The Night Before Christmas

by Scarlett Bailey

All Lydia's ever wanted is a perfect Christmas...

So when her oldest friends invite her to spend the holidays with them, it seems like a dream come true. She's been promised log fires, roasted chestnuts, her own weight in mince pies - all in a setting that looks like something out of a Christmas card.

But her winter wonderland is ruined when she finds herself snowed in with her current boyfriend, her old flame and a hunky stranger. Well, three (wise) men is traditional at this time of year...

Genres: Christmas, Romance, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Holiday, Fiction, Book Club

371 pages, Paperback

First published February 12, 2011

About the author

A lover of Christmas, romance and old movies Scarlett wrote her first Christmas romance 'The Night Before Christmas' in 2011. Her second novel 'Married by Christmas' and a digital novella 'Santa Maybe' are out now.

Reviews

[Tina(why is GR limiting comments?!!) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is more of a 2 1/2 stars for me. The story of a London city girl stuck in a snowstorm in Northern England at Christmas with her current boyfriend, an unexpected ex- boyfriend and a new man she is attracted to. The whole story takes places within a few days. She eventually finds "true love." I didn't feel any real warmth or connection to any of the characters. Seemed to lack that special Christmas "magic."

[Robazizo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely Christmassy chick lit. Horrible editing though!

[Leona · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun, entertaining, flirty type of read. There were parts that I found hilariously funny, and then there were parts that caused me to cringe. The female characters were shallow and not very likable, especially the heroine who goes from one mistake to another (repeatedly). There's also major editing issues that I found distracting.

But, in spite of these issues, I enjoyed the book. There's a subtleness that captured my attention and kept me engaged from start to finish. I especially liked the overall message that reminds us not to set our expectations based on the "Hollywood" version of Christmas, but rather the true spirit of the season.

If you want a light, holiday read that entertains you for a few hours, I would give this one a try.
3.5 stars

[Steffi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has finally been a book which has put me in a real Christmas mood.
"The night before Christmas" is the first book I have read by Scarlett Bailey and it definetely won't be the last. I enjoyed her light and funny writing style.
The setting of the story was lovely with a perfect scenery for Christmas time. The premise was pretty interesting and the story didn't disappoint me. Some scenes were simply hilarious and there was enough love for my romantic heart.

A funny Christmas story full of love, chaos and some not so little catastrophies.

[Melwasul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Relecture (1ère lecture nov 2013)(je pense toujours la même chose, un délice de comédie de Noël) http://lune-et-plume.fr/tendre-veille... Mon seul regret ne pas avoir eu d'autres romans de l'auteure depuis.

Encore une excellente comédie britannique. Un véritable régal à déguster en cette période de Noël qui approche à pas de Père Noël. Il s’agit du premier roman d’une auteure anglaise dont j’ai hâte de découvrir les prochains ouvrages (deux de plus aux airs de Noël)(j’espère vraiment qu’ils seront traduits !). Merci aux éditions Milady pour ce moment de douceur, de fou rire, et de papillons dans le cœur sous de airs de chants de Noël (et quels airs)(vive l’imagination débordante des enfants …). [...]

[Anna's Herding Cats · Rating 3 out of 5]

Holy fucking mess of a Christmas. Goodness.

The Gist: Lydia is finally getting her perfect Christmas. A snowy country mansion, her 3 best friends, her soon to be fiance. It's lovely. Really. Except for the ex showing up, a massive snow storm and, well, maybe not wanting to say 'yes' anymore. Oy!

Lydia was something. She's a romantic at heart but quite a handful. I liked her overall though goodness she could make a girls eye twitch with how she handled some things. And the men in her life? All three of them? Sweet Mary. They were a trio of what the hell was I thinking. lol Her friends...even more so.

Honestly it was a huge fucking train wreck of a Christmas with some less than fabulous humans who didn't always rock on the moral front or the nice front but still in the end after everything managed to not be so horrible and kinda maybe made me happy for them mostly. lol

I did love the setting. Stranded at an old mansion turned inn with all the foibles of an old building. Snowy treks through the hills. A small charming village. Decorations and food and copious amounts of liquor.

In the end while not my type of people really I still found myself enjoying the train wreck and watching them all sort things out. The editing, though, was pretty terrible. It definitely needed another go round with an editing pen.

[Millie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The style, the complicated romances and the characters themselves. A great read at this time of year.

[Rea Cobb · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have had quite a few entries for our Best Christmas 2011 Book, many of the authors I have previously read before but we have got a new author who has entered and she has entered with a bang! I am sure you all see the package which arrived on my doorstep containing the book. It truely felt like Christmas opening the package to find the book which was placed in little snowballs and snowflake confetti with a miniature Baileys and a box of chocolates. Surely this is any woman’s perfect Christmas present sending you weak at the knee’s! One thing I know you will want to know though Is the book as good as the package?

