Friday 20 December 2013

Driving Home for Christmas by Emma Hannigan





Christmas at Huntersbrook House has always been a family tradition - log fires, long walks through the snowy fields and evenings spent in the local pub. And this year the three grown-up Craig children are looking forward to the holidays more than ever. Pippa to escape her partying lifestyle and mounting debts in Dublin; Joey the demands of his gorgeous girlfriend who seems intent on coming between him and his family; and Lainey to forget about her controlling ex and his recent engagement to another woman.

But with the family livery yard in financial trouble, this Christmas could be the Craig family's last at Huntersbrook as they face the prospect of selling the ancestral house.

As the holiday season gets underway, the family need to come up with a way to save their home, and face the problems they've been running away from in Dublin. And what better place to figure things out than around the fire at Huntersbrook House?



This is the best Christmas book I have read this year. I felt so completely wrapped up in the Craig's world and have come away feeling extremely festive and really looking forward to Christmas.


Driving Home for Christmas focuses around all the different members of the Craig family. There's Holly and Paddy who live at Huntersbrook and then there's their children Lainey, Joey and Pippa. Each chapter focuses on a different characters' life and I loved switching between each of them and what was happening in their lives. Each year for Christmas they come back to Huntersbrook House, which Holly absolutely loves decorating for the Christmas season. They even go out and chop down their own Christmas tree! It was just so festive and traditional and it had everything about Christmas in it that I loved.


Christmas doesn't feel like it will be completely the same though as Maggie, Holly's Mum has left them all and gone to Australia to live with a man called Sid. Holly can't help feeling bitter towards her Mother for doing this as she has always been there for her and she really needs her now as things are looking like she will have to sell Huntersbrook House. Joey is doing well in his job and has such a hot girlfriend which he can't believe his luck at having, but she is actually incredibly selfish and not making him feel good about himself. Lainey has come out of a relationship with a horrible man, but she is still finding it hard to get over him and Pippa is having some serious financial problems and doesn't seem to be taking responsibility for herself. So with all their worries, the Craig children are really looking forward to spending Christmas at Huntersbrook House, but will it be their last?


I cannot do this wonderful book justice on how much I loved it! It definitely had me finding every possible opportunity to go back into it and lose myself in each of the Craig's world. Emma Hanningan writes so beautifully that you can picture every tiny detail and the fact that the family were all so close to each other was really close to my heart as my family are a big one and we always make sure that we spend Christmas together and we have our own Christmas traditions.


Everything about this book was so Christmassy and it was completely perfect for this time of year and I'm so glad I got the opportunity to read this. It is definitely going up there with my favourite Christmas reads of all time!


Driving Home for Christmas is available from Amazon UK

5/5

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