Rachale's Reads

Baby It’s Cold Outside by Kerry Barrett

The cover of this book is absolutely fabulous, it instantly grabbed my attention. When I requested this book on Netgalley, I wasn’t aware this was part of the series that Kerry has wrote. This wasn’t a problem however, everything that needs to be explained is, and while I think it would add more depth to understanding the characters and what led to this moment, it doesn’t stop the enjoyment of this book.  

This book is possibly one of the most wintery books that I have ever read. Even though winter is known as a cold season, especially in the book with all of the snow. Just thinking of the snow, and how picturesque it is I felt a warm glow, imagining being all snuggly under a blanket in front of a fire, or being out in the cold, but wrapped up in my winter coat, wooly hat and mittens. It makes me smile and the description of the setting of this book gets me totally in that frame of mind.  

With no prior connection to Esme in the opening chapter or so I thought that she came across quite selfish when it came to her mother’s relationship with Douglas. I understand it may have been a shock, and hard to get used to but she didn’t even seem to try, she was quite rude to him outwardly and acted in a very teenager way, not like someone who is in their 20s. No one is perfect though, and this skepticism over Esme was soon dissipated when she was confronted with her Fiancée’s ex girlfriend, Tansy and Jamie’s five year old son, who neither Esme or Jamie knew about. Esme handled this so calmly, I don’t think I would have handled this situation so well. This warmed me to Esme. Overall she seemed lovely once you get to know her, and had the patience of a saint for most of it, especially in the face of wedding crisis, again I don’t think this would have coped with that as well as Esme seemed to either!  

Harry and Louise were absolutely lovely, they were so close to Esme and a great support in her hour of need. I also really liked Tansy, other than a few mistakes (hey, who doesn’t make a few bad decisions?!) she seemed genuinely nice, it was hard not to like her, quite the opposite to the usual ex girlfriends you normally read about.  

Parker, where do I start with Parker? I loved him. His quirky interests made for some great big smiles and he was incredibly smart for someone who was 5. The relationship between Esme and Parker developed really nicely and was quite touching at times.  

This book was simply lovely and full of warmth , I cannot wait to read the rest of the series.  

Published by: Carina
Gratefully received from the Publisher for review  

View Book on Goodreads
Order on: Amazon UK

Want to wind down after a long week/day with a good book and a glass of wine?
I will talk about a nice wine I drank which I think suits the mood of this book
.    

It’s getting colder, both in real life and in this book so it’s time to crack out the red wine. I chose to drink this Valpolicella Ripasso from Morrisons. It is from the Veneto region in Italy. It is full-bodied, with notes of smoky warmth and tastes of delicious cherry and dried fruits with chocolate. Absolutely delicious and perfect for this book with it’s delightfully wintery setting.