Once Upon a Christmas by Sarah Morgan

Pages - 379

Published by Mills and Boon in December 2012

'Mummy, I've written my letter to Santa.'

Bryony tucked the duvet round her daughter and clicked on the pink bedside light. A warm glow spread across the room, illuminating a small mountain of soft toys and dressing-up clothes. ' Sweetheart, it's only just November. Don't you think it's a little early to be writing to Santa?'

Goodreads Summary

What's your number one Christmas wish?

Bryony's daughter has put a dad on her Christmas list. That leaves Bryony with one month to find the perfect man, so this year she's wishing for a miracle!

While she's looking for love, her best friend Helen is doing the opposite. Her Christmas wish is to forget all about the white dress hanging in her wardrobe - and her faithless rat of a fiance.

Helen and Bryoney's festive cheer definitely needs a boost, so it's lucky that once upon a Christmas, wishes really do come true...

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I am a sucker for Christmas chick lit and Sarah Morgan is fast becoming the author at the top of my list for that genre. I read Wish Upon A Star last year, and I loved it so much that  I was really excited  to find that this book was set in the same place as the previous one - up in the Lake District with the mountain rescue team who all seem to be looking for love! This author creates some rather swoon worthy masculine lead  characters, who swoop in and sweep the women off  their feet and I can't help but love that. These men are very much in control of the situation and down right sexy with it.
This book is two stories in one and I would hazard a guess that originally they appeared separately as Mills and Boon's medical  stories. The book begins with  Bryony's story as she desperately tries to find a dad for her daughter after she requested one for Christmas. Straightaway I found myself reminded of Miracle on 34th Street, which is one of my favourite Christmas films ever and I instantly fell in love with the story.  Jack, a longtime family friend is dead against Bryony dating and feels very protective towards her. He goes out of his way to sabotage all of her dates in attempts to keep her safe. You can guess which way this is going, can't you?
The second part of the book follows Oliver, Bryony's brother as he steps in to look after
 her friend while she is away. Bryony's friend Helen has fled from London  in  a desperate attempt to recover from being jilted at the altar. Oliver teaches her to love again.Simple.
Both stories are very dreamy and romantic. Like pure  chocolate. A lot of miscommunication between characters who don't realise they are meant to be together and misread the signs.  The first story  had quite a lot of medical information which did find my skipping over it a little but other than that  I really really enjoyed the book, the only thing that stopped me giving it a five star rating was a little bad editing in the first story.
If you are looking for a modern romance with a wintry setting, then this book is definitely for you.