Plot
All Lydia’s ever wanted is a perfect Christmas…
So when her oldest friends invite her to spend the holidays with them, it seems like the answer to her dreams. She’s been promised log fires, roasted chestnuts, her own weight in mince pies; all in a setting that looks like something out of a Christmas card.
However, her winter wonderland is about to be ruined by the ghosts of boyfriends past, present and potential future. She’s snowed in with her current boyfriend, her old flame and a hunky stranger. Well, three (wise) men is traditional at this time of year...

My Opinion
I snuggled up to read The Night Before Christmas by Scarlett Bailey, with my Baileys coffee and my box of chocolates and I got lost in the book!

Putting the package aside and focusing now on the book I have to say the cover does give a festive feel and the title of the book couldn’t have been more perfect. One thing I have noticed with many Christmas books is just because they have a festive cover doesn’t always mean the story has the same festive feel to it but I am happy to say that this was not the case with this book.

The story is set over the week of Christmas and Scarlett Bailey sets the scene for us with a group of friends celebrating Christmas together in a remote setting and being snowed in already giving us that cosy feeling. This is a traditional realistic Christmas feel to this book rather than the magical Christmas feeling.

There is a real mix of characters in The Night Before Christmas and I have to say it must be the first book I have read where I have liked each and every one of them. Sure they all have their bad moments where we can hear the pantomime boo in the background but because all of the characters are developed so well we just have the attitude that well everyone makes mistakes and HEY its Christmas so we can forgive and forget!
Lydia who is our main character is very down to earth giving that girl next door feel and although she seems to have men dropping at her feet we still feel sorry for her situation. The mix of male characters is very generous in this book so ladies there is a man for each of us hidden in this book. For me this has everything a book needs for a full 5 star rating.

The pace of this book flows nicely with the storyline getting off to a fast pace. For me The Night Before Christmas is a real contender in our Competition despite this being Scarlett Bailey’s debut book. For any men reading this review you are on to a winner if you wrap this up for your partner this Christmas!

[Aimee Sealey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVED IT! Yes it had ALOT of editing errors but I can see past that enough not let it ruin the book for me. Everything happened exactly as I wanted it to :)

[Nat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did feel a bit weird if I'm honest, reading this Christmassy book in March.. but actually it didn't matter in the end as I got drawn into the story fairly quickly and sped through it!
The story is actually only taking place around 5 or so days I think at Christmas time, and I think this fast pace contributed to my quick reading of the book. I found it very easy to read, and the fairly small character cast meant it was easy to follow.
I am very much looking forward to Scarlett Bailey's next offering, and I am secretly hoping it carries on with the characters from this book!!

Would definitely recommend this.

One thing I feel I should mention, is the quite large amount of typos I found in this book - I know this isn't Scarlett Bailey's fault, and it doesn't stop the story being great, but it did annoy me. I just find it surprising that the book was published with so many mistakes undetected. Hopefully her next book will be better in this respect!

[Ali · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to give Scarlett Bailey 2.5 stars for her cute Christmassy idea and the sweet characters she created, but as it took me nearly a whole month to get through it, and the ending was predictable I couldn't give it much more.

Once I managed to get stuck into the plot and the characters, I found myself interested one minute, but lost the next. I just couldn't help getting distracted. I put this down to genre and my own growth in reading.

I hated that everything was pretty obvious. Okay so it was all very cute and romantic, and part of me loved how things worked out, but it was all too easy in my opinion. 

I also came across quite a lot of editing errors which was a little frustrating.

If you are into chick lit, romance and contemporary then I would recommend this as a fun and flirty read, but don't expect to be blown away. 

[Noémie · Rating 4 out of 5]

l'ambiance est sympa les personnages un poil agaçants mais çà se lit bien ^^

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was slightly boring and very predictable and basic. Like two things made me laugh but most of the rest was a bit cringe. At least it was an easy read.
Also, girl, get a freaking editor. The way things were written were so offputting that it really made me angry. There are so many mistakes within the book that it’s unreal. Joanna calls her friend Lydia (who she is talking to) “Joanna”; and among things that just make no grammatical sense. What a mess.

[Anne-Lise · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'ai trouvé ça vraiment sympa. Certes, le comportement de certains m'a soûlée et le style d'écriture n'est pas hyper fin (ce n'est pas dû à la traduction). Mais l'atmosphère noëllique est là et point bonus pour l'amitié entre les trois filles!

