I thought that this was a really good and fun read!

As I was reading the book my main thoughts were “oh my all these people seem to do it eat!” but other than eating, which did make me raid the cupboard more than once, the book was a wonderful romantic read that has a lovely slow build up.

I thought that the characters were well developed and they worked really well together too, it was a delightful read and I thought it was lovely from cover to cover.

It is 4 stars from me for this one, highly recommended!

Holly Greene is a doctor who has found herself in some trouble at work. It's almost Christmas and she finds the she doesn't really have anything to look forward to. To escape, she goes to visit her brother who has moved to a little island off the coast of Norway. There, she meets a man many people of the island refer to as a "hermit" and she slowly starts bringing him out of his shell.

I loved the setting of this book, it sounded so beautiful and picturesque despite being rainy and slushy. I've been to Denmark and Sweden but now Norway is on my list as well. I love how Normann introduces us to the local customs and cuisine.

Holly is a relatable character and despite his gruff persona, Tor really grows on you too. It's really sweet that Holly has such an effect on him. They seem to really fit together well, without being super cheesy or cliché.

The only thing I noticed that I wished was a bit different is that we spent soo long building up to it, but then the first kiss got barely any mention. I had to reread to make sure I had read it right. It would have been nice to have a little bit more detail as to what Holly was thinking etc.

Recommend this for anyone who would enjoy a contemporary romance, but also learning a bit more about Norway and their culture.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK - One More Chapter for the eGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

This one was a cute Christmas read. Seemed a little drawn out to me, but overall I did enjoy the story. I've very intrigued by the Norwegian and Scandinavian countries, so I like the lingo and the way that people are. And I requested this book because of the cover, sorry not sorry. I will be giving this book three stars on GoodReads.

Christmas Island by Natalie Normann was a great holiday story to escape into for fun. Cute, cozy and completely enjoyable. I loved the setting of a quaint small island community in Norway, loved that the cat Frøy was part of so many scenes, and loved all the descriptive references to food. While the main character Holly (of course) was delightful if I think too hard about it, I can’t quite connect the fact that she’s entering an oncology program as a doctor but makes some decisions and just sounds young and a little scattered. The opening scene finds her coming ashore after dark, getting lost, and letting a strange man take her home to his cottage -- and she sleeps on his couch until daylight when she can find her way to her brother’s house. Not the wisest decision though of course it’s fine in a fictional Norwegian island village. This is a cute romance that includes a holiday fling (her actions here also seemed impulsive and unwise to me) but the description is all totally closed door.

Christmas Island is a cozy Scandinavian holiday read featuring Holly, an aspiring doctor, who is visiting the island her brother lives on. While her family is in mainland Europe, Holly takes time to herself (and nearly walks herself off a cliff in the process). Frøy (a cat) and Tor (a human) save her in the nick of time, and they all get to know each other in the lead up to Christmas.

While the characters were not my favorite of the cozy holiday variety, I was fully engaged by the author’s descriptions of the island and Norwegian holiday history and traditions! At times, the dialogue seemed to be awkward and formal; I was unsure if I was supposed to be reading that as Norwegians speaking English and it did distract me from the overall plot.

If you liked - We Met in December, Beach Read, Why I Held Your Hand, Rescue Me (but you wish Blossom had been a cat) - then you’ll enjoy Christmas Island!

Anything that has 'cosy Christmas' on the cover, is a winner in my books! I loved Holly and Tor and I was rooting for them throughout the book. This was a lovely read and put me into a right festive mood. If you are looking for a Christmas romance novel this year, this is a definite pick for me.

Christmas Island is so SWEET! Not only the love story, but all the Norwegian desserts the characters eat sound delicious! It even comes with some recipes so don’t read while hungry.

I wouldn’t recommend this if you only like steamy romance because this isn’t it. All the sex scenes are fade to black/behind closed doors. However, if you’re looking for a low drama, heartwarming, and festive romance then this checks those boxes! There’s also a cat that is probably the best character in the book😹

I requested this book because I’m obsessed with Nordic countries, their culture, and hygge (or in this case koselig) and it delivered on teaching me more about Norwegian traditions.

Now, I need to work backwards and read Summer Island.

Cosy up in front of a fire and discover Christmas the Norwegian way…full of romance, cosy traditions and hygge!

Huge thanks to Random Tour Things for this delightful Christmas read that has put this grinch into a festive Christmas mood.

📚5 reasons to cosy up with Christmas Island📚

✅ It whisks you off to experience a Norwegian Christmas and I loved all the hygge vibes. Even the nearly constant darkness just seemed warm and comforting.
✅ A romance that drew me in, and wasn’t full of over the top drama. It just felt genuine and believable. Holly and Tor are just super cute together.
✅ Lots of humor had me snorting through the pages. Holly always lands in the messiest of situations.
✅ I loved learning about all the Norwegian traditions, and the food sounds delicious.
✅ Froy the cat, a massive character who stole the show.

