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!

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. ( )

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. ( )

More like a novelette to me. Story of a family with issues, a dog that needs and gets a home, really sweet. Nantucket sounds lovely at Christmas (but in all honesty, who can afford to go there???) ( )

Sweet holiday story.
Obviously it will make the reader long to see Nantucket's Christmas Stroll.
Nicole is a newlywed, she's happily married to Sebastian. He was married before and has a, very hard to love, adult daughter named Kennedy.
Nicole wants to make Christmas perfect for Sebastian's family but Kennedy keeps making her feel like an outsider.
It wrapped up a little too suddenly, but it was a short book so I suppose that's not a big surprise. ( )

Delightful Christmas story set in Nantucket.Nice,easy,short read abt family at holidays.Predictable ending,but very enjoyable. Nancy Thayer books are a delight! ( )