Karen Swan's The Christmas Lights was my favourite festive book I read in 2019, so I was excited to see what her summery reads are like. I totally expected a straight up holiday romance style book, so was a little surprised by the thriller aspect - I love a good thriller, so it didn't go amiss with me, but I could see how the title and cover might draw romance readers in for a book that would ultimately not be what they wanted.
Bell is working as a nanny for the Von Greyerz when Hanna, the mother, receives a call telling her that her husband has woken up from his coma. Bell always assumed the parents of the family were married, and Hanna is now stuck with a difficult choice of whether to stay in Stockholm with her family, or visit her now-awake husband. Bell's called on to go way above and beyond what should be expected of her role, and ends up on a set of small islands for the summer. Meeting Hanna's ex is different to how she expected, and no one is prepared for how much this summer will change their lives.
I found the book a little jarring if I'm honest. I felt like it was trying to be a cute romance novel, but at the same time a dark gripping thriller and the two styles, which were separated a little by current events vs flashbacks, clashed. I really struggled to like Hanna as a character - she was so obsessed with the family she nannied that she didn't have her own life and seemed quite happy with things being that way. I felt like the ending and story just weren't believable enough for me. I did however get caught up in wanting to know exactly what was happening in the thriller parts and I enjoyed Bell's mystery love interest at first.
I gave this three stars because I did find myself looking forward to reading the book to find out what was happening, but the romance just didn't do it for me.
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