Home For Christmas: A Village Romance

Christmas Romances #3

by A.J. Marchant

For the first time in ten years, Lucy is going home for Christmas…

A corporate lawyer at a high-powered firm, Lucy’s days are spent fixing problems, brokering deals and making other people rich. Little does she know that going back to her small coastal village will be nothing like she expects and that the corporate world has already beaten her there.

Ange, a generational ocean fisher and Lucy’s ex, challenges Lucy’s way of living and working, immersing her back into the slow coastal life, giving them a second chance at becoming something, and reminding Lucy why she wanted to be a lawyer.

On her very first day back, Lucy finds out a large corporation threatens to alter the very heart and soul of the close knit community. Like always, she jumps into action, looking for a way for the villagers to fight back. Will it work? Or will their efforts be thwarted? And will Lucy and Ange get their second chance, or will history get in the way?


Home For Christmas is a romance about two driven women and their tight-knit group of friends who never really grew up. Set in an Australian coastal village, there are Santa races, Christmas lights and festive sand castles, a beloved lawn bowls club, a strong old broad named Nanna Ray, and so much more. It’s a comedy, it’s a drama, it’s a romance. It’s a story about finding and fighting for the things you thought you’d lost a long time ago.

Genres: Christmas, Romance, Lesbian, Holiday, LGBT, Lesbian Romance, Fiction

242 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 17, 2021

Reviews

[AnnMaree Of Oz]

I really wanted to love this. Being set in and about a small coastal Australian town for the Christmas holidays, meant it should have related to me. Kindle Unlimited.

But unfortunately 48% in and I have no real emotional investment. If anything the author is painting the ex, Ange, as some flighty, inconsistent, far too laid back woman, with no direction because she dares to live and stay in their hometown and love it - the complete opposite to the MC Lucy who left for the big city quickly and hasn't returned in 10 years - and even having that characters monologue around those things, as Ange disses her in return for 'working for the devil' in some lawyerly corporate millionaire snake pit.

I get having an antagonistic relationship, opposites attract, etc... but it felt already so tired, tried and down'n'out, with no real emotion other than exasperation from both - that I had no real willingness to see either of them try and fail again. Let alone start with the 'friends with benefits' crapshoot that happened, which made me uncomfortable.

There's heaps of details here, but no emotion. The author is just telling stuff. Details about the town, but giving me no feelings about it. Which when told from the perspective of our MC Character, Lucy, means she comes off as unfeeling, unemotional and a robot who is judgmental and critical. You actually don't understand why the town would welcome her back with open arms, when she hasn't done anything to keep in contact with anyone, or keep up with the community.

A lot of it is like, aww look at the quaint town, still the same, the same boring people doing the same little jobs... yknow like Belle singing that song about the 'poor provincial town' and wondering why no one likes her stuck up attitude? yeah.

There's more, but I really don't want to be a rambling ranter. It doesn't feel good to be negative, despite what people may think. It's just disappointing, really.

[Kexx · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find AJ's writing difficult to read, doesn't somehow flow and I become confused by the number of characters. And how many phalamapist millionaires are there and why can't I meet one?

[Darcy Bea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved it!

A wholesome festive read with a great plot and fuzzy feels! Loved the small town charm woven throughout a lot and will deffo be checking more out from this author!

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot of this book was entirely predictable, which is probably, for at least some romance readers, a good thing. However, the book is well-written and filled with interesting and believable characters. It may be a holiday-themed romance (set in Australia, BTW), but it's well executed.

[Cara Ramsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun Christmas romp about a disillusioned lawyer coming home for Christmas, finding love and community, and choosing those things over a soulless job in corporate law. Spoilers follow!


Lucy goes home for Christmas where she encounters Ange, her first love. But she finds the town is in deep trouble with a developer buying up property and shuttering vacation homes to starve the town’s businesses into selling out to him.

Faced with a pile of tasks from the law firm where she works, she ignores them and instead focuses the town’s troubles. One of those tasks was to either talk a specific billionaire into returning to her law firm or to find a way to ruin his reputation.

She talks the developer into letting Nanna Ray’s clubhouse off the hook and for him to leave the town alone if they can come up with half of the nasty interest he charged Nanna Ray.

Along the way, she and Ange get emotionally entangled again, the town raises the needed funds but sees them stolen away, and she realizes she wants Ange more than the soulless job in the city.

With the money stolen, she returns to the city, and is told she has to make a presentation to Hugo, the billionaire, but instead tells him that he can do so much better than this law firm. Her boss is furious but she quits and walks out.

Instead, she returns home, helps the local rich boy who is in financial trouble , hence him siding with the developer, to call Hugo. Hugo comes in, bails out the town, and hires Lucy to work for him remotely, thus allowing her dreams of forever with Ange to come true.


