A Belgium Chocolate Christmas

Christmas Market Novel / The Tinsel Travelers

by Steena Holmes

Some Christmas trips should come with a warning label…

Every year the Tinsel Traveler friends visit Christmas markets in different countries. This year is Belgium.

Mara wasn’t planning on going though, she was grieving the loss of her mother Stella. But her Tinsel Traveler friends - women who have become her family; Donna, Jo-Jo, Kat, Sandra, and Lucy, weren’t leaving one of their own behind.

If it wasn’t bad enough Mara had to be ready to leave in two days, Lucy gives her the first of a series of letters left by Stella, letters that reveal shocking discoveries and Mara questions if her whole life has been one lie after another.

With each letter Mara reads, Stella reveals another truth.

Amidst the twinkling lights of Brussels and Bruges, Mara looks to Lucy for answers, and it turns out visiting Belgium wasn’t just about the lure of handmade crafts and the aroma of mulled wine, or even the amazing chocolate. The bed and breakfast they’re staying at holds the key to Mara discovering more about her past and learning the truth the whole truth to who she really is.

And every Christmas trip must involve markets, carols, and of course chocolate!

During delicious chocolate walks and meanders through the Christmas Markets, not to mention tasting the different gluwein and endless hot toddies, Mara grapples with feelings of betrayal and forgiveness towards those she loves the most, she wonders if there are more secrets to come?

Explore fairy-tale Christmas Markets with The Library of Christmas Memories, the first book in The Tinsel Travelers Series, a new series that fans of Viola Shipman, Jenny Colgan, Rachel Hanna, and Mary Kay Andrews will enjoy.

Genres: Christmas, Holiday

252 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 14, 2023

About the author

Steena Holmes is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author with nearly 3 million copies of her titles sold worldwide, including The Patient, The Forgotten Ones, and Sister Under the Stairs.

Named in the Top 20 Women Author to Read by Good Housekeeping, she won the National Indie Excellence Award for her breakout novel Finding Emma and the USA Book News Award for The Word Game. Steena has been featured in various newspapers and magazines, websites such as Goodreads, BookBub, RedBook, Glamour, Coastal Living and Goodhousekeeping.

One of Steena's passions is to travel with her readers, so she created her Sweet Tours, where she shares her love for the sweet life with her readers, whether in Paris, Italy, or exploring Christmas Markets.
To learn more about her books and join her on the next Sweet Tour, visit her website at http://www.steenaholmes.com.
You can also find Steena on the web at:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/authorsteenaholmes
Facebook: SteenaHolmes.author

LIST OF HER NOVELS STARTING FROM MOST RECENT:

SHE TOOK MY BABY

THE GIRLS IN THE BASEMENT (follow up to The Sister Under the Stairs)

THE TWIN

ENGAGED TO A SERIAL KILLER

THE SISTER UNDER THE STAIRS

THE PATIENT

THE FORGOTTEN ONES

SAVING ABBY & ABBY'S JOURNEY

THE WORD GAME

Stillwater Bay Series:
Stillwater Shores
Stillwater Rising
Stillwater Tides
Stillwater Deep

The Memory Child & The Memory Journal

FINDING EMMA series:
Finding Emma
Dear Jack
Emma's Secret
Dottie's Memories
Megan's Hope

Reviews

[Kathleen Freeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book was a treat for me, I loved the images of drinking hot chocolate and eating chocolate I now have a craving for chocolate. Combine that with by coincidence I was in Calgary, Cochrane, Canmore and Banff this week for work and visited Amsterdam and Bruges this summer it was neat to be able to visualize the places in the book. This story pulls at your heartstrings and leaves you thinking about your own family. I look forward to the next in the series.

[Olivia Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Pleasure Read

This book was a jaunty & pleasurable read that also addressed some serious issues. I really enjoyed the interaction of the characters & the setting. And how could I forget all that wonderful chocolate 🤯

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a 3.5 star for me. Quite enjoyable, but I wanted more depth on the core story.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every year a group of friends who call themselves The Tinsel Travelers visit the Christmas markets in a new country. This year their plan is to visit Belgium. Mara had no plans to go this year because her mom (and part of the travel group) had recently died and she didn't feel like she could make the trip without her. Her friends refused to leave her behind and called her two days before their trip to tell her to pack and get ready to join them. She's quite conflicted about whether she should go but decides that her mom would want her to go. One of the women in the group, Lucy, had been good friends with Mara's mom and has letters from her mom to Mara to be given to her as they travel. Each letter reveals another thing about Stella's life and Mara begins to wonder if her whole life had been a lie. The more letters that Lucy gives to Mara, the more she realizes that she is going to find out the real story of her past.

I love travel and really and enjoyed reading about the places that the Tinsel Travelers visited on their trip to Belgium. I also enjoyed the fact that they were all in love with chocolate -- and they were all filling their suitcases up with chocolate to take home. I've never been to the Christmas markets in Europe but have traveled to many of the places in Belgium mentioned in the book and enjoyed the memories of my travels that were brought back reading about the group travels. My one negative about the book is that I wish we'd have learned more about the other members of the group but since this is a series, we'll probably learn more about them in future books.

