I just loved getting back to Lock Keeper's Cottage with Immy, Gray and all the gang. I enjoyed the characters of this sweet book and the story, which is a follow on to the previous book in the series. I found the book heartwarming, and it is a lovely, easy to read story which is perfect for the winter time, while being cosy indoors with a hot coffee, a blanket and fluffy socks. I loved reading about how all of the community came together to celebrate Christmas time and the long awaited wedding. Great book!

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger Warnings
This book contains:
• Mention of addiction and mental illness
• Description of fraudulent activities.
Characters
Immi and Gray return to the Cotswalds with new drama now they’re engaged. We’re picking up about 6 months after the first book, Christmas at Lock Keeper’s Cottage, where Immi and Gray are juggling planning their wedding, planning the 10-year anniversary of the Santa Ahoy Cruises and the refurbishment of Lock Keeper’s Cottage.
Storyline
While the first book spanned just a few weeks, this one spans the 6 months leading up to their wedding. We follow along as Immi and Gray manage their various workloads, grow as a couple and individually.
And of course, along the way there are some rocky patches that they have to work through.
Overall Thoughts
I found this one to be quite an improvement on the first book. My main issue with the first book was the believability of Immi’s personality because she was just SO NICE.
Now, we see her make decisions, make a stand and in some circumstances, lose a little of that nice-ness I’ve come to associate with her. These small changes are all I needed for Immi to be more believable. And because of that, I was able to really relax and enjoy the story.
Not only did I get to enjoy the story, I got to experience the emotional turmoils you want to experience in a romance. And in this case, it was on so many fronts that it was hard to keep up with everything!
Yet it was balanced without becoming stressful.
And yes, I really did read a Christmas book in AUGUST! And yes, it’s Christmassy enough to start to get me in the spirit months out from the season!

I normally love books by Lucy Coleman but for some reason I just could not get into this one at all. I was irritated by the ´réal life ‘ feel and how much detail was given to that and I just felt I didn’t really care about the characters. Maybe I should have read the first book in the series to help.

Sweet without being overly cheesy, this is like a mug of cocoa on a winters day. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, this is the second book in the series, but I had no issue not having read the first one.
Immi and Gray have been engaged for a year after having to postpone their summer wedding due to Gray’s work schedule so Immi has her heart set on a festive Christmas wedding, but since she is so busy with her own schedule of work and caretaking her older father and overseeing the renovation on their house, Immi doesn’t have time to plan the wedding so she asks her friend and her mother in law to plan it for her and hope they fulfill her vision, especially when her fiancé offers to step in and help from a distance. Of course there were some bumps along the way, but they managed to get to their happily ever after when all was said and done.
I always enjoy anything set in the Cotswold and this was no exception. Thanks to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for this Arc in exchange for my review.

Christmas and a wedding; what is not to love. A romantic, emotional and heart-warming story with lots of surprises.

A wonderful blend of christmas and a romantic wedding makes this a lovely read. You feel very involved with the characters. Immi and Gray are remodelling the Lock Keepers cottage and looking forward to their christmas wedding. Building delays and wedding wobbles combine and they need to pick their way through the bumps in the road.
I could just picture myself in their lovely home and a part of the wedding plans. I can't wait to read more in this series.

A Christmas wedding - what more could I love to read about! Such a good story with great characters that I wish lived near me. Lucy Coleman is a delightful author, this is the first book I have read by her and I'll definitely search out more. One surprise, onto another, and another --- such a good read! Thank you #lucycoleman!

Thank you for the advanced ARC copy, I really appreciate it!

Another lovely book by Lucy Coleman, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The book follows the characters from summer to Christmas and there's plenty going on.
It's fast paced and engrossing, I rooted for the characters a loved the descriptions of the setting.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I didn't realise this was part of a series and whilst most series books work just as well as stand-alones I think reading the prior story may have helped as it seems like quite a lot of big life-changing things happened previously. I probably would have been more invested in the characters too, all of whom came across as fairly non-descript and similar without their back stories. Sadly the plot was also fairly slow with all the 'action' in the last few chapters and nothing much happening early on other than day-to-day life. For example, there was a chapter on taking delivery of various items of furniture for Immi's new home with a whole paragraph (no exaggeration) on setting up the new cooker - I want escapism not real life when I read. What was really bizarre though was other seemingly significant events, such as the reveal of Val as Immi's mother to the wider community was not given any air time - perhaps again because the primary reveal formed part of the previous book. A perfectly pleasant, festive read but definitely not a must-read in my opinion (only).

I loved returning back to the canal side and the Cotswolds with Immi and Gray. What I particularly enjoyed was seeing a progression in the characters, not just the leading lady and gentleman, but a few of the sub-characters that we grew to love in book one: Christmas at Lock Keeper’s Cottage. I often wonder what happens to our ‘book friends’ and author, Lucy Coleman, has given us this wonderful opportunity to learn what happens next.

Immi and Gray are busy renovating Lock Keeper’s Cottage, fundraising for the community play park and they also have a wedding to organise. Life is certainly very busy and as their plans start to crumble around them they have to seek the help of their friends.

