The Christmas Escape

by Sarah Morgan

3 out of 5

Synopsis

“Morgan’s latest Christmas tale will delight readers and give them the perfect excuse to snuggle up for a few hours with a cup of hot cocoa.”—Booklist on The Christmas Escape

This Christmas, be whisked away by USA Today bestselling author Sarah Morgan in this uplifting novel of friendship, the festive season, and risking everything for the biggest gift of all...

It was supposed to be Christy Sullivan’s perfect Christmas getaway—a trip to Lapland with her family and best friend, Alix. But facing a make-or-break marriage crisis, Christy desperately needs time alone with her husband. Her solution? Alix can take Christy’s little daughter to Lapland, and they will reunite there for Christmas Day. It’s a big ask, but what else are friends for?

There’s nothing Alix won’t do for Christy. But Christy’s request to save Christmas is giving Alix sleepless nights. She knows something is wrong, but for the first time ever, Christy isn’t talking. And even the Arctic temperatures in Lapland aren’t enough to dampen the seriously inconvenient sizzle Alix is developing for Zac, a fellow guest and nemesis from her past.

As secrets unravel and unexpected romance shines under the northern lights, can Christy and Alix’s Christmas escape give them the courage to fight for the relationships they really want, and save the precious gift of each other’s friendship?

Review

Perfect Christy and Workaholic Alix are like sisters and always spend Christmas together. This year, they are going on a magical trip to Lapland, where they will have to face their demons to get a Happy Ever After.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This narrative follows two very different women who have grown up as best-friends/sisters.

Their lives have changed, as Christy has got married, has a young child, and has moved to a picture-perfect cottage. And both Christy and Alix are struggling to work out how they now fit into each other's lives.

The trip to Lapland doesn't go to plan - Christy thinks that her husband may be cheating on her, and she decides to stay in the UK for a few extra days to discover more.

Feeling that she can't confide in the best friend who vocally disapproved of her husband from the beginning, Christy doesn't know what to do or how to fix things.

Alix agrees to take Christy's young daughter Holly to Lapland, to give her parents a chance to sort things out.

She's less-than-thrilled to learn that childcare duties will be shared with Zac, the handsome-but-annoying scientist that Alix has tried to avoid for years.

I really liked how this explored the nature of close, long-term friendships, and how they are forced to evolve as time goes on.

Both Christy and Alix are aware of (and are ignoring) the friction that is growing between them. As adults, they no longer fit as easily into each other's lives as they did as children.

Christy finds that the first person she wants to speak to about anything is now her husband, instead of Alix.

And Alix sees Christy's perfect life and finds it hard to relate. Christy has gone the traditional route - marriage, baby, quaint cottage - all the things that Alix isn't interested in. And Alix feels a little lost and left behind.

Out of the two relationships, I think I prefered following the progress of Christy and husband Seb, as they try and work out their issues. The pressure that they've been putting on themselves and each other, it all felt very realistic. They've been focussing so much on being a successful family and great parents to Holly, they've kinda lost themselves.

Alix and Zac make a great couple. Their scenes are always filled with a different type of tension, and it's a matter on when, not if. But whenever things slowed down, I was left a little cold. They'd already done their "big talk" and fallen for each other off-screen, which didn't leave much for this book; and just didn't make sense for the most part.

This book did have quite a few light and fluffy moments (mostly thanks to the wonderful Holly), but it broached some quite serious issues too.

At times, I felt that it was trying to cover too much at once, and I'm not sure they were adequately resolved within the book.

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