The Christmas House
author: Victoria James
Alcove Press

In the setting of Silver Springs during the Christmas season, family turmoil occur as secrets and memories are revealed. James's story is deep and meaningful in this engaging holiday novel. Readers will love the Christmas and family theme. Not only is this an excellent Christmas gift book, The Christmas House is also a wonderful addition to anyone's Christmas themed bookshelf.
Thank you to Net Galley and Alcove Press for the advanced reader's copy and opportunity to provide my unbiased review.
#TheChristmasHouse #NetGalley

A sweet romance, a charming small town, the boy who got away, and themes of healing and redemption. All in all, a feel-good holiday read.

This a Christmas Romance/family drama story. I this book has two timelines in it. The two timelines is present day and the backstory of the Grandmother (who runs the Christmas House). I really enjoyed both the timelines. The characters where developed, and I really enjoyed having this family's story secrets come out. I loved seeing how two people can see the same event very differently. I think this book shows people over coming hard things, and it also shows one event can change so many peoples lives. This is not a sweet Christmas story, but it is more a real feeling Christmas story. This book is really well written. I do feel there are parts of this book that the pacing was a little slow moving for me. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Alcove Press) or author (Victoria James) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

Thank you to net galley for the advance copy of this book. I love books about dysfunctional families and their efforts to reconnect. This book caught my fancy from the first page. I did not like all of the characters in this book and that is what made it more interesting. I loved the strong grandmother Ruby, but I despised her self centred daughter Wendy! I enjoyed Charlotte’s love story and the way they tied in the past and present. I also loved that they went back in time to show why the characters developed the way they did. It really brought the story together. Having a holiday theme was the icing on the cake for this book. It is a wonderful multi generational read that holds your interest from start to finish.

The Christmas House is the first book in the new Silver Springs series by bestselling author Victoria James. This is a wonderful generational dual timeline novel showing both grandmother Ruby Harris’s history while also telling granddaughter Charlotte’s story.

Charlotte had never imagined the tragedy her Grandma Ruby had seen. She did know the sadness of her own life, however. Her childhood had held much sadness. Her mother drank heavily and had a way of blaming everyone but herself for her circumstances. Her father, who had been her hero until she was 12, disappeared on the day she introduced him for her career day and he didn’t show. Her sister, Olivia, had been very close until she met her husband. Then she seemed to cut Charlotte out of her life and she had yet to see her young niece. Then there was little older neighbor boy, Wyatt, who made life bearable until he disappeared the same day as her dad.

Now, twenty years later, Charlotte is traveling to her grandmother’s B&B The Christmas House in Silver Springs, a few hours drive from her Toronto home. This is to be the big family Christmas her Grandma Ruby has dreamed of, but it is the event Charlotte dreads. The drama with her mother, the estrangement of her sister, and not spending the quality time with her grandmother that she would like when everyone arrives, prompts Charlotte to come early in December. This way she expects to have some time with just her grandmother.

What she doesn’t expect is to have Wyatt answer the door when she arrives at her grandmother’s home. Or to have his Aunt Mary be her grandmother’s best friend. Not to mention establishing an immediate rapport with Wyatt’s daughter Samantha.

In this beautifully written story, Ms. James explores the plight of a single mother in the late 1960s as well as the trauma the events of one’s childhood can impart. As secrets are revealed and confidences shared, Charlotte may just be able to have all the missing pieces fall into place and find her potential happily ever after! I very much enjoyed this book and I wholeheartedly recommend it!

Charlotte comes home to see her grandmother for Christmas. There, she runs into her old friend Wyatt. She had an awful crush on him when she knew him. Now, jaded by love and the disappearance of her father, she tries to resist him.
Opinion
This story is exceedingly sweet and charming. Told in parallels with Charlotte's story and her grandmother's story at the same time, the reader gets more insight into why Charlotte is so jaded. The hesitancy that Charlotte feels towards Wyatt is palpable. The whole book, I found myself rooting them on and my heart breaking for the other women in Charlotte's family. With the ending, this book is the feel good, heartwarming book you'll want to read at Christmas.
Many thanks to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I have never been disappointed in a Victoria James story, so I knew that I would enjoy this one. While it is not yet the Christmas season it is so in The Christmas House which made a believer out of me. For a while it was not the hot dog days of August but instead I was celebrating Christmas in Silver Springs. Well celebrating with a family division that needs mending. So it is a woman’s fiction, not the romance reads I am used to reading written by this author.

