Let us Talk of Many Things; of Books and Queens and Pirates, of Mystery and Kings...: My Coffee & Thorn Guest: A Festive Juxtaposition by Paul R Stanton

Saturday, 4 November 2023

My Coffee & Thorn Guest: A Festive Juxtaposition by Paul R Stanton

BOOKS PROMOTED or REVIEWED FOR

Coffee and Thorn Book Tours

Welcome to my Blog!
Wander through worlds real and fictional,
meet interesting people, visit exciting places
and find good books to enjoy along the way!

About the Book

It was Christmas Eve in the good old city of London. Everything was alive with the joyous sounds of festive exchanges; carols floated on the breeze and gently wafted across the cold waters of the river Thames. Multi-coloured lights appeared to festoon the streets in every quarter, and the fragrant heady smell of pine needles could be detected everywhere. There was nothing quite like it. It could be said that there was, in fact, magic in the air.
At that point the Devil arrived at Charing Cross station. He was dressed immaculately in an Astrakhan coat, leather gloves and patent leather shoes that were so brightly polished you could see your face in them. He sported a small black goatee beard and had features that could easily have been chiseled from stone. Smiling, he stepped out into the night. But what was his purpose for being there? Was it purely philanthropic? Or, did he have an ulterior motive up his sleeve? As the evening wore on, the good old city was about to find out.
Genre: Contemporary fiction, Christmas story
Print length: 178 pages (45K words)
Age range: This is an adult novella, but would be suitable for young adults
Trigger warnings: deaths of miscreants, suicidal ideation and imagery in one brief section, religious themes

Amazon:
https://www.azonlinks.com/1398494240
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/63185507

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The entertainment field has been no stranger to Paul Stanton over the years; having worked in both theatre and television. He has written numerous plays, novels and children’s books, before finally dedicating himself to what he considers to be his magnum opus: A Festive Juxtaposition. After much input it is a work Paul is finally happy with (having rewritten it a total of fifteen times) and regards it as a ‘little Christmas ditty’ that hopefully people will like and warm to.

PRAISE FOR A FESTIVE JUXTAPOSITION

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Please add this to your list of favorite reads. You leave this tasteful pleasure with more life than when you began the first sentence. Amazon review

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Every once in a while, a book will come along that stands head and shoulders about the rest. A Festive Juxtaposition is such a book. It contains all the ingredients that make for a riveting read: the magic of Christmas, and everything that goes with it, a mystery that runs throughout the book – hence the term juxtaposition, and not forgetting the interesting snippets of history that fill its pages. It is a book that having read it once, it leaves you with the feeling of gladness and well-being. Like all classics it then becomes a book you will return to again and again. Excellent. Would love to see it made into a film Amazon review

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

An exciting tale about the Devil’s appearance in London one snowy Christmas Eve, the individuals he encounters and the extraordinary events that take place during his visit! Amazon review

My review

I loved it! Entertaining, fun - poignant in places, (probably one of the best books to make you think seriously about homelessness!)

London, Christmas Eve. It's starting to snow but people are out and about, celebrating ... well, most of them are.

Then the Devil materialises at Charing Cross station. Elegantly dressed, he starts work... immediately you are expecting mischief and 'bad' things, but - no spoilers...

Each chapter is its own little story about the homeless, or the troubled (and a few ne'er-do-wells) and Nick, as he usually introduces himself, becomes involved one way or another. There's more to it than that - but, like I said, no spoilers

Superbly written characters and story, with wonderful touches here and there. I particularly enjoyed the little 'asides', some small historical facts, for instance, I had no idea what the column of Nelson's Column is made of, and I loved the section about 'Nick' and Dr. Johnson of the first dictionary fame.

Some of the story chapters are sad, some made me laugh out loud. All were page-turners. And all kept me thinking 'What is his intention... Where is this going?"

The descriptions of London are spot-on. (I live in Devon now, but I am, born and bred, a Londoner.)

My two small criticisms: I noticed quite a few typos - words and the occasional apostrophe missing from a sentence, but I might have been sent an ARC e-edition to review. I suggest the author has another read-through though, just to check, because this is a super book and it deserves to be perfect.

I think the cover could have been a touch more Christmassy. A few Christmas lights decorating the trees, maybe a Christmas tree in one of the windows - and some snow on the ground. I do like covers to have those extra connections to compliment the story inside.

That aside, a rousing 5 stars - highly recommended. An ideal Christmas stocking filler for any reader!

***** 5 stars

COFFEE AND THORN PROMOTES QUALITY FICTION, FOCUSING ON WORK PUBLISHED INDEPENDENTLY OR THROUGH SMALL PUBLISHING HOUSES. WE WORK WITH LOVE. ALL PAYMENTS TO US GO DIRECTLY TO FUND EDUCATION FOR GIRLS FROM A SLUM COMMUNITY IN SIERRA LEONE.

https://coffeeandthorn.com
https://www.instagram.com/coffeeandthorn/
https://twitter.com/CoffeeAndThorn
https://mastodon.world/@CoffeeAndThorn

< PREVIOUS POST

*** ***

You might also like

books written by Helen Hollick

Website: https://helenhollick.net/

Amazon Author Page: https://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick