This was such a great snuggle up by the fire place cozy read for the holidays. I loved how this wasn’t a traditional Christmas story in a sense but it still gave you that warm and fuzzy feeling we long for during the holidays.

I love how descriptive Cole was with Alaska it felt like you were right there in the snow drifts. I think the character development was great there was a nice relaxing flow to the whole story. I loved reading about Pipers journey to discover her families history.

I highly recommend this one for anyone looking for a nice cozy read.

Do yourself a favor and read this book... now!! This is now my favorite holiday read - it has love, it has growth and it has warmth. I loved this book so much!

I think maybe when I requested this one, I was drawn in by the cover but hadn’t really read what the book was about. This is a time travel book which I’m not crazy about those types of books, I like books that are a little more realistic.


Piper McCaulley is a young woman living in 2022, her grandmother has died a few weeks before Christmas and she has mixed feelings should she stay in the family business and continue to live in the house her great-great-grandfather had built?

Somehow getting lost in a snowstorm in Alaska propels her back in time to 1940’s when her grandmother was living at home and a youngster, living in the house Piper is living in.

Time travel doesn’t do it for me, but I did think it was neat that she got to meet past relatives and become friends with her grandmother when she was younger. There were tender moments. She even falls in love.

She is able to reevaluate the importance of family without all the modern-day distractions. I was wondering would she be able to stay in this time period, would she want to and what would happen to her romance if she wasn’t able to stay in this time period. Overall, a heartwarming story worth reading.

Pub Date 11 Oct 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

I didn't get to this last year and now that I've read it, I'm bummed that I waited so long! This was really fun to read - I loved the time travel aspect, and the family relationships and dynamics that were explored in this unique way. As a reader, I kept wondering what the heck I would do if I landed 75 years in the past and... I have no idea! Super enjoyable, and excellent for the holiday season.

I highly recommend this walk back in time Christmas read. A very well written story of family. The one we were born with and the one we create. Those are our legacies. Piper finds herself back in 1944 after she gets caught in a whiteout. She is reunited with her family but younger versions of themselves. She has just lost her dear grandmother Marina. She’s grappling with whether or not she should sell the lodge that has been in her family for generations. As she steps back in time can she rewrite history or change the course of things? Also will she come to learn things about her family she didn’t know? I loved the characters and their love of each other. A mix of everything and even some humorous moments. The ending was not expected but absolutely loved it. So grab a cup of something warm and settle in as you travel to Wander, Alaska and the McCaulley gang.#NetGalley Thank you for the ARC all opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed reading this book and it reminded me of a Christmas movie. It was really cute. Thank you for the arc!

Home for Christmas is a new contemporary Christmas novel with a twist. Piper McCaulley's family has owned a hunting lodge for tourists in Alaska for as long as she can remember. It was originally built by her great-great-great grandfather. When her grandmother suddenly passes two weeks before Christmas, Piper is lost. She has always had difficulty with the idea that the people who stay at the lodge at there to purposely hunt and kill for sport. When her grandmother leaves behind her compass for her, she takes it as a sign to follow her heart and explore the world but, before she can do so she finds herself caught in a blizzard. When she wakes up, she finds herself in 1945 in the original home that her ancestor had built where her grandmother is the same age as her.

The more time Piper spends in 1945 with her grandmother, the more she learns about her in ways that she never did before. It really is beautiful watching the two characters connect. It is also very eye opening for Piper as she learns things about her grandmothers past that had never fully been explained before. There is a sense of mystery which kept the story moving along. There is also a question of how Piper being in the past will affect the future especially when new opportunity arrives at the house.

Home For Christmas is a really sweet story. It had a Hallmark feel to it which is probably why I enjoyed it so much as I can't resist a good Hallmark story. It is more than just a Christmas story. It is a story about community, family, and hope the future. There are many different characters each who bring something special to the story. There is also an adorable pet reindeer! If you're looking for a feel good story to end your year or start your holiday season next year, this would be the one for you.

Yes - read it!

This was a different spin to me. I liked the unexpected aspects to the story. Many tying into the reason for the season.

As the holidays approach, you can miss your departed relatives a great deal. It was so wonderful to believe Piper was able to spent more time with someone she so deeply loved.

