A Nantuckett Christmas

by Nancy Thayer

New York Times bestseller Nancy Thayer returns with a captivating family Christmas tale. For readers who love Santa Montefiore and Barbara Delinsky.





Holidays on Nantucket Island are nothing short of enchanting, from decorations on the Brant Point lighthouse to the yearly Christmas Stroll, there is much to make the winter months magical. Newly married Nicole Somerset can't wait to spend her first festive season on Nantucket with her husband, handsome former attorney Sebastian.





But the mood is quickly tempered when Sebastian's daughter, Kennedy, returns for the holidays without a hint of cheer. Determined to keep Nicole at arm's length - or, better yet, out of the picture altogether - she schemes to sabotage everything. But Nicole is not about to let anyone tarnish her first Christmas with her new family... Can she turn things around before it's too late?

Genres: Christmas, Fiction, Holiday, Chick Lit, Romance, Contemporary, Adult Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published October 29, 2013

About the author

Nancy Thayer has published 35 novels, including Family Reunion and Secrets in Summer. She has lived on Nantucket Island year-round for 38 years with her husband Charley Walters. They have two children and five grandchildren.

Reviews

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a delight! I was hoping for a book that reminded me of Elin Hilderbrand’s “Winter Street” series with good family drama on cozy wintery Nantucket, and that’s exactly what I got! As a small warning, this one opens with a heart-wrenching dog abandonment scene, which I was a bit unprepared for in a Christmas book, but have no fear, things work out!

This follows the story of a blended family who is getting together for the holidays. Nicole and Sebastian have recently married, but Kennedy, his adult daughter is still hoping her father will reunite with her mother Katya. Kennedy is very pregnant and also has an adorable 4-year-old Maddox, who is one of the stars of the book. This is a wonderful, cozy novella with tales of Santa and Mrs. Claus arriving on the island by boat, Christmas cookies and hot chocolate, snowy trips into town to see shops filled with colorful ornaments, and cozy dinners at home with family. And drama. What would Christmas be without drama? Five candy canes!

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I could have written a better novel in the couple hours it took me to listen to this. Just awful. The story was just annoying, everyone talked like children, 30+ year old woman calling her parents mommy and daddy and trying to get her divorced parents back together, who were happily remarried! It was so unrealistic and awful. I bumped it up one star because I love Nantucket and Nicole wasn’t too bad a character but I just don’t think you should bother with this one and perhaps Nancy Thayer should rethink her career if she’s producing this junk.

[Angela Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much that it is hard to put it into words. It is a heartwarming story that pulls you in from page one and does not let you go even after you are done. This is the fist Christmas book I have read this year and the first by Nancy and I have to say it puts you in a good mood and makes me want to find more books by her. The only part of the book that I did not like was the story line with Snix/Pooh, but I totally understand why it had to be told in the way it was, it just really pulled at my heart strings but I will not say anything else about it as I don't want to give anything away. Nicole and little Maddox were my two favorite characters in the entire book. Nicole was such a nice person you can't help but like her and little Maddox was just the cutest thing. Kennedy on the other had was a character I could not stand but the story would not have been right without her. I encourage you to pick this book up and read it this holiday season.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars.

A Nantucket Christmas is the story of a boy, Maddox, meeting a dog. But before he does, Thayer tells us the individual stories of the boy and his family, and of the dog and his plight.

This book meandered and wandered, describing Nantucket in its Christmas glory, and describing the personalities and quirks of Maddox's family members. Unfortunately, the direction of the plot (boy meeting dog) wasn't clear midway through. I was left wondering, What ABOUT this boy and his family? What is this book about? Where is the conflict?

Sure, there were small conflicts, but I saw no focal point, no literary conflict around which a compelling story could be told.

So, A Nantucket Christmas was mostly a slice of life story with an exciting birth scene and a warm meeting between boy and dog.

I wanted to love it, but with its uneven writing, sprinkling of puns, and reflective paragraph about yawning, I struggled to finish. This book might work as a short story or a Lifetime movie, but it doesn't have the forward moving energy required of a good novel.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[Maureen Timerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this quick evening read. I read a lot and was able to figure out how the story might end, but there were definitely some surprises.
Unfortunately, there is a side story to this, and it begins with the prologue. The taking of a cute puppy, loving, feeding, cuddling it. Then when it is a few months old, and a gangly teenager, abandon it. So begins this story, a poor soul who waits on the side of the road for his family to return to him. Breaks my heart at the cruelty.
Nicole has married a man with a grown daughter, Kennedy, she has a precocious three year old, Maddox, who will wrap you up with warmth. Now even though, Kennedy's Mom left her Dad, and has been in a relationship with another man, and her Dad has now remarried. She secretly hopes to bring her parents back together. She has gone so far as to try and sabotage the beautiful Christmas, that Nicole has prepared.
Sebastian is blissfully happy in his new marriage to Nicole, but Kennedy can't see beyond her own wants. Loved their Father and Daughter outing!!!
Don't miss this sweet holiday read, I'm glad I found it, and really enjoyed it!

