A Wish for Winter by Viola Shipman: Wrapped in 20 years of loss, grief and singledom since the 
cruel tragedy that took her parents from her, Susan is a die hard romantic, who despite everything still holds out hope that her childhood poem of Christmas is still a claim to her fate. Realising she hasn’t achieved half of what her mother had by 40, she concludes that she maybe ready to find that special someone, and ideally someone that fits within her happily ever after world that meets her in a Santa costume as the tradition in her family seems to suggest.
And of course, as she feels that moment has occurred, Susan and her army of warm hearted friends set out in the perfect spree to re-connect with mystery Santa guy, with the intent of living out the hopeful thematic intent that Christmas gives many gifts every year.
For the most part, this is a die-hard romantics perfect holiday escape, with cover to cover of mush and gush that at times becomes seriously hard work. And whilst it technically doesn’t fit into Magical Realism, the sheer slathering of romance does create an other worldliness about it that simply doesn’t ring true.
If there was a Beyond-Hallmark place where some novels belong, this is definitely that book, and whilst there were some genuine likeable moments, it belaboured the point in a heavy handed, repetitive way, so much so that it was likely in excess of about 100 pages given the foundational plot points and character arcs were ticked off in the first 50.
Recognising that I sound like the romance grinch, or indeed, the Christmas grinch, I know there are those who will absolutely love this book, particularly those who love absolutely everything about Christmas and wish Christmas Day was every day.
For me, it was simply too much with too little, and whilst some heavy themes were unpacked, loss, forgiveness, grief, it truly was a tale of hope and rainbows and magical happily ever afters – everything your inner child wished for Christmas.
Book Info:
Publication: 15th November 2022 | Grayson House |
Despite losing her parents in a tragic accident just before her fourteenth Christmas, Susan Norcross has had it better than most, with loving grandparents to raise her and a gang of quirky, devoted friends to support her. Now a successful bookstore owner in a tight-knit Michigan lakeside community, Susan is facing down forty—the same age as her mother when she died—and she can’t help but see everything she hasn’t achieved, including finding a love match of her own. To add to the pressure, everyone in her small town believes it’s Susan’s destiny to meet and marry a man dressed as Santa, just like her mother and grandmother before her. So it seems cosmically unfair that the man she makes an instant connection with at an annual Santa Run is lost in the crowd before she can get his name.
What follows is Susan and her friends’ hilarious and heartwarming search for the mystery Santa—covering twelve months of social media snafus, authors behaving badly and dating fails—as well as a poignant look at family, friendship and what defines a well-lived and well-loved life.
