Lynsey James - The Silver Bells Christmas Pantomime - The perfect feel-good Christmas romance!

This Christmas pantomime is about to be the talk of the town!

Luna Bay’s festive preparations are well under way and the much-anticipated annual pantomime is to be, once again, the highlight of the season. Too bad that the village’s very own actress and darling of Broadway, Alice Woods, isn’t feeling in the mood for Christmas.

Until the pantomime comes under threat and a grief-stricken Alice is forced to push her personal pain aside and step up to direct – after all, the show must go on…

So with (more than) a little help from her new-found friends, not to mention one very gorgeous Hollywood A-list celebrity, the play begins to come together, but will Alice finally believe that Christmas is a time for miracles after all?

Praise for LYNSEY JAMES

‘If you can’t wait for a little more warmth this summer, get reading Just the Way You Are , and you’ll have all the sunshine you need.’ – Lisa Dickenson, author of The Twelve Dates of Christmas , You Had Me at Merlot and Catch Me If You Cannes

‘ The Broken Hearts Book Club is perfect for these colder, darker nights – it’s like a big warm comfort blanket in book form!’ – Rather Too Fond of Books

‘ The Sunflower Cottage Breakfast Club is a lovely read, which would be perfect for some light holiday reading.’ – Portobello Book Blog

‘I adored this book. From the gorgeous setting of Luna Bay to the highly likable protagonist, The Broken Hearts Book Club was a total treat.’ – Blabbering About Books

‘I loved this book and finished it in two days, it is very much unputdownable!’ – Whispering Stories on The Sunflower Cottage Breakfast Club

‘…I loved that Lynsey made me so invested in the characters – not just Ava, all of them. They all have their quirks and their flaws; they made me laugh, they made me cry and they made me want to scream at my Kindle. That marks the sign of fantastically real characters.’ – Jenny in Neverland on Just the Way You Are

‘Dreamy and delightful!’ – Chicks That Read on Just the Way You Are

‘If you’re a fan of romance or a chick-lit addict…then I urge you to give this book a go. It’s warm, clever, sweet and an absolute delight.’ – Bookaholic Holly on Just the Way You Are

Books by Lynsey James

Just the Way You Are

The Luna Bay series:

The Broken Hearts Book Club

The Sunflower Cottage Breakfast Club

The Silver Bells Christmas Pantomime

The Silver Bells Christmas Pantomime

Lynsey James

LYNSEY JAMES

I was born in Fife in 1991 and have been telling people how to spell my name ever since. I’m an incurable bookworm who loves nothing more than getting lost in a good story with memorable characters. I started writing when I was really young and credit my lovely grandad – and possibly a bump on the head from a Mr Frosty machine – with my love of telling stories. I used to write my own episodes of Friends and act them out in front of my family (in fact I’m sure I put Ross and Rachel together first!).

A careers adviser at school once told me writing wasn’t a ‘good option’ and, for a few years, I believed her. I tried a little bit of everything, including make-up artistry, teaching and doing admin for a chocolate fountain company. The free chocolate was brilliant. When I left my job a couple of years ago, I started writing full-time while I looked for another one. As soon as I started working on my story, I fell in love and decided to finally pursue my dream. I haven’t looked back since.

When I’m not writing, eating cake or drinking tea, I’m daydreaming about the day Dylan O’Brien finally realises we’re meant to be together. It’ll happen one day…

Contents

Cover

Blurb

Praise

Book List

Title Page

Author Bio

Acknowledgement

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Epilogue

Excerpt

Copyright

Acknowledgements

Mum, you are completely amazing. Thank you for reading draft after draft of everything I’ve ever written (including the Friends scripts).

Dad, we may argue while watching quiz shows when we both think we’re right but I bloody love you.

Kyle, you make me laugh until I cry and provide enough comedy material for me to write a hundred books!

My three best friends – Hayley, Laura, Jen – you all mean the absolute world to me. And I WILL make you all into book characters one day.

Carina UK, thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to put all my mad ideas into books. My dreams have come true.

For Dad. You’ve always let me know how proud you are of me, so this book is all for you.

Chapter One

Being an out-of-work actress is never easy.

You don’t know where the next role is coming from, if you’ll ever get your “big break” that’ll catapult you to stardom or even if your agent will ever call you again.

It’s even harder though, when you have to take the job from hell to make ends meet.

For me, that came in the form of dressing in a gaudy green and red outfit, wearing huge pointed ears and saying ‘welcome to Santa’s grotto’ fifty times a day. As someone who hates Christmas and has committed to never celebrating it again, pretending to live and breathe the festive spirit was my idea of hell.

But an out-of-work actress had to do what an out-of-work actress had to do.

I leaned against the wobbly cardboard structure that passed for Santa’s grotto, wondering how it had all come to this. I’d gone from the bright lights of Broadway to wearing massive shoes with bells on in the town I grew up in.

Then I remembered exactly what had happened for me to come home again. The salty tang of tears stung the backs of my eyes and I took a deep breath, pushing the burgeoning memories to the back of my mind. Now wasn’t the time for a trip into the past. As long as I didn’t think, everything would be OK.

A hand on my shoulder startled me. I turned round to see Frank, the scruffy, pot-bellied store Santa Claus standing next to me. His fluffy white beard had slipped slightly and the acrid odour of stale sweat and beer wafted my way.

‘Do me a favour and stick the costume on for a bit, will you? I’m not feeling too clever.’

My eyes widened in alarm. ‘Me?! No, no, no, I’m an elf! I-I can’t play Santa, for God’s sake!’

Frank lurched forward, bringing his questionable odour further into my personal space. I noticed his skin had turned an odd shade of grey and his eyes were bloodshot. This, I guessed, wasn’t a man to be messed with.

‘Listen, unless you want me to turn this place into a disaster area, stick the beard and red coat on and listen to what the little brats want for Christmas. It’s not rocket science.’

‘But I—’

Frank didn’t give me the chance to argue further. He slipped off his costume, thrust it into my hands and stalked off in the direction of the staff area.