Highly recommended for you if you are in the market for a Christmas read that’ll make you laugh and smile and happy sigh.

A Christmas getaway, a grumpy hermit, a cute cat, and a doctor on suspension, all thrown together to make this holiday romance. The story follows Holly, a doctor who is on leave after an incident at the hospital, who decides to take a break at her brother’s place in Norway, and on her first night there is saved from falling off a cliff by the grumpy hermit (also on vacation), Tor and his cat Frøy. Tor and Holly find themselves running into each other and slowly start to warm up to one another after a frosty start. The story is filled with village cuteness, holiday cheer, and all the fun foods/drinks to get you hungry for the holiday. I have to say, my all time favorite character in this book was Frøy, I so badly want my own Frøy. Frøy is the cutest cat ever and honestly, the all star of this book. The romance is sweet and simple, and the story was a fast read. This is a great read for anyone looking for an easy holiday read during this Christmas! The couple is sweet and their romance is a nice paced one. Definitely gave off a Hallmark Holiday movie vibe, so grab your cup of hot coco and get cozy for this winter romance!

*Thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I was really disappointed with this title. I wanted a cute and cozy Christmas Romance and - while this did have a romance it was neither cute nor cozy. All of the descriptions of the cold, water, ice, grey skies etc just made me cold by proxy.

It was incredibly slow moving and fairly uneventful. I know it's the authors second book in English and I commend her for her effort but much of it reads really disjoined and at times too formal. All in all it just fell flat for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored this Christmas Romance set in Norway! There was so much Norwegian lore and traditions. I learned a lot and now want to spend Christmas in a small Norwegian island!

The romance between Tor and Holly was slow burn and amazing. Froy, the cat, was my next favorite character. All the islanders had great voices and made me want to jump right into the story to hang out with them.

If you are looking for a quick read, Christmas romance, this is a book for you!

Oh I loved this book it’s had me cheesy grinning on a lots of occasions. A real Christmas community coming together with and extra dash of handsome hermit.. perfect ❤️

Christmas Island is Natalie Normann's second English release, following her first release called Summer Island. I enjoyed reading both of these for so many wonderful reasons. Norway is a place that is high on my list of places that I am longing to visit. Reading these stories and reading about their traditions and ways of life made me felt like I was a visitor there, all while sitting in my house. I enjoyed the relationship Holly and Tor in this story, and I especially loved the appearance of Froy, the Norwegian Forest cat, in this book! This book is making me want to visit Norway at Christmas time now!!

2 stars

DNF'd at 30%.

I wish I had better things to say about this book because I absolutely love the idea of it - who doesn't want to get cozy on Christmas with a hunky Norwegian man? Unfortunately, the execution did not live up to the concept. Normann tries to generate tension by repeatedly saying that each of these characters have secrets, but there seems to be no indication from where I stopped that answers will be presently forthcoming. The story reads more like a series of random events occurring to people that just happen to be near each other and despite the fact that there are insane amounts of dialogue between them, their conversations manage to really go nowhere. I tried to slog through it for as long as I could because it is normally not my policy to DNF, but I just could not get through it.

Thank you to NetGalley and One More Chapter for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

This novel has such a cute premise: a doctor who's visiting her brother and a scruffy hermitish architect- both on a beautiful Norwegian island in the midst of the Christmas holiday.

Unfortunately, it fell flat for me personally. I had such high hopes for a connection between Holly and Tor, but there really weren't any sparks, until the end of the novel, and then at that, really no deepness to the spark.

I also found myself slogging through so many Norwegian words and foods. I was looking forward to learning more about the culture and traditions, but I as a reader seemed to fall flat in this scenario. Clearly the author has spent time in a very similar location/situation- her love of it is apparent, but I personally felt bogged down by the food descriptions and words I didn't know (without a quick description to make it easier on me). I was very thankful to be reading this on a Kindle where I could keep searching all the words. I did feel like a college kid again, researching a novel, for as many searches as I had to do!

Froy, the giant cat was my far my favorite character in the novel- he's just divine and I am so glad he was there in the story line!

I would have LOVED to hear more of Tor and Holly's background- clearly they were both hurting, and that pain has brought them to this point, but when we did learn little snippets of their storyline, it felt so rushed I couldn't get into it, until we were already on to more food descriptions.

Natalie Normann’s Christmas Island is the ultimate cosy Christmas book, so busting with koselig that even recipes are included at the end. The island, its customs and inhabitants are painted so vividly I could barely stand to leave it, and kept coming back to the book when I should have been doing other things. It didn’t feel like picture postcard Norway either, more a warm depiction of a particular way of life and that made it very special.

The romance at its centre isn’t complicated – and nor should it be – but the characters are, and Holly and Tor’s thawing out to each other was an absolute joy. Their story was perfectly tensioned, without the constant will-they-won’t-they that spoils so many romance novels for me. And Froy, the fluffy giant… well, the book just wouldn’t have been the same without him.

