Emily's sister Vivi has very suddenly died of a brain aneurysm and she is now guardian of her nephew Felix, 9 1/2. It coincides with her going freelance as a dressmaker and vintage dress repairer, with her BFF Lizzie the model  for her clothes. She ends her two year relationship with boyfriend Rory who is in her eyes not mature enough to deal with a child in his life - he parties and drinks too much, and has a too close for comfort relationship with friend Anna.

Unfortunately, this means three people are now unhappy for various reasons, and there is a lot of anger, shouting and tears between Emily and Felix, with laundry basket raiding and knicker-chewing sausage dog Baxter not exactly helping to keep the tension down.

Felix adores Rory. Unbeknownst to Emily, Rory has taken him to his secret hobby for months as sort of penance to his dead brother Lawrence, so when he realises that Emily still loves Rory he hatches a plan to bring them back together before Christmas. An innnocent trip to London to see the Christmas lights turns into a snowy roadtrip between Brighton, London and Leeds, where Rory now lives. At the same time Rory realises he still has a necklace that Vivi asked him to buy for Emily, so he sets off to give it to her personally. Will they manage to meet or pass like ships in the night?

I loved how they meet various people en route, and their stories get told too. It almost makes me want to park myself in St Pancras Station to people watch at Christmas.

The story is told in multi POV, with Emily, Felix and Rory all getting their say. I loved Felix having a voice too, and his video recording everything for his dead Mum was beyond adorable. Emily fixates a bit too much on a woman who is posting about looking forward to a third date with Rory. Why would anyone post every detail of their love life on Facebook anyway?

This story touched me deeply. It was both heartbreaking and heartwarming. It's a story of loss, grief and second chances and how to cope when your life is suddenly upended. All three characters have a lot to deal with, but they learn that it helps to confide in others about their traumas, and that people can step up to an altered reality.

It might be a bit too angsty for some but I loved that it wasn't too fluffy and gave us great characters to root for and emphasised the importance of Christmas traditions. Recommended as a festive read to remember.