I received this book from the Publisher Ballantine Books, and was not required to give a positive review.

[AJourneyWithoutMap · Rating 5 out of 5]

On Nantucket, the Christmas season is different. And A Nantucket Christmas by Nancy Thayer is a different and charming Christmas story which is down to earth, and so thoroughly enjoyable. It is the story of building relationship, the delicate intricacies and dynamics of a broken family. It is also the story of an abandoned dog and a boy, and how they bring about a change in the family. It is moving story about love and loss and the Christmas miracle.

The story opens with Sebastian and Nicole, both finding love a second time. Nicole Somerset is taken by her husband Sebastian, a former attorney, to his house in the island for Christmas. And in time, Sebastian discovered that Nicole was the opposite of Katya, his first wife, who was a perfectionist and who kept him on a tight leash and a rigid routine. Nicole, on the other hand, introduced Sebastian to the delights his first wife disdained, walking rather than biking, homemade pie – eaten while watching television, stopping to watch birds and wildflowers or watching the sunset. Sebastian on his part takes her swimming, sailing and tennis. It was an unforgettable time for both of them, with Christmas fast approaching.

But all good things must come to an end. Bringing the curtains down on the joy and happiness of the couple was none else but Sebastian’s daughter, Kennedy. Heavily pregnant, she turned up unannounced with her family, including her husband and three-year-old son Maddox. Though Nicole was warm and courteous to her step-daughter, Kennedy was ready for a fight and avoided her as if she does not live in the house. Spoiled to the core, Kennedy was also keen on her father-mother getting back together though it has been over four years since their divorce. Her son on the other hand was a lovely toddler with an impeccable behavior for his age, and was excited about the coming Christmas.

Nancy Thayer added a beautiful mix to the story by including the story of Snix, a dog abandoned on the island by people when they left at the end of summer. Snix wandered around the island trying to find food and shelter. Nancy does a magnificent work in capturing what a dog might be thinking. What makes A Nantucket Christmas more delightful is the tender, warm and heartfelt bonding between Maddox and Snix. And in the end, it is Maddox and Snix who succeeded to turn things around for good in the family.

[Brittany Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming, short book that I was able to read in one day. You can’t beat a story that takes place on Nantucket. The characters are well written, even Kennedy, who is a spoiled brat. My favorite character is Snix, a homeless dog whose story is also told. There is nothing challenging about this story but it is a wonderful, light read if you want to escape from your own life for a while.
For what it is, and for the pure pleasure of a story based on Nantucket, I recommend it.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, sweet, heartwarming, and cheesy in all the right ways. Just the way a Christmas book should be.

[Julie Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Nantucket Christmas by Nancy Thayer
The island is decked out with Christmas attire and the day of the Stroll has begun. Santa and Mrs. Claus have arrived on the island via the Coast Guard and
the kids will climb onto Santa's lap and tell them of their wishes.
Nicole has married Sebastian and his married daughter Kennedy and her husband, James and child Maddox will spend the Christmas holiday on the island with them.
Nicole has helped the Stroll by baking cookies and her best friend Jilly has hot chocolate to accompany the cookies-at the library.
Snix is a lonely dog that the summer people left on the island when they left at the end of summer. The dog has wandered around trying to fit in and be able to feed himself.
Nicole strives to outdo Seb's first wife by decorating: tree, garland, ornaments, etc. His first wife Katya never liked to clean the pine needles, nor ever wants to gain weight.
Maddox this year wants a dog, but his mother is having a new baby boy and he won't be able to play with them right away as they will be too small.
Kennedy just wanted her mother and father to get back together and demanded they both be at the birth of the new child...
The unthinkable happens when a huge storm hits the island and Kayta shows up to spend the holidays with them...
I received this book from Net Galley via Random House Publishing Group Ballantine Books in exchange for my honest review.

[Book Concierge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicole Sommerset is newly married to a divorced, retired attorney and enjoying her new home on Nantucket. She’s redecorated to make Sebastian’s house her own, and is eagerly planning a traditional Christmas with his daughter, Kennedy, her husband and 4-year-old son, Maddox. But Kennedy has her own plans – to get her parents back together again – and she’s using her late-stage pregnancy as an excuse for all manner of bad behavior.

