all festive, she joins in the family tradition of sending a letter to Santa Claus, listing the things she'd love for Christmas. And then she finds that all of her wishes start coming true. So what will happen if she wishes for a kiss that will change her life?While it won't win any awards for literature, this is a lovely seasonal story that will leave you feeling warm and cosy. Settle yourself in front of the fire, with a glass of red wine and a bar of Galaxy, and get reading
Do You like book The Christmas List (2013)?
Bit of a waste of time. Glad it was only a novella.
—avery
