The 12 Books of Christmas: Let It Snow by Beth Moran

*I was given a copy of Let It Snow in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Boldwood Books and Beth Moran*

Synopsis:

After the end of a long-term relationship, local weather girl Bea Armstrong has been avoiding her family, and their inevitable ‘I-told-you-sos.’ But with Christmas fast approaching, she is finally on her way home to Charis House, the school in Sherwood Forest that her mum and dad run in their old family home. And to top it all off, the insufferable Henry Fairfax – who her parents have always wanted her to marry – has also been invited.

Relief comes in the shape of a last minute interview for her dream job. There are just a few minor problems… The interview is in Scotland, Bea has no car, and the snow is falling already. The only solution is for Henry to drive her – could this Christmas get any worse…

But during an unforgettable two day interview, a stay in a log cabin and a nightmare journey through the snow, Henry turns out to be nothing like she thought. And when Bea’s first love and recent ex shows up, Bea has a difficult choice to make…

Review:

I’ve wanted to check out Beth Moran for a while now and I’m glad Let It Snow was my introduction, I really enjoyed this. It had many heartwarming moments and moments of despair, basically it was an emotional rollercoaster but in a good way. You could never tell where the story would go.

I’m really not a fan of ‘I don’t want to spend Christmas with family because they annoy me’ type stories because every single time the family are really nice and seem to have the most festive Christmases. For someone who wants to come across as sunshine personified Bea is pretty mean about her family to begin with. The reason why she didn’t want to see her family is because of her break-up but not a single person mentioned it (that I can remember) so that was silly of her. Thankfully she starts to realise that she loves spending time with her family and how important it is to do so.

I loved the background on Charis House and what the school was like when Bea was a teenager but I hated every bit of this book that had Adam in it. He was very manipulative and tried to play the victim all the time. When he showed up on Christmas day I was fuming.

I actually thought Let It Snow was going to take turn I wouldn’t be happy with but luckily it did not. There is a need for drama and I get that but it would have been a huge mistake if it did happen.

Henry on the other hand was lovely. It was a bit weird that he told Bea to her face that he was ‘infatuated’ with her because let’s be honest that’s a bit creepy. However, he really was lovely and very selfless. Unfortunately he didn’t really get any development and he seemed to only be there to chauffeur Bea around.

The two-day interview section was completely wild, but very entertaining. I loved the entire thing, especially the journey Bea and Henry take and the problems they face getting back. It fed into many beloved tropes without seeming like the book was written for that purpose.

Let It Snow was fun but quite chaotic at times. This isn’t the type of story you would read if you want cosy festive vibes. There’s quite a lot of drama and a few overlapping storylines that you may find difficult to keep on top of. It was enjoyable but this is not a relaxing festive romance. Actually, there wasn’t much romance to speak of at all.

Basically, there was so much going on in Let It Snow that it could have been split into at least two novels. The beginning and middle seemed a little too rushed and chaotic and the end was quite prolonged. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it though, I really did, it just isn’t my favourite festive read of the year.