Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ by Emily Bell. This gorgeous, festive romance is out now.
Thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review – opinions, as always, are my own. Thanks for also inviting me on the tour!
I don’t really read many romance novels. I’ve never read any Christmas novels (except teaching ‘A Christmas Carol’ but I don’t think that really counts). I think it’s fair to say this was a bit of a left field choice for me…
But I LOVED it!
The story is about Norah Jones (no, not THAT one) who made a pact to meet her holiday romance, Andrew, outside Bewley’s Cafe in Dublin on Christmas Eve ten years after they met. They had a fabulously romantic time in Italy together but life took them on separate paths – with this promise for the future, Ten years have passed and Norah’s life hasn’t worked out as planned – her beloved father has died and her musical career hasn’t happened. When her mum cancels their Christmas plans, Norah wonders if Andrew has remembered the pact and sets off to Dublin to find out.
Now, you can count me among the most cynical of cynics, but this book is just charming and gorgeous. I wasn’t sure how the plot would work at all. I did wonder how someone could be ‘lost’ for 10 years – this is the age of social media, after all – but it’s all explained credibly and it does just seem a case of lovers whom fate has kept apart.
So far, so simple, except there is an obvious complication – and it is obvious from the start – in the shape of Nora’s friend, Joe. The one who is a brilliant friend through thick and thin, yet happens to also be handsome and all-round-lovely. The one who just happens also to be free at Christmas to go to Dublin with Norah – as a friend, of course…
So Norah seems set on a path towards two men – one who she sees as a friend and the other who is the focus of all her romantic dreams. This sustains the novel really well as we see flashbacks to Norah’s time in Italy with Andrew, her younger years with long-time friend Joe and the back-story relating to her family.
The Dublin-at-Christmas setting is the perfect backdrop for this book. I loved visiting the city vicariously through Norah and the festive details were well done. I wanted to be walking on Grafton Street in the snow and visiting snug Bewley’s Cafe. This is all happening (mercifully) pre-pandemic so the crush of the last-minute Christmas shoppers isn’t giving anyone anxiety!
I was intrigued by the fact that someone in the synopsis mentioned that they could imagine it being made into a Richard Curtis film. I’d agree wholeheartedly with that – except it isn’t the horrifically schmaltzy ‘Love Actually’ (I hate that film for so many reasons – you can read my review of the brilliant ‘How Love Actually Ruined Christmas’ by Gary Raymond here). Instead, it’s a Christmassy take on ‘Notting Hill’ or ‘Four Weddings’ – there’s local colour and humour and great friends and depth of feeling. This is a novel with real heart. Even beyond the central romance, there’s lovely observations on friendship and familial love and loss.
I don’t cry at novels (or films, TV programmes or Christmas adverts). I cried at this one. That probably says it all about how immersive and beautifully written this is – in particular, the shared musical tastes of Norah and her father woven through the novel are a bittersweet reminder of how evocative and nostalgic music can be and it is sensitively done.
I’d recommend this to anyone looking for an enjoyable and heart-warming festive read. I can verify that it can melt even the most cynical of hearts – and make you yearn to spend Christmas in a too-good-to-be-true Dublin!
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