Coming Home for Christmas

by Jenny Hale

An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

Christmas is a time for family - isn't it?

Allie Richfield loves Christmas, so when she lands a job as House Manager for the amazing Ashford Estate—which includes organizing the Marley family festivities—she is in her element. With a budget bigger than her life savings and a team of staff, how hard can it be?

As one-by-one she meets the Marleys, she’s about to find out…

Allie’s new boss, Robert, might be gorgeous, but he’s also colder than the snow outside and refuses to come home for Christmas. Robert’s playboy brother, Kip, flirts with her relentlessly; and his sister, Sloane, arrives home with baggage—both the divorce-kind and the Louis Vuitton kind. Their ninety-two year old grandmother, Pippa, spends her day grumbling at everybody from her mobility scooter.

With Robert intending to sell Ashford, it’s the Marley’s last chance to create some happy memories in their family home—and Allie is determined to make it happen… even if it takes a little Christmas magic! With the festive spirit in full swing, she might even discover a little happiness of her own…

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

Paperback

First published October 1, 2013

About the author

Jenny Hale is a USA Today, Amazon, and international bestselling author of romantic contemporary fiction. Her books have sold worldwide, have been translated into multiple languages, and adapted for television. Her novels Coming Home for Christmas and Movie Guide Epiphany Award winner Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses are Hallmark Channel original movies.

She was included in Oprah Magazine’s “19 Dreamy Summer Romances to Whisk You Away” and Southern Living’s “30 Christmas Novels to Start Reading Now.” Her stories are chock-full of feel-good romance and overflowing with warm settings, great friends, and family.

Jenny is at work on her next novel, delighted to be bringing even more heartwarming stories to her readers. When she isn’t writing, or heading up her romantic fiction imprint Harpeth Road, she can be found running around her hometown of Nashville with her husband, two boys, and their labradoodle, taking pictures—her favorite pastime.

Visit www.itsjennyhale.com to get my latest book! You can also chat with me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/jennyhaleauthor, Twitter: www.twitter.com/jhaleauthor, and IG: www.instagram.com/jhaleauthor

See all my books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jenny-Hale/e/B...

Reviews

[Melindam · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars on my Grinch-O-Meter. Naughty, but not in the nice kind of way.

This is a m(b)illionaire-falls-for-ordinary-girl kind of trope with a Christmas theme, which I have no problem with in general. However, I had quite a few problems with this book in particular. Neither the story, nor the writing helped me to suspend disbelief: it was too hard work for nothing much in return.

The main character is utterly passive and dull who does not seem to do anything on her own volition, just drifts by & gets talked into things.

- Her sister persuades/forces her to take up a job of house-manager for a superwealthy family & pulls strings as the MC has no related experience whatsoever. (Right, if I were superwealthy, I would go for that kind of employee and no mistake!) And it is quite strange, for she has no idea what to do: gets the instructions from her boss and then there is a perfectly capable staff to do everything, so what is exactly the point of playing middle-man?

- The employer's younger, playboy brother persuades her to date him and she agrees, though it's perfectly clear she doesn't care about him at all & despite knowing clearly that this is both unprofessional & unethical.(Plus she has the hots Boss bro #1, though no idea why.) Then they do the whole courtship thing in front of boss / staff. This kind of behaviour would mean the sack for mere mortals, but here everyone just takes this into stride because of the (nonexistent) charms of MC & they just couldn't carry on without her.



All characters are one-dimensional cardboard cutouts and not even the generously-spread Christmas-tinsel can change that.

Altogether this is not a terrible read, but it is monotonous and flat. The second star was for the fact that it was a kindle freebie.

[Claire · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 33%

I sure hope the film is better than the book...



And dating one brother, while thinking about and comparing him to the other. Not cool. I was starting to feel judgey and bitchy, and 100% not Christmassy, so time to move on, before I start to get stabby as well.

[Sonja Rosa Lisa ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Schade, das Buch hat mich leider etwas enttäuscht. Ich hatte auf eine schöne romantische Weihnachtsgeschichte gehofft. Die Gefühle sind bei mir leider nicht angekommen. Die Geschichte bzw. das Verhalten der Figuren war wenig glaubwürdig. In Allie habe ich mich nicht hineinversetzen können. Eigentlich sind das Setting und das Grundgerüst dieser Story perfekt; daher hat mich das Buch auch angesprochen. Die Umsetzung war mir dann zu oberflächlich; die Emotionen blieben bei mir aus. Nette Geschichte, mehr aber auch nicht.

