Stay Another Day by Juno Dawson

When three very different siblings, Fern, Rowan and Willow, go home for a Christmas reunion at their family home in Edinburgh, it's not long before some VERY BIG SECRETS threaten their cosy holiday ...

The McAllister house on Arboretum Road has seen 120 Christmases since its completion.

This year, FERN is bringing her gorgeous boyfriend home and she wants everything to be perfect.

But her twin brother ROWAN would rather go on the pull than pull crackers with the family.

And their younger sister WILLOW is terrified of Christmas Day.

With FOUR sleeps till Christmas,
THREE secretive siblings,
TWO hot houseguests,
And ONE juicy secret ...
This Christmas, there will be some BIG surprises under the tree.

Sometimes at Christmas, you don't get what you want, you get what you need...

Sweet and sour, funny and moving, and very, very Christmassy - the perfect book to curl up with this holiday.

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As a Christmasy story, this can't be beat. The whole atmosphere of it is amazing. As a romance story, I'm afraid it didn't suit me personally; I will discuss this more down a bit, but a couple of the decisions here did not sit well with me.

But the things I loved first, of which there are many. A small sample; Willow, Syd, the sections from the house's point of view, their opinion of the Muppet's Christmas Carol, the description of Christmas Day. This really is a fantastically seasonal read; you can taste Christmas in every bit of it, and I envy all the people who will find this in their stocking and be able to curl up at a fire, eating chocolate, with carols drifting through the air or a Christmas movie on TV. (But really, seventeen streaming services? Are there seventeen in the UK?)

Now for something that I personally did not like, highlight below:

I believe that sex is between the two (or more) people involved, not something to be shouted about at every juncture, so Rowan's habit of sharing his escapades just to discomfort people upset me. Also, I did not like the almost incestuous ending of a relationship - but if they're happy, that's the important thing, my discomfort doesn't matter.

But those things won't bother most readers, I would think, and the atmosphere and language make up for them overall. This is a lighter book than Clean, and I enjoyed it very much and will be watching out for Juno's next book in 2022!

Stay Another Day publishes on the 14th October, 2021. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.