attytheresa's review against another edition
4.0
Light, entertaining, madcap romcom set at an English modern country house Christmas. Of course there are deep dark family secrets revealed upstairs, while downstairs is more farce than orderly service. All comes right in the end, naturally! Oh, and the food descriptions are divine!
ladyonequestion's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyable, but at the same time I found this quite a frustrating read. Juliet can at times be a bit annoying, this is not helped by the first person narrative. Just when the plot gets interesting, you get more nonsense about how sexy she finds the three men she can't decide between and how she can't decide whether to be a chef or not. The mushroom sub plot goes nowhere, it looks like it was inserted to provide a bit of spice but never really resolved in a satisfying way, it was if the author changed her mind about where she wanted it to go. It also doesn't feel that evocative for a book about food, stately homes and Christmas. The author obviously knows a great deal about cooking, but I found her descriptions fell short. I enjoyed the parts about the family and the below stairs staff though.
ljbentley27's review against another edition
3.0
Synopsis
Assuming that her boyfriend Ben was about to propose, Juliet was more than surprised when she found evidence of his philandering ways. Rather than sit and sulk she decided to take up a lucrative festive job offer to work one last time as a chef at country estate Thornton Hall before going home to America to retrain to become a psychologist.
However, Christmas madness is rife at Thornton Hall and Juliet must control herself around her randy boss Jasper and the head chef Edward; whom she has secretly harboured a crush on for a very long time.
Review
Ok, this is difficult for me. Christmas at Thornton Hall is a really well written book. The storylines are entertaining, intriguing even and the characters are well developed and very distinguishable. In fact, the whole story is well thought out and is a very accurate representation of what I personally believe life in a huge country manor is like. I just didn’t warm to this book like I do with other stories.
Take, for example, the protagonist Juliet. She was understandably upset by Ben’s cheating but she just couldn’t seem to make a decision over which man she wanted to be with. I found that frustrating. In each chapter she felt strongly for a different man in the cast. Her flightiness wasn’t appealing when as a reader I want to identify with the heroine.
Whilst I understand the need for all the plot twists – and which I admit they were executed well – it was hard at times to keep plot threads in order. I felt that this book was meant to be a romantic comedy not a mystery novel.
I think the real indicator for me as to whether or not I enjoyed a book or not is how quickly or (in this case) slowly I devour the story and it took me a very long time to Christmas at Thornton Hall. It just didn’t hook me the way I expected it too.
Overall, as I say Christmas at Thornton Hall is written well and on paper it has everything you need – intricate plot, handsome male heroes, happy endings – it just wasn’t for me.
Christmas at Thornton Hall by Lynn Marie Hulsman is available now.
Assuming that her boyfriend Ben was about to propose, Juliet was more than surprised when she found evidence of his philandering ways. Rather than sit and sulk she decided to take up a lucrative festive job offer to work one last time as a chef at country estate Thornton Hall before going home to America to retrain to become a psychologist.
However, Christmas madness is rife at Thornton Hall and Juliet must control herself around her randy boss Jasper and the head chef Edward; whom she has secretly harboured a crush on for a very long time.
Review
Ok, this is difficult for me. Christmas at Thornton Hall is a really well written book. The storylines are entertaining, intriguing even and the characters are well developed and very distinguishable. In fact, the whole story is well thought out and is a very accurate representation of what I personally believe life in a huge country manor is like. I just didn’t warm to this book like I do with other stories.
Take, for example, the protagonist Juliet. She was understandably upset by Ben’s cheating but she just couldn’t seem to make a decision over which man she wanted to be with. I found that frustrating. In each chapter she felt strongly for a different man in the cast. Her flightiness wasn’t appealing when as a reader I want to identify with the heroine.
Whilst I understand the need for all the plot twists – and which I admit they were executed well – it was hard at times to keep plot threads in order. I felt that this book was meant to be a romantic comedy not a mystery novel.
I think the real indicator for me as to whether or not I enjoyed a book or not is how quickly or (in this case) slowly I devour the story and it took me a very long time to Christmas at Thornton Hall. It just didn’t hook me the way I expected it too.