Made no difference, the writing styles that I had come to know by Vitoria James is all in this book plus a dual timeline. The present with the granddaughters coming needing to work out their differences which is what grandmother Ruby is hoping will happen at her historic B&B along with her own past. Then there is Wyatt. Far from being a sugar sweet story but one that is richer because of it realistic characters, emotions, perspectives, and situations.

An ARC of the book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Christmas House by Victoria James is a magical holiday read full of romance and family drama. A well-written story with realistic and relatable characters.

Yay for Christmas stories! I could read them all year round (especially this year when we will be lucky to see family for Christms - thanks 'rona)

I was expecting the usual Christmas fare, with eggnog and hot chocolate and happy families.

While we sort of got that, we got a lot more too. We got family dramas (like every other Christmas book out there) but they were a lot deeper and darker and a lot more emotional than I was expecting.

Can I say I hated one character in particular who is so darn selfish that I just wanted to punt her out of the room every time she she showed up.

I adored the connection between Charlotte and Wyatt, from the beginning right to the end. You can't help but want, no need them to be together.

I smiled a lot whilst reading, and there were times reading that got me all down. But Ms James picked me right back up again.

I haven't read any other books by Ms James, but I will keep an eye out for more in the future

A wonderful, sweet novel about two children who used to be everything to each other in a world where nothing seemed safe. A story of a second chance at a love that transcends everything even the fear of love itself. A magical house where a once lost woman found that a mothers love should always be unconditional and that happy endings can happen even when you think your chance passed years before. A story of sisters, daughters, mothers and love above all else. This one had me in tears. It was absolutely perfect and I could not put it down!

A perfect Christmas story about family, love and second chances.
I enjoyed the festive atmosphere, rooted for the characters and enjoyed the story.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I enjoyed this story, I loved the dual timelines as well as the family dynamics. This would make a great Hallmark movie, I would definitely watch it!

The Christmas House, by Victoria James.

It’s the festive season, and as Charlotte heads home to the warmth of Grandma Ruby’s aptly named Christmas House, running into the boy who stole her heart as a child is the last thing she expects.

Wyatt is a single dad to the sometimes unbelievably well behaved, almost 12 year old, Samantha. His job and his daughter are his absolute priorities. There is no room for love. That is until he comes face to face with the girl who brightened his days as a child.

Ruby, Charlotte’s Grandmother, is the strong, kind hearted head of the family. Life has been tough for her, but as she prepares to welcome her clan for christmas, there are secrets waiting to come out of the shadows that will unsettle everyone.

This story is told in the present day, with flashbacks to the past. Where we learn Ruby’s story.

The prologue in this book, was heartbreaking, and left the reader in no doubt, as to the sort of childhood that both Charlotte and Wyatt experienced.

The Christmas House, is a festive tale of family, romance, second chances and letting go of the past.

I was drawn into this story from the very begining. You can’t help but root for the main characters. They are likeable and well written.
This is a tangled tale, with many branches to the story.
At times I felt impatient, when the story dragged a little, but this is a minor grumble at what was otherwise a heart felt, charming and festively feel good read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Publication date 7/9/21

With thanks to #Netgalley and #AlcovePress for an ARC of #TheChristmasHouse by #VictoriaJames.

Charlotte and Wyatt are two people with enough hurt and pain in their past to last a lifetime when they each had the worst day of their young lives inflicted by their parents. Years later they meet again, still living with the pain of the past.. This is a great story with characters to love, and twists and turns that reveal what really happened many years ago.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

The story isn’t too Christmassy, it’s more family drama/romance. It’s got two timelines, the backstory of the Grandmother(who runs Christmas House) and present day.
The characters I felt were relatable and as their secrets came out, it was nice to see how to people could have different views on the same event.
The story showed how people can get through difficult things happening to them and how one incident can have an impact on many lives. This, as I said isn’t a Christmassy story as such, more a real feelings Christmas story that’s written really well.