Thayer writes charming Christmas-themed stories where the reader knows in advance that things will all work out in the end. This one also has a charming subplot involving a stray dog.

I thought several times that Thayer may have gone overboard in making Kennedy so awful – self-indulgent, self-pitying, manipulative and downright rude to Nicole. But then we’re introduced to her icy mother, Katya! Yikes! The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I’m glad that Thayer didn’t wipe the slate clean and have these two bad apples completely mend their ways. That would have been too unrealistic – even for a Christmas story.

[Antoinette · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little Christmas read! A book that helps put you into a Christmas mode.

[Linda Klager · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very good read. There was romance, love, hate, forgiveness and redemption included in this book. I really enjoy Christmas stories.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The setting was very nice, but the story was just okay. The plot did not pick up until the diamond Christmas brooch entered the picture, then it got better, but the ending was sappy. I especially liked the story of Snix, the abandoned dog.

[Torie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love a classic hallmark Christmas movie? Then this is your book.

[Dianne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was looking forward to reading this novel. It was short, so it would have been a quick read during the busiest time of the year, and it was about my favorite time of the year, too.

However, instead of the good, heartwarming story I expected I got instead a collection of dislikable characters and a dull and uneven story that had very little to d with family values and more to do with pure malice.
This story was told using everyone’s point of view, even a stray dog.

Even Maddox, a 3-year-old going on 40, was impossible to warm up to. The fact that this child was only 3 and his thoughts were those of an adult just sort of freaked me out a bit. Even the dog Snix was annoying, whiny, and hard to like.

Maddox’s mother, Kennedy, was a pure conniving *itch that was maneuvering to get her father, who had remarried for love, back with her uber-beautiful and cold as-ice mother, Katya. The machinations this poor pathetic soul used to do this was just cruel.

This was not the type of story I wanted to read to get into the holiday spirit. The fact that this short book ended on a ‘high’ note (childbirth on Christmas Eve during a snowstorm, while the 3 year old has run away) was just hackneyed.

Nicole, the stepmother, was a character we should have been able to like, but she was too much the martyr to even warm up to.
The men in this novel are clueless wimps.

None of these characters exhibited the least little bit of common sense. Who in their right mind allows a 3-year-old to play alone outside in the winter? I don’t care what Nantucket is like or how safe it is supposed to be. And that is just one of my complaints.

This was a very fast read, chaste and not romantic – it is said that the author is (quoting from book description) “Known for her heartwarming observations of family life.”, but with this novel, I really have to wonder just what kinds of families is it that she is observing for her books. Read at your own risk! *ARC supplied by publisher*

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess the thing to do around Christmastime is to write a book that you can hype for the Christmas season.

This is a long winded bore. And a little bit weird.

Kennedy and James have a three year old son going on thirty who thinks things like, "This was awesome, too. Maddox rarely got alone time with his daddy, who was always working." What three year old thinks about things like "alone time?" What three year old says things like, "No, thank you. I want to make a fort out of the picnic table and benches." What three year old would be hauling tables and benches around in the snow to make a fort? What parent would let a three year old run out into the night time snow without a coat when the three year old says, "I'll be right back, I left something outside today while I was playing."?

Kennedy is a drip who can't stop talking about feeling like a beached whale because she's having a baby. And of course, she hates her dad's new wife.
Nicole, just married to Sebastian can't quit thinking about how insecure she is with her husband's daughter, Kennedy. She is widowed without children and works as a nurse.
Sebastian can't quit thinking there's some way to make Kennedy think Nicole is just amazing. And it never occurs to him to stick up for his new wife when his daughter, Kennedy, mistreats her. Instead he just hangs around hoping.
And James is just a background nebbish.
Add to all those annoying characters is an annoying sappily pathetic stray dog, Snix, who has his own sporadic chapters all to himself. He is of course abandoned and cold and it's Christmas.

The story line and the characters are too overly sentimental, boringly long and vapid and no amount of quaint seaside Nantucket at Christmastime makes it better.

[Audra Hornbeck · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

While reading the summary of the book, I mistakenly assumed Nicole's step-daughter, Kennedy, was a spoiled child or teenager. But, no, she turned out to be a grown woman who was married, had a young child and another on the way. I have very little patience for children like that and absolutely none for adults like that. Even in fiction. Kennedy annoyed me the entire book.