[Medini · Rating 3 out of 5]

READ FOR POPSUGAR 2021 READING CHALLENGE: Read the book that’s been on your TBR list for the longest amount of time.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not a huge fan of Christmas books. It’s probably sacrilegious to say that, but there’s only so many Christmas themed books that can be released before they end up repetitive. Not that the Chick Lit natives care – every time October rolls around there’s another batch of willing authors ready to set a book during that good ol’ festive time. However, I do like to read one or two Christmas books and Scarlett Bailey’s is one I’ve been waiting a while for. It arrived in a lovely pink box (and a LOT of Styrofoam!) with some chocolates and its cover, black with purple/pink highlights appealed immediately. It’s such a beautiful cover – black is so underused and it pops nicely and will look so unique against other Xmas-themed books. I dived in right away, because I couldn’t wait to read it.

The Night Before Christmas is your typical festive affair, with Lydia finding herself stranded in the Lake District with her best friends Joanna, Katy and Alex and their significant others along with her partner, Stephen. What lifts it from the pack of what will be a massive bunch of Christmas novels is the writing. It’s incredibly well written and I liked that the book encompassed just four days in total. I’ve never known four days to whizz by so fast and have so much happen! Having so many people in one house is always going to be frantic and chuck in one of Lydia’s exes (a rather significant one), Alex’s pregnancy and Katy’s crappy kitchen and it’s like one big melting pot waiting to explode. The book moves quite quickly despite the fact it only manages to be four days long.

A big part of the book is Lydia’s love triangle. No, wait, it’s four parts. I have no idea what that is. A square? Lydia’s love square, that’s it. She’s with her boyfriend Stephen – who’s about to propose – but when one of her exes walks back into her life and she also finds herself attracted to Will a handyman and I had no idea where it was going to end. It is a bit farfetched that Lydia would be so blindingly attractive to all three men and that her moral compass would be decidedly dodgy but I felt Bailey handled it well enough for it not to be a mega issue. Lydia does make some questionable judgement calls, some bad, but for the most part, she makes the right decisions so I was happy and I didn’t have to get on my soapbox or feel as though the book was annoying me.

I really enjoyed getting to know the characters. Lydia’s the main character and she’s great, she carries the book nicely but all of her friends are equally as great and I loved meeting them all. Lydia, Joanna, Alex and Katy are very diverse as people but as friends they’re always there for each other and I felt Bailey portrayed their friendship brilliantly. As for the males in the novel, I was very taken in with handyman Will. I liked that he had no airs and graces and that he was totally comfortable in his own skin. Stephen never really lit my fire, the way he was portrayed it was if he was always too busy to spend any time with Lydia and whenever he and Lydia did spend time together, it seemed very platonic from my point of view. I didn’t think much of Jackson either, he could have swung either way – but he swung the wrong way for me (and I mean that entirely as it’s written). They were a great cast of characters that I’d quite happily be snowed-in with.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Night Before Christmas. It kept me reading all day with ease and Bailey’s an excellent storyteller. There were a few minor editing errors (some “peaks” instead of “peeks” and some words in the wrong place) but not too many as to get my all wound up (as I am wont to do). It’s an excellent book to be curling up if/when it snows (or even if it’s not snowing, you can always close the curtains, turn on the fire and pretend. I did, ‘cos I live in sunny Tenerife). I can’t wait for Scarlett Bailey’s next novel, this one was just hugely enjoyable and the cover is divine. I’d definitely recommend the book, it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, a sure fire hit for any book I’ll have you know.

[Jessica (Jess Hearts Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Night Before Christmas is a book, that for me, had both its highs and lows overall making it an average read. This is less of a Christmas story and more of a chick-lit novel with a Christmas backdrop. What I mean by that is that despite this book being set during those few days leading up to Christmas it just didn’t really feel festive to me and didn’t have an underlining Christmas moral which I think is key if you’re going to write a book about Christmas. Instead the book definitely reads like your usual chick-lit story focusing more on relationships and everyday situations than Christmas. Basically I guess what I’m trying to say is that Bailey could of taken advantage of the Christmas theme more than she chose to.

First off I’ll get my dislikes out of the way. Lydia and her friends aren’t exactly the most likeable characters I’ve come across. Lydia spends much of the book running from her current boyfriend, to her ex-boyfriend (not to mention who is also her best friends new man) to a hunky stranger. Her careless regard towards other people’s feelings and who she might be hurting in the process really grated on my nerves and to be honest I found her a bit selfish. Then there’s Joanna- who is currently girlfriend to Lydia’s ex- who’s really superficial and makes her own fair share of hurtful mistakes. Then there’s Alex possibly the world’s most unpleasant heavily pregnant woman ever. And Katy who to be frank is a bit of a doormat but probably the most genuine of her friends. There wasn’t really a female character that I could really get behind and connect with. If anything I felt rather sorry for their poor chaps for being snowed in with them!

