My huge thanks to Katrina Power for inviting me to participate in this festive blog tour for Snowfall Over Halesmere House by Suzanne Snow. It’s my pleasure to share my review today.

Published by Canelo, Snowfall Over Halesmere House is available for purchase through the links here.

Snowfall Over Halesmere House

Welcome to Halesmere House, where romance might be just around the corner…

After years of living in the past, Ella is ready to start building a future. The perfect opportunity presents itself when she is offered a short-term role at Halesmere House in the Lake District, and tasked with kick-starting its artists’ residence. She can’t wait to start and explore a new career in an inspiring location.

But when Ella arrives at Halesmere, she wonders if she’s made a huge mistake after she clashes with Max, the new owner. Max has his own reasons to be unsettled by her presence, but despite his misgivings it seems everyone else loves having Ella around. As a single dad, it’s his children’s attachment to her that bothers him most. Who will pick up the pieces when Ella leaves?

What Max doesn’t know is that Ella is falling for more than just the Lake District and the community around her. Can her temporary job lead to a permanent happy ending?

A tender and uplifting Christmas romance for fans of Heidi Swain, Karen Swan and Sue Moorcroft.

My Review of Snowfall Over Halesmere House

Ella is starting a new job.

What a lovely, heartwarming story! Snowfall Over Halesmere House is utterly charming, and thoroughly enjoyable because it’s a sensitive exploration of home, family and belonging that seeps into the reader’s consciousness so that they begin to feel part of the local community every bit as much as Ella and Max.

I loved the Lakes setting which acts as a well defined, but not overpowering, backdrop to the plot and the reader discivers it alongside Ella. Suzanne Snow had me wanting to book a stay at Halesmere as soon as possible. There’s a real sense of community in Snowfall Over Halesmere House that is much needed in today’s world. I felt as if I wanted to move to the Lakes too because Susanne Snow made the area feel real and compelling.

Ella is a layered and complex character as she comes to terms with what has happened in her family and learns to trust her instincts and gives herself permission to be herself. There’s an underpinning sadness that makes her vulnerable even whilst she is professionally highly competent. What I found worked so beautifully in the developing relationship between Max and Ella was that there wasn’t an over dependence on their physical attributes in the writing, but rather a subtle uncovering of who they are as people that really brought them alive and made me care about them. Noelle too is a triumph, being a perfect blend of razor sharp manipulation and slight artistic battiness that gave her depth and made her a catalyst for much of the action. Although Max is the lead male, I have to confess to being a little in love with Stan because his rough exterior conceals a man who cares about others, and who is both skilled and hard working.

What I enjoyed so much, however, was how the themes were presented. In Snowfall over Halesmere House Suzanne Snow gently teaches her reader not to live in the past and not to live a half life. Instead she illustrates how fulfilling grasping opportunities can be and shows us how we can be happy if only we allow ourselves to be so. I found this element of the story very affecting. The explorations of grief, trust, self-belief, family and friendship feel mature, sensitive and striking. Equally entrancing is Suzanne Snow’s consideration of love. Whilst there is conventional romance at the heart of the story, there are other forms of love from enjoying what a person does for a living to the unconditional love between a parent and child as well as the preservation of love for those who are no longer with us. I found this element of the narrative very emotional.

As the plot moves towards the festive season, Snowfall over Halesmere House is the perfect book to enjoy on a dark, winter’s afternoon when it will give the reader a warm internal glow. I thought it was lovely.

About Suzanne Snow

Suzanne Snow writes contemporary and uplifting fiction, with a vibrant sense of setting and community connecting the lives of her characters. A horticulturist who lives with her family in Lancashire, her books are inspired by a love of landscape, romance and rural life.

The Cottage of New Beginnings, Suzanne’s first novel in the popular Thorndale series, was a contender for the 2021 RNA Joan Hessayon Award, and she is currently writing the Love in the Lakes series for Canelo. Snowfall Over Halesmere House is her fifth novel.

Suzanne is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and the Society of Authors.

For further information, visit Suzanne’s website, follow her on Twitter @SnowProse and find her on Instagram and Facebook.

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