Christmas Under the Stars

Author/Guide: Karen Swan

Why a Booktrail?

2000s: Sometimes the answer to your problems can come from the most unexpected of sources…

ISBN: 978-1447280163
Genre: Fiction, Romance

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What you need to know before your trail

In the snow-topped mountains of the Canadian Rockies, Meg and Mitch are living their dream. Just weeks away from their wedding, they work and play with Tuck and Lucy, their closest and oldest friends. Meg and Lucy are as close as sisters – much to Meg’s sister’s dismay – and Tuck and Mitch have successfully turned their passion for snowboarding into a booming business.

But when a polar storm hits, tragedy strikes. Alone in the tiny mountain log cabin she shares with Mitch, Meg desperately tries to radio for help – and it comes from the most unexpected quarter, a lone voice across the airwaves that sees what she cannot.

As the snow melts and they try to live with their loss, the truth of what really happened that night and leading up to it, is revealed. Who knows her best? Her friends or the one person she’s only met on a distant radio?

Locations

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Travel Guide

Banff

She could see the snowflakes dancing in feverish patterns, tangoing with the flurrying gusts like a shaken-up snow globe”

The snow cabin in Banff where Meg and Mitch live is in a world of its own. Judging by the cover on the book you can see how gorgeous and snowy this world is. Like Narnia but with the threat of avalanches. Meg and Mitch live here and they are shut off from the world – cosy but at times claustrophobic.

This is the part of the world where the views are breathtaking, snowy and mesmerizing. Magical even.

Toronto

Meg’s sister in Toronto invites her to spend time here where they travel al over the city seeing the sights. They spend time in the stunning Allan Gardens

Space

Now this is really out of the world. The story was inspired a little by the escapades of Tim Peaks and his story which weaves space and time. The tension of going to and returning from space is breathtaking! Rockets, space travel and a man who can see the bigger picture of what is going on down on earth below.

Added to this is brief visit to a gorgeous red roofed city in Norway, which adds the extra magical touches to this festive tale.

Booktrailer Review

Susan: @thebooktrailer

An avalanche of a read – with a slow build up and confusing emotions between the characters followed by a barrage of secrets which threaten to smother them all. I really enjoyed this novel. Fresh and crispy like the snow which set the mood. I now want to live in a log cabin with a roaring fire and be snowed in with books. The views Karen describes in such vivid detail are stunning and the softness of the air in the Canadian Rockies is a lush but…sometimes lonely…location.

The advent (sorry) of the man on the radio who communicates with her in her time of need was a lovely and unexpected twist and having read Karen’s inspiration for the book, I think it was a lovely idea and carefully woven into the plot.

The book does build up to the action but then the impact – just like the avalanche contained within – is all the more dramatic. The locations will stay with me for some time and the story very different to ones I’ve read before.