If you like to travel and you like chocolate (and who doesn't), you don't want to miss this book.

[Susan (The Book Bag) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know going into a Steena Holmes' novel that I am going to be going on a grand adventure. That was never more true than when I opened the pages of The Library of Christmas Memories. Mara and her group of friends take a wonderful trip together somewhere each year. She decides she isn't going to go this year as she is still grieving the recent loss of her mother.

Well, her friends have other ideas and drag her along. It's what her mother wanted for her. She is totally sidelined when their dear friend, Lucy, gives her a letter that her mom wrote to Mara before her passing. The trip to Belgium is unlike any other trip she has taken, with so many questions and surprises, most of them so shocking to Mara.

I loved everything about The Library of Christmas Memories. First of all, it's a Christmas story and what's not to love about that. There was plenty of drama as Mara tries to resolve the secrets that were kept from her by her mother. And then there were all of the Christmas markets that the group visited—something I would love to do someday—and I felt like I was experiencing it right along with all of these women. And lastly, but maybe the most delicious part, was all the chocolate that the group tested, tasted, and purchased to take home. Honestly, you'll need to have some chocolate on hand you're while reading this because you will be craving it!

I highly recommend The Library of Christmas Memories. It checks off all of my boxes as the perfect read for the holidays. This is book #1 is The Tinsel Traveler Series. I'm so excited to see what the Tinsel Travelers' next adventure will be.

[Cyndi Richardson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was meh. It was not a light hearted Christmas story. It was a vague story about family secrets. There was so much that could have happened with the story. It’s visiting Belgium and the Christmas and chocolate markets but not enough descriptions to make me want to go there. Or they were so interlaced with the secrets that weren’t really spilled. I have so many more questions about what happened in the past. Questions that I feel could have been answered. And the letters from the mom - so few although supposedly there were a bunch. I’m overall disappointed.

Plus lots of editing errors. Some annoying and some that confused me. One example was a character was credited for saying something but she wasn’t even in the room.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a terrific Christmas-themed story set in Belgium during the holiday markets. There are lots of chocolate treats and family drama. This is the first book in a new series titled "Tinsel Travelers," based on actual tours that the author takes with her fans. What a cool idea! Set in Bruges, Belgium, the group of women stay in a B&B that turns out to be the family home of one of their members. Surprises abound, revealed through conversations and letters from the past. I really enjoyed the story, the writing, the characters, and most of all, the setting. Highly recommended!

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the premise of this book and the series to follow. Imagine visiting all the Christmas markets in Europe. The descriptions make me want to pack up and go.
I wasn’t expecting the emotional roller coaster involving Mara, her mother’s death and the secrets that she kept. I expected some of the reveals, but was disappointed that Lucas’ health made a real understanding of the history impossible.
I will definitely look for more of the Tinsel Travelers series.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the story as Mara and friends travel to Belgium to take in chocolate shops and Christmas markets. Family secrets are exposed during the trip which makes for an interesting story to unravel. The author actually takes tours to Europe each year to visit the markets and chocolate shops and the book is based on her experiences.

[Aniela Kreie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really did not like this book. I found most all the characters to be super annoying and their actions just so strange. and I cannot get over how Mara was 46 years old when her mother would have just turned 60… making them only 14 years apart? Which totally throws off the timeline of everything and makes no sense.

[Helen Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

so much of an emotional see saw

This was a rather emotional novel that takes place in Bruges Belgium. From a Canadian place these friends have been a rather good part of one another’s lives.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Family is Who You Choose

I absolutely loved this book. I'm a single mom who experienced some of the same secrets and felt a strong tie to the characters. I also have a 'Turtle Sisters' group who share reunions almost yearly - this book touched so many nerves for me.

[Doris Lankford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book filled with drama and mystery. A very enjoyable story.

[Brandi Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely a bittersweet book but I really enjoyed all of the elements involved in it and am definitely looking forward to the next Christmas Market book in this series!

[Renee Shope · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked how this story isn’t one of the cookie cutter Christmas romance books. It’s a good story but I just couldn’t hang on to see what happens in the end.

[Kathy Schmidt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story. The print in this book was almost too small to be able to read and that interfered with getting into the story.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story about grief, loss, and finding your family, this book is a wonderful Christmas story that will melt your heart.

[Heidijane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am frustrated by the lack of editing in this book. There are multiple errors, both grammatical and careless, such as “…I’ve been to chicken too do it.” (pg. 38), or switching the name of who is speaking, when that person isn’t even in the scene, or slipping a “his” into a sentence when both of the people in the room are women (“Lucy reaches for one of the letters in his lap.” pg 201). There are also past and present tense within the same sentence… multiple times. I wouldn’t have continued reading it, if it wasn’t the choice for our book club this month.

Here’s the spoiler: Why does the Christmas Library not show up until the end of the book? I spent the whole time previous wondering why it was called “The Library of Christmas Memories”.

I gave it two stars because, despite the errors that made me cringe, I love Europe and chocolate, and I enjoyed getting ideas of where to visit and what to try.