Thank you so much to NetGalley and Alcove Press for my copy of The Christmas House by Victoria James in exchange for an honest review. It published September 7, 2021.
This was such a great book! I truly was so invested the whole time! I loved the dual story-line, and I loved that it wasn't a cookie cutter, Hallmark-perfect experience. I loved that there were truly hard things that the characters experienced, and got to worth through. I especially love that it's part of a series, and I cannot wait to start book two!

This story is set in Canada. I find that interesting because usually these kind of festive stories are set in America or England. Here we have a dual timeline with Ruby as a young woman and at the end of her life. I was really enjoying this book until all the body size and weight talk started. I think talking about a woman’s weight when they are pregnant or after having children is a no-no and a turn off for me. The book is also very long winded and took a long time to actually get going. Some parts of the book are really engrossing and others I just wanted to skim.

This was a great book! Not your usual Christmas romance/family get-together story. I was pleasantly surprised when I started reading. I enjoyed reading a story with multiple generations included, although I was not a fan of Wendy and Mac (from my age group). There was just the right amount of drama, heartache and love for this Christmas story.
This is the first book I’ve read by Victoria James and I’m happy to add another author to my follow list! I enjoyed reading a story that was in Ontario. I live 2 hours from Toronto too so I was googling to see if “Silver Springs” was real :)
I’m looking forward to reading the next Christmas House book!

The Christmas House is a warm and energetic Christmas story.
It has several generations of the family in it.
Let's start with the cover, it's very eye-catching and you'd be inclined to accept if you were invited in.
The small town of Silver Springs is bubbling over with Christmas joy, from it's twinkling lights to the Christmas House which is featured on it's cover. Ruby is the proprietor and has been for the past fifty years. Ruby invites her daughter and granddaughters for Christmas, Olivia and Charlotte.
I was drawn into the book because of the family dynamics. There is a bit of a back story we see on the grandma as well being revealed slowly as we read. The book is about consequences of actions and choices made and how those actions come into play and how the family is still being affected many years later. Overall an engaging Christmas book full of warmth,compassion and holiday cheer.

Pub Date 07 Sep 2021
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Amidst a rash of Christmas stories that come out around this time of year, this one stands out more than the rest. Although the plot line is similar (Charlotte comes to visit her grandmother, runs into the boy who is now the man next door and single dad, bonds with his daughter, and must deal with her alcoholic mother and long-lost father who shows up out of the blue, as well as her sister and her sister's issues - in short, lots of family drama going on. The timeline goes back and forth from present day (Charlotte) to the past (Grandma Ruby) and tells the story of how Ruby acquired the Christmas House. Well-written and engaging, a quick read that I really enjoyed. Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The perfect Christmas book for cosy nights abd frosty mornings. The ideal mic of. Likeable characters and storyline. Perfect.

The Christmas House is a story about choices and how they influence your life and the lives around you. It is also a story about generations and how traits are passed down without anyone fully noticing. And a story of how resilience is built as life experiences hit you or change you. Throw in the holiday and some old and new family drama and you have a whirlwind of a story.

Ruby Harris owns The Christmas House in her local small town. Her house is a bed and breakfast is called the Christmas house because of how she elaborately decorates it and allows the townspeople to tour it. This year, Ruby is under the weather and her granddaughter Charlotte comes home to take care of her. She also volunteers to take over the decorating and immediately starts bumping heads with local sheriff and next door neighbor Wyatt. She is suspicious of his motives for helping Ruth mostly due to the way she has been burnt in the past.

Both Charlotte and Wyatt have had events happen in their past which have influenced the way that they are. Both characters are a bit stubborn and bit rough around the edges. This is why they see so protective of themselves and the ones closest them. This is why they bump heads at first but the layers start coming off and they see different parts of each other. And they realize that they knew each other when they were children until Wyatt just disappeared one day.

Family drama, family histories, and family secrets all play a key role in the dynamics of this book. There are two timelines inside the past featuring Ruby, Charlotte, her sister Olivia, and their mother; and the present featuring Ruby, Charlotte, Wyatt, his young son, and his aunt Mary. It is a relatively easy to follow each timeliness and see how they intersect with each other. These histories also wind up being subconsciously in the decorating of the house as a way to honor and a way to move past.

My favorite part of The Christmas House was are about the decorations. I loved visualizing the Christmas trees, the house decorations, and imagining how each room in the bed and breakfast. For me as a reader I was excited that the plot point was actually accomplished instead of being left hanging for the family dramas. I did not feel like the family dramas were wrapped by the end though. I still had questions that j didn't feel were fully resolved. However the writing of The Christmas House is beautiful and will have you falling in love with festive season all over again.

I received this ARC from alcove press thank you.
Great story very good background and back story detail..
Easy read, heartwarming and really does highlight the fairy tale view of Christmas then reality. We all dream for that picture perfect Christmas and it rarely happens, this book addresses this yet shows that Christmas is truly about family and love.

This book is primarily a story about second chances and dealing with one's past. Grandma Ruby opens the doors of Christmas House (her bed and breakfast) to her dysfunctional family, in the hopes that they will come to grips with the past and move forward to a happier future. Grandma Ruby also discovers her own "happily ever after" in the process.

I would not consider The Christmas House to be filled with happiness and joy, although there are some of those moments in it. Some parts are downright depressing and dragged on too long for me. Themes include broken promises and families, pregnancy out of wedlock, disputes between sisters, and how the past catches up with our present and can affect our future.

I received this novel from the publisher and from NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Yes - read it.

Easy read, quick, read, HEA, holiday story - really couldn't ask for much more! I liked the story line, not too sad, not sappy but just right. I liked the characters and wanted things to work well for almost all of them! Just puts you in a holiday mood.

I received an ARC from NetGalley to help prepare for my honest review.

