My Mamma Mia Christmas

by Annie Robertson

Genres: Holiday books; Short Stories; Romantic Comedy

Synopsis

'A must for all Mamma Mia fans!' Sue Moorcroft on My Mamma Mia Summer Laurel is finally living her own Mamma Mia dream. Now the owner of Villa Athena on a gorgeous Greek island, the last six months have been a whirlwind as Laurel has modernised the guesthouse, discovered how to run her own business, and learned to negotiate the demands of her new family. But as the festive season draws closer, Laurel begins to wonder if Christmas on Skopelos can ever live up to the cosy Yorkshire Christmases she spent with her beloved grandmother, Marnie. And with a travel writer arriving to review the Villa, Laurel needs a touch of festive sparkle - and a little help from some old friends... With critics to impress, Greek feasts to cook, and an ABBA-themed winter wedding on the horizon, can Laurel throw the perfect Christmas for everyone? And will she find her own romance underneath the mistletoe...? Escape to Greece this Christmas for this joyous sequel to My Mamma Mia Summer - perfect for fans of Heidi Swain, Jenny Colgan and Sarah Morgan. Readers love My Mamma Mia Summer 'I LOVED it...this book filled me with joy ' 'A perfect summer read... Full of humour and emotion, this is just an all-round fabulous fun book' ' I absolutely loved it and can't recommend it enough!' ' Loved, loved this book. A real feel-good happy book' ' Full of hope and sunshine...a fun read which has you reaching for the ABBA CDs and booking holidays to Greece!' 'I loved this book... just the thing to get me in the mood for my holiday ' 'Absolutely loved this book, couldn't put it down but didn't want it to finish ' ' Funny, moving and pure escapism! How can you resist it?' ' I just loved everything about this book - it left me with the same cosy feeling as the film' 'A vibrant, warm and satisfying read' ' Loved the book and felt as if I was in the story' 'Will have you itching to hop on a plane to the nearest Greek island!'

Release date: November 15, 2018

Publisher: Orion

Print pages: 92

Sample

1

12 December 2018

‘Cher is my new style icon,’ said Athena, grabbing a fistful of popcorn from the large bowl on Laurel’s lap.

‘I’m not sure she does a big range of kaftans,’ replied Laurel dryly, staring at Cher on the TV screen as if she were a goddess. She’d lost count how many times she watched Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again since Angie sent her a copy of the DVD. It was everything and more that she’d hoped it would be. She only wished she’d been able to see it at the cinema with Marnie, but Athena had been bitten by the Mamma Mia bug too and together they’d enjoyed it numerous times curled up on the sofa, which made not having her grandmother to share it with much easier to bear.

‘I could go platinum blonde!’

Laurel glanced at Athena and laughed, tossing a handful of popcorn at her.

‘What?’ she cried, pretending to be offended. ‘I could carry it off!’

‘Yeah, right!’ Laurel laughed at Athena, shaking her head at the old woman, and returning to the climax of the film.

Laurel saw so much of herself in Sophie, taking on a rundown villa and turning it into her own. She could hardly believe that six months ago she was stuck in her tiny London flat, feeling so adrift after losing Marnie; it had taken an impulsive holiday to Skopelos, a lot of her grandmother’s courage, and sprinkling of Mamma Mia inspiration, but she had found the same drive and passion as Sophie, too, and she was determined to achieve her dream whatever life threw at her. It was as if the film had been made just for Laurel. She saw something of her friends in Tanya and Rosie too. She’d loved having Helena with her these last few months, the two of them working every minute of the day to turn Villa Athena into a vibrant, homely guest house once more. But she missed Angie’s spark and wished she would return sooner rather than later.

From the side-table Laurel lifted the card Angie had sent with the DVD.

Hi Laurel, how’s it going in paradise?

I really wish I could spend Christmas with you but I’m on call (don’t babies know to wait until after the holidays to be born?) and Alex is visiting, remember? But my flights are booked for summer, which can’t come soon enough!

For now, I enclose a little something to see you through the off-season. Enjoy!

Angie x

So much had happened since Angie had left in the summer: the first guests arriving, the villa at maximum capacity, taking on extra staff, the brilliant reviews, the exhaustion and elation of working twenty-hour days, seven days a week for three straight months, and finally the season tailing off and the time to relax a bit.

Beside her Patch purred contentedly, only stirring a little when Laurel’s phone pinged with an email alert. ‘Oh – my – God,’ she said, quietly, reading the email.

