Lily Graham - A Cornish Christmas.
Audio Review

Ivy and Stuart are starting a new life by the sea in rural Cornwall.
After a long struggle, Ivy is finally pregnant with their much longed for first baby.
Tentatively, they both feel excited for the future.
When Ivy brings her dead mother’s writing desk in to her new home, it carries with it, it’s own mystery and secrets that Ivy has to unravel.

I was absolutely charmed by this emotional and magical tale.
Beautifully written, with a wonderful set of characters who bring great colour to this story.

Victoria Fox does a fabulous job of narrating this book. She defines each character well and is engaging to listen too.

An absolutely lovely book, that will tug at your heartstrings, but equally fill your heart with joy.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

With thanks to Netgalley and Saga Egmont Audio for an audio arc of this title.

Charming, sweet and cozy, like a snuggly hug after a long day. This will really put you into the spirit of the season of possibilities, love, forgiveness and redemption.

The blurb for this book felt misleading. The 'secrets' being kept from her and the ones she is keeping are vastly different, and this makes a difference in the tone of the book. There are a lot of topics dealt with here that were deep and emotional, some that had me very invested in the outcome.
That said, the depth and narrative style varied a lot between the different aspects. We have Ivy, who is finally pregnant after several years of many issues (the discussions veer into triggering territory for those who like to know upfront). The book begins with her finally going to retrieve her mother's desk after multiple years of procrastination post her death.
Ivy has a very interesting life. Her job is unique, as is her relationship with her husband. The conversation between all the book's characters was quite interesting and probably the highlight for me.
The narrator also did a great job of setting the atmosphere. There was an eerie foreboding that went with most of the story, and I was not sure what that was actually targeting until the close of the book!
That last part that I mentioned is what made me not like the book as much as I expected. We have a fulfilling set of characters, but the blurb and the direction of the story kept me expecting a different type of plotline. This was entirely my fault for keeping such expectations, but it was already set. I would have liked it even more if I had read it like I do some of the others of this ilk.
There is a little bit of magic and faith in the unknown that one has to have to like certain aspects of the book, this was not a problem for me, but one must know to expect that. I would recommend it to readers of this genre. I am quite sure many would love the audio version of this book (the original was released in 2016)
I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

Very, very cool!

Lily Graham paints such a vivid picture of life in pastoral Cornish village in her paranormal holiday tale, A Cornish Christmas. It was so easy to imagine their charming home, Stuart's cooking and baking, and all the colorlful characters who make up Ivy's world.

There's some heart tugging drama as well, which I thoroughly enjoyed!

The audio edition of A Cornish Christmas is beautifully performed by Victoria Fox. There are a wide variety of accents in the story, and Ms. Fox tailors each voice perfectly for the characters. A truly lovely performance.

After moving her dear deceased mother's old writing desk into her new home in coastal Cornwall, Ivy finds a postcard addressed to her from her mother, but it is unfinished. Sprinkled with magic, this sweet tale is about grief, family, love and understanding... and hope. A Cornish Christmas was a pleasure to read!

I enjoyed this audiobook very much to the point of waking up at 2am and not going to sleep until 6am as I was desperate to finish it!
I loved the relationship between Ivy and Stuart and their camaraderie.
The story of Ivy’s mum was incredibly heart warming and I thought it was just perfect.

Some trigger points for some people maybe…

Loved it, already recommended it to friends .

A modern fairytale full of magic, love and friendship. Ivy and Stuart will find in a little cottage in Cornwall everything they need and more. Their dreams will come true thanks to a very special angel. The audiobook is awesome

I started listening to this one right away, but unfortunately found the discuss about pregnancy loss just too heavy to continue with, as this is a sensitive topic for me. I note that the blurb does state that she is expecting their much longed for (or words to that effect) baby, but I hadn't expected the discussion of loss to be so frank.
I'm rating 3 stars, because I was enjoying the other aspects of the story/writing.

Narrated by Victoria Fox ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Fantastic voice

A Cornish Christmas by Lily Graham ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is the perfect example of don't judge a book by its over.

I thought this was going to be your run of the mill Christmas RomCom (which I absolutely love by the way) but this was not that.

This book was relatable with real issues of loss, heartbreak and strength!!! The section with the ring behind the cupboard, for some reason that brought real tears to my eyes.
I really enjoyd that Goth themes as well which was surprising to me.

After finishing this I promptly went to the Kindle store and purchased The Summer Escape. Can't wait to start that next.

I immediately got into this audiobook for a couple of reasons one is the narrator - Victoria Fox has an amazing voice that transports you into the little Cornish village depicted in this book and into the lives of Ivy and and her husband Stuart. I also loved listening about Ivys life as a book illustrator and her husband (in his green junker) growing vegetables and making jams to sell at farmers markets. It all sounds so idyllic and a much gentler pace of life and who doesn’t want a piece of that? I was also fascinated by Stuart’s interfering mother who I think would be anyones nightmare! The story follows pregnant Ivy who is missing her mother dreadfully after she passed away five years ago. Ivy happens to stumble upon a postcard that her mother wrote to Ivy and the tale unfolds from here. This is a lovely gently audiobook - set in Cornwall which I admit is not very Christmassy but is set during the month of December. In any case this is one to settle into and enjoy. Out on the 1st of September.. Thanks to saga Egmont Audio and to Netgalley for my gifted copy.

I liked the narrator it does make you feel like you are in the country side. I feel like it was slow and I had a hard time coming back to it when I put it down.

Ivy and her husband have everything they could ever want: she is pregnant with their first child, and they live in their perfect cottage. But Stuart has secrets, and Ivy, who lost her mother, longs for her presence... and then she finds a postcard from her in a desk...
This was not very Christmas-y, nor romance-y, it was disappointing... The characters are likeable, the narration was great, it was emotional and heartwarming with a touch of magical realism.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.