[Jacqueline · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 no burn not slow burn stars.

Billed a 'feel good Christmas romance' oddly enough all of the feel good and romantic bits were sprinkled lightly into the final 10% of the story with no hint of romance in the rest of it and absolutely zero smut. Bit of a let down tbh.
Ah well.

[Anto M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Allie, fin da quando è una ragazzina, affida alcune decisioni che riguardano la sua vita, al lancio di una moneta. Testa o croce e la decisione andrà in un verso o nell'altro.
Stavolta il lancio la porterà dritta dritta alla tenuta di Ashford dove farà la conoscenza della singolare famiglia Marley, in particolare di Kip e Robert, due fratelli che non potrebbero essere più diversi.

Una storia di quelle da leggere vicino all'albero di Natale dove, come capita sempre nelle storie ambientate in questo periodo, viene dato molto risalto alla famiglia e i suoi valori e da questo punto di vista è stato davvero rasserenante leggere il romanzo. Peccato non abbia avuto nessun tipo di sintonia con la protagonista femminile. Per quanto l'autrice cercasse di farla passare per quella giudiziosa, per colei che avrebbe dovuto essere il collante della famiglia Marley, mi è sembrata la più deleteria per l'unione della famiglia con i suoi comportamenti infantili. Mezzo punto in più per il finale davvero carino.

[Aneta Batakchieva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Не знам защо си го причинявам всяка Коледа?! Явно ми е нещо като традиция да започвам с коледните романчета на Джени Хейл. Те сами по себе си са доста абсурдни и сладникави. Явно ми е нещо като да гледам "Сам вкъщи" за н-ти път.😁 Просто няма да се случи Коледата без тях. 🎅

[Галина Ганова · Rating 3 out of 5]

"У дома за Коледа" на Джени Хейл е коледна история за едно имение, семейство, двама братя и едно момиче.
Макар да не блести с особени качества и да е пълна с романтични клишета (вкл. любовен триъгълник) тази история е перфектна за неангажиращо четиво в стил Hallmark.

[Cyndi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bob Marley, I’m sorry, Robert Marley is lacking in Christmas spirit. Enter a pretty girl that makes it her job to bring the Marley family together for the holidays.
Cute Christmas romance.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

At loose ends, Allie accepts a job managing the Ashford Estate as the owner prepares to sell. But she quickly learns that Robert who owns the estate is going against the wishes of his grandmother, the only permanent resident and his younger brother and sister all of whom want to keep the home which has been in the family for generations.

As she communicates with Robert through e-mail she catches brief glimpses of the 9 year old boy who had to grow up fast after his parents' deaths and she can't help herself but to try and convince him not to sell. With Christmas fast approaching it becomes apparent he is even too busy to spend the holiday with his family.



Coming Home for Christmas is trying to be contemporary romance but honestly it feels more like women's fiction. The ending felt a little too pat...the sort of ending that would have been fine in CR but didn't quite work with the women's fiction feel of the book. It's still pretty good and for the most part the story works although there was the bane of my existence, a triangle, which always drives me insane.

[Mary Jackson _TheMaryReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in one sitting. I never put it down! Hale grows to be my favorite author with each book I read. I HIGHLY recommend this sweet romance!

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have just finished my first Christmas book of 2013 in the middle of September (I know) and it was AWESOME. I actually said on Twitter that, really, there’s no perfect time to read Christmas books when you live on an island that has permanent sunshine 99% of the time, and because I had set up an interview with Jenny Hale, I decided September was as good a time as any to read her debut novel Coming Home For Christmas, and I am so glad I did because it was such a wonderful, enjoyable novel. I finished it in a day, and it’s been a while since I’ve been this caught up in a book but I loved every page and I was desperately rooting for Allie to get herself a happy ever after and I knew exactly who I wanted her to get her happy ending with!

