Author: Lily Greene
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Publication Date: October, 2015
Genre: Chick-Lit
Buy The Book: Amazon
Description: Last Christmas Ella’s heart was broken.
She had been with sophisticated banker Robbie Newton for six years when they suddenly broke up on New Year’s Eve.
Robbie had left her heartbroken and hurt with nothing but a note explaining he had taken a job in Chicago.
This Christmas Ella is determined to bury her past and start afresh.
She focuses on her career as an artist and organizes her debut exhibition in a swanky London gallery.
While shopping for her best friend, Libby Crosley, who is hosting her infamous Christmas party that evening, Ella bumps into a mysterious man in the supermarket.
After a series of awkward run-ins and chance meetings with this stranger, Fergus Lamb, Ella feels the pangs of love again.
Fergus is nothing like any man Ella’s ever dated.
He’s a quirky, smart, bold, and spontaneous war photographer who looks like James Dean.
Just as Ella’s luck is changing, Robbie shows up unannounced at the opening night of her exhibition.
Ella is faced with a choice when Robbie finally offers her what she always wanted…
Who will Ella choose? Her suave and successful ex-boyfriend who she finds so irresistible? Or the exciting new stranger who has just waltzed into her life?
Will this Christmas be a fresh start? Or will she be dragged back to the memories of Last Christmas?
My Thoughts: Last Christmas by new to me author Lily Greene is a short Christmas novella about a woman who is determined to make this Christmas much better than the year before. Last Christmas, Ella was devastated when her long term boyfriend dumped her to take a job in Chicago. Ella focuses on her work and upcoming exhibition in an art gallery and spending time with her friends. She meets photo journalist, Fergus, at a Christmas party and begins to experience feelings again. Everything is going beautifully in her new relationship until her ex-boyfriend, Robbie, shows up unexpectedly looking for reconciliation. Now Ella is faced with making a decision that will affect the rest of her life and future happiness.
This was an OK story for me. I liked Ella and Fergus and thought some of his date ideas were very creative and intriguing. I thought Ella was a character I could easily relate to and empathized with her confusion and frustration when Robbie shows up at the art gallery. I did not like Robbie or his arrogant assumption that he could just waltz back into Ella’s life, thinking she will welcome him back without question and with open arms. I felt disappointed with the way she resolves her past with Robbie. I felt it lacked the emotion that should have been there considering the length of time they were together and the way he broke up with her. I was expecting to see more conflict. Robbie comes across as a very weak character and he proves it with how he behaves after telling Ella he wants her back. Everything ends well, but I think the story would have played out better for me if it had been a longer story with more time spent with the characters interacting more. I recommend this to fans of chick-lit romance looking for a fast Christmas story. Readers that enjoy a longer story and prefer their characters to be more complex should look for something else.
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