Escape for Christmas

by Phillipa Ashley

Sophie used to adore everything about Christmas. Hot chocolate and velvet bows, mistletoe, and mince pies.

Until the December her fiancé jilted her.

Since then, Sophie opened Sunnyside Hotel, a quaint guesthouse nestled deep in the Cumbrian countryside.

And, though it might be winter at Sunnyside, it’s never Christmas.

Marketing her hotel to those who wish to avoid the festivities, Sophie is busy preparing for a season full of joy and laughter, but without bells and whistles.

Yet, as she finds herself growing closer to her gorgeous neighbour, Brody, her heart begins to melt.
Will this Christmas bring the touch of magic Sophie needs to give love another chance?
________________________

Praise for Phillipa

‘Sparkling and festive, as satisfying as figgy pudding and clotted cream – loved it!’ Milly Johnson

‘Filled with warm and likeable characters. Great fun!’ Jill Mansell

‘Warm and funny and feel-good. The best sort of holiday read’ Katie Fforde

‘A delicious festive treat with as many twists and turns as a Cornish country lane’ Jules Wake

‘A transporting festive romance, full of genuine warmth and quirky characters’ Woman’s Own

‘Serious festive escapism . . . like a big warm hug’ Popsugar

‘A page-turner of a festive read’ My Weekly

‘Gloriously uplifting and unashamedly warm-hearted’ Faith Hogan

‘A fantastic setting and intriguing premise, all bound together by Phillipa Ashley’s storytelling talent’ Sue Moorcroft

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

388 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 7, 2024

About the author

Phillipa Ashley is a Sunday Times and Amazon Top 10 best selling author of uplifting romantic novels.

She has written 26 books under three pen names since her debut novel , Decent Exposure, was made into a Lifetime TV movie called 12 Men of Christmas.

Her latest release is An Endless Cornish Summer.

A Special Cornish Christmas will be published in November 2021.


She also writes the Oxford Blue series as Pippa Croft and The Love Solution as Ashley Croft.

Reviews

[Heather Coffee_Kindle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Release Date: 7th November 2024

Sophie gets jilted by her fiancé on Christmas Eve, now the once Christmas loving Sophie begins to detest the holiday. She ups sticks and moves to Cumbria to buy Sunnyside hotel which she markets as a Christmas free hotel, for those who do not wishes to celebrate.

Sophie starts to build a relationship with the local vet, Brody and as expected it does not go smoothly and as her guests start to arrive more chaos ensues.

This is a cosy read, which would be good on winter days, when you are ready to escape reality and suspend some belief, with characters full of depth and complications, who all bring something new to the story, but some inconsistencies throughout and Brody, the love interest, not really hitting the mark for me.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

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[Alayne Emmett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely festive read set in snowy Lake District. Snow on those glorious mountains and lots of festive cheer. I enjoyed this immensely. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who doesn’t love a Christmas love story at this time of the year, and this one is up there with the best of them. It’s a lovely story with some good twists.

After an awful break up, Sophie leaves the Christmas shop she ran with her ex, and fulfils her lifelong ambition to run a guest house in Cumbria. She decides to fill her guesthouse, over the festive period, with others like her who want to get away from celebrating Christmas. Unfortunately, all doesn’t go to plan. Luckily their lovely neighbour, the vet, is on hand to help out. However, is he as nice as he seems?

This was a lovely, feel-good book, full of fabulous characters, beautiful scenic descriptions, and I’d love to book into her Cumbrian guest house myself!

[denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75⭐️
It was my first contemporary Christmas romance and I also received it as a gift from my mom so it's safe to say I'm grateful and that I actually had a fun time with it. There was a twist in the beginning of the story that made me gasp out loud😭

[Rieke PileChamp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eigentlich eher 2,5 ⭐️ Die Lovestory hat mich leider gar nicht gecatched… und das ganz Escape for Christmas-Erlebnis war einfach nur weird 🥲

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

December book club read and it’s a load of piss

[Kelly (Little.shropshire.reader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, for me, truly encapsulated everything I love and want from a Christmas romance story. A snowy village setting, endearing characters you'd want as your own friends, light-hearted humour, a touch of drama, community spirit, animals, and a beautiful romance story.

If you've read any of my other reviews, you'll know by now that I'm not a romance reader, I don't know all the tropes and whatnot. I do know that Christmas is my happy place, and I want to read a book that makes me feel warm and magical. A book with a happy ending no matter how predictable or cheesey that is. This story is so comforting and cosy, I didn't want it to end. I want to live in this book!

