A Little Christmas Panto by Angela Britnell

 

"We are an unlikely couple and there's no guarantee we'd beat the odds. We've both messed up at least once already... I don't know how many other skeletons are in your closet and I'm not sure I want to, but the real question is whether we're both willing to take another risk?"

A Little Christmas Panto by Angela Britnell is a festive romance set in a Cornish village of Polcarne.

Zach Broussart is a Hollywood star who arrives to Cornwall to hide from the world and recover from the tragedy. He'd "withdrawn from public life after his young wife's fatal climbing accident on Mount Everest became headline news". The village of Polcarne appears to be a perfect hiding place, or is it?!

"Everyone in Polcarne - one thousand, five hundred and thirty-six inhabitants at last count - knew the Oscar-winning Hollywood actor was renting Joe Warren's holiday let, The Old Hay Barn, on the outskirts of the village". Zach's stay has set the local tongues wagging. 

Rosey Teague is a British pianist of great renown who moves back from London to a small Cornish village of her childhood, leaving behind her own drama, and nursing a broken heart. 

Rosey stays with her mother, a formidable Amazon of a woman, who loves to embarrass her daughter with her insensitive remarks and interfering ways. Anna Teague enjoys giving unsolicited advice and dispensing "wisdom". She's a social disaster, if you ever met one. And she knows perfectly well how out of line she is.

Anna happens to be involved in the production of the local panto. She comes up with a "brilliant" idea of inviting Zach to be part of it. Rosey is horrified, "Even if you set his problems to one side, do you seriously think an Oscar-winning Hollywood actor wants to get involved in our little village show? What do you think he's going to do? Put on fake boobs, a dress and a garish wig and prance around as Widow Twankey?"

But Anna is unstoppable. Once she gets an idea in her head, she is persistent. 

Out of politeness, Zach agrees to help with the panto, only as a stage assistant. He categorically refuses to go on stage in any capacity. He is attracted to Rosey, and what a better way to spend more time with her than the panto rehearsals, as she is helping with the music. 

Rosey used to study music in London, and until a few years ago made a good living as a soloist at minor venues around the country and Europe. The break-up of her marriage brought her back home, where she is giving piano lessons and helps with the panto.

Rosey has a lovely personality, but her self-confidence is quite low. 

There is a distinct mutual attraction between the two, however, Rosey is hesitant. "He was an Oscar-winning heartthrob. She was as ordinary as it was possible to be. The flicker of connection she thought she'd sensed between them had undoubtedly been nothing more than the figment of her over-active imagination".

Both Rosey and Zach have issues going back to their previous married experience. 

Can a little Cornish village panto heal two people and bring them together? Will this be a Christmas to remember?

This is a very enjoyable story, if you can forgive Anna's scheming. Rosey tries to stand up to her mother, "That is so not fair. You can't manipulate him that way." The twinkle in Anna's eyes said otherwise". 

(I wonder if her behaviour is supposed to be endearing in some way, but it sure is exasperating. Good intentions, and all that). When Anna says to Zach, "I'm determined to get you back on the stage, but I can be patient", you just want to throw her on Aladdin's magic carpet, and send it flying as far away as possible.

I couldn't warm up to Anna, as she strongly reminded me of someone I used to know in real life, in fact these two ladies could have been twins.

A Little Christmas Panto is a diverting, entertaining and heartwarming festive story. 

The Cornish setting is a cherry on top. Angela's love of Cornwall and all things Cornish shines through her books. Every time I read one of Angela's books, I feel that little bit closer to my favourite place on earth. 

This post is part of the blog tour for A Little Christmas Panto.

Many thanks to Angela Britnell and Rachel's Random Resources for my e-copy of the book!

Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/alittlechristmaspanto

Author Bio –

Angela grew up in Cornwall, England and returns frequently from her home outside of Nashville, Tennessee to visit family and friends, drink tea and eat far too many Cornish pasties!

 

A lifelong love of reading turned into a passion for writing contemporary romance and her novels are usually set in the many places she's visited or lived on her extensive travels. Thanks to almost four decades of marriage to her wonderful American husband she's a huge fan of transatlantic romance and always makes sure her characters get their own happy-ever-after.

 

She is a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association. Her first novel ‘Truth and Consequence’ was published in 2006 and she’s now had over 40 novels published internationally and multiple short stories in women’s magazines.

 

 

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