Another thing that irked me was the poor editing that went into this book. The Night Before Christmas is littered with spelling mistakes and missed out words that left sentences that made little to no sense. I know that mistakes happen and being a book blogger who reads uncorrected proof copies this isn’t something that usually fazes me but for a finished copy this was just plain embarrassing, worse even, than any proof I’ve ever read. Although this is of course no reflection on Scarlett Bailey or the story itself at the end of the day if the presentations half arsed it makes the book seem sloppy and just cringey in general to read.

Those problems aside I did like this book. Scarlett Bailey writes a hilarious account of a perfect Christmas gone wrong, something I think that most people can relate to! Her writing style is fresh, modern and funny with some truly laugh out loud moments.

I also really liked the men in this story particularly the lovely Will. Bailey writes romance and complex relationships with honesty and humour and I loved reading about Lydia’s past and steamy encounters with the men she’s snowed in with. Trying to figure out which man she was going to end up with being the real highlight of the book.

All in all despite some issues I had with The Night Before Christmas I still enjoyed it for the most part and think that it would make a nice, fun, girly read for Christmas but maybe not so much if you’re looking for a book with a little more substance and festive cheer.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, but a lot of spelling/grammatical errors in the kindle edition

[***Cheryl*** · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this Xmas story

[Maria Witwiky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written, had smiles a good cry and enjoyed the end in ending. Great book!!

[Angela Free · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aww, fab! Really happy, Christmassy, lovely. Got lost in this one, felt like I was with them.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very quick easy , rather simple read . The characters needed more to them to make them more interesting , they didn't really come alive for me !


25/12/25
Sweet quick reread

[Pisinat · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ça ne casse pas 3 pattes à un canard mais c'était mignon et drôle!

[Sarah Otto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Die Autorin: Scarlett Bailey schreibt schon seit ihrer Kindheit Geschichten. Aber bevor sie das Schreiben zum Beruf machte, hat sie als Kellnerin, Platzanweiserin im Kino und Buchhändlerin gearbeitet. Sie liebt alte Filme und genießt nichts so sehr wie einen regnerischen Sonntagnachmittag mit ihrem Lieblingsfilm und Massen von Schokolade. Scarlett Bailey lebt im englischen Hertfordshire - zusammen mit einem Hund und einem wirklich großen Schuhschrank.

Das Cover: ist wundervoll weihnachtlich gestaltet und lässt auf ein Happy End hoffen....

Meine Einschätzung: Lydia fährt mit ihrem Freund zu ihren besten Freundinnen um Weihnachten zu feiern. Im Vorfeld hat sie zufälligerweise einen dicken Verlobungsring in den Sachen ihres Freundes gefunden und vermutet nun dass dieser ihr an Weihnachten einen Heiratsantrag machen wird. Doch ist es dass, was Lydia wirklich will? Sie feiern auf einem Anwesen dass eine ihrer Freundinnen gerade gemeinsam mit ihrem Mann zu einem Hotel umbaut. Wie es der Zufall möchte, schneien sie total ein und keinerlei Straßen sind mehr befahrbar. Eine ihrer Freundinnen stellt Lydia ihren neuen Freund vor, und diese stellt fest dass es sich um einen Verflossenen von ihr handelt. Noch dazu fällt die Heizungsanlage aus und ein super gutaussehender Handwerker aus dem Dorf zieht auch noch in das Anwesen ein um das Weihnachtsfest zu retten. Das (Gefühls-) Chaos ist perfekt.

Die Autorin hat hier ein durchgehend spannendes Weihnachtsbuch geschrieben, welches einige Überraschungen bereithält. Es geht um Liebe und Freundschaften und wie schnell diese auf der Kippe stehen können....Wird es das perfekte Weihnachten oder das perfekte Chaos ? Ihr dürft gespannt sein.

Von mir gibt es eine klare Leseempfehlung!

[Leslivresdenounett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chronique : https://leschroniquesdenounett.blogsp...

C’est le livre de Noël par excellence. Tout y est : la neige, le chocolat chaud, le chalet dans la montagne, le feu de cheminée, les décorations, le vin chaud… En bref, une vraie carte postale de cette Noël.

Cela fait longtemps que je ne m’étais pas immergée totalement dans une lecture. Je n’ai pas pu lâcher ce livre. Pourtant, autant être honnête, ce n’est pas le roman de l’année mais il fait du bien.