Coming Home For Christmas introduces us to Allie, who after losing her job, returns to her mother’s house in Virginia and finds herself having to start all over again. Enter her sister, Megan, a real-estate mogul who has the perfect job for her sister; becoming the in-house manager of Ashford house, which belongs to the wealthy Marley family. The house is to be sold, but until it is, Robert Marley needs someone to look after everyone in the house and Megan thinks Allie is the perfect choice. Allie takes the job and finds herself more than embroiled in the life of the Marley family, and as she gets to know the Marley family better, it may be that Allie could be the family saviour when it comes to the stubborn Marley’s…

I fell in love with Coming Home For Christmas as soon as I was introduced to both Allie and the Marley family. It’s very rare that I find myself loving an entire family, but the Marley’s were just awesome. Not your typical rich family, they weren’t particularly snobby or anything, they didn’t just see Allie as the ‘help’ and I just immediately wanted to become a part of their family! I wanted to live in Ashford, in the beautiful sounding house, with wings! WINGS! Can you imagine living in a house that has wings? It’d be like living in the White House! I could barely put the novel down because all of the Marley’s had such wonderful personalities and they clicked with Allie in such different ways that I had to continue reading. Allie herself was awesome. I loved her. Easily one of my favourite female characters. Her rapport with the entire family was so good that I half expected for her to be some distant relative! Where to start with the Marley’s, though? Robert, I suppose. Head of the house, a bit stubborn, doesn’t really like words, without even realising it, he took my heart! Much like he took Allie’s. Despite their employer/employee relationship I felt it was something more right from the off and I loved it. I loved how Allie brought out the best in Robert, it says a lot that I was totally all for Robert despite all the horrible things he was doing! He rather took my breath away.

The rest of the Marley’s were no slouches either. I liked Kip’s innate funness and enthusiasm. The way he just went for it with Allie and to heck with the consequences. I loved how he and Allie flipped for whether they’d date or not, it was so cute. And Pippa! Oh, Pippa! The matriarch of the house, I could imagine her zipping around on her scooter all day long. Even Sloane, who wasn’t featured as much was a wonderful character. In particular I adored her two kids. I really just loved this book so much. It’s set in Virginia and it made me want to visit, it’s so rare to find a book set in the USA that’s not New York or Boston or LA. It was so well written, Jenny Hale is such a fabulous writer with such an eye for characters you’ll fall in love with. I certainly fell in love with Robert. I can’t wait for Jenny’s second book, this was just super amazing and it kept me reading all day with barely a pause. Read it, it’s the perfect Christmas story, heck it’s perfect for any time of year. Coming Home For Christmas, remember that title and buy it now, you will not regret it!

[Габриела Иванова · Rating 2 out of 5]

Книгата започна много добре и прехвърчах през стр��ниците с огромен интерес, за да разбера как ще се развият отношенията между Робърт и Али. Бяха много сладки като си разменяха мейли. За жалост, след средата почнах да се разочаровам. Обърканите емоции на Али ме дразнеха. Самото й поведение беше дразнещо. Абе, всичко свързано с нея беше ДРАЗНЕЩО! Не знам авторката за какво изобщо я намеси тази нейна "връзка" с Кип. Дойде ми от нищото и въобще не ги усетих като двойка. Кип само я притискаше и ходеше по петите й, а тя бързо се поддаде на чара му и накрая какво? Беше като някакъв декор, закачен за ръката му и се страхуваше да му каже какво мисли и чувства. Много насилени ми се видяха отношенията им и им беше обърнато твърде много внимание.
Другото нещо, което не ми хареса в Али е как само си бъркаше носа, където не й е работата. Какво я вълнуваха нея семейните отношения между членовете на семейство Марли? И да държи сметка на Робърт за действията му, като го познава от има-няма 2 седмици, а на всичкото отгоре й е и работодател.
Робърт беше симпатичен персонаж, ама почти нищо не видях от него. Той остана на заден план заради цялата тази каша, която беше в главата на главната ни героиня. Беше много жалко...имаше какво да се види от него.
Също така, не успях да усетя коледната атмосфера и да се потопя в духа на Коледа и т.н. Твърде много драма имаше за моя вкус.
А пък Ани (готвачката) само се мръщеше, когато видеше Кип и Али заедно и усещах някаква псевдоагресия от нейна страна към Али. Може и да звучи странно, ама така го усетих.😂
В обобщение, не останах очарована. Като че ли, Дженито пише едни и същи истории, но с различни имена на героите и това с времето взема да се изтърква. Не казвам, че книгата е лоша. Имаше си някакъв чар, особено в началото. Просто очаквах да усетя коледната магия, както в други нейни романи.

