The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews, another complimentary digital ARC via NetGalley, was a feel good Christmas reason. This was a novella, short and sweet but with that magical cozy feel you want in a Christmas story. I quite enjoyed it and read in a single sitting. The characters were cute and relatable and I love small town Christmas tales.

The Santa Suit is a cute and fast Christmas story. Ivy buys a farmhouse sight unseen after her divorce. When she arrives, she finds a house in more need of repair than she was anticipating. While sorting through the "junk" left behind she finds an old santa suit with a letter inside. She sets out to find the child who wrote than letter many years ago.
A touching story that includes a meet-cute and some great neighbors.Just the quick and easy read I was looking for.

Thanks to netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance copy.

Every time I receive an advanced copy of Mary Kay Andrews I read and review on other platforms when book releases. I always forget to review on here so I am doing it now before I forget. This book was amazing!!

Once again, Mary Kay Andrews delivers! I’ll be honest, my mother passed recently and I’ve been dreading the upcoming holiday season since it’ll be the first one without her, but after reading this book I feel more dare I say JOYFUl! I love when her books are set with old fixer upper houses with a side of romance and humor. I strongly suggest this new book for everyone! I will be sharing with all my family to get everyone in the spirit. Great book!

Are you in the mood to start reading Christmas books? Please start with The Santa Suit. It is sure to get you in the sprit of Christmas!
What a wonderful, sweet Christmas story!
The Santa Suit is a light, Christmas read that will certainly pull you into the Christmas season..
The Santa Suit will have you smiling with a beautiful Christmasy, fuzzy feeling ending.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion. All opinions expressed are my own.

I'm not normally a huge fan of Holiday themed books. And, if I do read one, it’s not usually when it is hot enough to have the a/c on. But, I made an exception for Mary Kay Andrews.

I've been a fan of Mary Kay Andrews for years, I know I can count on her to provide me with something that will be an entertaining and interesting read.

Ivy has just been divorced. To get away from all the hurt she buys an old house in a small town. The house was previously owned by a couple who had played Mr and Mrs Santa Claus for the town before they passed away. And the real estate agent is a young, good looking man. That's all anyone needs to know.

The Santa Suit could easily be a Lifetime movie. It's sometimes corny, sometimes predictable but completely a “feel good” book. It made me smile.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an Advance Readers Copy.

The spirit of Christmas comes alive with this charming book. For those looking for a heart-warming holiday story, this is it.

Ivy Perkins is escaping from a new divorce and life in Atlanta as a successful marketing agent and moving to a small town in the mountains of North Carolina. She bought a house sight unseen which was listed on the internet. In her mind, it was perfect: a white house with a large porch and brick chimneys on two acres of land with a barn. As soon as she arrived with her dog, Punkin, her real estate agent, Ezra Wheeler, was there to hand over the keys. While she was drawn to the house, she immediately noticed all the updates that needed to get done. In spite of this, Ezra said, "Everything works."

In one of the closets, she found a beautifully tailored Santa suit. Ezra said it must have belonged to Big Bob. He and his wife were known in the mountains as Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Inside one of the pockets of the suit, there was a letter to Santa from a six-year-old girl. She asked Santa to bring her dad home from the war. Ivy couldn't stop thinking about this note and figured someone close by would have remembered her - now a grown woman. To find out more, Ivy needed to remove her big-city distrust in strangers and try to fit in with the folks in the small NC town.

It's definitely a feel-good story that lifts one's spirits. This book is easy to read and shorter than most - 224 pages - which is nice for those that want something quick, light and inspirational. It brings the reader back to what's important in life: meaningful friends, family and gatherings with good cheers. It's not only a gratifying book but also a perfect holiday gift.

My thanks to Mary Kay Andrews, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read this copy with the expected release date of September 28, 2021.

What a cute Hallmark Christmas movie kind of story! Ivy Perkins moves to Tiburton from Atlanta after purchasing an old farmhouse site unseen to start a new chapter in her life. The story of the cuteness takes over from there with her meeting some townspeople and bringing people together.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Ok it’s September and 90 degrees in the Midwest and I’m reading a book about Christmas but I still loved it!!!
Mary Kay Andrews has become one of my favorite go to authors when I want a feel good story that keeps me turning pages. This is no exception!
When Ivy buys an old farmhouse and finds an old Santa suit with a note written by a little girl with her Christmas wish on it, Ivy makes it her mission to find out if this wish ever came true. This book is about family, love, and Christmas miracles with a mystery thrown in. I loved it and honestly I will continue to read everything Mary Kay Andrews reads!
Thank you #netgalley and #stmartinspress for an advanced copy of #thesantasuit in exchange for an honest review.

After buying the Four Roses Farm online, new divorcee Ivy Perkins finds she has a bigger project than expected but will it be worth it? This is a perfect short, easy to read, feel good story for Christmas.

I love Mary Kay Andrews, and this book was like a warm cup of cocoa with a splash of rum snuggled up in front of a Christmas tree and warm fire.

