This Christmas pantomime is about to be the talk of the town!
Luna Bayâs 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 villageâs very own actress and darling of Broadway, Alice Woods, isnât 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 â after all, the show must go onâ¦
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
âIf you canât wait for a little more warmth this summer, get reading Just the Way You Are, and youâll have all the sunshine you need.â â Lisa Dickenson, author of The Twelve Dates of Christmas, You Had Me at Merlot and Catch Me If You Cannes
âThe Broken Hearts Book Club is perfect for these colder, darker nights â itâs like a big warm comfort blanket in book form!â â Rather Too Fond of Books
âThe Sunflower Cottage Breakfast Club is a lovely read, which would be perfect for some light holiday reading.â â Portobello Book Blog
âI adored this book. From the gorgeous setting of Luna Bay to the highly likable protagonist, The Broken Hearts Book Club was a total treat.â â Blabbering About Books
âI loved this book and finished it in two days, it is very much unputdownable!â â Whispering Stories on The Sunflower Cottage Breakfast Club
ââ¦I loved that Lynsey made me so invested in the characters â 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.â â Jenny in Neverland on Just the Way You Are
âDreamy and delightful!â â Chicks That Read on Just the Way You Are
âIf youâre a fan of romance or a chick-lit addictâ¦then I urge you to give this book a go. Itâs warm, clever, sweet and an absolute delight.â â 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. Iâm 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 â and possibly a bump on the head from a Mr Frosty machine â 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 Iâm sure I put Ross and Rachel together first!).
A careers adviser at school once told me writing wasnât a âgood optionâ 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 havenât looked back since.
When Iâm not writing, eating cake or drinking tea, Iâm daydreaming about the day Dylan OâBrien finally realises weâre meant to be together. Itâll happen one dayâ¦
Acknowledgements
Mum, you are completely amazing. Thank you for reading draft after draft of everything Iâve ever written (including the Friends scripts).
Dad, we may argue while watching quiz shows when we both think weâre 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 â Hayley, Laura, Jen â 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. Youâve 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 donât know where the next role is coming from, if youâll ever get your âbig breakâ thatâll catapult you to stardom or even if your agent will ever call you again.