I loved everything about this book. The main character, Sophie, and her romance interest, Brodie, are perfect, it melted my heart. Along with all the quirky side characters you meet to. This story is magical, and I even shed a few tears along the way. The picturesque setting and all the animals, too. The cats are called Jingle and Belle!

One of my favourite christmas reads ever. I now need to read every single Phillipa Ashley book. If you're a fan of this type of romance, you need to read this book.

[kara · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is not a good book but i love christmas so ill give it two stars

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely easy heart warming read! I enjoyed the idea of this book, even though I love Christmas! Sometimes people just need a change of scenery at certain times. With a twist of events, it made for an entertaining read with lovely characters - and animals!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK for an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review.

[Molly Robinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected this book to be full of cheesy Christmas references and romance clichés, which it was, however I didn’t expect the book to have such a jarring style. I love romantic clichés and over the top festivities in this genre when they’re done right, but it felt as though this author decided on the plot and then failed to flesh out the concept.

The basis of the book is a young, (fairly recently) single woman has bought a guesthouse which she runs alone in the Lake District following a bad end to a previous relationship. This woman lives next to a very attractive and virtually perfect vet. We’re introduced to the story a few months after Sophie moves to the area but it feels as though her and her neighbour have no real interaction prior. This narrative has potential, but both characters are too perfect. I want to like them but they feel so unrealistically idealistic that I just didn’t feel I could connect with them.

Throughout the entire book so much of the dialogue feels forced and unnatural. Every character over-explains everything they are saying to an extent of stating that a joke is a joke. This took me out of the story as it felt so unnatural and for the benefit of the reader only. I also felt this way as a result of the vast amount of exposition forced into the book. Everything is explained numerous times to an extent to which it feels patronising as a reader.

I did notice a couple of inconsistencies which I would usually dismiss given that this is an early access copy, however I noted a couple of occasions which require revising. In one instance a character is out of the shower and ready for bed, and then he is chasing his dog who has ran off to eat the breakfast another character is cooking. I think this is a scene missed by both the author and editor and will hopefully be revised prior to publishing.

Expectedly, christmas is mentioned throughout the book which I enjoyed, however I found it quite jarring how frequently this went hand in hand with referencing grief. I respect that the book acknowledges this being a difficult time to those experiencing loss, but it became slightly exhausting when this was narrated every time the season was referenced.

Overall I enjoyed the idea of the storyline, I just feel that the execution wasn’t done as well as it could have been. Every character was too perfect to a point of being unrealistic, and most dialogue felt forced and unbelievable.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

[Signe S. Brummerstedt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice Christmas treat of a book.
It has a sorta slow start and then suddenly a lot is happening all at once (spoilers, but like, a fucking baby is born out of nowhere??? Not what I was expecting!)

It does have a happy ending, but o do feel the conflict was resolved rather quickly. It definitely build to something more over the book and then felt rushed in the final chapters.

Overall, if you want a quick Christmas read, this is a fine novel.

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a cozy, romantic and very entertaining read. I almost felt like standing in knee-deep snow myself. A wonderful book for the holiday.

[Kasia Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story. I loved the setting and the characters. It was slightly predictable but I don’t mind that in a Christmas story 😊

[Lisa M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just what we need from a festive story - some wonderful characters (including the pets obviously!), gentle humour and maybe a sprinkling of romance...

Sophie runs Sunnyside, a guest house that she offers an alternative "non-Christmas" break. It was a delight to be introduced to the guests but my main interest lay with Sophie and local vet Brody. I'd love to hear more about them in any future books.

I am particularly drawn to any books set in the Lake District as it is always such a magical setting and I'd urge anyone to pick up this book to share the magic!

My thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy which I have reviewed honestly.

[Georgia Winkley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the dialogue in this so stiff at times and i honestly really struggled with the last 100 pages. i just didn’t feel the yern at all.

[Books By Your Bedside · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.

Oh how I love a Christmas book and how I love a Phillipa Ashley Christmas book. I read this on the weekend I got my Covid and flu jabs, and they really flared up my chronic pain and so I was feeling rather sorry for myself, and so Phillipa came to my rescue, as she has done on more than one occasion over the years.

On the topic of not judging a book by its cover (I totally do), this is a beautiful, cosy, wintery cover and I loved it.

I couldn't really relate to Sophie at first because I am a Christmas nut all year round, but it was interesting to read a Christmas book where the main character, at least on the surface, dislikes the season. But as the book goes on and you learn her reasons and her beliefs that she became a more familiar character and I really enjoyed going on this journey with her.

There are many characters: Sophie and her paying guests, Brody and his family, neighbours, people in the community, strangers, farm animals - you name it, you'll find them in this book. And there isn't a single wasted one. They all have their own purposes for being there but also help move Sophie's story along.

