'A Christmas Tail' by Cressida McLaughlin (Review)

Hello and Welcome to a whole new Christmas Book Review as part of the,

 'Writerly Yours Christmas Readathon'.  

This is the PERFECT time to get stuck into a Christmas Romance Novel.  Just as December is, well, right now. 

So, I'm sure you're thinking, 'Oh, another Christmas Romance, how is this going to be any different to the others'. Well my little loves, don't you worry. Cressida McLaughlin has you covered. So what makes this Christmas romance different? There are dogs! lots of loveable dog characters that can warm the cockles of anyone.  If you're more of a Cat lover then there's a little Cat in there too. The main character...

Cat is a kind, curious over thinker who is new to Primrose Terrace and is currently lodging at her friend, Polly and her brother,  Joe's house. Cat currently works at a Nursery, until one day when she gets herself fired. 

Becoming unemployed is the best thing that ever happened to Cat and with Joe's brilliance (Joe also manages his own illustrative business), Cat realises she can do so much more and starts her own business, 'Pooch Promenade'  - Dog walking. 

One day when Cat is walking the dogs in the park, she notices a stranger...a tall dark and handsome stranger called Mark. Although Cat is warned about Mark from the local cafe owner, she still wants to know more about him and what brings him to Primrose Terrace. Is Mark dating Jessica the pristine and classy local 'celeb'? and is this just lust or will Cat find love in time for Christmas?


The first thing that drew me to this book was the front cover. It is  so pretty and so festive. I love the pun in the title and I am a huge animal lover so this drew me in, instantly.

The way Cressida writes helps you to imagine the scenes so well. I could picture Primrose Terrace vividly and the park nearby. I wanted to jump into the novel and snap up Frankie's spare room.

Another thing Cressida explains so well are the seasons throughout the course of the book. When she described the summer days, I could almost feel the sun beating down on me. This made me pine for Summer (for a whole of 6 seconds - Autumn is my favourite season).

*Spolier Alert*

A few of my favourite scenes:

I loved the scene where Cat and Joe were in the van on the beach. I think this is when it hit them both that they were very much in love. I literally let out a little 'Grrrr' of irritation when they were interrupted.

When Mr Jasper helped Cat with Chalky - so many feels.

UGH - one of the scenes that got my back up was Mark's behaviour at Jessica's Christmas Party. This man repulses me!

I love Curiosity Kitten and I am Team Joe all the way.

All in all I can say is that this book was full of suspense for me, warmed my heart and made me feel very Christmassy. It also made me miss my family dog, Molly who passed away a couple of years ago but also made me thankful that we had such an amazing dog for 13 years. <3

S x

This book is a bargain at 99p on the Kobo, or if you have a Kindle or would like the hard copy, you can find the link here