Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Release: 24th October 2013
Genre: Chick-lit, Christmas, Books about Books
Source: Received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Goodreads Summary:
"Darcy Archer works in a small bookstore in Manhattan. A daydream believer, she refuses to settle for anything less than being swept off her feet by the perfect man… literally.
One day, when cycling to work, Darcy accidentally crashes into a sharply dressed gentleman walking his dog. He is knocked out cold, rushed to hospital and the poor pup gets left behind.
Wrecked with guilt, Darcy takes the dog and makes plans to reunite him with owner, Aiden. As she discovers the mysterious stranger's world of books, travel, adventure and all the wonderful things she's ever dreamt about, Darcy builds a picture of this man and wonders if he could be THE ONE…
But does fantasy match reality? What happens when Prince Charming wakes up? Will Aiden be the happy ever after she's always imagined?"
Review
Melissa Hill is one of my favourite authors so I always get excited for a new book from her but as soon as I heard what A Gift to Remember is about my excitement doubled – a book about books, set at Christmas time, in New York, topped off with a bookish heroine, mystery and a husky dog? Yes please! This is one of those books that sound like it was written for me and hands down it was the festive book I was most looking forward to reading this year.
Darcy Archer is a bit of a loner. She works in an independent bookshop in America’s greatest city and lives a quiet life selling books by day and getting lost between the pages of her favourite classics by night. Darcy was a girl after my own heart and her love for books shone through the pages. In many ways A Gift to Remember is a book about books and the people who love them with quotes from famous authors headlining each chapter and books themselves playing a big part in the story. Needless to say this is the perfect wintery read for book lovers to curl up with this Christmas.
One of the things I love about Melissa Hill’s books is the sense of mystery throughout and the surprising twists at the end. A Gift to Remember follows Melissa Hill’s usual formula this time centring around Aidan the man Darcy accidently knocks down on her bike one morning on her way to work. Aidan ends up forgetting everything about his life and so Darcy spends the book trying to piece together the small fragments she knows about Aidan’s life to help bring back his memories so that he can leave hospital and return home to his loved ones in time for Christmas. The only clues she has to work with being Aidan’s gorgeous husky dog that he was walking at the time of the accident and a mysterious book shaped present that he was carrying on his person. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding Aidan and I loved putting the puzzle pieces that we’re given together. Although towards the end of the book I had an inkling as to what had happened there were some good surprises thrown in there too. By the end everything had wrapped together nicely. Like a Christmas present A Gift to Remember has many layers and unwrapping each layer to get to the heart of the story only builds the anticipation and fun.
The only thing that let this book down for me was that it wasn’t as Christmassy as I was expecting it to be. I felt like Melissa Hill could have taken advantage of Christmas time in New York more than she did. Nevertheless although it wasn’t packed with festivity it was a lovely story with a Christmas back drop. Just keep that in mind if you’re looking for a full on Christmas read.
Overall A Gift to Remember was a heart-warming story sprinkled with romance and mystery. If you’re a book lover with a soft spot for books about books this needs to be on your Christmas to be read pile! Or if you’re looking for the perfect gift for somebody who loves books this would be a real treat to find underneath the Christmas tree!
