CHRISTMAS AT THE ISLAND HOTEL (Mure)

I so wanted to love this, but I was a little disappointed. I just didn't feel that the way this story ran fitted in with my expectations from the previous books, it all seemed a little thrown together for the sake of sort of tying up loose ends.Also, Mark and Marsha keep changing which drives me nuts...they didn't adopt Joel in the first place because their own children were too young, in book 3 they hadn't been able to have kids and in book 4 Marsha has a new name!

Jenny Colgan’s Mure series is my favourite cosy book series. Christmas at the Island Hotel is the fourth instalment, set on the remote Scottish Island. You don’t need to read the earlier three books to enjoy this book, but it would help you to enjoy the development of the relationships between the characters.I must admit to being a bit concerned initially, when the book seemed to focus very heavily on two rather quirky new characters, Gaspard and Konstantin. To call these new characters eccentric would be an understatement.Thankfully, the story quickly settled into the usual familiar rhythm of island life, centring around the three generations of MacKenzie family, and the luxury hotel, The Rock.I always enjoy catching up with Flora and Joel, and especially Lorna and Saif. Agot, as ever, provides so much light entertainment, I can almost see her furrowed, often furious brow. Her open disdain for the new addition “Buglish” is understandable and endearing.If you are looking for a cosy read, which will make you smile. The residents of this gentle, close knit rural Scottish community, will provide you with some lovely escapism.4* from me.

I love Jenny Colgan's Mure series, and it was a pleasure to be back amongst the MacKenzie family once more.Flora is meant to be on maternity leaving having had Douglas, but instead finds herself helping out at the Rock more and more, given Fintan is of course still grieving for Colton, but also finding himself whether he wants to be or not, in charge of seeing Colton's dream come to fruition.A large amount of this story features the staff working in the kitchens of The Rock, including the fiery French chef Gaspard, Isla from the Seaside Kitchen who is incredibly shy, and Konstantin who is a young Norwegian man with absolutely no life experience of anything, but has been banished to Mure to get a job.We also get a few catch ups with Saif's story which again intrigued me, and I do wish we could spend more time with himAnd everyone's spoilt and outspoken 5 year old, Agot is back, not happy about Douglas' existence within the family, and generally demanding all manner of things.I really enjoyed both getting to know the new characters, the disastrous early services in the restaurant, as well as catching up with all the regulars from previous books. It felt like I had returned to my home away from home as I am that absorbed with the lives of the Mure inhabitants.This was everything I wanted and expected from a Jenny Colgan book, and as a result it was the perfect sort of a read for me. I am already eager to return to Mure to see what everyone is getting up to now.

Welcome to the tiny Scottish island of Mure. As Christmas approaches Flora Mackenzie is desperately trying to get The Rock, the hotel on the tip of the island, ready for its grand opening. Flora is supposed to be on maternity leave but her brother Fintan, the owner of The Rock, hasn't got over the death of his husband/partner Coltan and is as much use as a chocolate teapot.Meanwhile, Konstantin, the errant Norwegian son of the Duke of Hordaland, is given an ultimatum by his father: do a real job or he will be disinherited. Konstantin is stripped of his credit cards, his cars and his mobile phone and sent to work as a kitchen hand at The Rock.Can Konstantin grow up, work hard and find romance? This is Jenny Colgan, you bet he can!

The Latest instalment of the Mure saga is on the whole rather more cheerful than the preceding books. Some much needed humour is injected with the arrival of two new staff members at the Rock, Gaspard the temperamental French her, and Konstantin, an incompetent Norwegian kitchen boy. Flora and Joel have a baby now and seem to be getting on quite well. Saif and Lorna are as tormented and agonised as usual, but even they manage a brief interlude of happiness. The book ends on a mainly cheerful note. So you can read this one without getting too depressed.