Thirty-year-old corporate lawyer Nick has been sacked after not one but two, (okay three but he didn’t get caught the third time) incidents at work. He takes his sacking badly and resorts to getting drunk most nights, and day and eating take-out food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He shares a flat with his best friend Matt who has tried to give him a kick up the butt but nothing is working.

Nick has applied for numerous jobs but no-one seems to want to hire him, that is until an offer comes in for him to play Santa at the local shopping centre. He doesn’t want to do, doesn’t even like children but he needs the money after nearly depleting his savings. When his reality star girl-friend finds out that he is Santa she dumps him.

One afternoon just after closing and a day from hell a little boy, four-year-old Alfie is desperate to see Santa. Nick eventually obliges and asks Alfie what he would like for Christmas, his response stuns Nick. He wants his mum to be happy again as she has been sad since his dad died. In a panic Nick tells Alfie that he will grant his Christmas wish, now all he has to do is make it come true, and what a better way than fixing Alfie’s mum Sarah up with his friend Matt.

As the two become close Nick soon realises that he is falling for Sarah and has become attached to Alfie. As if his life wasn’t complicated enough!!

In this festive rom-com, you can expect heart-warming moments, lots of laughter, and fabulous characters. In the beginning, Nick came across as a bit of an arse but as the book progressed his personality changed and I came to respect him and feel sorry for the situation he had become involved in. The adults in the story are wonderful but it is little Alfie who steals my heart, gosh that child is so adorable and lovely.

The book is set in the present day and filled with thirty-somethings and is true to the way a lot of people talk, so expect some bad language in there, for me, this made the book more realistic. Plus it is told from a male perspective so we’re talking lots of swearing at times.

I’m not normally a fan of love triangles but I was completely hooked on this book, though it is more like a love square with Alfie! The writing is spot-on, the situations plausible, and the whole story gave me that feel-good vibe.

I’m just glad that my first festive read of the year was an absolute belter. It is so good I could see this being made into a Hallmark Christmas movie (even if the storyline takes place over the year), the scenes certainly played out in my head whilst reading and I rush through the book not wanting to put it down. For me, this is a must-read if you love festive rom-coms.

Joanna Bolouri worked in sales before she began writing professionally at the age of thirty. Winning a BBC comedy script competition allowed her to work and write with stand-up comedians, comedy scriptwriters and actors from across the UK. She’s had articles and reviews published in The Scotsman, The Skinny, The Scottish Sun, Huffington Post and HecklerSpray.

She lives in Glasgow with her daughter.

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