A sweet read i loved tge the location and the romance. A very nice blenf of tensjin and romance

My Rating:

3.5

Favorite Quotes:

It never hurt to start a plan with a few easy, achievable, or already done tasks to get things rolling. It’s why she usually had “make the bed” at the top of her chore list.

Waking up on Valentine’s Day to a chocolate heart next to her pillow wasn’t unusual, but the note with it had caught her completely off guard. A goodbye note. He’d found someone new, and he was sorry. Which she couldn’t have agreed with more.

I was married for twelve years, but apparently he was only married for ten of them.
Her jaw pulsed, and she didn’t utter a single word. If there’d been a thought bubble over her head he could imagine the punctuation flying around in there like shrapnel.

Let’s take it a day at a time. I have a feeling we will have spent months and years before we take the time to stop and count them.

My Review:

Hope At Christmas was a slowly developing, sweet, wholesome, and easy to read contemporary romance and family drama featuring a divorcing mom with an indulged and huffy ten-year-old daughter. The writing was tame enough for the Hallmark channel and my elderly mother’s Sunday School Book Club, and sweet enough to cause dental concerns. The narrative featured hits of amusing banter, cute and endearing characters, common concerns and daily issues in a small-town society, charming and thoughtful touches and quite a bit of creative flair. I found the names of the businesses to be clever as there was a bike shop named Wheelies and a bakery named Cookie Doe. My favorite character was the kind and gentle Mac, despite his corny jokes and cheesy puns.

Did not finish, too sugary sweet for my tastes, downloaded by mistake.

This book is like a G-rated, small-town set Hallmark Christmas special on a page. If that's your thing (it's not entirely mine tbh) then you'll love this one!

About-to-be-divorced mom Sydney moves her daughter to the small town where her grandparents lived, and into the old farmhouse they left to her after they died. Her ten year-old daughter is angry about her parents' split and Sydney's about to start a new job in a few weeks. After she impulsively stops into the small local bookstore she used to love as a child, Sydney ends up with a new part-time job assisting the elderly store owner.

Mac is a single dad to a son, a high school teacher, and secretly dresses up as the town Santa.

Of course these two are made for each other. It was interesting to me that, while the story is told in alternating third person from Sydney and Seth's POVs, the two characters don't even really meet each other until about a third of the way through the book. That wasn't ideal for the romance, but it did work well for a subplot about Sydney's painful divorce and her daughter's anger and sadness over the breakup of her family. As the story begins, she hasn't even signed her divorce papers, so it wasn't a bad thing that she doesn't jump into a new relationship right away. I'm fine with romances without love scenes, but this story was so squeaky clean that it almost felt a little antiseptic. if you're not okay with slow, slow, slow burn romance in which the characters just exchange a chaste peck or two, this might not be the book for you.

What this book does have in large supply - a lot of small town charm and a fun plot about Sydney's plans to bring the bookstore into the 21st century.

This book just wasn't for me. I couldn't get into the story and tried setting it aside and coming back to it until one day I just couldn't pick it up again. I think this book has an audience, it just wasn't for me.

This is a sweet, clean holiday romance read. Reeling from her husband's infidelity and request for a divorce, Sydney Ragsdale packs up what is left of her Atlanta life and takes her daughter to Hopewell, North Carolina. The old farmhouse where she spent her summers with her grandparents was never a vacation option on her husband's list, and the inherited property has been ignored for years. Making the move means giving up a lot of luxuries and also facing the full force of her daughter's anger.

RayAnne Ragsdale is the classic daddy's girl and she is not happy with her parents splitting up. Moving to smalltown Hopewell means leaving her dad and his money and extravagant gifts behind. She wheedles every chance she can to just get her mother to go back home, not knowing the full ramifications of her parent's separation. 

Sydney does everything she can to protect her daughter while maintaining the meager funds she has until her new job starts in the new year. Meanwhile, she will spend the holidays alone in Hopewell once RayAnne goes with her dad on a ski trip, a newfound interest of his after years of never wanting to travel anywhere. 

Upon her return, Sydney steps into The Book Bea, the local and longtime bookstore run by Bea. Sydney remembers Bea from her own childhood spent in The Book Bea where Sydney met and befriended Diane. On her first visit back, Bea reveals she could use some assistance in the store. Having nothing but time on her hands until her new job after the holidays, Sydney volunteers to help out. Being in the bookstore with Bea brings out so many of the good qualities in Sydney that I admired about her. 

