Christmas at Honeycombe Bay
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Pub Date Sep 29 2026 | Archive Date Sep 29 2026
Aria & Aries | Aria
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Description
An uplifting, heartwarming seasonal romance set in a quintessential seaside village in Devon, perfect for fans of Holly Martin and Sarah Morgan.
Two Scrooges come together for a festive-free holiday season by the sea and find all their anti-Christmas plans going up in smoke when they decide to play Santa for a single mom and her child.
Eloise Garrett thinks Christmas is overpriced, overhyped, and overrated, and without any family to share it with, she feels sad, lonely and isolated. The “season for giving” is just a constant reminder that she’s single, sixty(ish), and staring down retirement. But not this Christmas. Determined to avoid the most magical time of the year, Eloise decides to spend Christmas in Honeycombe Bay. Surely a seaside village in the middle of winter won’t be too festive?
Ever since his wife passed away, Bartholomew Knott hasn’t felt up to welcoming visitors to his guest house. With the prospect of another long, lonely winter, and having become more Scrooge than Santa over the years, Bart is dreading Christmas. However, when he’s contacted by someone who dislikes decking the halls just as much as he does, Bart has the brilliant idea of opening the guest house to people who want to escape all things festive.
Christmas isn’t easy to ignore, though, not even in off-season Honeycombe Bay. So when fate forces Bart to give shelter to a single mother and child whose holiday has been devastated by a terrible fire, Eloise finds herself playing Mrs. Claus to Bart’s Santa—dragging the house’s other guest, a heartbroken teacher looking for a break during the holidays, into the action as well. But holiday cheer isn’t the only thing sparking under the mistletoe. Will the guests at Honeycombe Bay realize that, sometimes, the best way to escape Christmas is to let it into your heart?
PERFECT FOR FANS OF
- Small-town Christmas vibes
- Later-in-life romance
- Forced proximity
- Grumpy x sunshine
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781035927302 |
| PRICE | £9.99 (GBP) |
| PAGES | 304 |
Available on NetGalley
Available to Buy
Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.orgAverage rating from 10 members
Featured Reviews
Rosamond C, Reviewer
A perfect Christmas read. Main character wanted to escape Christmas and goes to Honeycombe Bay and you just get a light lovely read. The buying of the wellies and the boots will make you cry. Read in a night . You also get romance . I loved it .Good ending .
Lilac Mills is one of my favourite cosy authors! I loved this one so much and it was beautiful! Really got me in the Christmassy mood!
Another gorgeous read from Lilac Mills. I really enjoy Lilac's books, they are all relatable and with each one I can always picture myself within the pages.
I lovd a festive read and this book had all the feels. I loved the characters and the generosity and compassion from the characters is a reminder of the real meaning behind the festive period.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book was just the perfect Christmas read from start to finish. It had everything from the perfect setting, fantastic characters and a beautiful storyline.
Eloise doesn’t enjoy Christmas so books a B&B 200 miles away in the stunning Honeycombe Bay to spend the season alone. What follows is the start of some beautiful friendships and the most perfect Christmas she has ever had.
The characters were all wonderful and the story just flowed beautifully as 4 damaged people found their joy for Christmas and life again. I loved how all the characters had their own back story’s which we slowly learned about and it was great to see how they all developed both alone and together as friendships grew. It was lovely to see the magic of Christmas for Toby but also for all of the adults and how the simple things are always the most magical.
I cannot wait for the next book in the stunning Honeycombe Bay and to see how all the characters are doing.
A fantastic 5 star Christmas read that you will not want to put down( except to have a hot chocolate or another mince pie)
Thanks to NetGalley, Lilac Mills and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
Jen C, Reviewer
I thoroughly enjoyed this Christmas read and found it covered so many different topics but they all flowed together and were written sensitively. Eloise Garrett does not like Christmas thinking that it is overrated, overpriced and overhyped. She decides this year to go away and contacts the Devon guest house she once stayed in thinking that an off season seaside town will be quiet. The owner is Bartholomew Knott and he hasn’t opened since his wife died and doesn’t want to celebrate the festive season. When Eloise gets in touch and shares how she wants to spend time away where is she’s unlikely to be bothered by anything Christmas themed he decides to reopen the guest house for like minded people who want to ‘get away’ from the festive season. However when neighbour Sarah needs help Eloise and Bart find their Christmas being very different from what they had expected!
Each character had depth and as the story develops we slowly find out more about the backgrounds of each character and how their experiences have shaped who they now are. There were some lighthearted moments that made me chuckle along with some that brought a tear to my eyes. This is such a lovely read that shows how compassion, looking out for others and working together can make a difference to everyone.
Thanks to Aria and Aries and Netgalley for the ARC
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