Written by Stephanie Dagg⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
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The blurb:
Cam’s career and romantic prospects take a nose dive once she becomes guardian to her young nephew. She leaves a bustling Dutch city to move to a small, dull country town in England, and where once she restored magnificent old paintings to their former glory, now she operates the paint-mixing machine at a soulless hardware store. As much as she adores little Rowan, life has lost some of its sparkle.
However, a handsome and charming customer causes her heart to flutter once more. Fate, alas, seems determined to hamper any possibility of them getting together. So what chance does a tiny, naughty hamster have of bringing happiness this Christmas?
This is a festive, light-hearted and uplifting romcom.
Holiday Fiction
Romcom
My thoughts:
I am a big fan of Stephanie Dagg's work, and was delighted last December to find she'd just published another Christmas-themed story, coinciding with the #DecTheShelves2019 challenge. I bought a copy on publication day, but have only now found time to read it. And as always, I ask myself why did I leave it so long! A Christmas Hamster was just what I needed! A light-hearted story about everyday lives told from the point of view of Cam Peabody, with a little help from Declan's cat Fionnuala and The Harley, a cheeky little hamster with a talent for escaping from his cage. Cam is looking after The Harley for a friend, and he causes mayhem because he keeps disappearing.
Cam - not her real name - is guardian to her deceased sister's young son, Rowan. She was single and care-free before she took on the role of raising him, but has changed her life and expectations, to ensure she does the best job she can of bringing him up.
She works part-time in a DIY chain store, mixing paint, and this is where she meets Declan, when he comes in to buy paint for his flat. She is attracted to him, and persuades him to buy the paint he needs now, and come back for the rest later, hoping to see him again. He is also attracted to her, and is happy to return to the store at a later date to see her again. However, disaster strikes, and we find the pair frequently being in the same place but never at the same time. However, in this happy ending story, they do eventually meet again, and their future together looks assured.
I found the main characters were immediately likeable, and of the secondary characters, I really liked Lisa for her wicked sense of fair play.
The story is well-written, and I especially enjoyed the Interludes, where Fionnuala gives us a cat's perspective on proceedings, which I found very funny and cat-like. I particularly enjoyed the great lengths Fionnuala went to, to rectify a terrible mistake she had made, that was making Declan sad.
A Christmas Hamster is another entertaining and uplifting read from Dagg, and I'm delighted to see that her next book, Dead in Tune will be coming out soon.
| Author Bio – Stephanie Dagg |
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 I'm an English expat living in France, having moved here with my family in 2006 after fourteen years as an expat in Ireland. Taking on seventy-five acres with three lakes, two hovels and one cathedral-sized barn, not to mention an ever increasing menagerie of animals, has made for exciting times. The current array of creatures ranges from alpacas to zebra finches, with pretty much everything in-between! Before we came to France all we had was a dog and two chickens, so it's been a steep learning curve. I'm married to Chris and we have three bilingual TCKs (third culture kids) who are resilient and resourceful and generally wonderful. I'm a traditionally-published author of many children's books, and am now self-publishing too. As well as being an author, I’m also a part-time editor and, with Chris, manager of three carp fishing lakes. My hobbies are cycling, geocaching, knitting and sewing. |
| Social Media Links – | |
| Web Site | www.bloginfrance.com |
| Goodreads | https://www.goodreads.com/booksarecool23 |
| Facebook Author Page | www.facebook.com/StephanieDaggBooks/ |
| X | https://twitter.com/llamamum |
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