A Sparklingly Festive Holiday Love Story
By: Jenny Hale
Narrator: Emma Love
ISBN: 9781666649031
Publisher: Dreamscape Select
Harpeth Road Press
Publication Date: 10/17/2023
Format: Audio
My Rating: 4 Stars (ALC)
OCT 2023 MUST-READ BOOKS
From the USA Today bestselling author of the book-to-TV stories Coming Home for Christmas and Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses, with over one million copies of her books sold, comes a heartwarming holiday read that’s perfect for fans of Sheila Roberts, Debbie Macomber, and Jill Shalvis.
Traveling writer and researcher Stella Fisher is working in London when she's called home to her family’s farmhouse in Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee to help her mother through the first Christmas without her father. Compounding the situation, her younger sister Lily has run off to get married without telling anyone.
When Stella arrives home, she doesn’t expect to find Henry Dutton, the man she’d left behind. As she could guess, after her heartbreaking exit so many years ago, he isn’t speaking to her. What she doesn’t realize, however, is there’s a much bigger reason to blame for his unfriendly reception. She quickly becomes the one person he believes can fix everything, but she isn’t sure about that. She thought she’d buried her past, yet the look in his alluring blue eyes brings it all right back to the surface.
Under the glitter of the holiday trees at the local lot called Christmas, Stella uncovers more than she’d ever imagined. Will she be able to return to her old life? Or will the unexpected be the biggest Christmas gift of all?
A heartwarming holiday escape that will have you rushing to your loved ones this Christmas. If you enjoyed the Christmas movies based on Jenny’s books and are looking for more feel-good, small-town romance, look no further!
My Review
Jenny Hale's MEET ME AT CHRISTMAS is a charming novel with a perfect mix of mystery, family, romance, new beginnings, and a heartwarming holiday read to get you in the festive Christmas spirit.
Thirty-one-year-old Stella Fisher resides in London as a researcher and travel writer. She grew up in a small town in Tennessee and married Henry as a young teen. Things happened, and she left and went off to college.
She returns to her family's farmhouse in Leiper's Fork, TN, to be with her mother and help her get through the first Christmas without her father.
At the novel's beginning, there is an accident at the Atlanta airport when some woman bumps into her and spills coffee. She finds a sapphire diamond necklace on the floor. No one seems to know where it came from. So she took it with her and will keep calling the airport to return it to its rightful owner.
However, no one claims it, and she decides to have it appraised, and it will take a while. She and her mother wonder if it is genuine and its history. Stella misses her dad and loves conversing with him to help guide her.
In the meantime, she has a research project at Vanderbilt while in Tennessee and runs into Henry (her ex-husband). However, after their breakup, he was in the service and developed amnesia. So he does not know her. She does not want to hinder his therapy and does not tell him.
However, through their sessions and time together, he feels he knows her, and part of his memories start returning when he is around her. Will she be the one to help him?
While at home, everyone is preparing for the holiday season, the Christmas parade, and they find a lonely man and invite him to spend Christmas with them. He turns out to be their Santa. I also loved the "Meet Me At Christmas," a special place where people gather for music, food, and festivities with all things Christmas.
As the story develops, Henry and Stella finally communicate about everything that happened and why, and each day, they fall back in love. Her sister returns home, and the surprising history of the necklace is solved.
MEET ME AT CHRISTMAS is a sweet, delightful story of second chances and new beginnings, perfect for the holiday. While I seldom read contemporary, romance, or women's fiction, I was drawn in by the stunning front cover as a sucker for holiday stories.
My first book by the author. For fans of Debbie Macomber, Viola Shipman, and Mary Kay Andrews.
AUDIOBOOK: I listened to the audiobook narrated by Emma Love for an enchanting and engaging listening experience.
Thanks to Dreamscape Select, Harpeth Road Press, and NetGalley for an ALC for an honest opinion.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: Oct 17, 2023
My Rating: 4 Stars
About the Author
When I graduated college, one of my friends said, "Look out for this one; she's going to be an author one day." Despite being an avid reader and a natural storyteller, it wasn't until that very moment that the idea of writing novels occurred to me.
Sometimes our friends can see the things that we can't.
While I didn't start straight away, that comment sowed a seed and several years, two children, and hundreds of thousands of words later, I completed a novel that I felt was worthy of publication. The result was Coming Home for Christmas, a heart-warming story about friends, family, and the magic of love at Christmas.
The rest is history.
When I'm not writing, I'm publishing through my imprint Harpeth Road Press. I’m also a mother of two boys and a wife to a very supportive husband. WEBSITE
