Christmas at Claridge's

Another easy read from Karen Swan. Of the 5 of her novels which I have read so fat, this is not my favourite, but it is a very pleasant read. It is easy to get into from the first chapter, & to believe the well created characters. The first twist in the tale is quite obvious but another twist at the very end did catch me out, & made me look at things from a different perspective, which is all credit to the author. Looking forward to reading 'The Summer Without You' next.

Karen Swan is a very engaging author. The characters in this book come to life, as well as all the scenes and locations. I especially enjoy the interaction between characters, their sense of humor, and the twists and turns of the plot. A very enjoyable read!

It's not bad, it's entertaining, though easily predictable and simplistic, a bit of sofistication in a plot would be great. But 'Christmas at Tiffnany' was much better.

Her stories are fresh and keep you so involved. This is no exception. The characters are so real that you feel theyre people you know. And the twist is very twisty.love it.

I listened to this via Audible. I like this author very much and used one of my Audible credits to listen to this as it's not available on Kindle. This has also been on my wish list for a while because I wasn't sure about the h. So it's tough to get started because the h is quite unlikeable in terms of her character to begin with. She's a spoiled Portobello party girl who drinks too much and is promiscuous. She is also irresponsible and while she's partying etc she ruins a prototype that cost £135 000 to make and as a result her brother loses out on hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of business. She works for her brother and when things become clear as to what she's done she begins to try and make amends, which ultimately makes things much worse. In the meanwhile the brother lands a new and very rich client who requests that the h go and oversee the renovation of a villa he has purchased in Portofino. We slowly (and I mean slowly) discover the reasons for why the h is the way she is. She resists the job in Portofino initially because she will have to face her past there too (coincidentally). It's a great story with some unexpected twists that I did not see coming. I would like to say more but I'd hate to spoil the plot for fans of this author.

Clem is the stereotypical party girl, living it up in Portobello with her best friend Stella and working at her brother Tom's furnishing company. When she makes a massive error that threatens the company's future, Clem is forced to take on a large job for the company in Portofino, Italy for a rich, handsome client who has made it clear that he is after Clem as well as a remodeled house. What may seem like a dream job to others is a nightmare to Clem as her deepest, darkest secrets are held in Portofino, ones that she has no desire to relive or examine in her mind.This was an interesting book that actually has very little to do with Christmas. Still a good read, but just not quite what I expected. Through the first half, I was so irritated by Clem that I was having trouble caring at all what happened to her or what her secrets were. She develops into a more complex character though, and draws the reader into her allure that all the other characters seem to feel right from the beginning. The descriptions of both Portobello and Portofino take the reader right there, and the large cast of characters are all interesting and explored fairly deeply with many having their own side stories. Recommended as a fun read, and not just for Christmas!

This is a reasonable contemporary romance, but I should warn readers that it is about neither Christmas nor Claridges.The story involves a young lady, Clem, whose irresponsible behaviour goes too far and she loses her brother's bespoke leather fittings firm a contract. Desperate to make amends, Clem and her pal Stella, a fashion designer with a stall in Portobello, scrabble together bits of leather off-cuts to sell as designer goods. Stella has the eye, Clem's bought enough luxury goods to have an eye too, and Clem's a good model.Then the story moves to Portofino on the Italian coast where a new luxury contract has been landed, and in one of those staggering coincidences...The rest of the story moodily explores Clem's past, present and future life, with a final chapter tacked on at the end where we see some Christmas decorations being put up at the London hotel Claridges in a few pages. I didn't find it very exciting and the amount of money being spent on designer goods, plus the total preoccupation with labels, I find strange. But some people are like that. We do want Clem and her family to be happy, despite her habit of falling for men she doesn't even know.

I am wondering at the title of this book as it has nothing Christmassy about it and only a very brief mention of Claridges! I am ploughing through it but I feel it is over long and could easily lose large chunks without detracting from the story. I quite like Karen Swan's stories but the continual reference to modern culture is rather tedious. I find I have to look up several of the name-drops as they mean nothing to me and in years to come they will have even less relevance. The continued name-dropping also detracts from the characters who often come over as unbearably shallow. I mean, is having to have the so-called latest fad in fashion absolutely imperative? Hoping the story gets better . . . . . .

I struggled to give 1 star as the heroine Clem is the most infantile and unlikeable character. The story starts with her trashing a valuable asset of her brothers company, which she works for, which could result in their closure and loss of jobs. Does she show any real remorse? No just carries on partying and getting drunk. When she has the chance to save the company by spending the summer working for an attractive client in Italy she says no she won't do it. Why? because she's attracted to him. This is the calibre of the story. Also whoever is the proof reader needs to brush up on their grammar as the word 'of' is mistakenly used instead of 'off' and completely changes the meaning of the sentence. I became so irritated that I gave up on the book, which is a first for me.

Like many other people, I bought "Christmas at Claridge’s" because it was coming up to Christmas and I was into reading a Christmassy book, but this is neither about Christmas not about Claridge’s (both feature for about 10 pages in 500+ pages book).God, it was hard work to finish the book! I was disappointed: what a selection of unlikable characters (including the main heroine Clem, running around drinking herself silly and stating things like "I don’t wash as much as you do."), completely ridiculous plot (the sexy Italian man and even sexier French man both after our girl Clem with questionable hygiene and alcoholic fumes following her around Portobello), completely ridiculous plot... It’s just so not worth the effort. Ah and then phrases like... "Her heart wasn't hers to give." Urgh.I adore a good chick lit for a few hours of easy reading when snowed in and I really loved the previous novel by Swan "Christmas at Tiffany's" but this was just such a BLAH read. Blah.

Firstly this is not a winter/Christmas story as much of the story is set in sunny Italy however it is another fabulous Karen Swan book. I have to say that I have never enjoyed a book before where I hated the main character for the first half of the book but for me Clem was so real and the fashion and styling so delicious I was thoroughly involved in the story. As with the other Karen Swan novels I have read (I have just binged read most!) the story line is intriguing and the characters and their lives utterly absorbing. Despite disliking the main character at first (there is an intended reason she is portrayed this way) it was her very laid back stylish vibe and the totally gorgeous fashion descriptions that I now associate Karen Swan with that will always have me coming back for more!

I've read a few Karen Swan books and really liked them and I have others on my shelf to read.I was initially drawn to this book by the cover - and bought it in paperback rather than a kindle download so I could look at it all over Christmas as I read it. There the association with Christmas and Claridges ends for most of the book! So disappointed in that aspect of it, as I like a nice Christmas read once a year. I should have known better based on her book "Christmas at Tiffany's" but you know you can't stay in Tiffany's LOL!Putting all that aside, this is a great story. Lots of intrigue and real life drama which you can easily visualise happening. Great characters that you feel you know by the end of the book. Until the Portofino part of the book - when it travels to the realms of another world, so a nice bit of escapism.There's lots of meaningful glances and comments that go unexplained, setting a mystery trail and one I was very surprised at when it was revealed.I particularly liked the fashion and business elements of the book and the London references.One niggle for me and I know I am being picky - but you do not hit "send" when you sent a tweet. Surely the author must have tweeted before.