Bea is the little old lady in town that is adored by all. I found such strength and wisdom in Bea's character, who found joy in finding just the right book for all of the readers who happened upon The Book Bea. While Bea is busy finding books, she is also astute in the language of love. While Sydney is looking for a soft place to land, Bea knows Kein MacAlea, known as Mac, is where Sydney needs to end up. 

Mac is a divorced teacher and coach with his own teen boy, Seth, who has a hate relationship with Christmas. Residual side effects of his mother's abandonment. What few in town know is Mac plays the local Santa every year and he has quite a knack for it. 

Just as Sydney fell in love with Hopewell and its smalltown feel and community, so did I as a reader. Her childhood friend Diane is still in town, married with two kids, and their daughters bond as Sydney and Diane reconnect. RayAnne and Seth also find themselves to be two peas in a pod and their friendship was adorable to watch blossom. RayAnne's anger and emotional yo-yo-ing from her dad lead her into some situations and Seth is the best of friends and doesn't turn his back on her. It was a great testament to another strong friendship.

As Sydney and RayAnne settle into Hopewell and the holidays look, Mac and Seth continue to make them welcome in town. As Sydney and Mac spend more and more time together, she fights the doubts and staggers on the realization she is not ready for a new relationship. Seeing the great things in front of Sydney and her denying them was frustrating, especially lying to her daughter about not seeing Mac and Seth. 

Sydney was a mix of a character. At times, I did not like her at all because she seemed she didn't have a backbone when it came to her husband or her daughter's whiny rants. It definitely gave credence to her last name because they both ragged on her more than she should have put up with considering how strong she really is. 

There was some manufactured drama toward the end that allowed things to be tied up nice and neat and smooth. It kind of felt like a betrayal a reader after falling in love with the town and characters. I think the ending still could have happened without one particular event. The following chain of events and reactions didn't seem genuine to the magnitude of what happened. It seemed like a disservice on behalf of all the characters involved, and that was disappointing. 

Overall a great Christmas read I definitely recommend!

What a great holiday story. Just when Sydney’s life takes an unexpected turn she embraces the new change. Life will be better without living with an unfaithful husband. A new start in her hometown is something her daughter is less than ecstatic about but she slowly begins to accalimate. Meeting Mac is exactly the hope she needed to keep Christmas alive.

A sweet holiday romance of two divorced parents with lots of small town charm.

Thanks to netgalley

This story was so sweet to read and warmed my heart throughout. Sydney was looking for a fresh start for her and her daughter to reconnect. Landing in the small town of Hopewell, Stacy begins working at the local bookstore and meets Mac the popular, single dad that all the ladies love. Mac is raising his son and trying to restore his son's faith in Christmas. Neither are looking for romance but love always finds a way. These two bond over their children, their ex's and the attraction they share. This story was simply delightful. The charm of their small town quickly draws you in and the romance was slow to develop but satisfying which made this an incredible story.

Oozing with Christmas spirit, cookie cut-out small town charm and an almost too sweet romance.

Readers of family friendly stories will appreciate that this is a clean romance.

I was doing so well with the contemporary romances. It's not a genre I ever expected to find myself reading and yet I found I've become addicted to them. . . except this one. Hope at Christmas was just not the book for me. 

Small town? Check. Sweet romance? Check. Story? Well, it was there but it had problems for me. The dual perspectives was fine but in a romance I want the characters to meet pretty early on and that didn't happen. The focus of the book shifted to what I would expect to be subplots rather than the actual romance. Unfortunately, while written well (I'm assuming), those subplots and backgrounds for the characters weren't ones I could relate to enough to make me an invested reader. Mac is a single dad. Sydney is working toward finalizing a divorce and moving with her daughter. Nothing wrong with either backstory, I just didn't connect with them. 

Which made it pretty hard to buy into the clean romance. Yes, if you're interested in a clean, holiday romance then this is a good fit for you. It reminded me of the Christmas movies my grandmother liked to watch when I was younger. Again, not a bad thing, but not for me. 

Hope at Christmas is perfect for anyone looking to get into the holiday spirit with a cute romance. It wasn't my cup of tea but the writing was decent and I think it could appeal to a lot of other readers so definitely don't let this review stop you from checking it out if you're interested!

