Someday at Christmas by Lizzie Byron
In her hometown’s stunning but quaint department store, Duke & Sons, Shell Smith is the most well-liked makeup artist on the ART counter. The remainder of the store is visibly quiet, despite the fact that Shell’s love life is improving now that she is dating her longtime crush Nick and business is growing there.
Callum, the owner’s grandson, has thought of some inventive ways to keep Duke & Sons open this Christmas, such as letting a production team covertly shoot a romantic comedy after hours. Shell discovers that Mr. Duke Jr. is more than just a man in a suit when Callum asks her to assist him.
As her own romance with Nick deviated from the plan and she had a store to save, Shell’s Christmas just got more difficult. But since it’s the most delightful time of the year, a satisfactory conclusion must be just around the corner, right?
Someday at Christmas by Lizzie Byron
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I adored this book to pieces. It was truly exceptional. When I entered the festively nostalgic world of Duke & Sons, a vintage department store in Southern England, I could smell the perfume counters and see the hot air balloon looming above the beauty hall. Shell Smith, a makeup artist for ART, the cutting-edge company with a counter in Duke & Sons, is our wonderful main character. It features an enormous Christmas tree, limitless holiday cheer, and an Old Mr Duke-like grandpa as their boss. It is the epitome of retro splendour.
It is also such a realistic depiction of a woman in her late 20s, which is a welcome change from other works I’ve read where main characters seem to have townhouses in Chelsea, models for boyfriends, and really well-paid occupations that appear out of nowhere. The fact that Shell is skilled, dedicated, and passionate about her job is clearly shown in her promotions and press appearances. She needs to work hard for what she has, just like many of us do. When she was younger, she made her share of blunders and made a few wrong choices, but as she puts it, “she is precisely where she is meant to be.”