‘What is it?’ asked Athena, not taking her eyes away from the television.

Laurel spoke disbelievingly. ‘Hidden Gems are sending a critic to write about the villa.’

‘What is Hidden Gems?’

‘It’s a website that specialises in luxury boutique hotels. It’s really exclusive.’

‘Great! When are they coming?’

Laurel skimmed the rest of the email. ‘This can’t be right.’

‘What can’t?’

‘It says someone’s coming on December the twenty-fourth.’

‘December twenty-fourth? But that’s Christmas Eve.’

‘And it’s also only twelve days away.’

‘Rather you than me!’ sang Athena, digging into some more popcorn and restarting the DVD. ‘I’ve never been happier to be retired!’

Laurel went to the hall to look at the reservations book. Passing the side-board she picked up the framed photo of her parents at Glossa, and then the one of her friends – the picture Alex had taken on the boat trip during the summer. Laurel had looked at it every day since then, each one of them beaming out at her – Angie, Emily and Chris, Helena, Theo and Yanni, and Mark. She’d thought of them all, wondering what they were up to back home. With the imminent arrival of the critic she couldn’t help but wish they were all back together at Villa Athena, able to lend a hand just as they had for the relaunch party, but she knew this was an event she’d have to tackle alone.

‘Who writes a review on Christmas Eve?’ Laurel muttered, turning to the correct page to discover exactly zero reservations for the day before Christmas.

With a shawl wrapped around her she went out to the courtyard and sat down to consider how she might fill the villa’s rooms and restaurant on the day before Christmas. She couldn’t possibly have a critic visit when it was empty. The whole point of Villa Athena was its vibrancy and warmth; without guests she felt certain the ethos of the place would be lost on a critic. Uncertain what to do, she called Angie.

‘Hiya, Pet,’ answered Angie.

‘Ang, you’re not going to believe what’s happening.’

‘What’s going on?’ Laurel could tell by the bustling sounds in the background that Angie was not at home. She heard her apologise to someone, probably for bumping into them.

‘A critic from Hidden Gems is coming to the villa on Christmas Eve!’

‘Laurel, that’s amazing!’ she yelled.

‘Right, it’s amazing that they’re coming but it’s also the worst possible timing – I have no bookings. He arrives in twelve days. How am I going to fill up the villa? Nobody comes to Skopelos for Christmas!’

‘That’s true.’

Laurel couldn’t help but think that her friend sounded a touch distracted. ‘Is this a bad time? Are you out Christmas shopping?’

‘No, no, it’s fine, really. Talk to me.’

‘Are you sure you have to work over Christmas? Couldn’t you come up with a mystery illness that can only be cured by Greek sunshine?’

Angie laughed. ‘I’d love to but sadly I think I’d be rumbled.’

‘It could be a blessing in disguise… the NHS could fire you and you could move to Skopelos to be with your man and best friend.’ Laurel thought back to June and how she’d successfully match-made Angie with Alex, the island’s rather dashing taxi-driver. They’d flirted for years on Angie’s many holidays to the island, and over the summer they’d finally realised how much they both meant to each other.

‘As idyllic as that sounds, I’m not sure Skopelos has enough demand for a midwife.’

‘I hear they’re making great advances in geriatric pregnancy, you could be a trailblazer!’

‘You’ve also forgotten that Alex is spending Christmas with me – his first in the snow.’

‘You have snow?’ For a moment Laurel couldn’t help wishing she was back in the UK, building snowmen in the garden with Marnie and drinking hot chocolate afterwards to ‘defrost the icicles from our toes’. For all it was lovely to live in a climate where it was warm all year round, the winter in Skopelos wasn’t quite as beautiful as the summer. When Laurel had left the house that morning it had been neither hot nor cold, and the sky had been an insipid grey. Laurel found she missed the extremes of weather. And it didn’t help that she hadn’t the distraction of guests to fill her days.

‘We don’t have a lot of snow,’ said Angie, which made Laurel feel a bit better. ‘Just enough to delay the trains and to put Twitter into overdrive.’

Laurel laughed lightly. ‘Are you excited about Alex arriving? Have you made all sorts of plans?’

‘Things are coming together,’ she said, non-commitally. Laurel wondered if she was feeling nervous – it had been several months since she’d seen Alex, and it would be only natural to feel a bit anxious. ‘But more importantly we need to figure out how to help you. First we need to figure out who this critic is – have you googled him?’

‘That’s a g. . .