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra

What could be better for an avid reader who loves Christmas but a book about a bookstore around Christmas? Nancy Naigle is a new author to me and I must say, I really enjoyed how she tells this story. I was captivated from the beginning! I could relate on many levels -> single mom, new town, new job, love of books…I could go on…but won’t ☺.

From page one I could relate to this newly single mother:

“The eye rolling was new, starting once they’d moved here last week, and she hoped it would leave as quickly as it had arrived. As aggravating as that was, her daughter’s heavy sigh tugged at Sydney’s heart.”

It is tough to uproot your family and start over again, so I was as pleased as Sydney when she learnt that the bookstore (The Book Bea) she visited frequently when she was in Hopewell as a young girl was still up and running. And lo and behold, Bea was still there running the bookstore! I love the spiritual wisdom that seemed to abound from Bea – definitely drew me to her:

“You were meant to come in her today. Trust your journey, dear. It will take you where you’re supposed to go.”

I loved some thoughts Sydney had while in the bookstore – I could just sense her push towards freedom and happiness with this move, after the divorce:

“The smell of books, knowledge, and old ink may have been in her imagination, but it all worked like some kind of happiness pheromone. Suddenly being replaced by a younger model didn’t feel like an insult as much as plain idiocy on Jon’s part.”

Sydney has a new job starting in the new year but through discussions with Bea – she agrees to help out in the bookstore until after the holiday season, after all, RayAnne will be in Atlanta with her dad, Jon.

Soon, we meet Kevin MacAlea (known as Mac by his friends), who is the local high school history teacher and baseball coach…and more (you shall find out soon enough when you start reading the book). But also as important, a single town hunk. Wouldn’t you know it but his property and the property that Sydney inherited are less than a mile apart (by the way the crow flies – as they say). Mac and his son have been on their own ever since his wife up and left them both a number of years ago(on Christmas Eve no less). My most favourite line with respect to Mac is his thoughts around Christmas time – even with what happened to him and his son:

“This time of year was magic to him, and these moments refilled his well. Enough to last all year long.”

You can figure it out… Mac and Sydney…well let’s just say that sparks fly and interest mounts. There is the usual “ex” tension with Sydney’s ex and Jon goes above and beyond in his insensitive interactions with RayAnne. There is a big accident, which brings Sydney and Mac and their kids close and from there I was able to see that the chemistry between the adults was significant and all I kept hoping was that it would last. Who doesn’t want a happy ever after at Christmas time?

There is plenty of small town, feel good, Christmas moments (caroling to name one) that make this truly an entertaining read. The description of Santa’s Village made me want to go and visit:

“Peppermint-striped candy canes and crystal blue snowflakes glowed from every row marker in the parking lot. …Like the North Pole. Look, Mom. It’s like a town.”

If you are looking for a sweet, romance around the holiday season, with plenty of miracles then Hope at Christmas will deliver. Nancy Naigle whisks you away for the entire read, while actually making it seem so real and down to earth. I shall certainly seek out more titles by this author.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*

It is a wonderfully woven tale of betrayal, heartbreak, new beginnings, new friends, finding self-confidence, and where we belong in the world. The characters in this story felt real to me; as if someone were relaying the information to me about a friend. Divorce has shattered the world of Sydney and Rayanne Ragsdale. Sydney feels betrayed by her husband, Jon, and her friends; Rayanne thinks her father doesn't love her anymore. Sydney and Rayanne leave Georgia for Sydney's grandparents' home in North Carolina. Sydney inherited it when they died and it is the only thing she solely owns after the divorce. She is starting a job in the new year and is using the time between Thanksgiving and New Year to get settled. Sydney finds that one of her favorite childhood spots is still in the small North Carolina town. Sydney begins to feel her wings and imagination spreading as she shakes off the tethers from her ex-husband's demeaning attitude towards her. Sydney and Rayanne begin to put down roots; while Jon moves on with his life in Georgia.
This is a wonderful story and I enjoyed it immensely!

This is a Hallmark movie in book form in the best possible way. The characters and story are developed better and with a bit more nuance but it has that same heartwarming quality. There is an emotional connection between the two characters but more important is their relationship with their children and discovering what truly makes them happy.