I received an ARC from Netgalley to help me prepare my honest review.

The internal battle to take on a family legacy or venture out on their own is something many people have to deal with in their lives. As this story unfolds one of the main characters is transported back in time where she witnesses how important the business was to her family and discovers how much it means to her. I am also a fan that this takes place during the holidays as well.

A unique spin on the Christmas genre! A trip back in time was not what I was expecting but it was fun. This was a very sweet, festive book. The Alaska setting was described in exquisite detail. This is my second book by the author and I'm a big fan of her writing style. The historical references just made this book better. Loved it!

I really enjoyed this one and am thankful to the publisher for my advanced copy.
This is my second Courtney Cole novel and I look forward to reading more by this author.

This was a really good book, especially for the holidays. Last year, I enjoyed this author's book, The Christmas Dress, and this book didn't disappoint either.

In the story, Piper is trying to deal with the loss of her grandmother when she finds herself in another time. She learns a lot about herself and her family in the time leading up to Christmas.

This is a sweet story, and I highly recommend it, with unexpected twists along the way.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley, and very glad that I read it.

Piper inherits the family business when her last relative, her beloved grandmother, passes away. Piper’s entire life has been spent at this cabin in Alaska but it’s definitely not exactly what she wants. After all, it’s a hunting lodge and Piper has a lot of feelings against hunting for sport. But this is the only home she’s ever known. She’s feeling pretty lost right now. It’s almost Christmas and she hasn’t even put up her tree. She’s also still coming to terms with the loss of her grandmother.

Then Piper opens a package left to her by her grandmother and everything changes. She receives a compass that’s been in the family for generations.
When Piper goes out into a snowstorm with the compass she is transported back to 1944. She is still at the same cabin and her family still owns it, but it’s long before Piper was born.
She meets her grandmother Marina as a woman in her early twenties. She also meets her great-grandparents who immediately offer to take in this stranger they found in the storm.

Piper doesn’t know how or why she’s in 1944 but she loves having the chance to get to know her grandmother when she was young and happy.
She also meets a handsome man who immediately feels like her soul mate but she’s scared about how they could possibly wind up together.

I’m going to post a minor spoiler here about the baby reindeer in the book because it basically stressed me out the entire time. Let me save you the stress, the reindeer survives! Don’t worry.

I would recommend this story but I’ll admit to given the author’s preference previous Christmas story.

I received an early ebook edition of this book and also received a physical arc.

Although the premise of traveling back to the 1940s, meeting your grandmother and learning about Christmas is great premise the book fell flat for me.

Home for Christmas, by Courtney Cole, is a sweet, seasonal story filled with historical and magical elements. Piper McCaulley inherits her beloved grandmother’s guest lodge for trophy hunters in Alaska. She’s in the process of deciding if she wants to keep the lodge and run it herself, or sell it, when she takes a fall while out searching for some lost hunters, and finds herself back in 1944.

This story contains many facets and themes, but primarily chronicles Piper’s coming of age, discovering her dreams and ambitions; her place in the world and the ties of family. There is some romance and a descriptively atmospheric setting. Given the magical realism leaning, you’ll need to suspend disbelief and just enjoy the narrative, but it is a delightful story with the lovely concept of revisiting a loved one from the past.

HOME FOR CHRISTMAS – Courtney Cole
Avon
ISBN: 978-0063216891
October 2022
Fiction

Alaska – Present Day & 1944

Piper McCaulley is struggling with the recent loss of her beloved grandmother and running the bed and breakfast called Great Expectations which is the family’s legacy. It is barely hanging on and she must decide what the future holds. An old compass that her grandmother left her brings comfort to Piper. Meanwhile, she must deal with a group of men who arrive at the bed and breakfast. Despite her warnings to return before dark, they don’t, and Piper goes out into the falling snow to find them. She ends up falling into an embankment. Struggling to get out, she is rescued by a stranger. And Piper soon learns that she has gone back in time to 1944.

