Jenny Colgan has written much better books. This story had some good parts of her other stories but ultimately fell short on story line, humor, and romance. Having it set at Christmas is the only thing that holds the whole story together.

This book was way too slow moving and had no story development. I usually love Jenny Colgan so this was disappointing!

I read the first book in this series, Cafe by the Sea, a few years ago and was excited to revisit the Scottish island of Mure. I love Jenny Colgan’s books because there is some drama, beautiful scenery, great characters, and happy endings! When I realized the fourth book in the series was coming out this year, I decided that I needed to read books 2, 3, and 4 this fall and I am so glad I did! **Free copy of Christmas at the Island Hotel in exchange for my opinion from NetGalley.**

This is my first Jenny Colgan book. I was in the mood to read something with a feel good holiday theme and this book fit the bill. It was an enjoyable read.

Jenny Colgan is an automatic read for me. I love her books and writing so much! When I see a book by her, I read it. Christmas at the Island Hotel was no exception. Her settings and characters are loveable.

I love Colgan's Scottish Bookshop series, so I was excited to give one of her other series a try. I'm fine with an ensemble cast in a novel, but something about how this was written felt disjointed and out of sync. It should have been narrowed down to focus on a few or something, rather than so many. I always appreciate the cozy settings Colgan creates within her novels, so I know this won't be the last of hers I read. Perhaps just a bump in the road.

I have loved pretty much every book that Jenny Colgan has written. I love this series! It's cute, funny, it made me emotional, and I always love a book set at Christmas time! Flora and her brother Fintan are hustling to get their hotel open before the holidays. They bring in Isla, a waitress to help in the kitchen, and Konstantin, who will also be helping in the kitchen, but who is secretly the son of a Duke. The group has to come together to get the hotel up and running smoothly before disaster strikes. I loved this book!!

I was just delighted by Christmas at the Island Hotel. I'm going to do something that I rarely do -- partly because I'm lazy today, and partly because it says most of what I wanted to say--I'm going to copy the Amazon description.

On the tiny, beautiful, and remote island of Mure, halfway between Scotland and Norway, a new hotel opening is a big event. New mother Flora MacKenzie and her brother Fintan are working themselves half to death to get it ready in time for Christmas.

The new hotel’s impressive kitchens throw together two unlikely new friends: Isla Gregor is the hardworking young girl who has been a waitress in the island's cafe, dreaming of a bigger, better life now that she’s at a proper fancy hotel. Konstantin Pederson is working his way up in the hotel's kitchens too…but he is also, secretly, the only son of the Duke of Utsire. Konstantin has been sent to learn what it is to work hard for a living, before receiving his inheritance. Although he’s initially resentful, the place grows on him; he has never met anyone quite like Isla and her fellow Murians before.

As the island’s residents and special VIP guests gather for the hotel’s grand opening gala, Christmas is in the air. But so are more than a few small-town secrets…

I really loved the characters and setting. It wasn't all about the romance, in fact, most of that happens towards the end. The drama of new motherhood, family secrets, forbidden love, jealousy, grief, and small-town life was just a perfect mix. My only complaint is that there were a lot of characters introduced pretty quickly at first. It took a while to keep them straight, especially Isla ann Iona!

I received this ARC before this book was released, and I just never got around to it. I'm so glad I finally did. I also didn't realize this is book 4 of 5 in the Mure Island Series. I would definitely like to read some more about Mure Island, especially because there is at least one other that is a Christmas story. If you are looking for a heartwarming Christmas story, you should consider Christmas at the Island Hotel.

Jenny Colgan is one of my new favorite authors. Her Bookshop on the Corner series was a favorite of mine. The books she writes are typically set in Scotland, Ireland, and London. 3 places that this American girl dreams of visiting.

I would have probably rated this slightly higher if I had read the first books in the series before reading this one, it was still good though. I recommend Jenny’s books if you’re looking for something lighthearted, funny, and easy to read. The characters have enough depth to them to make her books better than many of your typical light romance novels though.

