Skating at Somerset House by Nikki Moore

Publication date: 4 December 2014
Published by: Harperimpulse
Purchase from Amazon here



The Blurb:

The first short story in the fun & flirty #LoveLondon series from exciting new chick lit author Nikki Moore!

There’s nothing Holly Winterlake loves more than Christmas and skating, so working as an Ice Marshall at London's Somerset House is a dream come true.

Noel Summerford hates the festive season and is a disaster on the ice, so taking his godson to Somerset House is his idea of the nightmare before Christmas!

Things are bound to get interesting when these two collide…

With a forty foot Christmas tree, an assortment of well meaning friends and relatives, and a mad chocolate Labrador, will this festive season be one to remember … or forget?


My review:

Skating at Somerset House is a great pre-Christmas read full of fun, flirtation and festiveness. It is the first of a number of short stories being released as the #LoveLondon series and if this one is anything to go by they are going to be really enjoyable.

We meet Holly and Noel (even their names are festive), when  Noel takes his Godson Jasper skating at Somerset House. Holly is there working as an ice assistant. Noel, unlike Jasper cannot skate to save his life, and this is his idea of hell. However Jasper has a flair for it. Holly spots this and gets chatting to Jasper, offering him some help to improve. Holly used to skate properly before injury put paid to that dream so she is more than happy to help Jasper.

Holly and Noel seem so different. Noel seems standoffish and rude, whereas Holly seems kind and caring. Noel hates Christmas whereas Holly and her family enjoy celebrating. However, from the first meeting there seems to be something bubbling beneath the surface for them both and as they story goes on their relationship changes and we get to know more about why Noel is so unhappy, and what has happened to Holly's dreams.

For a short story this novella packed alot in. I felt I was able to become absorbed by the characters and if anything I would like to see them again to see what happens after the story ends.

The characters are written with warmth and Holly is particularly nice. I felt like she was quite vulnerable and innocent and hated seeing Noel being rude or dismissive to her. I think I was meant to dislike Noel at the start so that as his story unfolded I could realise not to always judge a book by its cover.

I really enjoyed this and read it in one go. It's a shame that we don't get to see what happens next, but I am looking forward to getting my hands on New Year at the Ritz which is released on 18 December and is second in the #LoveLondon series.