The Great Christmas Knit Off by Alexandra Brown

Heartbroken after being jilted at the altar, Sybil has been saved from despair by her knitting obsession and now her home is filled to bursting with tea cosies, bobble hats, and jumpers. But, after discovering that she may have perpetrated the cock-up of the century at work, Sybil decides to make a hasty exit and, just weeks before Christmas, runs away to the picturesque village of Tindledale. There, Sybil discovers Hettie’s House of Haberdashery, an emporium dedicated to the world of knitting and needle craft. But Hettie, the outspoken octogenarian owner, is struggling and now the shop is due for closure. And when Hettie decides that Sybil’s wonderfully wacky Christmas jumpers are just the thing to add a bit of excitement to her window display, something miraculous starts to happen…

I am a BIG Alexandra Brown fan, her Carrington's series was fabulous, so when I heard she was releasing a new book away from the series called The Great Christmas Knit Off I was excited to read another book by her but I have never had any interest in knitting so I was a little unsure if I was going to enjoy this book, then the cover was revealed and OH MY What a Beauty!

Sybil or Sybs as she is know to her friends is well and truly down on her luck, still heartbroken after being jilted at the alter and now with a big scandal that has occurred at work which she is pretty sure was her Sybs needed a break and a friendly shoulder to lean on so she and her dog Basil set of to the little village of Tindledale where her best friend Cher has just taken over the running of the village pub. 

Hettie loves her home and Haberdashery shop but customers don't seem to be rushing through the door anymore and her greedy, nasty nephew wants to ship her off in a home.

Both Hettie and Sybs have a passion for Knitting, will they be able to find a friendship between them to help them in their hours of need?

I am so upset that I have finished this book already! I don't know how I am going to wait until the next book in this series because the characters in this quaint little village were so down to earth and loveable that I don't want to leave them behind. Having started this book 4 hours ago and now just finished I really want to start reading it all over again.

This book has such a wonderful set of characters all of whom I loved and the feeling of community spirit really came across in this book to which was nice to see. There are many characters in this book and as the storyline progresses we are introduced to more and more characters and yet I never felt confused by who was who. Sybs was such an adorable loving and caring character and she fit in so well in this little village and the villagers took her under their wing and didn't want her to leave. Hettie who is another main character in this book was a very intriguing character she had a very soft vulnerable side to her but there was also an air of mystery around her and her past, she was much loved by the other villagers as well as me! This author has also thrown in a nice helping of testosterone for us romance lovers and Dr Ben sure sounds like a character who has quite a few admirers. 

I had no need to worry about my lack of knowledge or interest in knitting I still absolutely loved this book and I have to admit it has sparked my interest a little in knitting but I can't sacrifice my time reading for knitting so I will have to rely on Alexandra writing a sequel soon to get my new knitting fix!

I never thought I would be saying this but I loved this book so much more than the Carrington's series ( I feel so naughty saying that) this had that cosy traditional feel to it with a beautiful village setting compared to Carrington's modern hip feel. I really hope that the publishers have locked Alexandra away to get a sequel out for us quickly! I am so eager to see what happens next in this village and with Sybs. 

This book has got a festive feel to it but I would be happy to read this book anytime of the year. I can not recommend this book enough so make sure this one is on your Christmas list this year.

Festive Cover

Festive Storyline

Overall Storyline

Kindle                        Paperback


This is the best Christmas book I have read so far this year and also one of my overall favourites of the year too so to celebrate and share my love of this book I am going to be doing a giveaway for a paperback copy of The Great Christmas Knit Off and this time as promised this will be open as a WORLDWIDE Giveaway
( please remember to bare with the postage times overseas I know the excitement can be too much!)


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