I was having a hard time reading before this, nothing was really holding my attention for long, and so at 400 pages I was worried that, as much as I love her books, I would struggle to focus for that long. But I read it in less than 24 hours, it is so captivating and is a really lovely festive story, so it zoomed by.

I didn't expect it to be so emotional. I'm not going to say what happened for fear of spoilers but about 60% of the way through something (not bad) happens, and I was in floods of tears just like the characters.

It's not "just" (and I use that word reluctantly as I love the genre) a festive, cosy, loving romcom - although there is that too. It has so much to get your teeth into; it does touch on difficult topics such as affairs and relationship difficulties, secrets, lies and dishonesty, grief, illness, family tensions, and loneliness.

I have read several of Phillipa's books over the years and this is by far my absolute favourite.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

You’d think someone who used to run a year-round Christmas shop and who has cats called Jingle and Belle would absolutely adore Christmas wouldn’t you? Well, Sophie used to until her relationship fell apart spectacularly at Christmas. She’s built a new life for herself running Sunnyside Guest House in the Lake District and decides to offer an alternative Christmas break – an escape from Christmas! Despite the fact that she keeps explaining it’s just an alternative, the locals will insist that it’s an anti-Christmas break! I thought it was a really good idea actually. I do like Christmas and all the traditions but can appreciate that other people find it a difficult time of year and it must be hard to be bombarded with Christmas music and advertising which seems to get earlier and earlier each year!

Sophie’s nearest neighbour is handsome vet Brody and over the time she’s owned Sunnyside they have been getting closer. They seemed to be perfect for each other and she was just starting to believe that perhaps she could trust someone again when all of a sudden, something happened to break that trust. As a reader we know what the reasons for that were but poor Sophie doesn’t. I was so hoping that somehow Brody could explain everything to her but also respected his reasons for not doing so. I loved his black lab Norman, a typical dog who is keen to eat everything in sight!

I really enjoyed meeting all the guests and finding out their reasons for not wanting to celebrate a traditional Christmas. They were certainly an eclectic bunch! I don’t want to tell you all about them as you’ll want to discover who they are and why they are there for yourself. However, it’s fair to say that they definitely had an alternative Christmas and, thanks to some unexpected arrivals and an unexpected snowfall, a very different experience to what they had expected!

Escape for Christmas is a fabulously festive read in a beautiful setting and with a heart-warming romance. With its themes of hope, love and new beginnings cosy up with a cup of hot chocolate and add this book your Christmas reading list.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sophie really doesn’t hate Christmas – well, she certainly never used to. In fact, she once ran a Christmas shop all year round, even calling her cats Jingle and Belle – but that was before her partner betrayed her so spectacularly at that time of year, and with her best friend. So now she’s trying to make a success of the Sunnyside Guest House in the Lakes – it’s where she fled to have a fresh start – and it might just be that others would appreciate a rather different Christmas experience too, escaping from all the usual traditions.

And it really seems they would – she’s soon fully booked, has sorted out the flamenco dancers and the hot tub, planned the paella for Christmas Day, and the guests – a particularly eclectic mix – have arrived. But she never thought the weather would cause such problems – and the heavy snow might just give them all a Christmas that’s even more different than they expected.

Brody’s the local vet, and lives in his family farm on the hillside behind Sunnyside – there’s definitely real chemistry between him and Sophie, and he’s always there for her, making every problem feel more manageable. But it does seem he has a few secrets of his own, and her trust in him might just have been misplaced – and it’s a situation that looks like it’ll stand in the way of any possibility of a happy ending for them both.

I really felt for Sophie as she tried to move on from the sadness in her past, Brody is the perfect love interest (well, until…), and every individual who finds themselves spending their Christmas at Sunnyside (even the rather unexpected arrivals) is quite wonderfully drawn, all with their own stories. It’s a particularly Christmassy story in so many ways, very cleverly handled – and while it’s certainly not quite the experience anyone was expecting, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment. The impossible romance was particularly engaging, both heartwarming and emotional, with considerable barriers to overcome – but, knowing more than Sophie about the full story, I had every confidence that they’d get there in the end. I always so enjoy a story about fresh starts and new beginnings – the setting is beautifully drawn too, and the four-legged characters are every bit as wonderful as the humans.

The whole book really was an absolute delight – fabulously festive, gloriously romantic, and the most perfect Christmas read. You will add it to your list, won’t you? This is one I’d really urge you not to miss – I totally loved it.

[Colin Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

After catching her fiance and her best friend in a compromising position just before Christmas Sophie moved to Cumbria to run a small hotel. She decides to have a non-Christmas holiday special break for guests who, for their own reasons, don't wish to celebrate Christmas in the conventional way
Set in a wonderful, although remote, location this is definitely a hotel I'd love to visit. Her neighbour Brody, a very, is a potential love interest but things aren't as they seem. She has a wonderful collection of guests arriving for the break, each with their own stories, and the planned activities and food are definitely different. . There is also a bit of a menagerie, with Sophie's two cats Jingle and Bells plus Brody's lab Harold amongst others. With weather and other problems getting in the way the ending is never certain. A book that I did enjoy and well worth reading.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book.

[Susanne Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cosy read. The descriptions of the guest house, fell top farm, the village and the mountains were very descriptive and really set the picture.

Sophie bought the guest house to start over and try and get away from her past and more importantly Christmas. Things don’t go quite to plan, but it never was a story about being the ‘anti Christmas’ just an alternative as she had painful memories attached to Christmas. I liked Sophie and how she cared so much for everyone around her, how she made her guests feel welcome and seen. Brody however didn’t quite live up to my expectation of the ‘hero’. I could see what a difficult situation he’d got himself into, but I felt he could have spoken up sooner. His ex, Tegan seemed to control him totally no matter how much he protested inside his own head. It didn’t make him come across as a strong character. Once he grew a backbone and stood up for himself, then I liked him much better. He seemed so much happier with Sophie.

It was a nice read, a bit slow for me without the two main characters pulling me along. 3.5 stars as I did still enjoy parts of it.

[Paula Learmouth · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Sophie has an idea, she wasn't expecting her countryside B & B, Sunnyside in the Lake District to be full. But it looks like she's not the only one to want an alternative Christmas. Just when Sophie thinks everything is going to plan, things start to go wrong. Being snowed in and a power cut is just a couple of things. Having to ask for help from her neighbour isn't something she wanted. You'll have to read it yourself to see what else is in store for Sophie.
I love the thought of Christmas in the Lake District with snow and that's what you get with this book.

[made_for_reading]

This book was a cute read but just not my cup of tea, I ended up skim reading it and got the main points of the story but other than that I don’t have much more to say. Just because it wasn’t for me though that doesn’t mean it’s not for you and if you are thinking about reading it, give it a go anyway. Some of the best books I have found have been totally random and not my genre also some of the most popular books out there I’ve not enjoyed as much as others so it’s always worth trying it out anyway regardless of a review.

[mrsljgibbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this author’s books and again, this one was wonderful, i thoroughly enjoyed it!!

Escape For Christmas is definitely a perfect, festive story and was wonderful for snuggling up on my favourite chair with a hot cuppa tea and some cake!!

This book pulled me in right from the very first chapter and it didn’t let me go until i had read the whole book and i thoroughly enjoyed everything about it!

Escape For Christmas was Christmassy, entertaining, romantic and heartwarming and definitely left me with a warm and fuzzy feeling and a very happy heart too…..

[Michelle Staines · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first book by this Author & I absolutely loved it. Great holiday read & loved being familiar with the setting which was in Windermere in The Lakes.
Sophie was my favourite character and sounded like such a lovely person who gambled her big move after being cheated on…she deserved success & happiness and Brody seemed just perfect for her!
A few unexpected incidents which kept me turning the pages. Loved it….
A big 5 stars.. ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Elza · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8⭐️
Pleasant to read, a not very complicated story.
Too slow (having to wait until p360-ish for the story to unfold itself) + waiting for characters to reveal things for over 300 pages that have been repeated idk how many times in the story + the characters over explaining everything

[Lucy Cullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐ very cute Christmassy romance 🎄

[Amelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! Such a heartwarming and joyous but cosy Christmas read, would definitely recommend.

[Charlotte Chaps · Rating 4 out of 5]

Escape For Christmas was a charming, wholesome read with an inviting warmth. The characters were relatable and well-drawn, though perhaps a bit too harmonious—I'm not sure real people would get along quite so perfectly! Still, the story flowed effortlessly, and while some parts were predictable, I found myself genuinely drawn in. It was refreshing to enjoy a romance without over-the-top, cringeworthy scenes. Overall, a lovely, feel-good holiday escape that captures the spirit of the season

[Caroline Mattinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A warm hug of a story

A lovely winter read about a guesthouse in the Lakes & it's various guests & local community. A story of how love wins through if you let it !

[Anna Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5☆ A very easy festive read. I love when you know what you're getting and I enjoyed the setting. It felt a bit rushed in the end but overall made me happy to read it!