*I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity.
Title: Christmas With The Lords
Author: Hannah Langdon
Genre: Holiday Romance
Rating: ★★★
URGENTLY WANTED: a nanny for Christmas. Seeking an
adventurous nanny to work for the aristocratic Lord family at their country
estate. Must love naughty dogs, mischievous children and have a high tolerance
for Christmas chaos. Room and board provided.
Penny Windlesham is stunned when her long-term boyfriend
suddenly dumps her, leaving her with a broken heart just in time for Christmas.
At a loose end, she accepts a job as a short-term nanny to a family she’s never
met. Climbing aboard a train bound for the Dorset countryside, a tear rolls
down her cheek. Alone, working and amongst strangers… could her Christmas be
any less magical?
As she crunches up the family’s frost-covered drive,
Penny’s spirits lift when she glimpses her home for the next month: an enormous
manor house, its windows glowing with firelight and festooned with twinkling
holly. And, as she settles into her role caring for the adorable Lord children,
she finds herself surrounded by a quirky cast of characters, including loveably
frazzled Spanish chef Pilar and the children’s grouchy uncle, Lando Lord.
Despite Penny’s attempts to avoid him, the darkly handsome
Lando seems to be everywhere – hanging around like Scrooge amidst the happy
present-wrapping and gingerbread baking. Apparently he wasn’t always this way…
is there some secret reason he’s so cranky at Christmas?
When Lando is commissioned to carve a beautiful new
Nativity scene for the local church, Penny blushingly agrees to be his model,
and a sudden spark flickers between them. But it’s not long before the past
comes knocking, and Penny discovers exactly why Lando left his old life behind…
Christmas with the
Lords is the debut novel from Hannah Langdon. It’s a cosy festive romance which
is an easy read, perfect for fans of a cheesy Christmas Hallmark movie.
Penny was a lovely
protagonist and it’s nice to have a 30-something FMC in a festive romance. She
was wonderful with the children she was nannying for and I loved their
relationships. It was also great to see Penny really grow in self-confidence as
the novel progressed and start to see her own worth again.
I loved the Lord
family and the chaotic energy they brought to the book. It was lovely to see Penny
find a family in the Lords as the novel progressed. Most wealthy families you
see in contemporary fiction tend to be written as a tad on the pretentious side
but the Lord family were so far from it. I’d love to return to them in a future
book in some way as I really didn’t feel ready to part with them when the book
ended. Exploring all of their family Christmas traditions made the book feel
really cosy and festive, perfect for getting you in the mood for the holiday season.
The beautiful setting of their gorgeous historic home and quaint small-village was
also perfect for a cosy festive story; it sounds like an absolutely dreamy place
to spend Christmas!
At the heart of the
story is a grumpy x sunshine romance between the cheerful Penny and the grumpy
Lando. Fans of a true slow burn romance will love this book as you are left
waiting for most of the story for them to sort themselves out and actually get
together. However, the one thing that dropped the book from a 4* to a 3* for me
was the fact that I was really craving a few more romantic scenes between Penny
and Lando once they had got together. Although the scenes we did get were
lovely, there was just too few of them to fully satisfy me after such a slow
burn romance story.
If you’re looking
for a cosy Christmas story with a slow-burn romance and lots of festive family
antics, you’ll love Christmas with the Lords. I’m definitely also excited to
see what comes next from Hannah Langdon.
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