Christmas could hardly be Christmas without a Karen Swan book! Actually, her Christmas stories are usually winter-themed, rather than over-the-top festive, but Christmas always gets a mention! I love that Karen sets each of her books in a different location too. It's like going on holiday without leaving your chair!
In this story, award-winning director Clover Phillips is enjoying the accolades from her last documentary when she encounters Kit Foley, a surfer and snowboarder as famous for controversy as he is for winning championships. Involved in an accident that had devastating consequences for a bitter rival, Kit has never told his side of the story. Determined to change that, Clover heads to the Austrian Alps with the intention of making Kit the subject of her next documentary. It's hard to get the truth out of someone who hates you, and goes out of their way to avoid you, but is Kit really the heartless monster that everyone believes he is?
A good indicator of how much I love a book is that as soon as I get to the end, I want to start over from the beginning again! I adore flawed characters, and both Clover and Kit are very flawed. Both are obsessed with their careers and neither will let any kind of distraction get in the way. I read this book during the summer Olympics, which worked really well, because I had an insight into how focused athletes have to be if they want to reach the very top.
Midnight in the Snow is an unusual story because (knowing what he has done in the past) it is hard to see how Kit can redeem himself. Everyone hates him, yet he still pushes himself into competing. There are hints of a man on the edge of a breakdown, indicating that perhaps he does care about what people think. As Clover catches glimpses of the man behind his façade, she realises that she'll have to risk alienating him for ever if the truth is to come out.
Midnight in the Snow was my favourite read this year and I'm looking forward to the treat of reading it again over Christmas! It's the perfect winter read, particularly if you like stories with high stakes, enemies-to-lovers tropes, and something a little bit different from those other Christmas books. Also, gorgeous cover!
Thank you to Karen Swan and Pan for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.
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