Humbugs And Heartstrings By Catherine Ferguson

[amazon_link id=”B00NEJS3IA” target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’Humbugs and Heartstrings’ is Catherine Ferguson’s debut novel.

Two ex-friends. One Christmas to remember. Bobbie’s boss Carol is a real misery-guts, dedicated to making the lives of everyone around her unhappy in pursuit of every last penny. What makes it worse is that the two women have history: they were once best friends. When handsome hotelier Charlie steps into the frame the two women go to battle as one sees a romantic future and the other a possible lifeboat for her business. With wonderful warmth and humour – and the odd mince pie fight – the women are forced to confront their shared past, the turbulent present and, most importantly, the potential of the future.

I have to admit I really enjoyed this book, it was fun and entertaining from the very beginning. The story is seen from the perspective of Bobbie Blanchett, a young woman who aspired to have a successful art career who has now ended up working for her ex best friend Carol in her cleaning business, as she tries to scrimp and save for her younger brother’s surgery to correct his curved spine.

Carol is the villain of the story, referenced throughout as ‘The Boss’, she has a nasty streak and is quite ruthless with her employees, thrifty with money although she is rich, she is forever buying from charity shops and car boot sales. Even though she is a horrible character, there are regular flashbacks in the story as Bobbie reflects back to when they friends and didn’t have a distance between them, there are also quite a funny moments in the story when they together.

The story is quite reminiscent of ‘A Christmas Carol’, as Bobbie has her future read by an amateur psychic who tells her that she will have three visits and this gives the tale a lovely warm and intriguing element.

It’s packed with fun characters, particularly Charlie who is main hero in the story, who Bobbie meets whilst trying to book a budget hotel for Carol and together they have an entertaining banter and repertoire with each other. Another person who I loved was Bunty, Bobbie’s mothers friend, wonderfully loud and outspoken she was always quick to tell people what she thought of them, whether it offends them or not.

A lovely story that I immediately fell in love with, ‘Humbugs And Heartstrings’ is a delicious festive story filled with likeable characters and an affectionate and funny plot line that flows at an easy pace.

You can buy [amazon_link id=”B00NEJS3IA” target=”_blank” ]Humbugs and Heartstrings from Amazon[/amazon_link]