This meltingly romantic short story from Tilly Tennant is the inspiration for her wonderful new series of novellas, Mishaps in Millrise, available to buy now

'Tilly Tennant has obvious talent for turning the every day into a fairy tale... a sweet touch and light humour' BestChickLit.com

Phoebe has had a terrible year, starting with the death of her boyfriend and ending, three weeks before Christmas, when she's sacked from her job. The bills are piling up and she's desperate enough to find herself working as a Christmas elf in the grotto of Hendrick's Toy Store. As if the job description isn't bad enough, Phoebe doesn't like children. There's nothing wrong with them, they're just not for her. Neither is there any escape from a boss whose only language is sarcasm, and an alcoholic Santa.

Then one morning Maria comes into the grotto - a little girl unlike any she has met before. Phoebe doesn't know it yet, but Maria and her dad are about to shake her life up in ways she could never have imagined...

I loved this book. Tilly Tennant has an amazing gift for story-telling and I'm sure we're going to see great things from her in the future. Holly Martin (author of The Guestbook and The Sentinel)