Overall, as I say Christmas at Thornton Hall is written well and on paper it has everything you need – intricate plot, handsome male heroes, happy endings – it just wasn’t for me.
Christmas at Thornton Hall by Lynn Marie Hulsman is available now.
laurapatriciarose's review against another edition
4.0
First off what a lovely cover! It's all so Christmassy and instantly made me want to read it. And I was not disappointed.
Juliet is looking forward to a nice relaxing Christmas with her fiancé Ben, but these plans get scuppered when Juliet finds a jewel encrusted thong in Ben's apartment. Juliet then finds herself making the quick decision to take on a job preparing a Christmas feast at Thornton Hall. Juliet is determined that men are completely off the menu, but that is until sparks begin to fly with the resident chef Edward, but is there also something going on with her boss Jasper?
This was so easy to get into. I love Lynn's writing style and I liked Juliet from the start. I like that we got a little more insight to Juliet's character with her inner thoughts and musings she would share with the reader. I think that's part of the reason that I liked her so much.
I absolutely adored Thornton Hall, it was the perfect setting for a Christmas read and I literally whizzed through it. I loved the colourfulness of all the characters and it had me feeling all warm and christmassy.
A definite Christmas read that should be on everyone's list.
Juliet is looking forward to a nice relaxing Christmas with her fiancé Ben, but these plans get scuppered when Juliet finds a jewel encrusted thong in Ben's apartment. Juliet then finds herself making the quick decision to take on a job preparing a Christmas feast at Thornton Hall. Juliet is determined that men are completely off the menu, but that is until sparks begin to fly with the resident chef Edward, but is there also something going on with her boss Jasper?
This was so easy to get into. I love Lynn's writing style and I liked Juliet from the start. I like that we got a little more insight to Juliet's character with her inner thoughts and musings she would share with the reader. I think that's part of the reason that I liked her so much.
I absolutely adored Thornton Hall, it was the perfect setting for a Christmas read and I literally whizzed through it. I loved the colourfulness of all the characters and it had me feeling all warm and christmassy.
A definite Christmas read that should be on everyone's list.
scatterbooker's review against another edition
3.0
My Thoughts:
I received my copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Christmas at Thornton Hall is the 6th Christmas themed book that I have read as part of the December Challenge that I'm participating in with the Aussie Readers Group at Goodreads. This one was a bit longer than a lot of the other Christmas themed novels around and it took me a little bit longer than I would have liked to get through. That's my own fault though, not the book's, since I must have gone crazy for a while earlier this year and elected to study two university subjects over the Christmas break so I have been pretty busy around here lately!
The longer than usual length allowed the author, Lynn Marie Hulsman, to pack in a lot of action and interesting characters. I quite often felt a bit stressed out for Juliet, the main character, because there was so much going on around her. She's a top chef to the stars dealing with a break up with her boyfriend, Ben and sexual tension with Edward, her sexy fellow chef and Jasper Roth, her handsome and wealthy boss while cooking for a huge, snobby Christmas party on her own at Thornton Hall which is one of those super wealthy English properties that have been owned by titled families for generations.
There were quite a few times that I questioned whether Juliet really had true feelings for any of these men as she seemed to be able to jump from fantasizing about one to another in a matter of seconds. Her previous ex was also brought up often so that makes four love interests in one book which is perhaps a few too many for me.
Juliet was a bit of annoying main character to be honest. 99% of her problems could have been solved just by talking about them to the relevant people but she seemed to avoid that like the plague. I could certainly relate to her tendency to drift off and daydream at the drop of a hat but I found myself getting frustrated at her indecisiveness and unwillingness to talk to anyone about anything.
The other characters were all well developed although I would have liked to have read more about Edward the fellow chef. He was missing for the majority of the story and from what I did read about him he seemed like a pretty interesting guy. He leaves Juliet in the lurch at the beginning of the book to cope with the Christmas festivities at Thornton Hall on her own with no explanation after a night of passion. I found it difficult to believe that Juliet simply didn't bother to give him a call to find out why he left. If some guy pulled a stunt like that on me I'd be chasing him down if only to give him a piece of my mind!
