Review | A Winter Flame by Milly Johnson | Twelve Days of Christmas!

A Winter Flame

by Milly Johnson

My Rating: 

Eve has never liked Christmas, not since her beloved fiancé was killed in action in Afghanistan on Christmas Day. So when her adored elderly aunt dies, the last thing she is expecting is to be left a theme park in her will. A theme park with a Christmas theme…

And that's not the only catch. Her aunt's will stipulates that Eve must run the park with a mysterious partner, the exotically named Jacques Glace. Who is this Jacques, and why did Aunt Evelyn name him in her will?

But Eve isn't going to back down from a challenge. She's determined to make a success of Winterworld, no matter what. Can she overcome her dislike of Christmas, and can Jacques melt her frozen heart at last…?

Throughout November I was on something of a contemporary kick, so at the end of the month I decided to tick one of the books off my Winter TBR. As soon as I came across A Winter Flame I knew I had to get my hands on a copy of it - who doesn't want to read about a Christmas theme park? - and luckily for me my local library had a copy.

It only took me a couple of days to read. It was fun, quick and festive, but my reviews can only be honest, and honestly I was disappointed with this book.

Eve is not a likable character. That may seem like a harsh thing to say given that she is a character who is still grieving, but even people who are grieving are capable of being nice human beings. For the most part Eve was a grumpy, bitter woman who jumped to ridiculous conclusions about everyone around her, which was odd for someone who was apparently such a good judge of character.

Jacques was on the other end of the scale in that he was almost too ridiculous. He was just too lovable and boisterous, to the extent that at times he felt like more of a caricature than a three-dimensional character.

One of my biggest problems with the book was this recurring message that all of the women could only ever be happy with a good man by their side. Eve had managed to start and run her own successful business and was very proud of her achievements in the workplace, and yet all everyone wanted was for her to meet a man and settle down so she could be 'truly happy'. It was as though people were judging her for being single and successful. No wonder the woman's grumpy.

Ultimately I enjoyed the book enough to read it to the end, and if you're looking for something fun and fast during the festive season I would recommend it, but unfortunately it's quite problematic in places and not the story I was hoping it would be.