Two years ago, Mattie had an abominable breakup that put her off men, romance, Paris, cupcakes, and Christmas. Now as the manager of the teashops in the Happy Ever After Bookshop, she'll have to deal with the holiday season whether she likes it or not. She'll also have to deal with Tom, the sole male employee of the bookshop and one of many men she strongly dislikes, who ends up being her roommate when the flat above the bookshop is once more vacant. As Christmas approaches, Tom and Mattie may find that their frequent verbal sparring is proof not of hate but of an entirely different emotion.

A really cute holiday romance but one that is best appreciated if you've read the three previous books in the series as this is decidedly the final book of the quartet. While I'm not a huge fan of the enemies to lovers trope, Darling does it well here while tossing plenty of holiday cheer into the mix. Plus there's some truly droolworthy food descriptions. The book ends with a bow on all of the previous relationships that developed in the series as well, so fans of the other titles should be very happy. Recommended. ( )

Overall this series has been one of the best romance series I’ve ever read. I enjoyed all the characters and the situations they found themselves in. ( )

{Fourth of 4 Lonely Hearts Bookshop series. Romance, London, chick lit, low steam} (2018)

Life continues at the 'Happy Ever After' bookshop (the series titles of 'Lonely Heart Bookshop' are confusing) with Posy, Verity and Nina happily hooked up (without resorting to Sebastian's HookUpp app). Posy is about to have a baby and Nina is on a US road trip (while still handling remote marketing) with her new boyfriend. That leaves Mattie, who runs the adjoining teashop after her heart was broken in Paris, and Tom, who dresses in old-fashioned tweeds and bow ties and who now works full time in the bookshop after finishing his doctorate. But they're never going to get together (because Tom always seems to look down on Mattie so she reacts by sniping at him). Right? The only thing Mattie and Tom seem to have in common is their dislike of Christmas - Mattie for personal reasons and Tom because it is so commercialised. And then Mattie's ex-boyfriend appears and it turns out that he was abusive (shades of The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary here) and Tom turns out to be a lot nicer than Mattie had assumed.

Each chapter gives us a daily countdown to Christmas Day starting with 30 days to go and Posy, who has been distracted by her pregnancy, suddenly panics about the Christmas rush - traditionally the bookshop's most financially productive time of the year. When Verity announces that she's moving out of the flat above the shop, Mattie and Tom vie for her room and eventually end up sharing the flat by moving Posy's remaining books out of the small room that her brother, Sam, used to live in when they were in the flat. Since it's the holidays, Sam is also around to help out at the shop so we get to see the whole cast list as Darling wraps up the series with happily ever afters for all of them.

Tom has always been the 'man of mystery' in the shop, keeping his private life very much to himself and decrying Posy's and Nina's needs to share which leads them and Verity to speculate about his background and so, of course, they ask Mattie to dish any dirt she comes across. Mattie, our protagonist, is not a booklover (gasp of horror) and wonders why people would spend more time with books after work having spent all day in a bookshop; however she does love cook books and picks up some cosy mysteries involving bakeries, so she may be redeemed.Mattie would never understand what the deal was with the Happy Ever After staff and all their many, many, many books. ‘Really, Posy, couldn’t you just go digital? Have you any idea how many books you could put on an e-reader?’
Posy made a furious huffing noise.
‘Best not to go there,’ Tom advised And as for Posy's pregnancy woes - swollen ankles, heartburn and so on - I can fully empathise, even though it's been over a decade since I was so afflicted. I did like Mattie's recipe ideas; my e-library book has a recipe for gingerbread cupcakes at the end and there are photos on Litsy of readers' Christmas pig-in-blankets.

I didn't get as much of a tingly feeling with this romance - it seemed that the couple were attracted to each other when they were arguing and I'm not fully sure why they fell in love. But I did enjoy spending time with the characters again and am a bit sad that that's the end of the series. (But if you need ideas, Ms Darling, I would love to read a series about Verity's family (no pun intended).)

July 2021
3.25**** ( )

Tom works at a romance bookshop and Mattie has opened up the tea shop annex. She's running from a failed love affair/treachery while Tom is mysterious about his background. When they end up as roommates in the flat over the shop, it will either be a disaster or romance.
This is a fitting ending to the series, set at Christmastime in London. Mattie and Tom both have some prickly edges to rub off, but they really are a great couple. The rest of the characters from the series make appearances and the story is a satisfying, perfect ending. I rushed through this series because I enjoyed it so much but it's definitely one I'll reread. ( )

Mattie runs the tearooms attached to the Happy Ever After bookshop. She is delighted about living above the bookshop, but not so impressed about sharing the flat with bookshop employee Tom. The feeling is mutual. However, a hectic Christmas season forces Mattie and Tom to work together.

I am not a fan of the crazy commercialism of Christmas, but I really enjoyed reading about it here -- probably because the story recognises that not everybody loves it. And, given the weather here right now, I was in the mood for something wintry.

Other things I liked: the vivid portrayal of the challenges of working “in a customer-facing environment over Christmas”; the details about Mattie’s baking; and the intelligent commentary about romance novels and romantic relationships. Sharing a flat and discovering the things they have in common doesn’t always make things smooth between Mattie and Tom, and their relationship progresses in steps backwards as well as forwards in a way which felt believable. Mattie has good reasons to be wary of men; Tom has understandable reasons for trying to keep his personal life private.

In spite of the titles and the covers, these books -- or at least, Verity’s and Mattie’s -- have been a lot of fun and very much my sort of romance.

“It did look as if you had things under control,” Tom said, though they both knew that was a lie. “And I meant what I said about you being a strong, intelligent woman who didn’t need to be rescued, but I couldn’t just stand there and let him talk to you like that. It made me very angry,” he added in a quiet but dark voice. ( )