Review: 'Christmas Cravings' by Emma Hamilton (2015)

How could everything that seemed so right suddenly have gone so wrong for Mia? Snow is on the ground and Christmas lights twinkle in the German Christmas market. The warm, spiced wine is just right, but there's still one key ingredient missing from her romantic dream. Will Mia's Christmas turn out to be sugar and spice and all things nice - or a deflated soufflé of loneliness and regret?

I'm not one of those readers who can pick up a Christmas novel the whole year around. I can't help it; I just can't get into the right festive mood when it's June and everyone is talking about warm weather, cool cocktails and sunny days at the beach. Christmas, to me, is automatically linked to November/December, cold weather, dark days and sparkly lights. Because of this reason I actually have a review of this 2015 holiday-themed novella to share with all of you today, because I didn't get to it last December and have been saving it for this year's festive period...!

'Christmas Cravings' focuses on food blogger Mia who is on a trip in Germany with her best friend Lizzie, visiting Christmas markets and enjoying some quality time together. Mia, however, can't seem to think about anything else than her boyfriend Tom, whom she hasn't heard from in quite some time. While their long-distance relationship came with its challenges every now and again, Mia thought they were the real deal, until Tom suddenly stopped talking to her. Will she be able to make things right in time for the holidays or is it going to be a cold and lonely Christmas for Mia this time?

This holiday-themed novella is an episode of author Emma Hamilton's 'Greedily Yours' series. I personally wasn't familiar with either the author or the series when I picked up this read. While you can still understand and follow everything when reading this as a stand-alone, I think it would definitely be a more enjoyable read when you're familiar with the characters and other parts of the series because I did feel like I was missing out on some references. However, there are quite a number of flashbacks in the novella which made sure the main storyline can be understood without any prior knowledge. 

The novella mainly focuses on the relationship with Tom and Mia; how they got together, how everything went wrong, and how Mia now wishes there was something she could do to convince Tom she is meant to be with him. There’s a nice Christmas touch to the whole story and overall it’s a lovely festive read that left me with a smile on my face. It’s a relatively short and fast-paced read, so great if you’re looking for a quick fix, and author Emma Hamilton definitely has caught my interest and I look forward to reading more of her work. All in all, ‘Christmas Cravings’ is a festive, fast-paced and fun holiday-themed novella and a read I enjoyed!
Rating:8/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.