[Katherine Coble · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yikes.
Normally I enjoy it when an author reworks a popular romantic story with their own characters and setting. It's often a way to feel extra cozy within the book.
This story uses Billy Wilder's _Sabrina_ as a starting point, and turns the heroine-in-romantic-relationship-with-charming-younger-brother-but-really-suited-for-older-pragmatic-brother into a Christmas Romance.
There's one key problem here, though. In Sabrina the heroine has a long history with both brothers, having grown up the child of a servant in the brothers' household. She knows both brothers her entire life, and harbors a crush on the younger brother for more than a decade.
In that story, with that context, her growing adult relationships with the two men is not only a romance about two people but about the heroine falling in love with an awareness of who she really is.

In this book, Allie is hired by older brother Robert to be the house manager in his mansion and to ready the house for sale. Robert leaves immediately for New York to conduct vague rich guy business. His younger brother Kip shows up and immediately falls all over this woman he's known for all of 17 minutes.

The Kip relationship does nothing but make Allie seem far too immature and indecisive. The Robert relationship is largely conducted via email for the first half of the book. Yet Robert too falls for the seemingly perfect Allie. Since the book gives us no reason at all for the attraction it all feels extremely creepy. And Allie seems like a nasty person.

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are going to read one book this Christmas, make it this one. The characters are so beautifully portrayed that they jump off the page and take residence in your head- you end up rooting for every single one of them. My favourites were Pippa, the matriarch who presides via a mobility scooter throne and Allie of course. Where to start with Allie? She’s warm, she’s funny, she’s kind, she’s great with the kids and she has a heart as big as the Marleys’ mansion and, to top it all, she single-handedly brings the fractured family together for Christmas with a cheery determination. A heart -warming tale of family, relationships and the healing power of love, in a beautiful setting and invoking the magic of Christmas.

[Nadja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ou schon sehr grenzwertig an der Realität. Chef nur einmal kurz gesehen, schon wagt man sich die kühnsten Dingen zu sagen.
War natürlich von Anfang an klar wie es auskommt, unterhaltsam wars allemal. :)

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Отново прекрасен зимен роман от Джени Хейл. За мен и летните ѝ - са също толкова добри.

"Коледа е време за семейството. Или пък не?"

Това е цитат от анотацията на книгата. Но той е от голямо значение, защото семейните връзки преобладават в "У дома за Коледа." Семейство Марли са известна, богата фамилия, която живее в имението Ашфорд. Наследствен имот, намиращ се до поточе и вълшебни гледки. И въпреки това никой от обитателите не е щастлив. Кип, Робърт Марли и Слоун са загубили родителите си като деца и връщайки се в Ашфорд, заради продажбата му, мястото им носи само тъга. Главната героиня Али си намира работа като управител на имението и прекарва известно време сред семейство Марли. Вижда как парите, лошите спомени и натрупаният гняв помежду им ги разделят. Има ли шанс всички да прекарат една спокойна и щастлива Коледа заедно?

В "У дома за Коледа" се получи любовен триъгълник между Али и братята, но някак не ми беше интересен. И Робърт и Кип ми се сториха доста скучновати персонажи, предвидими и дори безхарактерни на моменти. Но като се абстрахирам от това, историята много ми хареса и за пореден път показа умението на Джени Хейл да насочва вниманието към проблемите на поколенията, личните такива, винаги оставяйки вратичка, зад която се крие надежда, нов път, решение.

Завършвам с коледно описание на Ашфорд:

Стр. 27 - "Всичко беше украсено с клонки от вечнозелени растения и червени боровинки. Свежи гирлянди покриваха перилата по цялата им дължина. Във всички камини блестеше яркооранжев огън, блещукаха въглени. Отвън белите лампички осяваха дърветата като светулки."

4.5 ⭐🎄✨

[Grecale · Rating 3 out of 5]

3-

[Venka Gospodinova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Лека коледна история, наблягаща на отношенията в семейството и различните възприятия на всеки.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hesitate to give this book a Romance shelving because it was one of the least romantic books I've ever read. The girl in the book, whose name I've already forgotten, was boring, incompetent, and passive. The relationships were non-existent or forced. Side characters (aka anyone not a Marley) were complete non-entities. You never learn the slightest bit about any servants or even the main character's own family members.