Edward had his reasons for leaving but will he be able to explain everything in time to stop Juliet from traipsing off to America with her married boss? Jasper Roth is rich, handsome and American so he did what any American who wants to succeed in London does apparently and married Lady Penelope who is titled but crazy. He has been after Juliet for ages and hopes to leave his wife and take off home to America with Juliet. Jasper wasn't the most likable of characters, he was far too interested in expensive things and rude to his staff for me.
There are a host of terrific supporting characters in Christmas at Thornton Hall. At times it was perhaps a few too many to keep up with. Some of my favourites included Terrence, the sassy gay butler, Rose and Seamus, the elderly and kind couple who have worked at Thornton Hall most of their lives and The Earl of Gloucester who is known by the downstairs staff as The Painter since he is a well known artist. The Earl has some interesting secrets of his own.
Christmas at Thornton Hall is a Christmas story with an interesting plot and characters. There is mystery, plenty of romance and few steamy love scenes. There are plenty of laughs and I found it to be a really enjoyable Christmas themed read with a noticable lack of cheesiness which I quite liked.
I received my copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Christmas at Thornton Hall is the 6th Christmas themed book that I have read as part of the December Challenge that I'm participating in with the Aussie Readers Group at Goodreads. This one was a bit longer than a lot of the other Christmas themed novels around and it took me a little bit longer than I would have liked to get through. That's my own fault though, not the book's, since I must have gone crazy for a while earlier this year and elected to study two university subjects over the Christmas break so I have been pretty busy around here lately!
The longer than usual length allowed the author, Lynn Marie Hulsman, to pack in a lot of action and interesting characters. I quite often felt a bit stressed out for Juliet, the main character, because there was so much going on around her. She's a top chef to the stars dealing with a break up with her boyfriend, Ben and sexual tension with Edward, her sexy fellow chef and Jasper Roth, her handsome and wealthy boss while cooking for a huge, snobby Christmas party on her own at Thornton Hall which is one of those super wealthy English properties that have been owned by titled families for generations.
There were quite a few times that I questioned whether Juliet really had true feelings for any of these men as she seemed to be able to jump from fantasizing about one to another in a matter of seconds. Her previous ex was also brought up often so that makes four love interests in one book which is perhaps a few too many for me.
Juliet was a bit of annoying main character to be honest. 99% of her problems could have been solved just by talking about them to the relevant people but she seemed to avoid that like the plague. I could certainly relate to her tendency to drift off and daydream at the drop of a hat but I found myself getting frustrated at her indecisiveness and unwillingness to talk to anyone about anything.
The other characters were all well developed although I would have liked to have read more about Edward the fellow chef. He was missing for the majority of the story and from what I did read about him he seemed like a pretty interesting guy. He leaves Juliet in the lurch at the beginning of the book to cope with the Christmas festivities at Thornton Hall on her own with no explanation after a night of passion. I found it difficult to believe that Juliet simply didn't bother to give him a call to find out why he left. If some guy pulled a stunt like that on me I'd be chasing him down if only to give him a piece of my mind!
Edward had his reasons for leaving but will he be able to explain everything in time to stop Juliet from traipsing off to America with her married boss? Jasper Roth is rich, handsome and American so he did what any American who wants to succeed in London does apparently and married Lady Penelope who is titled but crazy. He has been after Juliet for ages and hopes to leave his wife and take off home to America with Juliet. Jasper wasn't the most likable of characters, he was far too interested in expensive things and rude to his staff for me.
There are a host of terrific supporting characters in Christmas at Thornton Hall. At times it was perhaps a few too many to keep up with. Some of my favourites included Terrence, the sassy gay butler, Rose and Seamus, the elderly and kind couple who have worked at Thornton Hall most of their lives and The Earl of Gloucester who is known by the downstairs staff as The Painter since he is a well known artist. The Earl has some interesting secrets of his own.
Christmas at Thornton Hall is a Christmas story with an interesting plot and characters. There is mystery, plenty of romance and few steamy love scenes. There are plenty of laughs and I found it to be a really enjoyable Christmas themed read with a noticable lack of cheesiness which I quite liked.
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