Lucy Coleman has written another uplifting, feelgood romance. The Cotswolds are a beautiful area in the UK and this comes across with the authors words and descriptions. There is a real sense of community within the residents and businesses around the canal side and when one of the community needs help the spirit of kindness and generosity shows.

New characters join the group and bring a new dimension which upsets the balance a little. Will time settle these new relationships?

A Christmas Wedding in the Cotswolds is full of warmth, humour, real and relatable characters with the seasons of the year bringing, colours, light and festivity around.

I hope we get to return to Lock Keeper’s Cottage in the future.

Christmas book season is upon us! Lucy Coleman's A Christmas Wedding in the Cotswolds is a lovely book, and the perfect book to read early in the season. The story actually opens in the summer and leads up to the holidays, so you ease into the season. (I will say that I would prefer to get to the holiday bits earlier, but I know that many people appreciate not being hit over the head with it.) Coleman does such a wonderful job in creating this incredible community, and now I want to move to the Cotswolds!
I would recommend reading Christmas at Lock Keeper's Cottage prior to A Christmas Wedding- while A Christmas Wedding can be read as a standalone novel, it really does make more sense if you've read the prior.

I loved this book and didn't miss out on anything by not reading the first book in the series.

This is beautiful and insightful. The story describes Immi and the preparation for her wedding, alongside some complicated relationships and fundraising.

The family story is very complex but has a very strong conclusion, I love the relationship between Immi and her grandfather, no matter how complicated is proves to be in the story, and how there is a third wheel, namely her cottage, and the history with Immi's grandmother.

I loved the story with the location of the canal and the people that lived and worked on it, and the Santa Cruises.

This is certainly a fun book to strap into and enjoy over Christmas.

This is the second book in the series set in Aysbury, and although it could be read as a standalone because there are lots of references to things that happened in the previous book, Christmas at Lock Keeper’s Cottage, I would recommend that you read it because it’s also a lovely book. Lucy Coleman always seems to write lovely cosy reads filled with love and a little mystery.

It was lovely to return to the characters from the first book, but six months further along, and with a new addition to the friendship group. I think the strength in these stories is in the value of friendship and family and how friends can feel like family. The story begins in the summer with Immi feeling overwhelmed about their plans to have a Christmas wedding, as well as their fund-raising efforts to open a children’s play area in time for the Christmas children’s cruises. As time goes on Immi finds herself willing to give up control of the things she organises, and with her wedding too, especially as she feels so overwhelmed and un-bride like.

This was such a lovely festive read, with a wedding thrown in for good measure. It will have you feeling festive, and in need of a hot chocolate and a blanket. I found myself ordering festive wax melts after I finished reading this wonderful book, so perhaps some festive subliminal messaging at work, haha! Seriously though, this book will give you cosy festive vibes, filled with love, friendship and family.

I was really excited to start this book as I love Christmas and had been told it could be read as a standalone book. Unfortunately I think this did not work out for me. I felt like I was missing something, namely the whole getting to know and care about the characters part. I read this story and enjoyed it, but I did not feel the story, if you know what I mean. I will therefore not post a review in stars as I normally do, as I don't think this would be fair having not read the first in the series.

The story is a Christmas story, but it's not until we are three quarters through the book that it becomes December so it was not a problem reading it now in the late summer on the beach. It had a really nice Christmas feel to it, also in the months leading up to December with all the preparations required. The community, the cast of characters and the whole setting in the Cotswolds was nice. I had a good idea of who Immi, the main character, was by the end of the book, but I did not feel that connected to the characters. As I said, I think this was largely due to the fact that I had not read book one.

Overal this is a nice Christmas story in a small community in the Cotswolds with some drama and family and relationship issues mixed in. To get the most out of this story I urge you to first read the first book: Christmas at Lock Keeper's Cottage before moving on to this one.

5☆ Feel-good Christmas Romance

Although this can be read as a standalone I didn't realise I hadn't read the previous book. I wish I had done as I definitely missed out on getting to know all these amazing characters! That being said I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Immi and her fiancé, Gray are renovating
the Lock Keeper’s Cottage and making  Preparations for their wedding day.
Immi takes on a lot and has a big heart. Not only is she mega busy in her personal life, she also helps raise money and organise the Santa Ahoy Cruises.

But things are not necessarily running smoothly for Immi and things just keep getting in the way. It's not helping that she feels like she's going through it alone as hubby to be Gray is away a fair bit working, leaving Immi with all the burdens.

Can Immi pull off a Christmas Wedding and get their home ready or is it all about to crumble away!

I'm a huge fan of Lucy Coleman's books and I especially love a feel good, Christmas read, and as always Coleman pulls out all the stops!
There's a real Uplifting and Heartwarming feel to this story, I loved the community spirit and the romance of a wedding, with all the added little Christmas Sparkle.
So grab a hot cuppa and snuggle down, there's a Wedding to attend!

I love Christmas book and this is just what I needed a nice romance with plenty of laughter and drama and a wedding planning I love book with wedding such a great read I loved the characters the writing everything was amazing loved every page never to early to read a Christmas book.