The guys in the book were such bland cardboard cutouts that it was impossible to believe anyone, even someone as boring as our m.c., would bother to save them if they were hanging from a cliff - let alone fall in love with them. Kip was a rich playboy without enough money and no interests to speak of. The m.c. spent weeks in his company and couldn't come up with an appropriate Christmas present for him - which makes sense because the man does nothing.

Robert was "deep" and "special" and they had a "connection" despite spending almost no time together and talking mostly about the impending sale of the family home. In fact, if the m.c. shows passion about anything, it's this house. But why does she love it? I don't have the faintest idea, except she keeps harping about the growth marks carved into a door frame. The descriptions of the home were just as boring as the people.

Pippa was the best developed character in the book, but that's like saying that a Big Mac is better than a Whopper, they're both cheap, low-grade, and throw-away, just like these characters.

If I hadn't been listening to this, I would have skipped to the end and saved myself a lot of time. As it is, I'll just skip over the author's next book instead.

[Alaina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since it's December and my favorite holiday is coming up (AKA CHRISTMAS!) I definitely felt I should be reading holiday themed books. I've been listening to Christmas music since Halloween and watching Christmas movies since then too. So, why haven't I read any Christmas themed books? EVER?

Coming Home for Christmas definitely helped me redeem myself. Plus, someone told me it was a Hallmark movie too and now I really need to find this movie and watch it.

So, this book started off a bit slow for me but then it definitely started to get my interest after a chapter of two. I loved everything about this story and the characters. It had a really nice flow throughout. I'm pretty sure I only put this book down so I could go to sleep or to drive somewhere. Other than that it was pretty much in my hands until it was finished.

If you're looking for a cute romance christmas themed book then Coming Home for Christmas is the right book for you. I honestly need more christmas themed books in my life. I plan to read at least one a day until Christmas comes!!

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Das Buch hat mir nicht gefallen und das lag hauptsächlich an der unglaublich schlechten Beziehungsentwicklung zwischen den Charakteren. Aber eigentlich war auch alles andere ziemlich doof.
Die Charaktere für sich genommen waren alle ganz süß, wenn auch einseitig.
Aber wie um Himmels Willen verliebt sich jemand nach gefühlt drei 200 Zeichen Emails?!
Und natürlich gibt es ein total stumpfes Happy End. Die Auflösung der Dreiecksbeziehung war echt schwach. Es wird nicht gesprochen, sondern eine Partei geht einfach weit, weit weg.

Eigentlich habe ich nicht wirklich etwas Positives über dieses Buch zu sagen, außer dass mir die Beschreibungen von dem Haus gut gefallen haben, in welchem die Geschichte hauptsächlich spielt.

Ich kann hier nicht rum ragen ohne euch alle zu spoilern, also lasse ich es.
Aber mal ganz ehrlich: Spart euch dieses Buch einfach ;-)

[Jo Frost · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh my goodness. I pretty much rolled my eyes throughout this book. I don't read this genre very much and now I am reminded why. The main character is arrogant, is hired as the house manager and interferes and offers her opinion when it is not requested. She flits from one brother to another, hedging her bets, abandoning her own family for a family she doesn't even think she can be part of. Horrible woman. Pippa and Robert were the only characters I vaguely liked.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was AWFUL. The main love interest was a complete idiot and the protagonist seemed to know that. The story was completely predictable to the point of boredom. I normally adore Christmas chick-lit but once I started, I had little to no desire to pick this up again.

[ila · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5🌟

[Daniela Daneva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Коледна, сладникава история, която от самото начало знаеш как ще завърши. Изключително лека за четене с ненатоварващ сюжет.

