A Merry Little Christmas is the third book in Cathy Bramley’s Christmas series following Merry, who we have followed in all three books, and her best friend Nell who we have known since book 1. This year Merry is preparing for her new baby while also feeling terrified of being a mother and Nell is struggling with infertility and doesn’t know what to do after discovering something about her husband’s past that could change everything. I would recommend checking out the trigger warnings as infertility, death of a parent and pregnancy are all widely discussed throughout the story.
I would say that as the series has gone on the tone of the books has stayed consistently festive however the stories have gradually moved from fully romance, to part romance, part contemporary, to in this one a fully contemporary story. I have continued to enjoy them however my favourite is definitely book 1 and if it is a series you are considering becoming invested in I would bear in mind.
There were things I loved about this book both new and familiar but also unfortunately it is also the book in the series that had the most things I didn't enjoy reading.
Starting with the positives, I loved seeing how Merry and Emily’s relationship has developed over the year. It often feels very special to read and it is great to see how close they have become. In fact some of the bonds characters have with others make up some of my favourite parts of these books. This includes Cole’s sister Hester and how she just adds to every scene she is in and Fred, Cole’s dad, who has to be one of my top characters. I have also really enjoyed seeing more of Max, Nell’s stepson, in this book as we have previously met him but didn’t really know him.
Following the same couple for 3 books each with different stories also really lets you get to know the couple and I have really enjoyed rereading the series to watch Merry and Cole’s relationship develop book by book.
As I already mentioned I did have a few things I didn’t fully enjoy about this book and the main one of those was how it felt like we were always in the middle of tension and conflict. Some of this makes sense for the plot and most of it I can see why it was added in, none of it felt like it was there for the sake of it, however I do think some of it could have been stripped back and built to the same character development with less overall conflict because at times I felt like it took away from the festive feeling, and I didn’t enjoy reading so much conflict for so long, a little bit less would’ve been a nice amount and worked for the story.
There were still festive vibes though among some really special scenes among friends and family which shared some messages that also feel important around Christmas time. It was overall a really solid Christmas book that I would recommend. I really enjoyed curling up with this and a hot drink as we started December and am really glad I bought it when it was released.
Thank you to Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
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