I really liked Sydney right from the start. She's in a situation she really never wanted to be in and never expected to be in. She's still a bit shocked from the dissolution of her marriage and is trying to hold it together for her daughter. She's trying not to badmouth her ex-husband though he makes it really really hard. I thought Ray Anne felt very authentic for a child whose world just fell apart. She loves both her parents and really just wants things to be like they were. She's angry and guilty and mostly just confused. However, she's also ten years old and forgets all the baggage sometimes in the joy of moments.

Mac is pretty perfect. He loves being the prefect Santa and tries to be the best father he can be. He pays attention to his son, is involved in his interests and is trying to be supportive and both mother and father.

I enjoyed watching these two come together. They're both such good people who are trying so hard to do the right thing and it was nice to see them rewarded. I loved the community of Hopewell - especially the Book Bea. It's definitely a bookstore I'd love to visit. This is a fun sweet read with no heat but lots of emotional connections. It's a nice cozy Christmas read.

When Sydney finds out that her husband has been cheating on her, she moves back to her childhood home in Hopewell. Her daughter isn't too happy about the transition but Sydney hopes that she will eventually fall in love with the beautiful town. Meanwhile single dad, Mac sees Sydney and is attracted to her. However just as something begins to blossom between the two, they are faced with challenges that neither of them could have imagined. This was a wonderfully, heartwarming read that I really enjoyed. Sydney is a strong female role model and it is inspiring to see how she rebuilds her life after her divorce.
The town was friendly and colourful which I always love in books about small towns. This was a well-written book with beautiful characters. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a Christmas read.

Small town Christmas, a heroine needing a change, a hero needing a chance, a young girl’s Christmas wish for Santa, an enchanting book store and voila, it was the perfect recipe for a Christmas goodie.
Review

Hope at Christmas really was a sugary sweet snow globe-type of Christmas story in some respects, but it also dealt with some realism in a woman getting over a cheating husband and divorce, a child who is in the middle, struggling with not becoming jaded to other chances out there, a homemaker learning to make her own way, and that is all just Sydney’s side of matters. Then there is Mac who is further along in the process because yep, his wife left him and his son behind during the holidays, too. He’s always played Santa for the town and secretly wished his son would give Christmas a chance, but now he sets eyes on Sydney and wants to be the one to bring her some Christmas magic.

It’s all the ooey-gooey goodness for sure and much of the book gently introduces the special bookshop, The Book Bea, and its owner , Miss Bea, who sagely helps Sidney on the road to healing. There is also a great deal of Mac and Sydney separately doing the single parenting thing. But yes, the sweet slow-burn romance happens. It’s a low-angst story until Sydney starts to panic about feeling something again for another man and doesn’t want to take a chance. She is newly divorced so the panic makes sense for the story and keeps things on the cautious side which totally worked for me with all the other elements that come together in the book.

In the end, I felt it was a bite of Christmas sugary goodness come early and perfect for immersing in the holiday feelings and setting with a nice sweet romance to cuddle up with. Might need Sydney’s hot chocolate recipe and Mac’s lasagna recipe, too…

Sweet Christmas story. It's a story about second chances, starting over and hope. It took me a little time to feel connected with the characters and their story, but it turned out nice in the end. :)

This book was ok. I felt like it was slow reading. Not sure if the story as slow.

It was a nice story about single parents dealing with the holidays raising their kids.

My favorite part of the story was all about the bookstore.

I have never read Nancy Naigle before, of course as I write this I'm really not sure about that. For this review I'm going to go off that I haven't. I've often seen her books and her covers always look so good and I've wanted to read them but...again, not sure if I have.

So when I was given a chance to try one of her books and on top of that it was a holiday story how could I say no? If you know me then you know I'm a huge fan of holiday romance stories. I just love them!

Very shortly into the story I figured out that for me this was more woman's fiction then romance. I don't really read women's fiction but since I accepted the ARC I figured I'd keep going.

The story as a whole wasn't bad, it was just overly...sweet. I know, I said that like it was a dirty word. I didn't mean it to sound like that. I'm just not sure how else to describe it. The main characters relationship didn't have much heat between them. Sure, there are problems along the way, just nothing much.

I did like the small town feel of the story but even that wasn't enough to make me really love this story. Like I said, it's not a bad story just not one I was thrill with. I'm sure if the romance aspect isn't what you want front and center and you don't like a more gritty story this would be perfect for you.