The family that rescues her turns out to be her long-ago relatives—including her grandmother, Marina, who is Piper’s age in 1944. The home they live in is Great Expectations, except it is a boarding home. One of the renters is Lane, who is a former army vet suffering from PTSD, except they don’t call it that back in 1944. Piper can’t tell them the truth about who she is because they wouldn’t likely believe her, and she is afraid that if she does something wrong, she could change her family history. So, she tells them she has amnesia. Soon, Piper is becoming good friends with Marina, while falling in love with Lane. Will Piper be able to return to the present day?

HOME FOR CHRISTMAS is an intriguing novel that pulls you in as to why Piper was “sent back” to 1944. It is clear that there might be something that will clue her in as to how she can make Great Expectations a profitable business. Piper gets to know people she never met—including her great grandparents—and learning about how the war affected everyone. Marina is pining away for her fiancé, who is stationed somewhere in the Philippines. Piper realizes that this is her grandfather and wants to know more about their love. As for Lane, his nightmares disrupt those around him, but no one is going to turn him away. As Piper gets to know everyone, she becomes a part of their group even though they barely know her. As Christmas approaches, Piper wonders if she will ever return to the present day. Or does she want to go back?

The plot, including the lead-up to where Piper is pulled back into the past, is well written. She is never in any danger, but readers will wonder if something happens that changes history for her. Then there is Piper slowly falling in love with Lane. Obviously he wasn’t part of her present, so how is he a part of her past? Will Piper experience heartbreak once she leaves Lane behind? There are a couple of twists as the tale winds down, including one I didn’t see coming. Find out what happens with everyone in HOME FOR CHRISTMAS. It’s an engaging tale that is well worth a read.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today

Home for Christmas by Courtney Cole is a sweet, and wholesome story that is can easily be a Hallmark Holiday movie.

Home for Christmas is truly magical. Courtney Cole writes from deep within her heart in this beautiful story of how the power of love really can make miracles happen when you least expect it. I was immediately drawn to Piper's character and invested in the burdens she feels after her beloved Gran has passed and she's now taken the reins of her family's Great Expectations lodge, in Wander, Alaska. When the seemingly overwhelming task of now being in charge takes over one fitful night, what follows is a frantic trek into the snow to find some wayward guests, that in the blink of an eye changes everything Piper has ever known. And much like what happened to Dorothy as she landed in Oz, Piper now sees a new world in front of her as she is now not in 2022, but back to 1944!

Oh my goodness, this book is beyond fantastic. I could not put this baby down, enjoying every turn of the page as Piper tries her hardest to come to grips with where she is now living. Seeing her interact with her ancestors in a time where modern conveniences are few and far between made me chuckle and gasp, her many faux pas getting a head shake almost hourly. But not knowing how she got there doesn't deter Piper from soaking up all she can, enjoying every minute she can get with her Gran, Marina, and her great grandparents Sophie and Dale. But it's the handsome and very swoonworthy Lane who centers her almost immediately, falling in love the way our relatives seemed to back then. They only know each other for a week or so but their chemistry doesn't go unnoticed by the outspoken Marina and the clever Sophie and soon they are fully entranced with one another.

As Piper tries to decipher this new existence, the nagging thoughts of what might happen should she go back to her time is never far from her mind. Cole uses a beloved trinket left to Piper as the vehicle in which this magic journey is thought to have originated and is truly the key to her finding her way home whenever that might be. But overall, I'd like to think that it's Piper's heart that guides her most, and her chance to influence her Gran's life, in particular, when she obviously knows how it will turn out, is what really does drive this story. The nighttime talks. The sharing of clothes, makeup, and laughs. The shoulders to cry on and the hugs that were never long enough. I'm even tearing up now as I write this review, feeling joyful and grateful that Piper was able to see and do all she did with this glorious extended family of hers in such a short period of time. And I'm happy to say that I was smiling like a fool as the last few chapters evolve in a way Piper could have never imagined, touching me beyond belief.

Courtney Cole has conquered yet another genre with time travel as she portrays one woman's adventure in one of the best I've read in a very long time. I just loved being in wartime 1944, enjoying being by Piper's side as she experiences the little things in life that she never knew about that gave her an appreciation for all that occurred at her family's homestead before she was even born. To get to really make a difference for both that time and for the future is a gift I could only dream about. But in the meantime, I am overflowing with affection for this story and the characters who lived this journey.

