I have high expectations because this book has a high rating. Sadly it bored me.
I kept thinking to DNF-ed while reading it.

And this book has very little Christmas in it. ( )

Trigger warning: Suicide

I dithered about giving this four stars, but honestly, the final third of the book fell apart a bit for me and I ended up giving this three stars.

"Christmas at Tiffany's" has Cassie ready to celebrate her 10th wedding anniversary with her husband Gil. Her school friends, Kelly, Anouk, and Suzy come to Scotland to celebrate with Cassie. Cassie feels out of step with her friends since she spends most of her days/nights alone while her husband works several hours away and she sees to their estate. When she goes to say hello to her best friend/neighbor she finds out that everything she thought was true about her marriage is a lie. Barely stopping to pack, Cassie flees and her three friends decide she will spend the next year living with them why she gets back on her feet.

Cassie's first stop will be New York with Kelly, then Paris with Anouk, and finally London with Suzy.

So the book is broken up in essence in three main parts. I think my favorite has to be Cassie/Kelly in New York. That said, I still want to go to Paris the most after finishing this book. I think Swan did a great job showing Cassie still trying to find her feet and Kelly doing what she could to take care of her. Also, can I say that Cassie's friends kick ass? They all found her work to do and put her up for 4 months each. I love my friends, but I start getting antsy when they have been there past 3 days.

I will say that at times I didn't like Cassie. She felt a bit too indecisive for me. She really was letting a lot of people walk all over her with her going that's just the way she is. I wanted to say, yes, you're a doormat. I wouldn't have minded so much, but it felt like she always needed someone to stand up for her whether it be her friends, or her friend's younger brother Henry.

I also hard cringed about Cassie ruining Kelly's business. I felt that was hand-waved away honestly. Kelly obviously has some feelings about it, but it's not really discussed between them that much.

My least favorite part of the book was Paris. Yes I know I said I loved the city, and yes Swan makes it come alive. But she had some of the worst characters show up in the book during Cassie's months in Paris. I didn't like Anouk and thought a reveal came right out nowhere. I hated that a suicide was shown in a book tagged as holiday romance (I am so glad I did not read this around Christmas). And I felt like Cassie gave up on her dreams way too easily after Paris and there are some loose threads that I still don't know how they got resolved.

I was okay towards the London portion. Suzy is laidback and fun. I do think that this portion was more rushed than anything. We have Cassie finding out the truth some more about someone close to her and I went bah towards the whole thing. Sorry, the hero sucked (IMHO).

I was meh about all of the love interests. I wish at the end of the year she went traveling somewhere else and or settled in a final location embarking on a new job.

I did enjoy the writing though I think that Paris could have been edited down a bit. The flow was up and down the most in that section though it was really good in the New York and London bits.

The settings were so well done. I now know why this book was over 500 pages long. Swan takes a very long time (happily) describing the in and outs of New York, Paris, and London. This book made me long to see Paris, though not to get involved with any man while there since the author shows the residents hard shrugging about affairs. Swan does a great job in all three settings also changing up Cassie a bit so that she gets a makeover that reflects the cities she is living in at that time. I did have to laugh though about Cassie going from blonde to brunette and back to blonde again.

The ending was okay, I just don't know how believable I found it to be. We have Cassie somewhat on her way to a happy ending and we get to check in with all of her friends and their husbands/partners too which I liked. I wish that Swan had just had all of the women back together catching up with each other without the men there, but it's fine. ( )

Different story so was enjoyable

Nice and cosy reading; interesting is the description of the three different cities. ( )

Once in a while a novel comes along that completely takes you by surprise, taking you on a momentous journey along with the characters that leaves you sitting in stunned, happy silence after you read the last words. This brilliant, heartwarming novel was one I almost missed, because I admittedly shun novels that even mention Christmas in the title. I needn't have worried though, as this wasn't a Christmas themed novel and I'm so glad I gave it a chance! Readers meet Cassie, a woman who finds out at her ten year anniversary that her husband has been cheating on her with her best friend. Homeless and heartbroken, Cassie decides to spend the next year learning and living with her other three best friends, each in a separate city: New York, Paris, and London. The twists and turns Cassie experiences made the novel speed by while I laughed, sighed, and almost cried. Not to mention, the ending was fantastic!

Sarah M. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

( )