Christmas Books Set in the UK

Book Summary

As a child actress, Charlotte starred in a classic Christmas movie, and her fans won’t let her forget it. Now, word is out that she’s the reason that plans for a reboot aren’t happening, and she needs a place to hide away.

She flees to London to spend the weeks leading up to the holiday with her sister. She goes to Eden Priory to view the extraordinary Christmas decorations, only to discover that it was also a filming location from her iconic movie. When a fan spots her, she ends up needing a ride back to London from the owner’s son, Graham.

Charlotte’s current career as an illustrator leads her to accept a commission to illustrate iconic holiday movie scenes from around London. Graham offers to escort her from site to site, as long as she agrees to host an art workshop at Eden Priory. He knows that a visit from a holiday star would help them raise much-needed funds to keep their historic house running.

Book Summary

Most of us will be familiar with the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, a man who is visited by the ghosts of his former business partner, as well as the spirits of Christmas past, present, and yet to come. These visits help him embrace a kinder approach to life and Christmas.

Book Summary

Christa’s life has been turned upside down – her marriage ended, and she lost her Michelin-starred restaurant. She never expected to be single and job hunting right before Christmas. Thankfully, her best friend has recommended her for a gig as a private chef for the holidays. She doesn’t know what to expect, but it turns out that her new employer is a grumpy billionaire with two rambunctious twin sons living on a beautiful but dreary country estate.

When she arrives at Pudding Hall she’s determined to make the holidays a little cheerier for this family of three, and she might just get her own life back on track in the process.

Book Summary

Sutton hates Christmas so much that she’s ready to attack the blow-up Snowman in an over-the-top Christmas yard. She has no idea that the home belongs to the Mr. Christmas of her village, Gus, who is a single dad of twin four-year-olds. He even runs the town’s only year-round Christmas shop.

When Sutton and Gus meet, the chemistry is instant. When Gus discovers that Sutton needs both money and a place to stay, he hires her as the new nanny for his young twins. The twins and their grandmother will make you laugh, while Gus and Sutton’s relationship may make you blush.

Book Summary

When Merry’s future plans suddenly take an unexpected turn, she decides to throw herself into helping organize a holiday event for the town.

Cole is divorced, and his wife and kids have moved away. He can’t stand the idea of spending the upcoming holiday without them, so he’s working hard to finish his new house in time for them to visit.

We see the story from both points of view as Merry and Cole meet and develop feelings for one another.

Book Summary

When Vivian tags along on her daughter’s work trip to England over the holidays, romance is the last thing on her mind. But when Malcolm, the Queen’s private secretary, offers to give her a private tour of the country estate, she can’t deny the attraction.

What begins as a flirtation in the days leading up to Christmas escalates into a steamy fling in London the week after. The pair agree that their relationship must end on New Year’s Day, but will they really be able to walk away from one another when the new year begins?

Book Summary

Rose didn’t expect to be spending the holiday season working in a pop-up Christmas shop, but the one thing she expected even less was to be offered an event planning job by a brooding Scotsman.

Ever since his wife left him and his daughter one Christmas Eve, Alistair hates Christmas. So he is not thrilled to learn that his extended family is planning to visit his Scottish estate for the holidays this year. He knows he’s going to need help with the planning if he’s to pull it off. When he meets Rose at a shop selling tinsel and baubles, he offers her the job.

Rose gets to work right away, Christmas tree shopping and party planning. Soon, Alistair can hardly recognize his estate amid the mass of ribbons and twinkling lights. Even the family goat is in on the festive spirit.

The more time Rose spends with Alistair’s family – especially his 12-year-old daughter – the more she melts the ice around his heart.

Book Summary

Friends Shelley, Lena, and Pearl are tired of all the holiday preparations falling to them. Each of them has hit her limit, so they decide to escape for the five days before Christmas. It’s time for their families to take up the grocery shopping, cooking, and prepping. Meanwhile, they’ll be sipping prosecco in the Scottish Highlands.