A truly lovely read set on a Norwegian island, perfect for some snowy escapism this Christmas.

Holly is a trainee doctor in London, when an incident with a colleague means that she’s suspended for a month. She hasn’t had a break in years, and her Dad persuades her to spend Christmas with Jack and his family on a small Norwegian island. Jack isn’t there when she first arrives, and an incident when trying to find their house means Holly soon comes face-to-face with Tor, a gorgeous Norwegian ‘hermit’ who is currently escaping his past on this remote island. He has a companion in the shape of a huge, fluffy black cat called Frøy, and I instantly adored him. Cats are such lovable, intuitive creatures yet they’re often overlooked as sidekicks in romance novels. I knew when we met him at 2% in that I was going to love it!

The sense of community is really strong in this book. They adhere to Norwegian principles of always offering to help each other out, whether it’s Alma plying everyone with her delicious bakes or Sigrid offering to help out at the market. Despite having just arrived, the residents recognise Holly on sight, which she finds a little odd as a Londoner, but endearing all the same. They embrace her whole-heartedly in to their Christmas preparations (of which she has little choice!), and Holly is soon swept up in island life.

The romance in this novel was deliciously sweet and simple. Tor is originally shy and extremely reluctant to integrate himself in to the community, but Holly’s joy for life is infectious. Soon he is attending dinner parties, markets and much more so he can spend time diving headfirst into an island Christmas with her. Their dates are also simple, but incredibly romantic. From taking her fishing to see the sunrise, to helping her man Jack’s stall at the Christmas market on the mainland, it’s thoughtful and down-to-earth. Tor starts to see the world through Holly’s eyes, gaining back his spark, and I loved seeing their relationship blossom. Whilst they both agree it’s a holiday romance, their compatibility and obvious love for each other means that you really hope for more.

This is a real different take on the Christmas novels I’ve read so far this year, and I loved that it veered away from a traditional English holiday season to a Norwegian Christmas. You are really immersed as you’re introduced to all the wonderful traditions and food (especially the food!) that they have. Discovering a new way of celebrating alongside Holly is wonderful.

Christmas Island drew me in with it’s cheerful cover that is reminiscent of the ‘hygge’ trend a few years ago (or ‘koselig’ in Norway): wonderfully cosy and cute, as if you’re escaping in to the warm houses away from the bitter winter storms too. It was a gentle read that was great to escape into, the ending was perfect and I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone looking for a different take on our traditional turkey-and-tinsel Christmases.

To get away from serious work drama, Doctor Holly takes a few days away on the remote Norwegian island that her brother has made his home. While waiting for her family to arrive home for Christmas, she meets the handsome local hermit and immerses herself in island life. Full of soothing koselig, plenty of sweet Scandinavian treats and an adorable fluffy kitty, this is a huge hug of a book full of community, culture and romance.

I'm so sorry but this book was just not good, on so many levels. Within the first couple of chapters, I had to Google the author to confirm my suspicion that English was surely not her first language - which proved correct, she is in fact Norwegian. Now don't get me wrong, it's incredibly impressive to write an entire novel in another language- but unfortunately, it is both obvious and jarring for the native English speaking reader. It's hard to believe the main character is from London when she speaks in awkward, Nordic-phrased English. The dialogue is uncomfortably awkward and at times just confusing - Holly seems to laugh often at things that aren't funny at all??

Holly is so dense I was surprised when it was mentioned she was a doctor - she doesn't come across as being that smart. There is very little build up of tension between the love interests - one minute they're awkward acquaintances, the next minute they're like, hey let's kiss and have sex. Like... okay?? It seemed to come out of nowhere, and the kissing and romantic connection is more told than shown. Frequent spelling and word errors were frustrating, I sure hope someone's gonna at least run spell check on this before it's released.

The descriptions of Norwegian traditions were nice enough but that's really all this one had going for it, I'm afraid. I was honestly pretty surprised when I saw it was coming from such a big name publisher. This read to me like a first draft that needs a LOT of polishing.

A cozy feel good Christmas read set on an island off the coast of Norway.

Holly is suspended from her job as a doctor in a London hospital. Whilst waiting to hear whether she can continue working she decides to visit her brother in his home on an island off Norway.

When she arrives on the island she finds she has become lost in the dark and a young, bearded, socially awkward but funny man and his cat come to her assistance.

The man, Tor, invites her to stay on his sofa until morning when he points her in the direction of her brothers house. Tor is spending some time in a holiday let, working as an architect and fishing, staying alone in the house having escaped his own trauma. The islanders have named him The Hermit as he is rarely seen.

What follows is a bit of a predictable romance but there is some gorgeous writing about the island, it’s welcoming people, Christmas traditions and the descriptions of the food had my mouth watering!

A lovely story I would recommend to anyone wanting a pick-me-up of a read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers One More Chapter for a review copy of the book. Published 30 Nov 2020