On rencontre Lydia, fleur bleue à souhait et mordue de films romantiques surtout pendant la période de Noël, qui n’a pas eu une enfance facile et qui est à un tournant décisif de sa vie. On découvre dès les premières pages que son petit ami va la demander en mariage à Noël, c’est elle qui les découvre, et elle est plus très sûre de ce qu’elle veut. Elle va retrouver ses meilleurs amis dans un chalet à la montagne pour fêter Noël. Mais cela ne va pas se passer comme prévu. En effet, un imbroglio improbable va se jouer pendant ce séjour scellant à jamais le destin de Lydia.

J’ai beaucoup aimé ce roman car il pose quand même pas mal de questions existentielles. Il y a d’ailleurs une citation que j’ai beaucoup aimé et qui résume bien la vision que beaucoup de gens ont de Noël :

« les gens sont tout excités, il pense que s'ils ne sont pas heureux à cette période de l’année, alors ils ne peuvent pas du tout l’être . »

Je trouve que cela est vrai, d’ailleurs moi la première, qu’on se pose beaucoup de questions à l’approche de la période de Noël sur notre vie et ce que nous voulons vraiment. Cette pression constante qui est amplifiée par les films de Noël diffusés à la télé ou encore ce genre de roman de Noël. SUITE SUR LE BLOG

[Lu Wilson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was ok but certainly nothing special. I think what really let it down were the appalling mistakes made by the author (and by association the publisher and proof readers). This book was filled to the brim with grammatical and spelling errors. At first it was just the odd mistake which I tried to ignore. But then words were missed out and sometimes the incorrect word was used (such as he picked up his back and left the room. Back? You mean bag!) Things did not improve as the story continued, resulting in me having to read sentences more than once to get the gist of what was happening. The worst part was when Jo and Lydia were having a conversation and then the incorrect name was printed so that Jo was talking with herself! If these errors had been picked up and corrected then this would have been an easy read for Christmas. The story was a bit farfetched and unbelievable, (one woman and three interested men, really?)! But then I suppose at Christmas fairy tales aren't always a bad thing. I would have to say if you want to read this book, don’t spend money on it. Get it from the library as the author and publishing house should not be making a profit from this. Harsh, but true.

[Sookies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mon avis complet ici : http://sook-book.blogspot.com/2018/12...

J'ai passé un très bon moment de lecture, absolument tous les ingrédients étaient réunis exceptés les marrons grillés qui manquaient cruellement à l'appel. On déambule à travers chaque pièce un peu froide de ce chalet, la neige tombe sans discontinuer au dehors et on est entouré d'une belle troupe de jeunes gens tous plus attentionnés les uns que les autres tout en étant chacun dans leur petite sphère d'intimité. Le tout sans s'ennuyer une seule seconde et si comme moi vous êtes avide de potins avec une légère tendance aux commérages, ce roman est fait pour vous je pense ! On s'y sent bien et l'aspect cosy est mis en avant à de très nombreuses reprises. Le roman doudou par excellence à savourer juste avant les fêtes de fin d'année.

[Ruby Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book with more mixed up characters!

The heroine and her 3 best friends spend Christmas in Cambria with their significant other. All of the women seem to be a bit shallow, even to sharing intimate details of their m/f sexual relationship. The heroine is lovingly called a "slut" by her friends because of her behavior with the three men present. She f!its from one male to the other even her ex-boyfriend who to her surprise is dating her friend. She ends up as a lover to the village handyman before the holiday is over.
The book was filled with editing problems. Left out words were distracting. Even so I finished the book.

[Roz Radmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny Christmas read . With plenty of twists and laugh out loud moments .
Lydia has always wanted to experience the perfect Christmas . When her oldest friends invite her to spend the holidays with them it looks as if she will get her wish . A beautiful country hotel in the Lake District , log fires , home made mince pies , the perfect Christmas lunch . What could possibly spoil it ?
Snowed in with her current boyfriend , her ex boyfriend and a beguiling handsome stranger Lydia has her own version of the three wise men .
Christmas dinner ? Does anyone know how to fix the Aga and the boiler ?

[Ulrike · Rating 2 out of 5]

first book of 2019 and not a good start :-(
The title "Nightmare before Christmas" somehow seems more appropriate ..
This was more chick lit than I could handle. Sentences like "...that a woman needed two hundred pairs of designer shoes.." are NOT funny, hilarious or whatever but just stupid!
I didn't like Lydia, she was vain and shallow, Alex was only pregnant and biting around, Joana was the drama queen and oh so beautiful, also shallow. Kate was ok. I could understand the dream of an own hotel. The story itself.. predictable...