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His Last Christmas Gift by Debra Borchert #Review

    His Last Christmas Gift by Debra Borchert will take you to a different country and season. It was published by Le Vin Press on 1st November 2025. Widowed, fired, and 50, Claire is one hot mess. This later in life romance hits like a snowball packed with grief and hope and mystery and the kind of second-chance that says, “I didn’t think I’d ever feel this again, and now I’m terrified, but… Hi.” Romance that’s frost melting off a windowpane. It’s “I forgot my heart could do this.” It’s love doesn’t have an expiration date. Twinkly lights, mulled wine and flaming crêpes so immerse you in Christmas markets—you’ll book a flight to France before the fares go up. A book club fiction favourite, Claire’s journey of self-discovery is perfect for fans of women’s fiction and stories about strong women over 50 navigating reinvention with inspiration, humour, with a delicious frosting of romance. “Give yourself the gift of a lush, romantic, French adventure and be swept away ...

The Lottery Win by Rosie Green #Review #LittleDuckPondCafe

 

I am delighted that it is time for another visit to the Little Duck Pond Cafe for another novella by Rosie Green. The Lottery Win is number 28 in the series which is amazing!

 
Krystle has always yearned to live a different kind of life, so when she hits the jackpot, quite literally, she's over the moon. At last she'll get the chance to live in a gorgeous house, drive the car of her dreams and maybe even track down that elusive soulmate at last! It all sounds perfect – but can reality ever live up to your dreams?


 My Thoughts

I found Krystle to be quite an interesting central character in this volume, and I was quite surprised that I had to struggle really hard to warm to her until quite far into the story. As she made one infuriating decision after another, my patience with her was really stretched! However, as I hoped, she went through quite a bit of growing up and I am sure, looked back at her choices through different eyes.

    You are also kept guessing about some of the other characters and kept in the dark about their motivations. It showed up quite clearly how difficult sudden wealth can be for people, due to other people's reactions and suddenly, Krystle struggled to know who was genuine and who wasn't. With the nearby setting of Sunnybrook and some of the familiar characters who make an appearance, this is a lovely addition to the series and fits in well with its predecessors.

 

In short: money, money, money



About the Author

Rosie’s series of Little Duck Pond Café novellas is centred around life in a country village cafe. ‘The Cheesecake Challenge’ is out now. Look out for ‘A Kiss under the Stars’, out in August 2023.

 

You can read my review of more of this series here:

 
You can follow Rosie here:   Twitter
 
Book link: Amazon UK
 
 

Thanks to Rosie Green and Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for a copy of the book and a place on the event.  



 

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