A must-read book that I can't recommend highly enough, I happily give Home for Christmas a huge 5+++ stars!

3 1/2

After two pages, Home for Christmas and I almost parted ways. Piper, the main character, runs a lodge in Alaska for trophy hunters. I pondered whether I could really read a book about a trophy hunters and decided to give it a few more pages. Fortunately, it turns out that the main character and I are of similar ilk regarding trophy hunting, although she might be slightly more tolerant regarding it than I am.

Piper has just lost her beloved grandmother who has always run Great Expectations lodge. It’s been in the family for generations. Piper doesn’t have the confidence to run the lodge and is considering selling it to an individual who would carry on its traditions. However, before she can even contemplate any of that, she is part of a search party for missing hunters when she takes a fall and finds herself in 1944 where her great-grandparents run a boarding lodge and her grandmother is around her age.

The premise for Home for Christmas is certainly interesting and worth an escapist read just for that. However, as is the case with many time travel novels there are some gaps but it’s fine just as long as you don’t think too long about it.

Unfortunately there was a historical misstep considering no soldier would have gone from the Philippines to France during WWII due to the fact that the Japanese occupied the country until 1945. This too could be over-looked especially if you aren’t a student of history . . . except I just told you. Oh, well.

The writing for the most part is good except for many instances of stilted dialogue.

Christmas is dealt with peripherally so if you’re looking for a very Christmas-y novel, this might not be it.

To add a little fright to the novel is a stalking grizzly that has broken hibernation. This is countered by a cute reindeer calf called Nugget.

There’s a lot going on in this cute novel including a romance that will have the reader wondering how it will all turn out. And, how will it? I’m not going to tell you. 😉 Take a trip back to 1944 Alaska to find out.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Home for Christmas by Courtney Cole was a bit of a hit or miss for me. I wanted to love this book more than I did, but the time traveling didn't work out for me. I loved the story of the main characters past and how she told it, but the way she went back in time could've been different. Just bear with me, the rating may change once I felt I have given it more thought. Home for Christmas is a story about family, love, and second chances. This book was very festive and super Christmassy. I wanted to love this book because as all of you know, i'm a sucker for a good Christmas story, but I enjoyed this story somewhat. I did feel the Christmas spirit this book brought to the readers attention. Even though I didn't enjoy the time traveling, I still enjoyed the story. The cover just screams at me to read it, so of course I had to grab it. The characters were very likable, the setting of Alaska made it all the better for a Christmas book. Although, this book wasn't my favorite, I will definitely check out other books by Courtney Cole.

THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY AND AVON AND HARPER VOYAGER FOR AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!!!!!!

Piper McCaulley doesn't know which way is up or down. Piper's only living family member, her grandmother has passed away two weeks before Christmas. Piper's grandma raised her from a very young age, and loved her like her own. Piper lost both of her parents in a helicopter crash during a blizzard. Piper now owns the original house that her great-great-great grandfather built with his own two hands. After her grandmother passed away, Piper was left to reevaluate her life, she questions if she really wants to stay chained to the family business just to hang on to the house her grandparents owned. Piper has a group of hunters staying at the house, but they get lost in the snow, Piper goes out there to look for them, but she finds herself getting lost in a blizzard and transporting back in time to the 1940's. Piper wakes up in a snow drift when she hears her name being called, but by someone she doesn't recognize. Piper must play dumb and lie about what's happening to her.

How can Piper make such huge life decisions if she's never even stepped foot outside of Alaska?

Once Piper has gotten over the shock that she has been transported back into the 1940's, Piper has the joy of getting to know her grandmother in a whole different light. Piper gets to know her grandmother when she was just Piper's age. In the 1940's, Piper learns the true meaning of family and the Christmas holiday. Piper gets to learn the story of how her grandmother grew up, and how she met her grandfather. Piper gets to see how her grandmother was raised and how she celebrated Christmas. Piper gets to see the obstacles her grandmother had to overcome, because the time of the 1940's was the time of World War Two. The way Piper transported back into the 1940's over a blizzard just didn't really have my attention. I feel like if it happened differently, I would have loved it more. Don't let this review stop you from reading this book, because you may have better luck than I did.