Christmas at Frozen Falls - Kiley Dunbar

Title: Christmas at Frozen Falls
Author: Kiley Dunbar
Genre: Christmas, travel, chick-lit
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 273
Date read: January, 2023

Sylvie Magnusson is going to be lonely this Christmas. Instead of jetting off for her honeymoon, she’s freezing at home in Cheshire. Guess that’s what happens when your fiancé dumps you a week before your wedding…

Sylvie’s best friend, Nari, plans a trip to see the Northern Lights and get Sylvie’s mojo back. But as their Lapland getaway approaches, Sylvie realizes that Frozen Falls is the hometown of Stellan Virtanen, her dreamy Finnish ex-boyfriend, the one that got away.

When they meet, Stellan’s still gorgeous – and her heart is warmed when he shows her the romantic delights of Lapland (as well as some adorable Husky puppies). But when she returns to England, can she really leave Stellan behind? Or will she find that her heart belongs in the frozen North?


Fortunately more a winter book than a Christmas book, since I didn't quite manage to finish it until mid-way through January. It totally made me want to go to Lapland though! I've never been, but Kiley Dunbar made it (or at least the area around Frozen Falls) sound so fascinating and charming that it definitely awakened the travel-bug in me.

And I'd definitely say that that's the charm of this book. I enjoyed seeing the friendship between Sylvie and Nari, and the romance was sweet (if not entirely believable - it suffered from much of the same issues as those in the movie "The Holiday"), but it was the setting and that kept me coming back for more.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches - Sangu Mandanna

Title: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
Author: Sangu Mandanna
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: Audiobook ~10hrs
Date read: January, 2023

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don’t mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she’s used to being alone and she follows the rules...with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos "pretending" to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.

But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and…Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he’s concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.

As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn’t know she was looking for....


I would definitely characterize this as "cozy fantasy". Take your stereotypical British fiction and add a magical element, and you've nailed the atmosphere of this book to a tee. And it seems to be a stand-alone novel, which is a pleasant surprise.

It's a comfort read with (mostly) likeable and quirky characters. I loved the kids and felt they actually acted like kids rather than "small grown-ups". There are few surprises to be found here (although not none! There were some twists I hadn't seen coming), but in this type of book, I didn't really expect there to be either. I had guessed the final resolution ahead of time, but not - as it turned out - the twist it took to get there.

I "read" this as an audiobook and managed 10 hours in 5 days.