I loved this book. I hope you will too.

[Mun Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lucy is a corporate lawyer who hasn’t been home for Christmas in a very long time. Although time has passed, Lucy and Ange still feel an attraction towards each other but Lucy is unsure of what Ange wants. Meanwhile, a large corporation threatens to change the heart and soul of her hometown.

My rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars

Home For Christmas was an okay book for me. There are some good parts and some parts that I found that were just so-so.

I’ll start with the okay parts. From the blurb, it sounded like the makings of a book that I could love, but unfortunately, it slightly fell short of that. Where the author took the story was a bit too predictable for my taste. I wish I was more invested in the romance between Lucy and Ange, however, I did want to see their happy ending.

Now for the parts I enjoyed more. I really loved Nanna Ray’s character. I think she was a scene stealer wherever she was concerned. I felt that the premise of the story was interesting and refreshing.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A second chance love story and a coming home to your heart, simply the best story.

Everytime I think the next story just can't be as good, A.J. Marchant delivers more. Ange and Lucy are just the best couple who know each others heart. 10 years after Lucy has graduated from law school they still are not together and Lucy has lost home for herself. The story has wealthy, greedy and scrupulous people. It also has a group of people who have had each other's back since high school. It was a sweet time for this group and they needed to come together to save the place where they grew up and live. A delightful story with characters that just filled the pages.

[Lindsey Wallace-Galli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I predicted the ending of this book from the beginning. I didn’t like Ange, whatsoever. She was flighty, uncommunicative and didn’t face her feelings head on. The main character, Lucy, was domineering, which you would expect from a high-class lawyer. The thing I didn’t like about this book is that the author never explained who all these characters meant to Lucy, except for her cousin Wyatt who she stayed with when she came into town. It could have taken a different direction, and I definitely didn’t like the part where the boss of Lucy kept making passes at her and she was just okay with it.

[Carolyn G. Manuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Favourite Lawyer

Lucy hadn’t been home in ten years but this Christmas she would make it. The fact that her family would be on their boat was not panned out. Seeing her beloved Nanna Rae and former girlfriend Ange was only the beginning. Back with all her friends and working to be part of village life again was heaven. Saving the village from a corporate billionaire and getting her girlfriend back is the goal. A wonderful heartwarming story with hearts and love.

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

"'My work, my job, it may be in the city. But my life is here. My home is, and always will be, here. In the village. With my family. And Nanna Ray. With Happy and the twins, and, god-forbid, Brendan... and you... It was somehow more intimate than the longest, deepest kiss...
'We said no feelings.'
Lucy gave a wry smile. 'I can't help it. We fit.'"

[Donna Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

You're My Favourite Person

I was looking for a summer Christmas tale and A.J. Marchant came up with a good one from Aussie. Plenty of sand castle Santa's, BBQ and beach firework. The village meal under the tree. I loved the barefoot bowls competition. Such a lovely change to winter traditions

[Jude · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet Story

I really enjoyed this story. The author does a great job of making you fall in love with the characters. The story is told in a way that makes you feel like you're right there with them. Well done!

[M L Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

I really liked Lucy and Angie. They appear different on the outside, one's a high powered corporate lawyer, the other a generational fisherman. But underneath it all they both care about their home, each other and making the world a better place.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable holiday read

Very good holiday story. You have it all romance, second chances, Mr scrooge nanna the villages heart, and a happy ending. What more does a good holiday story need. Thankd

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really liked

This was an awesome story. It made me laugh but also had me stressing out at certain parts. It had me smiling more than stressing though.
I highly recommend this book.
Thank you
K.Balandran

[Jade Doodes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a sweet second chance romance set in a small town. I enjoyed how the circumstances pulled Lucy and Ange back together and reminded them of how they felt. There’s a lot going on within the story alongside the romance which kept it interesting all the way to the very end.

[Candice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sweet, but bland. Could easily be optioned for a Hallmark movie.

[Carole Damoci · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good book

I really enjoyed this book. Second chance and a HEA. Who could want anything more? The dialogue was sound. I loved the band of friends since childhood.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful story!! I love the characters, evolving storyline, and the growing love between Lucy and Ange. I cannot wait to read more by Marchant.

[Martina Weiß · Rating 4 out of 5]

CW: Minor Sexual Content, Alcohol

3.5 / 5 Stars

[Kimberly · Rating 1 out of 5]

This had some good elements-return to home, coastal setting, tight friend group, sweet old lady needing the town to rally and help her keep the heart of it alive-but at 52%, I just was not invested enough to continue reading and skimmed through to the end.