I am delighted to share my review today for On The First Day Of Christmas by Faith Hogan. This is a lovely Christmas-themed story and one I really enjoyed. My thanks to the publishers for granting my request to read this title via NetGalley.

This Christmas, everything will change…

When Liv Latimer says goodbye to her fellow nurses and finishes work for the holidays, she’s looking forward to a Christmas to remember with her boyfriend Eddie.

But as she leaves the hospital, tragedy strikes and Liv is faced with a choice. Will she ignore her instincts and go home as planned? Or will she stay, and potentially change the course of her life as she knows it?

Whatever choice she makes, Liv is about to discover that fate finds a way…

From the bestselling Irish author of The Ladies’ Midnight Swimming Club comes an emotional and uplifting festive story about love, family and how a split-second decision can change your life. 

MY REVIEW

I have read a few books by this author and she always manages to create a story that is addictive and has some wonderful moments. This one is a slightly different style, not a straightforward read as such but a duel story that runs parallel. The main focus is Liv, a nurse who works in Dublin. She has lost her sister and lives with her boyfriend Eddie. She finishes her shift at the hospital and is making her way home when there is an accident. This is where the story splits.

I am not going to go into too much detail about the storylines, but they do have similarities in certain aspects of Liv’s life. Both of the stories flit back and forth between each other, and there is a difference in the printing style in the copy that I received, so it did make it easier for me to be aware of the changeover.

The author took me on a journey through the life of Liv and her potential future. her story is one of sadness and family and with the support of her best friend she manages to continue on and keeps a busy work life. The decision to work more shifts rather than deal with her feelings and the truth makes this an addictive story. This is a story that feels closer to real life in the respect that not everyone is always able to live happily ever after.

The author uses the two storylines to great effect, which makes this a very thought-provoking read. While it is about family and friendship it s also about the future and accepting what has happened.

The format of this story did initially throw me but once I realised what was happening I was able to settle into this a lot more. I would like to mention more about the stories but this would just ruin it and if I was to try t explain more I would confuse you more than you probably are now!

This is a cleverly laid out story, it does flow really well and the author gave a very thought-provoking and poignant story. It is one for those who like contemporary fiction and romance novel with something a little different about it. I really enjoyed it and I would happily recommend it.

Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be amazing 🙂 xx