A CHRISTMAS CRACKER.

 As I mentioned previously,  a bit like many of you, I'm finding myself low on motivation (that recent blood tests revealed I'm anaemic and low in various vitamins certainly doesn't help) and as such I'm rather embarrassed that I'm only now getting around to sharing my thoughts on this, my last read of 2020 now.

A CHRISTMAS CRACKER by TRISHA ASHLEY. 

Things can’t possibly get worse for Tabby. Framed for a crime she didn’t commit, she suddenly finds herself without a job. Then to make matters worse, Tabby’s boyfriend dumps her and gives her cat away to a shelter.

But rescue comes in the form of kindly Mercy. A master of saving waifs and strays, Mercy wants Tabby to breathe new flair into her ailing cracker business. Together, they’ll save Marwood’s Magical Christmas Crackers.

But someone has other ideas. Mercy’s nephew Randal thinks Tabby’s a fraudster. Stubborn, difficult and very attractive, her future depends upon winning him round. But it’s that time of the year when miracles really can happen. Standing under the mistletoe, Tabby’s Christmas is set to be one that she will never forget. ... Amazon.UK Blurb

MY THOUGHTS ... What must be my favourite Christmas read of 2020. 

Despite the fact that Christmas Day was done and dusted in what most have been all of five pages (and that at the end of the book) what I thought of as a deliciously Christmassy read; That many of the chapters were headed with one of those awfully cheesy Christmas cracker jokes that I love ...

Q: Why are Christmas trees like bad knitters?

A: Because they keep loosing all their needles ...

something that couldn't fail but get me in the mood.

Great characters, even the most unlikable of them making for enjoyable reading. Full of the strong, feisty, females that I enjoy; Mercy, an altogether different type of strong, an amazing character quite unlike the kind of heroine typical of women's fiction. Whilst Tabby ... Hmm! Tabby took some getting to know and for some time proved to be one of those rather meh! type of characters but the more I got to know her the more I liked her. Then there's Randal's  trendy fiancée whose antics provided some real laugh out loud moments. And then, and then there were Pye, a deliciously grumpy cat and canine, Pugsy, who together provided a wonderfully humorous element to the book.