Good evening, bookworm, do come in. Would you mind flicking the Christmas lights around the door, please? They’re a little temperamental, especially since the cats try and bat the lower bulbs. Ah, perfect! I love the different shadows and glow they cast upon the walls of my book nook; it looks rather artistic in a way. Speaking of which, have you read Art And Soul by Claire Huston? Here, have a reindeer cupcake to go with your cup of tea while I tell you all about it.

Firstly, here’s the blurb: There’s no problem Becky Watson can’t fix. Except her own love life…

Struggling single mother Becky Watson longs to revive her career as a life-fixer, working miracles to solve her clients’ problems, no matter how big or small. Since the birth of her two-year-old son she has been stuck preventing wedding fiascos for the richest and rudest residents of the Comptons, a charming, leafy area of southern England known for its artistic heritage.

So when semi-reclusive local artist Charlie Handren reluctantly hires Becky to fix his six-year creative slump, she’s delighted to set him up with a come-back exhibition and Rachel Stone, the woman of his dreams.

Though they get off to a rocky start, Becky and Charlie soon become close. But as the beautiful Rachel becomes Charlie’s muse, Becky is forced to wonder: will giving Charlie everything he wants mean giving up her own happily ever after?

A heart-warming romance about second chances perfect for fans of Jill Mansell, Phillipa Ashley and Cathy Kelly.

Here’s a little about the author: Claire Huston lives in Warwickshire with her husband and two children. Art and Soul is her first novel. A keen amateur baker, she enjoys making cakes, biscuits and brownies almost as much as eating them. You can find recipes for all the cakes mentioned in Art and Soul at www.clairehuston.co.uk along with over 100 other recipes. This is also where she talks about and reviews books.

And here’s my review: What a lovely book to lift the soul; combining art and cakes, two of my favourite things, it was always going to be a winner. I love the idea of a life fixer and wish I could hire Becky to help me! I empathised with her struggle to balance work and home life with her young son, Dylan, and loved her attitude to life.

Becky had a lovely friend in Ronnie, the owner of Sweets. How my mouth watered at the descriptions of her delicacies – I could have guessed the author is a keen baker before I read her bio as her descriptions are so rich.

I didn’t warm to Charlie immediately but gradually came to love him. Again, the descriptions of artwork were so detailed, I felt like I was peeking over his shoulder. Don’t get me started on Rachel though; the author has created a character here who I loved to loathe.

I found this story refreshing and Rachel relatable, rooting throughout for Charlie to see what a wonderful person was right under his nose. I can’t say much more because I don’t want to spoil it, but if you like Jill Mansell, I think you’ll love this. 4.5 / 5 stars from me!

If you like the sound of this and want to give yourself a little pre-Christmas treat, click on the book image to go straight to the relevant page on Amazon. I don’t get anything for providing the link, I’m just being a helpful bookworm. Thank you so much to Claire Huston for the digital copy of her book in return for my honest opinion.

I suppose I had better go and round the books and cats up before I go to bed. The Romance genre will pester the life out of the Fashion books if I don’t shoo them back to their shelves; they’re all determined to have the best dust jacket for the Christmas party… Until next time, bookworm, farewell!