My first experience of Lucy Coleman. What an experience. I'm still crying as I write this review. I loved every word on every page. Simply beautiful. Off to find her other works.

🎄BOOK REVIEW | A Christmas Wedding in the Cotswolds by Lucy Coleman🎄

SYNOPSIS | Imogen Tolliman and Gray Adams can’t wait to get married after getting engaged the previous year, when they were stranded by snow in a blizzard. Now they are busy planning their wedding, but when the date slips six months because Gray is working on a huge film project, it seems like fate that after their snowy start, they will end up getting married at Christmas.

The couple are living in Immi’s grandfather’s picturesque lock-keeper’s cottage at the Aysbury marina in the Cotswolds, which they are renovating to become their forever family home. As well as building work, full-time jobs and wedding planning, Immi is in charge of raising money to build a children’s playground, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of The Santa Ahoy Cruises – her grandfather Tollie’s life work.

With Gray working abroad, Immi is left to cope with everything alone. When a terrible betrayal is uncovered, the whole community of Aysbury is left reeling and Immi is left wondering if there will be a wedding after all…

MY THOUGHTS | Thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the digital ARC. I did not realize that this is a sequel to “Christmas at Lock Keepers Cottage” until I had finished reading. Unfortunately, I had a hard time reading this book as I found there to be too many characters to keep track of, and that the plot dragged on.

RATING | ⭐️⭐️

Immi’s never been one who likes an easy life – as well as needing to plan her Christmas wedding to composer Gray, she’s treasurer for the committee managing the rather ambitious fundraising for the local community playground, as well as supervising the work on the lock-keeper’s cottage which will be the couple’s new home. As on top of all that, she’s working for Martin at the garden centre, and there’s the small matter of organising the Santa Ahoy cruises for the local children and her usual dressing-up as an elf – and things are so much more difficult when Gray’s spending his weeks in London, on the verge of his big break, or jetting off to America at short notice.

Others can see how much she’s struggling, and take on some of the tasks – when Val and Rona enthusiastically get involved with the wedding planning it means she can concentrate on some of the details (like a dress she’ll be comfortable wearing), and Patrick’s only too happy to take over her treasurer duties. But things are going badly wrong at the cottage, with a fractured water main that needs replacing, turning the garden into a quagmire: and something’s not quite right with her relationship with her much-loved grandfather Tollie, who seems to have developed a new friendship that’s beginning to squeeze her out of his life. And then… but I think I need to stop there, and let you find out for yourselves.

I so enjoyed this book. Immi’s a wonderful lead character, and I’d already taken her to my heart when I read the first book – but if this is your first visit to Aysbury, you’ll have no problems catching up on everything that’s gone before because the author is so very good at letting you have the key details without you even noticing that she’s doing so. Immi is the story’s narrator, and it really helps you understand her various dilemmas and the way she feels about them – and it also makes you feel for her in her moments of upset and desperation, but also to share her moments of joy.

There’s a wonderful sense of community about this book – every single supporting character is so well developed, as are the relationships between them all, with a strong focus on friends and family. The relationship between Immi and Gray is just gorgeous – he still taps out the rhythms of the songs he’s composing, but much less inclined to break into “Bi-ba-bi-ba doo bah doo” than he used to be – and, although he may not be around as much as Immi would like, he certainly steps up to the plate when he needs to in the most heartwarming way possible.

The descriptions are simply wonderful – Aysbury itself, the cottage and Tollie’s new home at The Retreat, life down on the river – and, as always, there’s the most perfectly done detail on the conversion of the cottage’s interior with all the decorative and Christmassy final touches. And then there’s the wedding itself – and I mustn’t tell you too much, but it certainly brings a tear to your eye and a broad smile to your face (and yes, silver grey and soft heather are the perfect choice). And I mustn’t skirt around whether the book is as Christmassy as I wanted it to be – and although the book begins in late summer with a slow countdown to all the planned events for the festive season, the answer is a resounding “yes”.

This was a thoroughly lovely read, everything I hoped it would be – more than enough drama to keep the pages turning, filled with warmth and emotion, wonderful characters, the perfect setting, and everything you could possibly want in a Christmas read. Go on, add it to your December list – I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Lucy Coleman takes the reader on a delightful journey with Immi and Gray as fate conspires against them and their wedding plans.

While this book works fine as a stand-alone, I think it would be nicer to read Christmas at Lock Keeper’s Cottage first. The main characters begin their romance while snowbound in a cottage last Christmas.

The setting is beautifully described and makes me wish I could visit the area and its residents sometime soon. The book has a calming, ethereal feel to it, even though there are ups, downs, and plans are continually changing. There is an important lesson to be learned about trying to do everything yourself. We all need help sometimes and the residents of this rural area are most helpful. The community is what makes this book so special. It has a delightful small-town vibe that is hard to find in today’s busy world.

The pacing is perfect for this type of story. You need to take your time and absorb this Christmas tale at an easy, unhurried pace to get the most out of it. Some stories cannot be rushed.

I hope to read more from this author and these characters soon.