Review: Winter Wishes At Swallowtail Bay

Winter Wishes At Swallowtail Bay by Katie Ginger
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I chose this book because I have enjoyed a number of Katie Ginger’s previous books, and I love Christmas stories. Unfortunately, it turned out to be rather more heartrending than I prefer, though well written.

I found it really hard to like Tom to start with. I get that he’s scared, but to carry on driving and not go to the doctor after he’s had an accident that could have harmed children, just seems incredibly stupid and selfish. He does become more likeable as the story goes on. I also found Cat not terribly likeable. I think it’s just stress making her act badly, but it seems terribly selfish to refuse to involve the person she’s marrying in making decisions about their wedding - it should be about both of them! The character I really liked was Nell, she’s kind and caring, although rather unrealistic about things sometimes.

I found this story a little too stressful for my taste, I didn’t enjoy the nastiness of the Langdon Mansion Hotel, and I really don’t enjoy the parent taking over wedding planning trope. Both are things that make me feel really stressed when reading about them, and then there’s the huge emotional blow of Tom’s illness. It’s all just a bit much for me, when I was looking for a lighthearted romantic escape from the reality of life.

However, the whole book has a lovely Christmassy atmosphere. It is also very well written, the only errors I spotted were a number of excess apostrophes, particularly on plurals. However, as this is a ARC, these will most likely be removed before publication.

The last ten percent of the story was beautifully romantic, and I really enjoyed that part. It may have been too emotional for my taste, but if you like your romances heartwarming, and a little weepy, then this is the book for you. Just keep those tissues handy!

I was given a free copy of this book, my opinions are my own.

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