3.5 Stars

Evie Taylor loves her job at Hardy’s department store in the middle of London. It has class and style not to mention history, or at least it did. Hardy’s is failing, and when Evie overhears it’s in danger of closing she’s determined to save it in the run-up up Christmas.

This was a sweet, festive book that made me really wish Hardy’s was real so I could visit in the heart of London, a city I love! I loved all the visual descriptions in this book from the different makeovers Evie completes in the different departments in the store to the types of clothes she begins to wear from her wardrobe of vintage goodies.

I also really liked that Evie got together a group of people that would often be overlooked or be ‘invisible’ in the running of the store - the tea-lady, the cleaners, the night security man and the delivery man. They mad up a very nice, mismatched group and it became clear they all cherished the company and the mission to save Hardy’s. I liked the little message the group portrayed that some people just need someone to talk to them, and realise they exist.

Evie is definitely a frustrating character at times. She’s definitely a wet blanket - she goes two years of allowing everyone she works with to believe her name is Sarah because she doesn’t have the courage to speak up and correct them. Near the end of the book, Evie gets very frustrated about how people have treated her but i personally don’t think they were all in the wrong. Yes, people could have asked her more questions about herself, and listened to her problems as much as she listened to theirs but at the end of the day they all often used her name (or what they thought was her name) and did seem to appreciate some of the work and help she did and gave.

The book was also slightly too long for me, and drawn out. The lies in her relationship with Joel could have ended a bit quicker especially as it was so obvious who she would end up.

I liked Evie’s relationship with her sister and her mom too!