After a divorce, Ivy Perkins buys a charming country house sight unseen, and soon falls in love with the town and a Christmas mystery. The magic of Christmas is infused on each page, and the town's residents are cute and charming.

This book was adorable. It was engaging and written the way Hallmark movies should be written.

A sweet novella that reminds us to embrace the magic of Christmas. Recently divorced, Ivy Perkins buys an old farmhouse in the North Carolina mountains, sight unseen, after falling in love with it online. The house has been vacant for years, since the last owners died, but it isn't empty: all of the former owners' belongings are still there, including an exquisite Santa suit. Ivy finds an old letter to Santa in one of the pockets, from a little girl asking for her father to come home from the war. Intrigued, Ivy tries to track down the girl to find out if she got her wish, while also dealing with old house problems, making friends, and maybe finding romance. As Ivy embraces the magic of her new house and Christmas, her new life starts to fall into place. A quick, feel-good read with great characters and humor, a wonderful Christmas present to us from Mary Kay Andrews.

4.5 stars. If you like hallmark movies, particularly those that take place around Christmas, then this book is for you. It was light, fast-paced, and full of love and joy. The characters were super likable and it was nice to read a book that wasn’t filled with so much tension and drama. The ending was also perfect and had some twists I didn’t expect.

If you are a fan of ooey, gooey Hallmark movies then you will love this book. It is sweet, hopeful, full of love and joy, and Christmas spirit. It is exactly the kind of book I love to read at Christmas. It's a light read and has a happy ending.

3.5*

The Santa Suit was a sweet, cute read- it will definitely get you in the holiday spirit. If I didn't already want to move to a small town before reading this, I sure would now! I'd give anything to be able to do what Ivy did, and wish I had about 15 years ago. As long as I'm alive I guess there's still time, though!

While I found Ivy to be a bit of a prickly character at first- I mean, I cannot relate to someone who doesn't like sweets!, she quickly grew on me and I appreciated her strength and dedication. I loved how she took it upon herself to try and track down the Dear Santa letter writer. I really enjoyed that aspect of the story, and the way things really came full circle- I may have even shed a tear or 2.
The romance between Ivy and Ezra was, for me, not even necessary to this story. Ezra was a sweetheart, there's no doubt about that, but I just didn't feel a real connection, especially on Ivy's part. While it was good to see her moving on, it almost felt a bit too like insta-love. That's one of the troubles sometimes with novellas, one part of the story can be really well developed- in this case the mystery with the Dear Santa letter, while other parts are just kind of surface level, with not a lot of depth. And that's okay! It just means we want more, and is that ever a bad thing?!?

If you're looking for a feel good story to read around the holidays, you can't go wrong with The Santa Suit!

The Santa Suit follows Ivy as she moves to a small town after her divorce. This book was oddly very short. I read it in one day over a few hours. Because of how short this novel was, I didn’t feel like there was enough character or story development. I didn’t understand why Ivy was so set on figuring out the story of the picture that she found. Even when she learned who the person in the photo was, she still continued her detective work for no apparent reason. The book felt like a short story or an episode of Gilmore girls because it did not have enough time to set up the story. It was cute and interesting, but just needed a little more to it.

Newly divorced Ivy purchases an old farmhouse from an online picture. She arrives to the North Carolina mountains to find a less than pristine home called The Four Roses. Ivy soon discovers the farmhouse is in need of a lot of repairs she was not expecting. The previous owners left furniture and closets full of clothes. While cleaning one of the closets she discovers a big black box with a beautiful red Santa suit. In the pocket she finds a handwritten note to Santa. The child ask that her father return from the war.. Ivy starts a search to find the child that wrote the note.
Mary Kay Andrews never disappoints. This is a cute story about second chances, love, family and the magic of Christmas.
Thank you NetGalley the opportunity to read and give an honest review.

I believe this is my first time reading this author and this was an okay read for me. Our MC is recently divorced and starting over in a new town having bought a farmhouse sight unseen over the internet. She quickly becomes involved with many of the townspeople in her quest to find answers to a letter from long ago found in the pocket of the santa suit worn by the previous owner.

What a sweet Christmas story - okay, a love story - and a story about moving on and moving up!! I'm a long time Mary Kay Andrews fan, and am NEVER disappointed~! I fell in love with Ivy Perkins and her strength and sense of adventure. It's never too early to start Christmas reads, my season just started a little earlier this year!! This honest review was rendered in exchange for a digital advanced readers copy.

The Santa Suit is my first read from Mary Kay Andrews, and now I see why she's a popular author. This is an easy-breezy, fluffy story that hits multiple tropes like small town, starting over, fish out of water and magic of the holidays. I thought it was odd that Ivy would buy a farmhouse, unseen in person, that had been sitting unoccupied for several years, but was still fully furnished and included the entire belongings of the prior owners. This helped drive the story, but I found it unrealistic. I did enjoy the charm of the characters, and I was touched by the ending. This is a sweet, clean romance with holiday elements that I would recommend.