The book was plagued with stilted, awkward writing. I no longer have the book because I donated it to my office's library, and I think I'm not supposed to quote the unofficial copy without comparing it to the finished product, but there's a particular line that stands out in my memory. When Kennedy, her husband, and son are on the ferry on their way to Nicole's house, the dad says to the little boy something like, "Look, we're almost there. Soon we'll be warm and Nicole will serve us a delicious meal." Who talks like that?! Especially to a young child! That is just one example but that type of writing can be found throughout the book.

Although I can't point out specifics because I no longer possess the book, the author made the boy's thought process way too sophisticated and not at all believable.

Overall, a major disappointment.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to BookBridgr and Headline for the ARC of this book.

I don’t like to be mean about books, I certainly don’t have the skill or patience to write one, but I don’t have much good to say about this one. It reads like it was written for a five year old. It has such a simplistic approach to life.

It’s Christmas and Nicole must spend her first Christmas with her new husband’s adult daughter Kennedy. Kennedy wants her parents to get back together and therefore doesn’t like Nicole. She feels this way for 90% of the book and then a baby is born, a stray dog turns up and whoosh all of a sudden everybody’s problems are solved and they all love each other.

It is ridiculous, trite, predictable and facile and unfortunately didn’t even manage to evoke the warm festive feelings you hope for from reading this type of book.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review featured on www.books-n-kisses.com

Honestly this story is just sad. Yes it has a happy ending but most of it is just down right depressing. First it starts with Nicole and Sebastian who are an older couple finding second love and then Kennedy (Sebastian’s grown daughter) makes for trouble on the first Christmas for the older couple.

Kennedy is a spoiled brat. She acts like a child wanting her divorced parents to get back together and doing everything to drive away the new wife. For a grown woman with a child she is just obnoxious and unlikable.

To be fair the writing is good but I can’t imagine how it would get anyone into the holiday spirit.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

[Susanchitter · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a short quick read that read like a Hallmark movie. It did make you want to experience the town's Stroll at Christmas time. Nicole and Sebastian were very happy in there late second marriage. Living on the island his very pregnant (spoiled) daughter, husband and three year old son (who spoke nothing like a three year I know) came for Christmas. She was determined to get her mother and father back together. Interwoven was a story of an abandoned dog. Of course it ended happily.

[Janice · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seems the author couldn't decide whether to write a children's book about a little boy and his dog, or a short little family Christmas novella set in Nantucket. Unfortunately, she combined the two and ended up with clunky writing, unbelievable female characters and a sappy story line. Another Christmas fairytale. The book jacket design is very inviting though.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great Christmas story about finding love - both human and dog. The characters were well developed and I felt for each of their Christmas problems. I loved Maddox, the little boy and Snix/Pooh. I'm a sucker for dogs. All in all a great Christmas read.

[Annie Knox · Rating 2 out of 5]

My strategy of wandering the library and randomly grabbing books with “Christmasy” covers has failed me. All of these characters are terrible, the writing is inane, and we never really get to find out what happens with the dog! Also I have never been to Nantucket, but now I never want to go.

[Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible. Did not finish. A third was about a poor abandoned dog. All the characters were horrible. I didn’t want any of them to end up with the dog. Depressing.

[Sandi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting. Whiny adult daughter trying to get her parents back together at Christmastime.

[AnnMarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy Nancy Thayer! I've never read a Christmas story, but I loved it! She writes so well that I wanted to bunch one of the characters in the face! Nantucket Christmas stroll I've read in many books by other authors.....it always sound so lovely. I'm assuming it is a real thing and I must add it to my bucket list. I'm sure there will be many more Nancy Thayer books in my future! Highly recommend anything by Nancy Thayer.....great summer reads!

[Margie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful Christmas story. Nicole is newly married. Her husband was married once before and there is a daughter who is married and expecting her second child. Of course, she doesn't like Nicole and wants her parents back together; even though the first wife left the family for another man. Add an abandoned puppy and a young child to the mix and you have a good read.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a light, enjoyable read for the Christmas season. As a stepmom, I appreciated the realistic and sympathetic portrayal of Nicole and the issues she faced around the holidays. However, the other characters were a bit too “stock”: the bratty, selfish stepdaughter, the ice queen ex-wife, and the well-meaning but hapless husband. I would have liked to see more nuanced characters and a bit less predictable plot, but it was a sweet way to pass the time all the same.

[Amy Mallison-austin]

This is a very sweet, sappy book. I loved that it is told from various points of view, especially the dog's and the little boy's. It's a lovely quick read for the holiday season (even if I was a wee bit late).