Today I'm delighted to be taking part in the blog tour for Karen King's wonderful Christmas novel, The Best Christmas Ever, which is published on 7 October. Here is an extract from the beginning of the book...
Chapter One
Well, that was school finished for a couple of weeks, Lexi Forde thought as she started up her car. She loved her job as a primary school teacher at Rudcup Primary but it was very demanding and, whilst the run-up to Christmas was rewarding and fun, it was crazily busy. She was glad to have a couple of weeks off now and was looking forward to catching up with her family down in Devon.
This is going to be the best Christmas ever! My first one with Ben, and the whole Forde family together again.
She waved to some pupils she passed walking up the hill with their parents, then turned right to head for the shopping centre. She wanted to get some new fairy lights so that she could put up the Christmas tree at the weekend, and buy a couple more presents for her boyfriend, Ben. She’d already bought him a Ferrari drive experience – she knew he would love that – and a retro arcade machine, which her best friend, Fern, was keeping in her spare bedroom so that Ben didn’t stumble across it. There wasn’t much room to hide anything in their one-bedroom flat. And she had just finished the Christmas jumper she’d secretly been knitting while he was working late. She wasn’t sure if Christmas jumpers were Ben’s thing, but all her family would be wearing one so she hoped he would join in the festive spirit and don it for the day.
This Christmas was going to be so special because her elder brother, Jay, and his family were coming over for a visit. She hadn’t seen Jay since he went to work in Canada five years ago or met his wife Sonia and their three-year-old son, Toby. They’d video called, of course, which was great, but it wasn’t the same as seeing them in the flesh. Her younger brother, Ryan, would be there too, with his girlfriend, Nell. And Granny Mabe, who had moved in with Lexi’s parents a few years ago when Grandpa Huey had died. Luckily, Lexi’s parents’ sprawling four-bedroom detached house, with the garage conversion for Granny Mabe, was big enough to put them all up. It would be a fun-filled Christmas and Lexi was longing to see them all again. Especially after last year when she couldn’t travel to Devon because of the Covid restrictions. Unfortunately, Ben didn’t finish work until midday on Christmas Eve and he had to return the day after Boxing Day, but at least they would all be together for Christmas Day.
Thank you, Karen, for sharing the opening of The Best Christmas Ever with us today. It sounds like a really Christmassy book, and I'm very much looking forward to reading it.
The Best Christmas Ever
A heart-warming Christmas romance, perfect for fans of Sarah Morgan, Mandy Baggot and Milly Johnson.
Lexi Forde adores Christmas. She’s especially looking forward to it this year as it’s the first Christmas with her boyfriend Ben and her older brother is visiting from Canada with his family. So they’re having a family Christmas at her parents’ house in Devon.
But then Lexi sees Ben kissing someone else and discovers he’s been having an affair. Devastated, she travels to Devon alone. She’s determined not to let her break up with Ben spoil her family Christmas. But when she arrives, Lexi discovers the council won’t allow the Christmas tree on The Green to be decorated this year; it’s too dangerous and has to come down. Lexi is desperate to save their favourite family tradition and make this Christmas extra special.
Can she save the tree and mend her broken heart in time for Christmas?
To purchase The Best Christmas Ever, please click on the link below:
About Karen King
Karen King is a multi-published author of both adult and children’s books. She has had ten romantic novels published, two psychological thrillers, 120 children’s books, two young adult novels, and several short stories for women’s magazines. Her romantic novel The Cornish Hotel by the Sea became an international bestseller, reaching the top one hundred in the Kindle charts in both the UK and Australia. Karen is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, the Society of Authors and the Society of Women Writers and Journalists. Karen now lives in Spain where she loves to spend her non-writing time exploring the quaint local towns with her husband, Dave, when she isn’t sunbathing or swimming in the pool, that is.
For more information about Karen King and her books, please click on the links below:
