Absolutely perfect Christmas romance

So when this first starts you get the idea of Rudy, a shy 24 year-old and think you're going to get a romance all about him falling in love and you'd be right.

We do get to see Rudy fall in love but as this is Jay Northcote, it's never just what's on the surface, there are always beautiful layers to peel away.

The layers in this book come with Zac, the new guy at work who has caught Rudy's eye and left him tongue tied and all twisted until a night on the tequila results in an invitation to spend the festive season at the family farm in Devon.

Zac has never had a family and he's unsure of himself, hesitant to get involved but slowly, as surely as night follows day and Christmas traditions inevitably lead to too much food and cheesy games, his walls start to crumble.

Jay weaves the usual magic I've come to expect from his talented pen and, as my dearly beloved is a Devon boy who lived in a thatched former 16th century corn mill, all rambly and chilled with huge fireplaces and a cider apple orchard, this book was like so many of my own Christmases down there over the years, I kept expecting to bump into someone I knew within the pages.

Beautifully written, if Holly doesn't steal your heart because of all she symbolises, well I guess we're not likely to be friends anytime soon ;)