The Xmas Factor

Book excerpt: Thank goodness Christmas comes just once a year...! 'A heart-warming and sparkly comedy - ideal for the time of year' WOMAN'S OWN 'A funny festive read' HEAT 'A book you'll enjoy long after the last Christmas cracker has been pulled' CHOICE Meet two women with two totally different approaches to the festive season. Beth: it's only September, and already she has performance anxiety. Not surprising when she has agreed to lay on the annual Christmas Eve village bash - the piece de resistance of her husband's former wife - not to mention having to host Christmas for his difficult offspring. New to this frenzied build-up to the festivities, Beth begins to lose sight of what it all means. To her the Christmas lights are looking more like the headlamps of an oncoming train. Carol: glamorous magazine editor, who put her aspirational Christmas issue to bed sometime in July and is so involved in finding a scoop to save her ailing magazine that she fails to notice the impending festive rush. Panicked and wracked with guilt, she is determined to make it a picture-perfect time for her little boy and, opting for convenience, books a lovely-sounding cottage in a quaint village. Even the best-laid plans have a habit of unravelling - and no plan at all is a recipe for disaster. So when these two Christmases collide, it looks like it's going to be anything but goodwill towards men...