Review by Ronny
The Secret Christmas Library is a heartwarming, beautiful story and the perfect holiday read for any booklover.
Favourite Quote:
She walked over and stood so close against the window that she could see her own face superimposed on the scene, feeling as though she was stepping into someone else’s history, the history of the many, many people who had walked these halls; it was thrilling.
Book Synopsis:
Mirren Sutherland stumbled into a career as an antiquarian book hunter after finding a priceless antique book in her great aunt’s attic. Now, as Christmas approaches, she’s been hired by Jamie McKinnon, the surprisingly young and handsome laird of a Highland clan whose ancestral holdings include a vast crumbling castle. Family lore suggests that the McKinnon family’s collection includes a rare book so valuable that it could save the entire estate—if they only knew where it was. Jamie needs Mirren to help him track down this treasure, which he believes is hidden in his own home.
But on the train to the Highlands, Mirren runs into rival book hunter Theo Palliser, and instantly knows that it’s not a chance meeting. She’s all too familiar with Theo’s good looks and smooth talk, and his uncanny ability to appear whenever there’s a treasure that needs locating.
Almost as soon as Mirren and Theo arrive at the castle, a deep snow blankets the Highlands, cutting off the outside world. Stuck inside, the three of them plot their search as the wind whistles outside. Mirren knows that Jamie’s grandfather, the castle’s most recent laird, had been a book collector, a hoarder, and a great lover of treasure hunts. Now they must unpuzzle his clues, discovering the secrets of the house—forming and breaking alliances in a race against time.
Review:
There is something magical about Jenny Colgan’s stories. They always draw you in and take you on an emotional and heartwarming ride. The Secret Christmas Library is perfect for any bookworm looking for a Christmas story outside the traditional holiday romance structure. First, the romance in this book is a secondary plotline. There is a sweet, slow-burning romance building between Mirren and Jamie, but you aren’t bombarded with romantic moments, and the spice is minimal. Secondly, the story is very different from any holiday romance that I have read in a long while. You have this emotional treasure hunt, or shall I say book hunt, unfolding on the pages. Mirren and the other characters in the story are trying to find this mysterious book that Jamie’s grandfather hinted at is somewhere in the castle. This book could potentially be the answer to Jamie’s financial problems, since the castle is falling apart around them, and they owe a lot in back taxes. I like a good treasure hunt story because you never know where the author is going to take you. Jenny did a fabulous job at inserting those unexpected twists at just the right moment. It made for an addictive read. As the characters are on this book hunt, family secrets, both past and present, are brought to light. I wasn’t expecting the twist at the end, and I found the ending very satisfying.
A lot of the characters in this book possess a lot of the qualities that you often find in a Jenny Colgan character. You have Mirren, the heroine, who is lost in life and feeling very isolated from the world around her. Mirren is not happy, and, of course, as the story unfolds, she realizes more and more that she needs to make changes in her life to find her place in this world. Jamie is that typical broody, quiet hero who has a heart of gold under that gruff exterior. I love his character arc. Jamie feels immense pressure to uphold his family’s legacy and doesn’t want to be the one who lets it crumble to ashes. All he wants to do is work as a gardener, but he knows that if he follows his dreams, he will be letting his family down. As I was reading, I could feel that heavy burden that Jamie was drowning under, and I was curious how Jenny was going to give him his HEA.
As I said before, the romance in this story is a secondary plotline. There is sort of a love triangle among Mirren, Jamie, and Theo, but the drama from it doesn’t take over the story, which I liked. That sweet and quiet chemistry between Mirren and Jamie was wonderful and the perfect fit for this story.
The Secret Christmas Library is the perfect book to curl up with this holiday season.