It was the perfect plan, right up until the moment they got snowed in 500 miles from home. Realizing they might not make it back in time for Christmas makes each woman face the truth about her reasons for need to escape. For one it’s a fiance with an obnoxious family, for another it’s a son’s new girlfriend taking over the house, and for the third it’s simply feeling taken for granted all year round.

Book Summary

Suzanne can’t wait for all three of her adopted daughters to arrive home for the holidays. She’s dreaming of the perfect cozy Christmas, but tensions are running high.

Workaholic Hannah didn’t come home last year. She knows she can’t avoid spending the holidays with her family again, but she’s panicked at the thought of them learning her life-changing secret.

Beth is a stay-at-home mom having a personal crisis. She’s torn about whether she is ready to return to work.

Posy is ready to make a change, but her parents depend on her so much. Change is risky, and so is falling for the handsome new neighbor.

Will time at home help them solve their problems or highlight their challenges?

Book Summary

Maren Kelly is far from her Ohio home this Christmas. It is her mom’s dying wish that she experience the magic, mystery, and whimsy of Scotland, but now Maren and her friend Penny are lost in the Scottish Highlands and stuck in the blizzard of the century. They are lucky to be rescued by the dashing Duncan Campbell, but his mannerisms seem straight out of the seventeenth century.

Duncan takes them back to his castle in Highglen, a quaint village that feels somehow familiar to Maren, as does Duncan himself. The castle, it turns out, is stuck in 1647. Ultimately, Maren will have to decide between returning to her own time or staying forever in the past.

Book Summary

It’s summer at McCredie’s bookshop in Old Town Edinburgh, but an American company has selected the bookshop to film a very cheesy Christmas movie. The location is perfect, on a charmingly historic street with Victorian grey stone buildings and warmly lit shop windows.

The shop’s manager, Carmen, is both amused and horrified by the summer transformation of her beloved shop. But the money from the film is needed to prevent a buyout offer from an obnoxious millionaire who wants to turn McCredie’s into a souvenir shop selling kilts made in China and plastic Nessies. Can this wacky Christmas movie experience save the bookshop?

Book Summary

Amelia’s life is going according to her plans. She recently married Declan, and they’ll be starting their future together in London after a honeymoon in Italy. But things fall apart quickly when she loses her job as a marketing executive and then returns home to a note from Declan asking for a divorce.

Suddenly, there is nothing tying her to London, so Amelia decides to accept a job offer that allows her to escape to the Scottish isle of Arran. Her new life on the island starts off about as well as things back home when a passing van drenches her.

The driver of the offending van, however, is another story. He’s so handsome that he makes Amelia’s knees weak. She’s certainly not looking for romance after what she’s just been through, but she finds herself drawn to Fergus anyway.

Book Summary

Bowen Penhallow studies dark and ancient magic on a mountaintop in Wales and prefers quiet solitude. But when his best friend, a ghost named Declan, invites him to attend a wedding at a grand Tywyll estate in the Welsch countryside, he reluctantly agrees.

Tamsyn is not a witch, but she makes a living procuring and selling magical items. Her business has not always been above board, but she’s been trying to fix that. Bowen is an occasional customer (as well as a frequent visitor in her dirtiest dreams). She’s managed to finagle an invite to the Withcy Wedding of the century, and she hopes that she’ll leave with at least one priceless magical artifact – that would be enough to set her up for life.

But Tamsyn isn’t the only one sneaking around Tywyll House. A very strong spell transports both Bowen and Tamsyn back to a 1957 Yuletide Celebration in the home. In order to get back to the present, they must face the history of the haunting.

Book Summary

When Cassie’s sassy Irish grandma passes away, Cassie decides to use her inheritance to travel from New York to a quaint country village in Northern Ireland. She envisions a cozy cottage, steak-and-ale pie, and Christmas cheer. What she didn’t expect was two handsome men competing for her attention.

There’s Charles, a dashing English aristocrat with his manor house and heart of gold. And there’s also Ryan, the curly-haired Irish handyman whose accent makes Cassie weak in the knees.

Charles enlists Cassie’s event-planning expertise to save his family’s estate, which leads Cassie to work side by side with Ryan to breathe new life into the old home.

Along the way, Cassie uncovers some secrets about her grandmother’s past.