Becky, now Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood),returns after a four-year hiatus in the ninth entry of Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic series. She is living with her husband, Luke, and daughter, Minnie, in the English countryside and working in the gift shop of her friend Suze’s estate.

Becky has grown up somewhat over the course of the series, but she has never lost her zaniness, a combination of chutzpah, creativity and a dollop of comic cluelessness. It’s the latter that keeps the reader engaged and, at times, laughing out loud.

"Though CHRISTMAS SHOPAHOLIC has moments where the heroine’s antics seem a little frantic, there are also some downright hilarious and heartwarming scenes."

So when asked by her parents to host Christmas for the family, it’s inevitable that Becky will go into high gear, decorating the house, scouting the best presents, ordering massive amounts of food for the big day --- and mayhem will ensue. Meanwhile, her old boyfriend, now a rock star, comes to live in her little town with his new girlfriend, and her parents move to Shoreditch so her half-sister and husband, just back from Chile, can take over the house.

All the while, Becky is shopping --- mostly online, but also from local stores, at a London billiards club that’s raffling a portmanteau --- wherever she can find the perfect product.  Her endless rationalizations for buying the dress that’s too revealing or the ugly statuary or the too-small shoes that are on sale are both funny and familiar-sounding to anyone who has ever shopped online.

But suddenly, Becky’s perfectly planned Christmas falls apart, and the only question is: Will she be able to save her favorite holiday from impending disaster?

Though CHRISTMAS SHOPAHOLIC has moments where the heroine’s antics seem a little frantic, there are also some downright hilarious and heartwarming scenes. Those, combined with Becky and her indulgent husband’s sheer beneficence, give the novel a glow that will warm most readers on a cold winter evening.