Book Review: Cold Feet at Christmas, by Debbie Johnson

Running out on your wedding shouldn’t be this much fun!

A remote Scottish castle on a snowy Christmas Eve. A handsome husband-to-be. A dress to die for. It should have been the happiest day of Leah Harvey’s life – but the fairytale wedding turns sour when she finds her fiancé halfway up the bridesmaid’s skirt just hours before the ceremony!

Fleeing the scene in a blizzard, Leah ends up stranded at the nearest cottage, where she collapses into the arms of its inhabitant – a man so handsome she thinks she must have died and gone to heaven!

And when Rob Cavelli suddenly finds himself with an armful of soaking wet, freezing cold, and absolutely gorgeous bride on the run, he’s more than happy to welcome her into his snowbound cottage this Christmas…

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Thank you to Harper Impulse for approving me for a review copy via NetGalley.

I can’t deny that what drew me to this book was the cover. Look at it. It’s stunning. Having never read any of Debbie Johnson’s books before, I was intrigued to start, so I was really excited to have my request approved. However, this is a slightly difficult review to write, as I had a few mixed feelings. Overall I enjoyed the story. Leah is a funny heroine, and generally speaking Rob is a pretty dreamy guy. The book made me laugh out loud at times, and swoon a bit at others.

However, I did have a few things that didn’t settle too well with me.

1. It really isn’t that Christmassy. This was probably my biggest disappointment. Yes, they meet on Christmas Eve and have a few days at Christmas shacked up in a cottage, but that’s just the very start of the story, and after that it was just a normal story. With such a beautiful cover and catchy name, I was hoping for a really festive read, and that is not what this is.

2. At times it’s pretty damn raunchy. I’m not necessarily against that in a book, but I suppose I wasn’t expecting it from this. I guess the general feel I had got from the book was romantic and christmassy, but it’s more erotic and all-year-round. Yes, there were some sweet and tender moments, and they obviously care a lot for each other, but most of their relationship was very physical, not emotional, with some pretty childish arguments due to Rob’s stubbornness to admit his feelings – this was understandable for a while, but got quite exasperating. There was one scene in particular I really didn’t enjoy, which in my opinion could have been a lovely, tender moment, but actually made me incredibly uncomfortable, and I felt completely took away from the story.

I’ve seen a lot of talk about the kind of insta-love effect when she’s literally just left her wedding – she’s still in the dress when she meets Rob! – and I’m not entirely sure where I stand on this one. I agree to some degree, and it was very sudden – yes, we all accept the general insta-love possibility within fiction, but the moment you’ve walked out your wedding? Not so sure. However, this was explained slightly better than I was expecting from what I’ve read, so it wasn’t too unsettling. So her previous relationship wasn’t all that perfect, and her attraction to Rob helps her realise that, I can pretty much get that. But still, getting down and dirty with some guy you have just met, less than 24 hours after your wedding-that-wasn’t? That didn’t sit too well with me, and even if they weren’t totally living in bliss, she’d been with Doug for 5 years, that relationship would still require some mourning.

So, overall, I’m pretty torn. Yes, it’s enjoyable. Yes, it bugged me at times. No, it’s not what I was expecting. It’s by no means a bad book, and I would recommend it I suppose, but go into it with an open mind and don’t necessarily expect a Christmas book, as that’s what let me down the most. But overall, I guess you’ll have to find out for yourself!

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