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A review by mcvemma98
Four Christmases and a Secret by Zara Stoneley
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley and One More Chapter (and HarperCollins UK) for the advanced digital copy of this novel! All my thoughts are my own.
"Four Christmases and A Secret" is about Daisy Dunkerly, a woman in her early thirties. Every year, her Uncle Terrance hosts a Christmas Eve party in his bookshop, meaning Daisy has to wear antlers, Christmas sweaters (or jumpers), and hear about how perfect and successful her childhood friend (and sort-of crush, back then at least) Oliver Cartwright is. She hates the comparisons she gets from her mom, and this year she decides to change her life: working her way up the latter at her journalism & advertising job, finding a man that isn't Ollie Cartwright, and maybe saving a small dog named Stanley. This story takes place over the course of about three years, and during this time Daisy has to learn to believe in herself and learn who is and isn't there for her, as her friendship with Ollie becomes closer and closer. But her Uncle Terrance has a few secrets up his sleeves, some which involve Daisy and may her world as she knows it.
"Four Christmases and A Secret" is a very character-driven story, which I liked, since Daisy herself I think is the best part of the book. Daisy is a funny, charming, motivated woman with goals in mind for herself, determined to not let her past failures define her life. She faces self-doubt and that feeling everybody knows, the feeling of "am I good enough?" in when making career moves, making reading this book from her perspective feel like reading a diary, or having a conversation with a close friend. Daisy is easy to love and root for.
The plot of the book, as I mentioned before, is very character-driven. The beginning of the book was entertaining and easy to get through, but I found that this book had a bit of a sagging middle. It did pick up within the last third of the book, and when it did, there were plot twists and unbelievable secrets revealed left and right, which I will not be spoiling. The very ending did feel just a little bit rushed, though it was a warm and happy one, an ending that still satisfied me as a reader.
The romance between Ollie and Daisy is definitely a slow-burn, but their build-up wasn't as tense and spark-filled as I had hoped. Ollie is a doctor that travels often, meaning that although Daisy thinks and talks about him often, Ollie himself isn't in several parts of the book. Their relationship really builds not through heated spark-filled moments, but moments of building each other up or relying on one another as the years go by.
Another highlight of this book: number one would be Stanley, Daisy's rescue dog that is both a cute side-character adding charm and havoc to scenes throughout the book, but is also depicted very realistically as a dog, meaning: eating other people's food off of trays, rolling over to reveal his stomach in front of a crowded room, sneezing on Daisy's piece of pizza.
Overall, "Four Christmases and A Secret" was a very good introduction to adult romance for me. It was a light, fun read while still dealing with very relatable feelings and situations. It was an okay book for me, and it was a little slow at times, but I enjoyed reading this book.
You can also check out this post on my book blog: https://emmasbooksreviews.blogspot.com/2019/09/review-four-christmases-and-secret.html
"Four Christmases and A Secret" is about Daisy Dunkerly, a woman in her early thirties. Every year, her Uncle Terrance hosts a Christmas Eve party in his bookshop, meaning Daisy has to wear antlers, Christmas sweaters (or jumpers), and hear about how perfect and successful her childhood friend (and sort-of crush, back then at least) Oliver Cartwright is. She hates the comparisons she gets from her mom, and this year she decides to change her life: working her way up the latter at her journalism & advertising job, finding a man that isn't Ollie Cartwright, and maybe saving a small dog named Stanley. This story takes place over the course of about three years, and during this time Daisy has to learn to believe in herself and learn who is and isn't there for her, as her friendship with Ollie becomes closer and closer. But her Uncle Terrance has a few secrets up his sleeves, some which involve Daisy and may her world as she knows it.
"Four Christmases and A Secret" is a very character-driven story, which I liked, since Daisy herself I think is the best part of the book. Daisy is a funny, charming, motivated woman with goals in mind for herself, determined to not let her past failures define her life. She faces self-doubt and that feeling everybody knows, the feeling of "am I good enough?" in when making career moves, making reading this book from her perspective feel like reading a diary, or having a conversation with a close friend. Daisy is easy to love and root for.
The plot of the book, as I mentioned before, is very character-driven. The beginning of the book was entertaining and easy to get through, but I found that this book had a bit of a sagging middle. It did pick up within the last third of the book, and when it did, there were plot twists and unbelievable secrets revealed left and right, which I will not be spoiling. The very ending did feel just a little bit rushed, though it was a warm and happy one, an ending that still satisfied me as a reader.
The romance between Ollie and Daisy is definitely a slow-burn, but their build-up wasn't as tense and spark-filled as I had hoped. Ollie is a doctor that travels often, meaning that although Daisy thinks and talks about him often, Ollie himself isn't in several parts of the book. Their relationship really builds not through heated spark-filled moments, but moments of building each other up or relying on one another as the years go by.
Another highlight of this book: number one would be Stanley, Daisy's rescue dog that is both a cute side-character adding charm and havoc to scenes throughout the book, but is also depicted very realistically as a dog, meaning: eating other people's food off of trays, rolling over to reveal his stomach in front of a crowded room, sneezing on Daisy's piece of pizza.
Overall, "Four Christmases and A Secret" was a very good introduction to adult romance for me. It was a light, fun read while still dealing with very relatable feelings and situations. It was an okay book for me, and it was a little slow at times, but I enjoyed reading this book.
You can also check out this post on my book blog: https://emmasbooksreviews.blogspot.com/2019/09/review-four-christmases-and-secret.html