Christmas at Starlight Lake: A Cozy Christmas Romance Full of Second Chances

by Courtney Hunt

She came to the lake for peace and quiet. He came home for Christmas. Neither expected to find love again.

Clementine Scott is spending the holidays at a remote cabin in the Finger Lakes, to finally write a business plan for her dream beauty brand. With no job, no boyfriend, and no clue what comes next, Clemmie is determined to use the solitude of snowy Starlight Lake to figure out her future.

Noah Jones planned to spend Christmas alone at his family's lakeside cabin to recharge after a high-stakes year at work. What didn’t he plan on? Finding Clemmie, his little brother’s best friend and the girl he never quite forgot, already soaking in the tub.

Now snowed in together for the holidays, Clemmie and Noah are sharing cocoa, memories, and maybe even a second chance at love. But with big city dreams and old heartbreaks between them, can two people with very different lives find a happily-ever-after under the twinkle lights?

Perfect for fans of Hallmark movies, cozy Christmas settings, and sweet second chances, Christmas at Starlight Lake is a heartwarming holiday romance filled with laughter, nostalgia, and the magic of finding home again.

💕 Tropes you’ll find in Christmas at Starlight Lake:

❄️ Snowed-in together

💕 Second chance romance

🛁 Accidental bathtub encounter

🎄 Cozy small-town Christmas

🧼 Dreaming of a beauty biz

🐢 Best friend’s older brother

🏡 Found family & lakeside nostalgia

✨ He rescued her once... will love rescue them both?

Genres: Christmas

262 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 7, 2025

About the author

Courtney Hunt writes heartwarming love stories filled with swoony heroes, hopeful new beginnings, and small-town charm. A former attorney turned full-time romance author, she’s the USA Today bestselling author of Cupid’s Coffeeshop, Always a Bridesmaid, and the upcoming Cupid’s Sweet Shoppe series.

Courtney’s books are perfect for readers who believe in cozy evenings, second chances, and happily ever afters—with a side of cupcakes, of course. She’s passionate about crafting romantic escapes with humor, heart, and just enough real life to make you believe love really does conquer all.

When she’s not writing, you’ll find her curled up with a good novel, wrangling her two cats (Colby and Jack), or baking sourdough in her Virginia kitchen.

✨ Say hi at authorcourtneyhunt.com or follow her for new releases, bookish updates, and behind-the-scenes peeks.

Reviews

[Isabel ⋆☾⋆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, if I weren't a sucker for an absolutely predictable small town love story, the book would be a 1 star.. The writing was SO redundant and it felt exhausting to get through.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Hallmark type of romance gives all the summer I turned pretty vibes😍
Clemmie heads to her best friend’s lake house over Christmas to clear her head and decide how to move forward in her career. She is shocked when his older brother shows up- the boy she’s bee smitten with her whole life. Small-town, lake-inspired, forced proximity holiday magic. 💞

[Carrie Haddon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so cute and so much better than I was expecting, considering the cover is the most “basic b*tch” of Christmas book covers. A child of divorce, Clementine spends her summers at Starlight Lake, where she meets her best friend Simon and is tolerated by his older brother Noah. Flash forward 20 years or so, and she is living a “devil wears Prada” nightmare and Simon tells her to spend her Christmas break at his family‘s cabin at Starlight Lake. It appears that Simon got the weeks confused, and it was Noah’s week, but due to the impending snowstorm, forced proximity ensues. Both Noah and Clementine have a dreams outside of their corporate lives, and after spending their Christmas break in an idyllic small lake town, are they brave enough to go after their dreams?
Loved it.

[Pamela A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

𝑨 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕!!! 😘😘😘

𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒍𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒛𝒚 𝒗𝒊𝒃𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒕. 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒏𝒐𝒂𝒉 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒏𝒐𝒂𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍. 𝑵𝒐𝒂𝒉 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕. 𝑵𝒐𝒂𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝑰 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒅, 𝒊 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒍. 𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊 𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒅!!! 😍😍😍

[Rose Wood · Rating 3 out of 5]

This gives Hallmark Christmas vibes. I am not a huge fan of Hallmark vibe books so this review is not for the ones who do enjoy Hallmark vibe books. I wasn't much of a fan of the audio because it was done in AI. I also felt it was redundant. The tropes are: snowed in together, second chance romance, cozy small-town Christmas, best friend's older brother, childhood crush, slow burn, lakeside winter setting, holiday nostalgia, and found family.

[leanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay if a man kept holding my hand and cupping my face and making intense eye contact and didn’t kiss me i would actually set the world on fire. these two talked about how much they loved each other the whole book and then in the last 10 pages all i got was a silly kiss?!? and girly was freaking out over a farmers market?? anyways cast david corenswet in the movie adaptation of this and let me play clemmie

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Woof. Didn’t love this one. It was infuriating….childhood friends who have secretly been in love with each other. Now they are in their late 20’s, unhappy with their lives, spending Christmas together at the lake. Instead of SPEAKING THEIR MINDS, they just keep avoiding the conversation that they both have crushes on each other.

It really got annoying. The story kept spinning in circles and nothing ever really happened.

Bummed, because I was looking forward to this one.

⭐️⭐️1/2
📖: KU

[Guy's Girl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Together Forever

Cute Christmas story. It has friendships that cover decades and multiple generations along with small town camaraderie. There’s nothing like Christmas Magic. I did not love the AI narration.

[Mystic Star · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love these cozy reads.

[Alyssa Little · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute, cozy, feel good romance.

[austengirl_710 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love

Such a sweet heartfelt Christmas story! Loved it!! Perfect Christmas rollercoaster! I loved how the story played like a movie in my head💖💖

[Tonna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sweetest friends to lovers I've read in quite some time. Cute characters that are relatable, cozy Christmas hallmark vibes, perfect read for the holidays. Loved it!

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet Christmas read. Liked the setting and the characters. If you like Hallmark Christmas movies, you’ll enjoy this one.

[Isui West · Rating 3 out of 5]

slow burner

The book was cute but it’s a slow slow slow burner. Not to much excitement. I really do like the ending.