The Christmas House by Victoria James is the story about three generations of women and how their choices in men have affected their lives. Grandma Ruby owns The Christmas House where the family will be spending the holidays. Charlotte, a professional organizer, arrives first and discovers that a boy she had a crush on when she was twelve lives next door. Wyatt is a cop just like Charlotte’s father who walked out on the family when she was twelve. Wyatt has an adorable twelve-year-old daughter who clicks with Charlotte. Olivia, Charlotte’s sister, arrives with her baby, Dawn and she is a hot mess. Add their unreliable mother and you have a family holiday. Each family member has a secret as well as issues that need to be dealt with along the way. I liked the flashbacks to Ruby’s life as she deals with being pregnant at eighteen and on her own. We get to see how she came to own The Christmas House and began the open-door policy on Christmas Eve. Ruby was my favorite character. She is a delightful woman who is strong, caring, and generous. Ruby has a big heart, and she was truly hoping the family would have a special Christmas. I also liked Wyatt and Sam. Wyatt’s wife left him and Sam. He is having to raise Sam on his own while we working as a police officer. He works hard to make sure she has the type of childhood he never did. Ruby and Wyatt’s Aunt Mary were busy playing matchmaker when not spoiling Olivia’s daughter, Dawn. There is plenty of family drama and emotions in The Christmas House. Charlotte needs to make a choice about her life. Is she going to let the past take away her chance at a happy future or she is going to leave the past in her rearview mirror while she gets her happily ever after? There is mild foul language in the story which is disappointing because they should not be in a Christmas tale. The Christmas House also delves into topics that some people might find upsetting (suicide, alcoholism, infidelity, child neglect, and abandonment). There are sections of the book that will have you smiling, but there are some areas that are depressing (and they dragged on a little too long). The moral of the story is that we are not perfect. We all have baggage and must decide if we will let it hinder us or make us better. One of my favorite lines from The Christmas House is, “It’s never too late for a happy ending.” The Christmas House is an emotional, dramatic Christmas story with an endearing neighbor, a meddling grandmother, a topsy-turvy pantry, an orderly organizer, a twirling tween, family fuss, and one magical home.

This dysfunctional family is a good read.
Granted, one character was so over the top, that i hated her. It was so bad that i was thrown out of the story.
Otherwise, I felt like a “fly on the wall” watching this family navigate the present while holding onto the past.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for my honest review.

"Maybe there was a place that was filled with laughter and love and intimacy. True intimacy... the kind that started like a wildfire and kept burning, could flicker in the darkest of times, could simmer during long winters, and would last forever."

The Christmas House is the perfect cosy book to read this holiday season. Oozing with family drama, our protagonist is Charlotte, who's visiting her grandma Ruby at The Christmas House (her B&B) for the month of December. Along the way, she reconnects with her sister, falls in love with her childhood friend, Wyatt, and learns more about her family's past.

Each chapter begins with a flashback to Ruby's past and how she came to own The Christmas House and I really liked the storytelling style. I also loved the relationship between Charlotte and Sam, Wyatt's 12-year-old daughter. They form a strong connection as both had been abandoned by one of their parents (Charlotte's dad and Sam's mother).

We also hear from Wyatt's perspective throughout the book and how he feels about this serendipitous reconnection with Charlotte.

So, if you're looking for a Christmas book that focuses on families, romance and fate, I definitely recommend reading The Christmas House.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.

This was my first book by Victoria James, and I have to say that I was impressed! The Christmas House in Silver Springs sounds like a place I would love to visit for Christmas or any other time of year. Charlotte and Wyatt's story was very touching. The last line of the book is perfect! I will definitely be on the lookout for more books by Ms. James. I will be recommending this book to my reader friends as well.

Oh, my Christmas heart. 🥺🎄❤️


The Christmas House was so much more than your average holiday book. Second chance romance, dual timelines, dysfunctional family, and CHRISTMAS?!? The depth of these characters was extraordinary. I love multi-generational family dramas and this one tugged at my heart strings. One of the timelines is present day and the other Ruby, the grandmother and matriarch, tells her heartbreaking coming of age as a single pregnant woman in the days where that was not accepted. Charlotte, Ruby’s granddaughter, is back in Silver Springs for the holidays and her Grandmothers neighbor is none other than Wyatt, whom she hasn’t seen in years. Surely this isn’t a coincidence. As they get closer to one another she finds out that his ex wife left when his daughter Sam was little. Something she can relate to, unfortunately. Will this family find love and begin to trust again or will they all go their separate ways?

I got bored with this book and just couldn’t finish it .

I know some will love this but it just wasn’t for me .

The Christmas House, B&B in Silver Springs is preparing for it's 50th Christmas open door festivities. Ruby has invited her two adult granddaughters and insists they attend. She knows Charlotte and Olivia didn't have the best childhood but she wants to two to reconcile and become good friends like they once were. Not everything goes according to plan but this delightful Christmas family tale is a fun quick read for the holiday season. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Grab a cup of cocoa your favorite blanket and snuggle in for a warm and lovely story. This book is exactly what we all need from time to time. Warm, inviting and full of Christmas joy.

Heartwarming story for the Christmas Season - Lots of Cheer - some family problems and some Christmas magic.

A beautiful romantic story involving three generations of women. The first one loved too much the wrong man and suffered the consequences of an unplanned pregnancy outside marriage, but she found respect and love and built a life for her. The second one, was naive, didn't respect or listen to her mother's advice, and had a marriage that did not end well. Her children followed two different paths: one wanted a perfect family life and did not find it, the other did not want to have feelings or lose control. The Christmas House is the place where all these problems will come up, will finally be discussed and somewhat solved and they will find their path in life. A heartwarming story that places hope, goodwill in everyone's life.