Bright and vivacious Gemma was always the favourite daughter…So she has no qualms about leaving Christmas in her sister Juliet’s capable hands; and escaping the pressures of her glamorous job, and the festive madness by jetting off to somewhere warm.
When Gemma shirks responsibility once too many and announces she’s off to the Caribbean (again!); Juliet finally snaps. Gemma offers her sister the perfect solution - to swap Christmases: she’ll stay home and cook the turkey (how hard can it be?) and Juliet can fly off into the sun and have a restorative break. In the midst of all the chaos, there’s Will, Juliet’s dishy neighbour who’s far too nice to float Gemma’s boat and may secretly harbour feelings for her sister; and Marco, the suave Italian in the villa next door, who has his own ideas about the best way to help Juliet unwind.
Will the sisters abandon caution and make this a Christmas swap to remember?
I was lucky enough to get into touch with Fiona Harper through Twitter and she was so lovely to send me a review copy of ‘Make My Wish Come True’ before the Christmas period (thank you, Fiona!). I spent the last days of 2013 in the UK on a short city trip to Manchester, and decided that Fiona Harper’s novel would be the perfect festive read to keep me company on the plane and during the days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve; those days when you don’t want to let go of all the Christmas and holiday cheer just yet!
Juliet and Gemma are sisters who couldn’t be more different from one another. Juliet is completely focused on her children after her divorce two years ago; she wants them to have the perfect Christmas and with the help of her organisational skills and little book filled with lists she is determined to have everything done before Christmas Eve. Gemma is happily single, devoted to her glamorous job and can’t wait to spend the end of December somewhere sunny and far away from home and her family. Several days before Christmas, Juliet suddenly loses it when Gemma disappoints her once again, and the two sisters decide to swap lives in order to discover whether the grass really is greener on the other side: Juliet will go on a holiday to the sun while Gemma will celebrate a family Christmas in England. Will the switch really help Gemma and Juliet’s bond as sisters or will it turn out to be a disastrous Christmas for both of them?
‘Make My Wish Come True’ immediately caught my attention because of its gorgeous, colourful, festive cover and the blurb which sounded really fascinating (I’m a sucker for any story in which characters swap lives, I have to admit!). At the centre of the novel we’ve got two great main female characters, Juliet and Gemma, whose storylines I both loved. They are really different women who are both taken out of their comfort zone, which made it even more interesting to see the development of their relationship as sisters and of them as individuals. The contrast between spending a Christmas at home in rainy England together with four kids and a bunch of neighbours (including the handsome Will), or alone under a parasol on a white beach in the Caribbean sun (with a hunky Latin man in the cabin next door), was great to read about and I thoroughly enjoyed the festive element of this book.
The fact that the novel is published by Mills & Boon might be reason for some readers to not exactly know what to expect of this book. However, I am convinced that any lover of chick lit or romance novels will enjoy this book by Fiona Harper, no doubt. It deals with family, the bond between two sisters, and there’s definitely a lovely touch of romance to the novel as well. ‘Make My Wish Come True’ is a wonderful, captivating, well-written novel with a good dose of Christmas sparkle at its core. I loved this and I can’t wait to read more of Fiona Harper’s work!
Rating:
9,5/10
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