My Review: My, this is a very pull at the heart-string read. Alex the main character, Magnus and Jowan are absolutely wonderful characters, each with their complexities instilled from traumatic life experiences. Alex randomly washes up on shore after running away from her village where she’d caught her boyfriend Ben in an embrace with her best friend Eve. The locals scoop her up and take care of her. Magnus, is there because he is borrowing the bookshop for two weeks, as is the principal of the Borrow a Bookshop scheme, which comes with its own cafe. With the 27ft river cruiser Dagalien in need of fixing, she stays with Jowan who kindly offered her a place to stay. I absolutely adored the build up in Magnus and Alex friendship, both have a lot of healing to do, and a lot of trust to build. Besides Magnus comes off as a Nordic Dream from Iceland. Events lead to misunderstandings that give us some cute Uber Driver messages. My heart was broken, warmed and beating faster at the build of this love story. Self discovery can take us all kinds of places, if we listen. Beautiful and fully recommended.
Christmas at the Borrow a Bookshop
‘Tis the season for finding love… and the perfect book
With just two weeks until Christmas, everything in Clove Lore should be perfect. But the latest holidaymaker to the Borrow a Bookshop is feeling far from festive…
Icelandic ex-bookseller Magnús Sturluson might be surrounded by love stories in the Bookshop, but he’s nursing a sadness that not even fiction can fix.
When Alexandra Robinson finds herself stranded in Clove Lore, she finds a safe place to hide from heartbreak. After all, all that’s waiting for her at home is a cheater boyfriend and the memories of her parents. As Alex finds herself embraced by the quirky village community, she finds her tough exterior thawing – and as she grows closer to Magnús, she finds an equally soft heart under his gruff shell.
It seems that Clove Lore is working its magic once again – until a great flood on Christmas Eve brings devastation in its wake. It’s up to Magnús and Alex to batten down the hatches and help bring the village back together again, while also introducing the locals to the Icelandic tradition of the jólabókaflóð – Yule book flood – where families and friends gather on Christmas Eve to exchange books and read together.
But can Magnús and Alex truly rescue the ruins of the village, and salvage their Christmas spirit? Or is there another complication lurking even closer than they thought?
Purchase Links
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3QpSgpj
Apple: https://apple.co/3Oewbs0
Hive: https://bit.ly/3HI1olz
Author Bio – Kiley Dunbar writes heart-warming, escapist, romantic fiction set in beautiful places, with One Winter’s Night being shortlisted for the RNA Romantic Comedy Novel Award 2021.
Kiley’s five novels include: The Borrow a Bookshop Holiday (May 2021), One Winter’s Night (September 2020), Summer at the Highland Coral Beach (2020), Christmas at Frozen Falls (2019) and One Summer’s Night (2019).
Social Media Links –
‘Kiley Dunbar Author Book Page’ on Facebook
website and newsletter: http://www.kileydunbar.co.uk/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI8wM4Fmkbyg4S_XGSnfUCA
https://www.facebook.com/KileyDunbarAuthor/
Thank you to Rachel from Rachels Random Resources for organising this blogtour and thank you to Kiley Dunbar for allowing me to read and review this gorgeous story.
Inspired by my PMDD 