Phillipa Ashley

Not sure who came up with the title or the cover summary, but neither have anything to do with the actual story. Yes, the FMC is in charge of a fundraiser for a mountain rescue team, which is a nude calendar. Yes, the male lead is the guy who models as "Mr. December." That is where it ends for matching the cover summary. This isn't a Christmas story; no one is playing Santa; the FMC is not trying anyone "out one at a time." The word "Christmas" is mentioned I think a total of 3 times and in show more passing. Hell, the cover shows a blonde woman, but the FMC is clearly mentioned to have dark brunette hair a few occasions.

With that being said, the story is okay, but it's a really loose plot. It read more like the interactions between two people who keep running into each other during the timeline to edit and print a bunch of calendars. It's a decently quick read with a HEA, for those who are looking for a fast romance with relatively minimal spice. I found Emma, the FMC, to be pretty frustrating at times and unwilling to communicate properly. Overall, 12 Men for Christmas is a predicatible romance you can probably knock out in a few hours, if you are so inclined. show less

A Perfect Cornish Christmas by Phillipa Ashley is a delightful read full of romance with a dash of family drama and a little mystery to boot. The storyline is driven by a less-than-successful Christmas gift the year before. This book digs a little deeper than many of the Christmas-themed books I’ve read. It also offered a few twists I was not expecting. It’s a story about family, healing, and finding love. Just a lovely story for the season.

Life was set, planned and charted for Carrie Brownhill. The love of her life, Huw, and her were set to be married but only four weeks before their wedding date he calls it off to suddenly be married to someone completely different only a few months later. Shocked and confused Carrie decides the perfect solution is a caravan trip with her best friend Rowena, but that falls through as well. Faced with the option of sulking around for the next month or taking along the handsome yet annoying show more Matt Landor she opts for the adventure of a lifetime and ends up with more than she bargains for. What results is a road trip neither Carrie nor Matt will ever forget.

Sometimes you simply need a good solidly funny book with great characters and a little romance. Carrie Goes Off the Map was exactly that for me. Having recently suffered from a bit of a reading slump I was thrilled to have the opportunity to read Phillipa Ahsley’s latest. I’ve had a number of her books sitting on my shelves now for a while, but haven’t had the time to pick them up and now I feel like I’ve done myself a disservice. Phillipa knows how to write! Her characters were so easy to relate to and the story had moments that gave me those little butterflies because of the sheer happiness in the scene. I loved it! Even now, days after reading it, I’m still grinning at how things all turned out.

First of all, Carrie. Oh my, Carrie Brownhill is quite the character. Admittedly there were times, many times, during reading the book that I wanted to reach out and scream at her. Oddly enough it wasn’t so much in her “moping” period just after having lost her fiance, because for me that was perfectly understandable and it also didn’t seem to go on for a long time. What made me frustrated with her was her lack of ability to see what was right in front of her, Matt. His character was perfect. Not that he was this unrealistic perfect guy that couldn’t truly exist, but that he was very honest and real. Now, I do have to say that by the end of the book I can see why there were so many times that Carrie just didn’t get things and I’m happy she didn’t because the book would have been much shorter and more boring had she just “figured it all out” to begin with. And let me say…the ending is perfect!

Also, this is the perfect road trip book! If you’re not one for road trips you may even end up liking this one because they don’t spend all of their time on the road. Much of the time is spent at different beach locations along the English countryside and for someone who’s never visited, it was incredibly easy to imagine. With at least two or three stop offs on their trip there were a wide enough variety of characters that you didn’t get bored of Carrie and Matt squabbling off and on, but you also had enough angst of wanting to see them finally get together. Overall it was just the right balance of travel, characters and interaction.

Carrie Goes Off the Map by Phillipa Ashley is the perfect read for Chick Lit fans. Filled with characters that make you laugh, cringe and even get excited about it simply is a fantastic read! Carrie’s journey with Matt Landor begins as something she absolutely loathes and by the end turns into a relationship that has readers hoping will end amazingly. And it absolutely does! This was a book that got me out of a reading slump and back into a grove primarily because the writing was so good. Carrie Goes Off the Map is a hilarious and heartwarming road trip that readers won’t soon forget!

Originally reviewed and copyrighted at my site Chick Lit Reviews and News. show less

Keira has a cute meet with a man at her friend's wedding and when I say "cute", I mean horribly embarrassing. She fumbles her purse out and panties drop to the ground in front of this nice looking man, so as any gentleman would do, he returns them to her -- with an all knowing smirk. Tom, the gentleman in question, is HOT and almost perfect. He is a doctor and the son of an earl, but he is only in town for the wedding and then he is going back to be a rural physician in the Papua islands. show more Keira knows that he is not right for her, but relents and figures he is good enough for a fling although nothing permanent can ever come out of the relationship. There are some serious sparks between the two and the erotic tension is palpable. It is wonderful to read a bit hotter than normal romance with an actual story mixed in with the sex.

I love Ashley's writing and I am so glad that she has taken her newest story to a more sexy level. The characters are fun and well developed. Keira is like your best friend from college, you want her to find the right guy and have a life other than her work as a grade school teacher. Tom is not quite what I expected as a leading man, yes, he is described as the perfect man, but he has issues which makes him that much more interesting. I loved tension and how the story built to the perfect conclusion. Oh, and the English accents are icing on the cake! show less