Thank you to NetGalley and Bloodhound Books for this ARC.

Rachel is having a bad year. Her boyfriend cheated on her, her best friend Olivia has died in a car accident and she still grieves heavily for her, she has lost her job and her flat ceiling is leaking. To say she isn't looking forward to a lonely Christmas is an understatement.

Then her sister Maddie, newlywed to rich and rude ex-actor Frank, asks her to dogsit her boisterous chocolate-coloured spaniel Humphrey at her palatial mansion in Surrey over Christmas, and somehow her feisty Grandpa Eric is thrown in for free in a dodgy 2 for 1 deal. Rachel loves her Grandpa but with both Humphrey and Eric a flight risk, Rachel dreads the daily WhatsApp check-up calls from her opinionated and overbearing mother in Spain where she is holidaying with part of the big family. 

There is such a huge cast that a glossary would have been helpful. We have muscular Ben the Builder and his cute daughter Rosie, firecracker Aunty Bev, shy cleaner Layla and her baby son, Rachel's friends back in London plus various community members from the village. The house fills with more and more people, Grandpa Eric falls in love and cute Humphrey escapes all the time, but only because he's helping people. Who's a good boy? Yes, you are! Yes, you ARE.

Rachel, when she's not kissing Ben or running after Humphrey, tries to solve the mystery of the locked-up west wing of the house and why Frank is so hated in the village, gets involved with a Nativity play, and offers to cook Christmas dinner for the whole village after a power cut.

And breathe.

Despite tackling grief and how to overcome loss, this is a fun, festive and uplifting read about second chances and starting over, with great characters and a cosy setting. The cover and title are just lovely. Highly recommended.