I didn't realize that this book was part of a series when I first started it. Thus, I found the novel to have too many characters with not enough background. About 1/3 of the way through the book, I learned it was part of a series. After that realization, I was able to finish the book, knowing I would now read the other books in the series to get the background of all the characters. I did find myself wanting to know how the twists would turn out.
I was given an ARC by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
#christmasattheislandhotel #netgalley #jennycolgan

I love anything written by Jenny Colgan. I love that her books are set in Ireland, Scotland, and London. I want to be in these towns, meeting these characters, and loving the land as much as they do!

This is the third book in the series and I have gone back to read the earlier books to get to know these characters and the island of Mure even more.

Flora and her brother, Fintan, are working themselves to death trying to get the Hotel ready for the big opening. It was the dream of Fintan's husband to open the hotel and his death has pushed the pair to make it happen.

With some small town drama and the pain and love only a family can share, this book reminds us of what it means to be family, the family we are born into and the family we make for ourselves.

Overall, this isn't the best Jenny Colgan book but it's still an enjoyable read. I would recommend it to fans of the genre and the author. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the other Mure books.

While in the end you may enjoy the charming outcome of Christmas at the Island Hotel it'll definitely take a bit before this book picks up. It's a little slow in the beginning and has a large cast of characters and viewpoints from which the story is told. As a result this book was only a 3 to 3.5 star read for me. I didn't feel that there was enough time spent on any of the characters to fully get to know them. Since this is the fourth in a series I had both thought, and hoped, that like in many other series this book would be told from the perspective of one or two main characters. Isla and Konstantin were meant to be the focus of this book yet they're lost among a confusing relationship/interaction between Lorna and Saif, new parents Flora and Joel, Fintan and Gaspard, as well as narratives from the perspectives of a journalist and a few other family members of the aforementioned group. There was SO much going on with literally everyone that it was TOO much. Had the author stuck with Isla and Konstantin, their backstories and the development of their relationship this could've been a great book as the bones are definitely there. The ending was nice a wrap up, however, I wish there had been more substance to the development of Isla and Konstantin leading up to that. I will say that the writing was so descriptive and realistic when describing the scenery and climate of Mure that I feel as if I could feel the frigid sea air blowing about! I'll definitely give this author another go at a later date, but for me this book was just so-so.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read and review this book!

I enjoyed Christmas at the Island Hotel, but I do think I missed somethings by not reading the whole series. This book focused on the opening of The Rock Hotel with the hotel opening at Christmas. I would definitely recommend reading the whole series in order before reading this one. I felt pretty lost throughout the whole book - which was my fault, but the book description didn’t label this as “Book 4” in a series.

Thanks to @NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for my ARC!

Jenny Colgan's books are like a warm hug from Grandma topped with a cup of hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookies. Comforting.

I started this book but couldn't get into it. I would have tried to go further but I realized it was the fourth of a series and I felt like a lot of the book referenced scenes from the other books so I decided not to read further.

I love Jenny Colgan's books and look forward to a new each year. Unfortunately, this one was disappointing. The story was disjointed. There are a lot of characters and none of the storylines really developed into anything meaningful. Flora's character did not develop at all. I feel like the doctor's story is just a place that she shouldn't be going. I read her books for the coziness and great characters. This one just didn't provide any of this.

Jenny Colgan is the queen of feel-good, romantic Christmas novels, and this years’ Christmas at the Island Hotel is a royal hit! With a new hotel opening on the island of Mure– between Scotland and Norway, preparations are in full swing to get everything ready by Christmas. There’s a son-of-a-duke in disguise and a whole lot of secrets that are about to make their way into the air. Will Christmas be ruined by leaked secrets?

This was a perfect, easy read to get me in the Christmas spirit!

This novel was so charming! I didn’t realize that this is part of a series, so it did take a little time to learn the characters backstories. However, you don’t need to read the whole series to enjoy this one. It was a perfect, cozy holiday read!

I fully intended to finish this book before Christmas, but life got in the way. I got busy but was able to finish it a few weeks after Christmas. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect, because I got to stretch out that cozy feeling of Christmas that comes with a book like this. Jenny Colgan is a relatively new author for me. I into this novel not realizing that it is the 4th in the series. Although I believe it can stand alone, I wished I had the background of the other novels. There were a few too many characters for me, but other than that it was a lovely read.