Bella’s Countryside Christmas is an engaging and cozy Christmas Romance with a cast of colorful characters, witty banter, and a memorable “meet-cute.”
Bella’s Countryside Christmas by Claire Huston
Genre/Categories/Setting: Contemporary Women’s Fiction, (Fake Date) Romance, Sisters, Family Drama, Retirement Home, England
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My Summary:
Welcome to my stop on @The_WriteReads BBNYA Finalist Blog Tour for Belle’s Countryside Christmas. Thanks @The_WriteReads @BBNYA_Official for a complimentary eARC of #BellesCountrysideChristmas upon my request. All opinions are my own.
Bella is attending a (boring) work conference and decides to drive to a nearby town to look around and escape the conference for a while. While in town, she stops at the church where her canceled wedding was to take place. It brings up some bad feelings, especially since she encounters people who are there for their own wedding. She meets a handsome usher who has been stood up and she impulsively offers to be his plus one. They are having a great time at the reception when Belle receives an urgent call from her sister and needs to leave immediately. Is this the end of a budding relationship?
My Thoughts:
Fake Date Leads to Fun Banter
The fake date trope is an opportunity for some witty banter and awkward situations. In this case, we are treated to a memorable “meet-cute.”
A Glitch
As Bella and Jack experience an immediate attraction to each other and we have hopes for their future, Bella receives an urgent phone call from her sister and needs to leave right away. Unfortunately, she neglects to inform Jack who is off performing his usher duties.
Bella goes back to her conference and the story fast forwards to one year later when Bella takes a new job in this very same town. In the intervening year, Bella and Jack have not spoken because they never exchanged contact information. As one can predict, they run into each other and have a lot of explaining to do and hurt feelings (his) to manage.
Will They or Won’t They?
Will Bella and Jack be able to pick up where they left off? Jack feels jilted and has some angry feelings to reconcile. Bella has no excuse for having left without an explanation or not reaching out. (Someone in this small town must know him!)
On the way to resolve the “will they or won’t they,” we are treated to retirement home shenanigans (they both conveniently work there), family drama, a caring community, and Christmas festivities.
Sisters
I love a “romance with more,” and Bella’s Countryside Christmas delivers an abundance of retirement home entertainment and family drama, including meaningful and compelling sister content.
Recommending Bella’s Countryside Christmas:
Fans of witty banter, Christmas festivities, a colorful cast of characters, and family drama will enjoy this engaging story with a side of closed-door romance.
In the blogging world, Bella’s Countryside Christmas was the 9th place 2025 BBNYA Finalist (Book Bloggers Novel of the Year Award).
My Rating: 4 Stars
Meet the Author of Bella’s Countryside Christmas, Claire Huston
Claire Huston lives in Warwickshire, UK, with her husband and two children. She writes uplifting modern love stories about characters who are meant for each other but sometimes need a little help to realise it.
Her fourth novel, Clues to You, won the 2024 Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award.
A keen amateur baker, she enjoys making cakes, biscuits and brownies almost as much as eating them. You can find recipes for all the cakes mentioned in her first novel, Art and Soul, on her website along with over 150 other recipes. This is also where she talks about and reviews books.
As well as her website, you can find her on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, Twitter, Pinterest and Goodreads.
QOTD:
Have you read other books by this author?
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Christmas in April?? Sounds fun though, especially the retirement home shenanigans.
I can read Christmas any time of year! 😂
You’re the first person to mention that C word this year!
😂 I can’t be confined to a season! 😂