Book Review: The Perfect Christmas by Georgie Carter

All I want for Christmas is you! If you’re a wedding planner it’s best not to have affairs with married men. This is one cardinal rule that Robyn always abides by. But then she meets Jonathan…After a delicious dalliance in the dance studio, Robyn and Jonathan fall truly, madly, deeply in love. Jonathan justifies his actions because his wife is a workaholic, while Robyn finds the glamour – free from any mundane concerns – thrilling.But then the pressure mounts up: the guilt; the lies; the strain of it all. With the festive season approaching, can Robyn make this the best holiday ever or will it be the nightmare before Christmas?

I am a massive sucker for Christmas books. Stick the word 'Christmas' in the title, or put some snow, a Christmas tree or a pretty wintery scene on the cover and I'm there. I don't care who it's written by, what the story is about, I just love them all and get really excited about new festive books coming. Actually, Christmas books are among some of the only books I actually hang onto because I love to read them again at a certain time of year. Georgie Carter a.k.a. Ruth Saberton is releasing her first book through Avon, and it's a lovely festive themed read, complete with obligatory gorgeous snowy cover. I thought it sounded like a really fun story and found it a really fun book to read, and think it's definitely going to be a keeper on my 'Festive Reads' shelf!
Robyn Hood - yes that really is her name - is a wedding planner who is pretty unlucky herself with love, yet she loves to make others' dreams come true for their big day. After the end of her relationship with Patrick, Robyn writes herself a list to achieve by the end of the year to achieve her perfect christmas. However, she doesn't count of falling in love with a married man. I did have a bit of a problem with this storyline, I really don't like when female characters pursue married men, especially when they know from the beginning they are spoken for, and I don't know why writers would choose to write things like that. I did like Robyn for the most part but at the same time, part of me disliked her because of her going after Jonathan, and being silly enough to believe the usual married man story about his wife and their (lack of) relationship.

However, the writing of the story was wonderful, it flowed really nicely and I love how the weddings that Robyn organised were described, you could vividly imagine the scenes happening in real life from the words on the page. Love is a really important theme throughout the book, and many different relationships are showcased during the book from whirlwind romances, celebrity wedding, a gay relationship, long term love and mother/daughter relationships, and friendships too. I thought Carter did a great job of writing these, you could really get the emotion from all the different stories and thought they were all handled wonderfully. I especially the romance between the famous magazine editor and her beau, you could definitely imagine the subterfuge involved here happening in real life!

Although it's called The Perfect Christmas, I have to say that Christmas only actually appears at the very beginning and the very end of the novel, which was a bit of a shame. I had hoped that it would focus a bit more on Christmas given the book title, but sadly it was pretty lacking on this front. However,Robyn goes to lengths to mention how much she loves Christmas throughout the book, so we are reminded of it! I have to say though the end few chapters taking place at Christmas were beautiful, and it makes you really want a Christmassy wedding by the end! Robyn was a good character by the end though, and the development of the friendship between her and Matt was really well done, and a joy to read. I think this is a lovely book to read at Christmas-time even though it's lacking slightly in its festive feeling, particularly in the summer chapters(!) but it is a sweet read about love, relationships and starting afresh. Yes, I had a problem with the morals of Robyn for a while because of her choices, but it was well executed overall and was a great read if you can overlook the married man scenario! One to keep your eyes open for.

You can buy The Perfect Christmas on Kindle now