Friday, October 25, 2019

BLOG TOUR - The Gift of Happiness


Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for The Gift of Happiness by Holly Martin


DESCRIPTION:

Christmas has arrived in the little village of Happiness, promising snowflakes, hot chocolate and plenty of seasonal romance. So snuggle up and fall in love with the gorgeously cosy new story from the bestselling author of Christmas at Lilac Cottage…

Christmas has always been such an important part of Ruby Marlowe’s life and at a time of year that always holds so many memories, Ruby likes to throw herself into the magic of the season head first. So when she is offered the opportunity to open a year-round Christmas shop in the little village of Happiness it seems like a dream come true.

Accepting the offer has absolutely nothing to do with sexy Jacob Harrington, the sculptor she had a fling with in the village during the summer.

After all, Jacob is known to love the ladies and has never had a commitment. Ruby, on the other hand, made the ultimate vow of love and suffered heart-wrenching loss in return. She vows she will never be committed to a man again.

But when fate throws Ruby and Jacob together in this town in the most magical of seasons, will more than snowflakes fall? As the Christmas celebrations get underway and Ruby tries to spread her own Christmas magic over the little village, can love sparkle and come back to life.

A glorious, feel-good romance that’s like a warm hug on a cold winter’s day. An unputdownable festive treat for lovers of Sarah Morgan, Miranda Dickinson and Lucy Diamond.                                                   

MY THOUGHTS:

Title:   The Gift of Happiness
Author:  Holly Martin
Series:  The Little Village of Happiness #2
Genre:   Romance
Publisher:  Amazon Digital Services
Format:  Kindle ARC
No. of Pages:   256
Date of Publication:  October 25, 2019
My Rating:  4.5 Stars

Ruby Marlowe has had her share of troubles. However, she has an amazing opportunity ahead of her. She has the chance to start a Christmas shop that will be open year-round. The town is called Happiness and Ruby can hardly believe that she will be able to do this. A huge bonus is the upcoming year will be free of rent.

There is a snag in Ruby's plans, however. While she is setting up, she will be sharing business space with Jacob Harrington. As there was some damage to Ruby's new site, she will be working alongside Jacob for a while. Why is this a problem? Ruby and Jacob had a no-strings fling when she was in town during the summer. The fact that Jacob is sexy as all get-out while making it perfectly clear what he wants from her definitely presents a challenge.

Ruby may be more than drawn to Jacob, but she has a very good reason for not wanting anything to do with him. As far as she is concerned, they can be friends and temporary workmates. This most certainly is a problem for Jacob. He really likes Ruby and hopes to get her to give him another chance.

I absolutely loved this story. It was incredibly sensitive and truly touching. On the one hand, Ruby's story broke my heart. I love that this romance could deal with something so heartbreaking, yet leaving readers with hope and joy. Jacob got to me because he wore his heart on his sleeve. And I just love a sensitive man.

The Gift of Happiness is the second book in this series by Holly Martin. This is a must-read and was yet another book I just could not put down. I loved it just as much as I did The Little Village of Happiness, which is Willow and Andrew's story. Andrew is Jacob's brother and it was a treat to see them back in this book. Ms. Martin writes wonderful stories that pull at the heart-strings. I am eager to read much more from her in the future.

Many thanks to Holly Martin for this ARC to review. This is my honest opinion.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I live in a little white cottage overlooking the sea. I studied media at university which led to a very glitzy career as a hotel receptionist followed by an even more glamorous two years working in a bank. The moment that one of my colleagues received the much coveted carriage clock for fifteen years’ service was the moment when I knew I had to escape. I quit my job and returned to university to train to be a teacher. Three years later, I emerged wide eyed and terrified that I now had responsibility for the development of thirty young minds. I taught for four years and then escaped the classroom to teach history workshops, dressing up as a Viking one day and an Egyptian High Priestess the next. But the long journeys around the UK and many hours sat on the M25 gave me a lot of time to plan out my stories and I now write full time, doing what I love.

I have been writing for 6 years. I was shortlisted for the New Talent Award at the Festival of Romance 2012. My short story won the Sunlounger competition and was published in the Sunlounger anthology in 2013. I won the Carina Valentine’s competition at the Festival of Romance 2013 with my novel The Guestbook. I was shortlisted for Best Romantic Read, Best eBook and Innovation in Romantic Fiction at the Festival of Romance 2014.


7 comments:

  1. This sounds sweet and heart-squeezing

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have quiet a few books by Holly Martin and will be adding this to my collection.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You’re on a Christmas book binge huh? I love the sound of this one!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Glad you enjoyed this book too. Great review.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great review Robin, I'm really glad you fully enjoyed reading this book. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome post.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I loved this book and always want to live in the towns of her books.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Just the one I love to read. Been hearing a lot about this book.

    ReplyDelete