Let The Bells Ring Out by Milly Johnson BLOG TOUR #LetTheBellsRingOut @millyjohnson @TeamBATC @simonschusterUK @themillyjohnson.bsky.social

 

Seven people, four days and a snowy Christmas on board a luxury sleeper train. This festive season getting away from it all takes on a new meaning…

The Yorkshire Belle is a glamorous steam train all decked out for an escapist festive getaway. It is not supposed to be where a group of people, all trying to get to their destinations for the holidays, will spend their Christmas. 

Seven people, each with their own hopes and dreams, secrets and sorrows, board the train as strangers, but as the snow keeps falling and they realise they are going nowhere fast, they are forced to slow down and embrace the present.

This Christmas on board the Yorkshire Belle, will the friendships they make change their lives forever?

Let The Bells Ring Out by Milly Johnson is published today; 23 October 2025 by Simon and Schuster. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this Blog Tour 

Milly Johnson is celebrating 20 years since her first book deal this year, I think I've been with since book one, and that warm feeling of anticipation when her latest book arrives never goes away. She's an author who writes with warmth and wit and who deals with the issues faced by ordinary people. I've been lucky enough to meet Milly many times, and I always read her books in her voice! 

In Let The Bells Ring Out the story revolves around seven strangers who board a luxury sleeper train called the Yorkshire Belle, each travelling for their own reasons during the run-up to Christmas. But when a snowstorm hits, they become stranded together on the train for four days — unable to reach their destinations, forced to share space and time and slowly open up to one another. 

As the snow builds and the journey stalls, the characters are cut off from the usual distractions (phones don’t work, they are reliant on one radio station) and so the novel leans into the relationships that develop, the secrets that surface, the friendships forged in unusual circumstances.

The author uses this confined setting to explore themes of community, second chances, change and renewal in the spirit of a Christmas story, but with more emotional weight than a purely cosy read.

Setting this story on a glamorous vintage train, decked out for Christmas and then stuck in a snowstorm makes for a strong story. The physical constraint of the actual train creates and enhances the  natural intimacy, tension and reflections of the passengers on board.  And it is the variety and the relatability of those passenger characters that add such depth to this tale. Each one has their own back story. They carry sorrows and secrets and hope and feel as though they could be your own family, or friends. 

This isn't your usual Christmas novel, it is so much more than that. The author shows how extraordinary circumstances can force people to slow down a little, to look at themselves and each other in different ways, and to finally make choices that they have put off. 

Let the Bells Ring Out is a warm, comforting novel that delivers on its promise of festive escape while also offering genuine emotional substance. If you enjoy books that make you feel cosy and hopeful but also allow for reflection, this is one for you. 

Recommended by me. 

Milly Johnson was born, raised and still lives in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. She is the
author of 23 novels, 4 short story ebooks, a book of poetry and a Quick Reads Novella ('The Little Dreams of Lara Cliffe') and was an erstwhile leading copywriter for the greetings card industry. She is also a poet, a professional joke-writer, a newspaper columnist and a seasoned after dinner speaker.

She won the RoNA for Best Romantic Comedy Novel of 2014 and 2016, the Yorkshire Society award for Arts and Culture 2015, the Romantic Novelist Association Outstanding Achievement award in 2020, the Goldsboro Books Contemporary Romantic Novel Award in 2021 and the Richard Whiteley Award for Inspiration to the County of Yorkshire in 2022.

She writes about love, life, friendships and the importance of community spirit. Her books champion women, their strength and resilience and celebrate her beloved Yorkshire.

Her 23rd Novel 'Let the Bells Ring Out' will be available from October 23rd. Seven strangers going to various places for Christmas are forced together when the train they are travelling on breaks down in a severe snowstorm. They have to spend the whole of Christmas together in the lap of luxury and life will never be the same for any of them again. Because with nothing to do but talk and share their stories, they find that they can give to each other - and take from each other. Never did anyone travel so far without actually going anywhere. The sister book to 'I Wish If Could be Christmas Every Day' - you don't need to read one to enjoy the other, but if you have... you'll spot some cheeky little crossovers.

Do check out Milly's website - it's easy to find if you search for her name. She has a monthly newsletter with insider info, competitions and even birthday celebrations.