[Daniella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Доста странна книга, по принцип историите на Джени Хейл са страшно коледни и описанията са върховни. Тук се наблегна МНОГО върху историята на семейство Марли. Въобще не усетих, че е Коледа или действието да се развива около празниците. Беше интересно - не отричам, но някак липсваше цялото това "коледно чудо" от Дженито.
Общо взето в началото не знаех какво чета, Али беше толкова объркана с чувствата си, че това дразнеше и объркваше допълнително мен като читател. После тръгнаха нещата, след като спря да се чуди какво иска. Но въпреки всичко не останах очарована, не знам защо така се получи. Пак казвам беше увлекателно за четене и доста бързо си вървяха страниците, но не беше нищо особено. Не ми донесе никаква коледна емоция, а празникът не се почувства по никакъв начин в атмосферата на самата история. Дори в "Силвър Фолс", която също не ми хареса много се усещаше по един много приказен начин Коледният дух.
За Робърт няма какво толкова да кажа, доста ме дразнеше като му трябваха сто години да разкрие чувствата си. Али ми беше доста безразлична и така не разбрах до края на книгата дали я харесвам, или не.
С две думи - приятна книга, може би бих я препрочела на някой по-късен етап, за сега не.

[Fabulous Book Fiend · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely heartwarming tale! I knew I was going to enjoy this book just from reading the publisher's summary but I didn't realise just how feel-good it would be. It's a nice quick start to the story, you get to know Allie and her sister Megan straight away and then when Allie moves to look after Ashford (the house she is employed to look after) the characters start being introduced there too. Allie is a totally relatable lead character. She has her insecurities and yet she is determined to make the most of her life, something I'm sure we will all be able to relate to. Her only slightly niggling habit is that she jumps to conclusions rather quickly and can rush off before things were resolved, but this make for an interesting storyline with plenty of twists.

The idea of her going to look after a house over Christmas is a great idea for a plot, it was just a shame that she wasn't going to see her family over Christmas. The house is described in brilliant detail, as are its surroundings and so that made for an easy read. The brothers of the family, the male leads, are pretty interesting characters. I wasn't really sure what to make of them, and I wasn't sure whether i actually liked either of them. They seemed to have a certain stubbornness in common whilst one was incredibly laid back and the other the complete opposite. The grandmother of the family seemed to be the character who controlled the storyline, Allie would think she was going in one direction and then Pippa would reveal something and Allie would find herself doing something completely different, or having to question her actions!

The love story within this novel was a seriously slow burner, I was shouting at the book right up until the last few pages for Allie to get together with a certain someone (no spoilers here) I can just say the the ending was totally Hollywood movie worthy and reminded me very much of Pretty Woman, as it is commented up in the text by Allie's Mom! I did a little cheer when the plot finally unravelled itself for me, and was thoroughly satisfied that I was kept guessing up until the last moment!

This is the kind of Christmas book where Christmas isn't shoved down your throat for the entire novel, christmas is in the background, there are presents and a meal, but Allie's story is more important and the slow-burning love plot reigns overall. There are certainly strong family values in this novel and for that reason i truly loved it. It's a great read if you are looking for something to ease you into the festive season but I really think that it would work at any time of year!

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

ZZZZZZ...oh hey thanks for waking me up for the review. This book could have been so interesting, but it gets lost in the drawn out story and confusing romance.

Here is why I say the romance is confusing. You have no idea which brother to route for. Allie starts off crushing on Robert, then later meets Kip, has a flirtation with hims and kind of dating , definitely kissing, the whole time thinking about Robert. This kind of thing does not fly for me in romances. I like one clear couple, no kissy-face of thinking about somebody else. It just smacks of cheating to me.

This would have been better as a simple fiction about the family and the internal struggle about selling the house. There were too many plot points to pick-up and it was very slow going.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Teri Schnaubelt, who to her credit kept me listening long after I was bored with the story. She has a terrific pace, she picks up the speed of the story as best she can. It was because of her I kept listening, even though I no longer cared what happened with these people. He voices were distinct and consistent throughout.

If you are looking for a holiday romance, this isn't it, but it might fit the bill as a fiction.

Disclosure – I received this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts opinions and ratings are my own.

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[Kathi · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful story about love, hope, and forgiveness! Jenny Hale is a brilliant writer who allows her readers to be captivated by the characters in her book. I really enjoyed getting to know the Marley family as they discovered the importance of tradition and family. Characters were well-developed, and I felt as though I knew each one personally. Coming Home for Christmas really touched my heart. i cannot wait to read more of Jenny's books in the future!

[Nicole]

Reached 10% when I realized I just didn't care for any of the characters. Not to mention there is little to no conflict present. Nothing jumps off the page, nothing calls my attention, nothing pushes me to read further. The writing was incredibly uneven, the pace completely off. It just isn't for me.