One Christmas Morning: the much-anticipated magical and festive debut romance fiction novel about love and second chances for 2023

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This was a magical read full of emotion and warmth. Some readers might find the topics incredibly emotive but the magic of the plot helps to soften such sensitive subjects. By the closing, it is impossible to ignore the feelings of warmth and contentment… although this might have been down to re-living Christmas dinner so many times! Will I have the chance to explain to little Erin why I had to go? Even if I do find the strength to return, what will my mother have told her? Only one person really knows what happened and why I had to do what I did. I know the truth will come out some day. I don’t expect forgiveness. The only thing I hope is that my family can survive the fallout.... So many lessons she must learn, and to see how her sadness has affected those around her! It's not good! Victoria Tate has had enough of her controlling, incompetent husband Warren. But planning the perfect murder is more difficult than she expected. When the social event of the year, an over-the-top costume ball, is rescheduled for the date she has selected for her crime, Victoria has to scramble to make sure she will still be able to follow through. But even hours of listening to crime podcasts cannot prepare her for the next wrench that is thrown into her plans: Warren turns up dead by someone else's hand. This novel reminded me of a mashup of two movies: Groundhog Day and Freaky Friday, as it takes the main plot twists of both. There should have been homage to both movies paid in this book, but I did not see any. The premise is that Eva has neglected everyone and everything for her business. There is a hidden secret and reason for her doing so, and it is revealed at the end, but I figured it out long before that. The book was too long for such a simple ending. I never really felt connected to Eva or any of the characters except Gran.

Rachel Greenlaw’s debut novel One Christmas Morning follows Eva, a woman desperate to escape the memories of her past, even if that means pushing everyone she loves away. Amid her latest escape, Eva gets a surprise visit from her Gran’s ghost that ends with her living the same day, over and over again, in the bodies of her loved ones. Most of this story is spent in the head and first-person voice of our protagonist Eva Glass and frankly, connecting with Eva is a challenge. She's struggling with her marriage, her friendships, and her working relationships. She's trying to forget what broke her heart three years ago. She's bottled herself up so tight she's losing herself and everyone she loves in the process. Eva has spent the past three years burying herself in her work, trying to forget the heartbreaking events of the Christmas that ripped her world apart. This year, the last thing she wants is to attend her friend’s weekend-long Christmas party. But at her husband James’ insistence, here they are.Rachel Greenlaw lives on a tiny cluster of islands nestled deep in the Atlantic Ocean off the south coast of the UK. She is a writer, a dreamer and has a notebook filled with scribbled ideas, plot snippets and secrets. When she’s not wandering the beaches searching for cowrie shells, or taking photos of her beautiful island home, she’s usually sipping a cup of tea (or coffee), opening her laptop and finding her way through a new fictional world.

I’m so grateful for my advance copy of this beautiful book! It was so clever and magical and I really felt for Eva as the story progressed. To begin with I felt so frustrated by her choices but as I got to learn more about her and what she went through three years ago, I realised how these experiences were a catalyst for everything that followed. Eva is having Christmas, again and again. On the plus side lots of lovely meals and no calories. On the downside she seems to be condemned to waking up as a different guest of the Cornwall house party each Christmas morning until she can work out just what has gone wrong with her life.It's definitely a heavier read, with discussions of grief and pregnancy loss—but it's also an uplifting story as Eva adjusts her priorities, healing herself and her relationships in the process. Greenlaw, whose first adult novel One Christmas Morning will be published by HQ in 2023, said: “Publishing stories in the YA space has been a long-held dream. Megan and the rest of the team have already been incredible, and I can’t wait to bring a whole trilogy of romantic fantasy stories inspired by my island home to readers.”