A delightful little book with two festive reads from Debbie Macomber. Both stories are centred around the fiction and lovely town of Cedar Cove.

1225 Christmas Tree Lane

Continuing with the popular Cedar Cove stories. This festive catch up is based around divorced Beth Morehouse. Beth has been divorced for a few years and has two adult daughters who conspire to get their parents back together. Following her divorce Beth gave up teaching and purchased a Christmas tree farm. She also has a love of animals and her Christmas is further complicated when she finds 10 black lab puppies on her doorstep. Meanwhile the daughters have asked that their father,Kent, join them for Christmas as the start of the plan for reconciliation with their mother. Kent meets a colleague at the airport and confesses he is miserable without his wife ex wife and he decides to make her jealous. Meanwhile back in Cedar Cove Beth is starting a friendship with the local vet. Will they get back together?

5-B Poppy Lane

A spin off from the Cedar Cove series. The central characters are Ruth, a post graduate who is completing her teacher training at the local college. It's the festive season and she randomly writes a Christmas card to a marine based in Afghanistan and over a period of months they develop quite a friendship. Will it develop further? Once the marine, Paul, is home on leave they see each other often and the relationship develops. Ruth's Grandmother upon meeting Paul is taken back to the years of the Second World War and over the course of a few weeks she shares, previously unknown to Ruth, information of her time in France, the Resistance and then a concentration camp.

The two stories are lovely, light hearted festive reads and whilst Poppy Lane deals with some serious issues, it highlights the point of talking to your elderly relatives and perhaps uncovering some long hidden truths. ( )