After a frosty welcome, things soon heat up at Wynter House.

Neva Grey is looking forward to spending a quiet Christmas with her family in the cosy cottage they’ve rented in the picture-postcard village of Wyntersleap. Nestled between rolling hills and a gently burbling river, it’s going to be idyllic.

Except it’s not. Torrential rain causes the river to burst its banks and the quaint little village isn’t quite so cosy with water lapping at the doors. Add to that a power cut and a sudden blizzard and Christmas is looking bleak … until gorgeous Adam Wynter invites them all to Wynter House.

Although not everyone is happy to share the ancestral home. Adam’s elder brother, Rafe is less than pleased. Their grandmother, Olivia extends a grudging welcome. And for Carruthers, the oddly arrogant butler, unexpected guests are a Christmas surprise he could do without. Especially one as troublesome as Neva’s eight-year-old niece.

But something’s not quite right at Wynter House. What is Rafe intent on hiding behind the locked doors of the old barn? And what really happened to his first wife? It’s a good thing Neva has a sense of humour. She’s going to need it this Christmas at Wynter House.

If you want a cosy, romantic escape this Christmas, Wynter House could be just the place for you. Emily Harvale has written another winner here. I loved the gorgeous, Christmassy cover, and was drawn to the book immediately because of it, but the story itself certainly didn’t disappoint.

There are so many wonderful characters to enjoy here, not least Neva’s family.

Her parents are generosity personified, and she has a good relationship with her sister and brother-in-law, who seem permanently exhausted and bewildered by their daughter Sasha’s general weirdness and her habit of wandering off and getting up to no good. Sasha really is a great character, though, and I grew really fond of her. Strange she may be, for an eight year old, with her obsession with zombies and ghosts, but she’s delightfully appealing and I love her habit of eavesdropping and then repeating things back just when she shouldn’t. She’s a mini walking goth, and she did make me chuckle several times. She’s well suited to her puppy, Tempest, who is very mischievous and causes quite a lot of trouble himself.

Neva’s friend, Jo, is also an interesting character. At the start of the book her life seems completely sorted, her future mapped out. She’s newly engaged and is spending Christmas with her fiance’s family. She and Neva will no longer be sharing a home, and it seems their lives are about to go in different directions entirely. I love how her story plays out in the form of amusing phone calls between her and Neva, so we get to see what’s happening with Jo’s Christmas, too, and it’s quite funny to read. (Sorry, Jo!)

It took me a little bit longer to warm to Neva. I really liked her at first, but then she was terribly unfair to Rafe and was quite rude at times. Of course, this could be due to the fact that I really, really liked Rafe. Adam may be the friendly, outgoing, cute brother, but Rafe has a real brooding hero thing going on, and I found myself rooting for him almost from the beginning. Luckily, Neva’s attitude soon softened and I forgave her. After all, someone who has such a good relationship with her lovely family can’t be bad, and she’s a good friend to Jo, too.

I really wasn’t impressed with Olivia’s behaviour, and hope we get to find out more about her in future books, and maybe see another side to her.