Review: 'The Silver Bells Christmas Pantomime' by Lynsey James (2016)

This Christmas pantomime is about to be the talk of the town!
Luna Bay's festive preparations are well under way and the much anticipated annual pantomime is to be, once again, the highlight of the season. Too bad that the village's very own actress and darling of Broadway, Alice Woods, isn't feeling in the mood for Christmas.
Until the pantomime comes under threat and a grief-stricken Alice is forced to push her personal pain aside and step up to direct - after all, the show must go on...
So with (more than) a little help from her new found friends, not to mention one very gorgeous Hollywood A-list celebrity, the play begins to come together, but will Alice finally believe that Christmas is a time for miracles after all?
Earlier this year I finally managed to check out a Lynsey James novel, namely her debut 'Just the Way You Are' (click here to read my review). Lynsey is a fellow book blogger and I still don't really know why it took me so long to pick up one of her reads, but I'm glad I did! Since her first book Lynsey definitely hasn't been sitting still, because today I'm sharing my review of the festive third part of her 'Luna Bay' series, 'The Silver Bells Christmas Pantomime.' I got a copy of the book to review via NetGalley and even though I'm not familiar to the other parts of the series I was curious to check this out and read another novel by this author, especially with such a lovely and promising title...!
Alice Woods used to have it all; a wonderful life in New York together with her boyfriend and the job she'd always dreamed of, working on Broadway. But when everything fell apart quite horribly and suddenly, Alice decided to move back to her hometown, Luna Bay, to try and heal her broken heart. A few years later, Alice is still leading a solitary life and her mother is determined to change it. When Alice suggests a trip to the sun to get away from all the holiday cheer, her mother says yes on one reason: Alice needs to join the local pantomime. Even though Alice doesn't want to climb on stage again, she takes on the challenge, thinking she will be able to get away with a small backstage job. But the Silver Bells Christmas pantomime needs Alice's help; the question is: will Alice be able to step up and do what needs to be done, or is her heartbreak still too painful?
'The Silver Bells Christmas Pantomime' is the third part of Lynsey James' 'Luna Bay' series, and one with a lovely festive touch to it. I really liked the idea of a novel about a Christmas pantomime and was curious to see what the author decided to do with this setting. Luna Bay is a cute town and I instantly liked leading character Alice. She has been through quite a lot and I really enjoyed seeing her picking up her life again with the help of her mother and the inhabitants of Luna Bay. Like with every novel with a small town at its core there are a number of interesting secondary characters, such as Christabel, the feisty director of the village pantomime, and Ethan, a famous actor who is spending some time in Luna Bay to hide from the world for a bit. 
While I do think this novel can be understood and read as a stand-alone (this was also the case for me), I did feel as if there were a lot of references to 'familiar faces' and events that happened in the past, so I can imagine the book might be even more enjoyable when you've read the other 'Luna Bay' books. Yet I really enjoyed joining Alice on this journey of hers to build up her life again and would like to learn more about this small town and its inhabitants. Lynsey James' writing has only gotten better, in my opinion, and I can't wait to pick up some of her other works. All in all, 'The Silver Bells Christmas Pantomime' is a lovely, festive and fun story; a great read for the holiday season!

Rating:9/10

  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.