Recommend It.

Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year and I am ALWAYS down for a Christmas book regardless of the time of year! So when I saw this up for grabs, I could not have been more excited! The Christmas House ended up being just as sweet and warm and full of holiday cheer as I was expecting, so I'm very happy! It's also the first book I've read by this author, and I definitely liked her writing style. I look forward to reading more of her books!

The Christmas House is a dual timeline book - we have present time focused on our main characters, Charlotte and Wyatt, and the past focused on Charlotte's grandmother Ruby. I find that dual timeline books can be hit or miss in my opinion, but I am happy to report that this one was definitely a hit! I loved learning more about Ruby and her early life, and all the obstacles she had to overcome in getting to where she is now. I also enjoyed reading about Charlotte in the present and learning about how her past shaped her into the person she is. The connection between her and Wyatt from past to present was heartwarming and made for a great storyline!

All supporting characters were written really well, and I felt like I got to know each and every one of them in their own unique way. I loved the family drama, and having everyone get together for the holidays while working through their past was such an emotional journey.

Overall, this is a great option for a quick, fell-good read full of holiday cheer and baked goods lol :) Great pick for getting into the holiday mood!

This is a family drama with some Christmas thrown in around as a way to bring characters together.
I liked the flashbacks to Grandma Ruby's story and how she came to be the matriarch of The Christmas House.

The main characters deal with (most) problems by talking about them. It's great to see them be vulnerable and share what's in their heads and hearts and be, you know, adults. They aren't perfect but they are trying and I liked that.

*I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher and I am required to disclose that in my review in compliance with federal law.

If ever there was a book written to be turned into a Hallmark movie, this is it.

The Christmas House by Victoria James introduces the reader to two main characters: Ruby, a woman who has seen her fair share of adversity and heartache, and her granddaughter Charlotte, who might be destined to suffer from a similar heartache if not for a trip home for the holidays.

What I Liked

I liked that the characters in this book carried the wounds and scars of the trauma in their life. Just like most of us walking around out here in the land of reality. I like that these characters have been shaped by their pasts, and that we get to see them push back against the inclination to just stay safe. Charlotte is a quirky character who carries her heart on her sleeve and wants so badly to find love...it's just that everything she's ever known has shown her not to trust it.

This book digs into the messy family relationships that often makes the holidays so stressful, but will make your heart sing with a big ol' romantic gesture just in time for the New Year.

For it's likeable, relatable characters and for the minutes I spent daydreaming about living in a Christmas-themed house, I give this book a solid four stars.

What I Wish Was Different

Honestly, my only complaint is that I would have liked this book to be longer. I wanted to sit in the buzz and warmth of the building romantic tension between Charlotte and Wyatt  just a bit longer. And I might have also liked a little more backstory and development of the issues Charlotte has with her mother and father.

The Christmas House by Victoria James is a poignant, heartwarming Christmas story. Two of the main characters Charlotte Palmer and Wyatt Holt had a lot to deal with in their childhood days, so much to deal with that those things still affect them as adults. Charlotte's grandmother, Ruby Harris is the glue that held her family together, rising from the lowest low to a wonderful life. I'm not usually a fan of traveling back and forth in time but that techniques worked perfectly for this timeline. It was very important to the storyline to know Ruby's story.

I liked the characters in this story. Their family drama was realistic and the positive influence of Grandma Ruby and Wyatt's Aunt Mary added so much to the story. Reading this books was very enjoyable.

I received an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

I felt that this was a real Christmassy book and it has been a pleasure to read it. The small town really goes out to celebrate Christmas and with the descriptions it makes you feel as though you wish to be there within the town. The characters come to life and although they are messed up people, this novel makes you feel for them and hope that all will turn out in the right way. I have really enjoyed reading this book and in a way I was sorry that it had to come to an end. 5 stars and well worth every one.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this eARC