If you only read one holiday book this season, make it this one!
Jenny Bayliss is an auto-buy author for me. I fell hard for her storytelling with The Twelve Dates of Christmas and anxiously await every subsequent book..
This one had all the wonderful wintry magic I've come to love and a beautiful story of sisterhood, grief and reconciliation.
Three half sisters, Maggie, Simone and Star have been estranged for a number of years, after spending every summer with their eccentric father in picturesque Rowan Thorp. After his passing, his unique will brings them back together and forces them to work together.
I loved the evolution of the sisters' relationships and their personal revelations and growth. The book is full of interesting, beloved characters including family and townsfolk of Rowan Thorp. The miscommunication trope is present, but not overlong and drawn out. And while there is romance, it takes a backseat to the sister story and is stronger for it.
This was my favorite Bayliss story so far and makes me a bit sad I will be waiting til next year's holiday for her next.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Jenny Bayliss and Penguin Group Putnam for early access to A December to Remember for my honest review. This was such a sweet book of family finding its way back together. Three half sisters who grew up apart, but spent one month together each summer, are brought back together after their father dies. He leaves a series of tasks they must complete to obtain a share of his estate. Each sister brings their own share of feelings towards each other, some of which are known to each other and some of which they have kept close to their heart. Add in some fun locals in the small town where their dad lived and cat with many extra lives, this book was a perfect read to get into the holiday spirits.

Have we throned Jenny Bayliss the Queen of holiday books yet, or are we still behind on that?

I wanted to kick off my holiday reads with Bayliss herself and her new book this year. Of course, zero disappointment and all the love for it. I think I have said this in about every review of her books that I have written, that she manages to pop the reader right into the setting and it feels like the coziest, small town getaway while reading. I loved the premise of this book- 3 half sisters banning together to bring back the Winter Solstice festival in the midst of their shared Father’s death. Obviously cute romance plot lines were sprinkled throughout, but way more about the sisters bonding than the romance which felt very different than her books in the past. Still, loved

This one started out slow but I promise if you stick with it- It is worth it. Each sister is appealing in her own way. Star is definitely the star for me. She is adorable!
I loved the setting of Rowan Thorp and the scavenger hunt feel of searching for monopoly houses. Augustus was a fun character to meet! This one will put you in the spirit of Christmas! Sweet holiday read!

I started 𝗔 𝗗𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗢 𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥 a month or so ago and set it aside. A friend said it took a bit to get into- so I tried it again on a flight yesterday and read it cover to cover.

This is a sweet story about 3 estranged stepsisters who return to their quaint English village to fulfill their eccentric and recently deceased fathers wish, to revive the Winter Solstice Festival.

I appreciated the love stories (closed door) interwoven throughout. Each sister has a string character arc which kept me reading. Plus- there are a whole lotta strong female members of the community and you know I love that!

Worth adding to your holiday reading list.

Ugh, I so wanted to love this book so badly. I have loved every other book Bayliss has written. This one just fell short for me. I really liked the plot idea of the three half sisters finding their way back to each other. It's blasphemous to call God a "she." It's also antisemitic and islamaphobic to use that kind of language. Could have also done without the celebration of a 15 year old getting an abortion. Cringe. Jenny is a talented author with books that would fare far better if she kept her irrelevant politics out of the books given they have nothing to do with the character development, dialogue, or plot. Trivial virtue signaling. The quintessence of modern literature being sullied by political correctness.

I received this book for free for an honest unbiased review from Netgalley.

I wish more books were this well written. Characters were witty and the setting fantastic.

Three estranged half sisters are brought together when their father dies. While I loved the premise, this book was only okay for me. I didn’t particularly like how the dad was celebrated when he really wasn’t a good person and was pretty self centered in his lifestyle. I also found most of the sisters’ issues to be due to lack of communication, which I do not like.

This book did have all the feels of the season as it is centered around a winter solstice celebration.

So disappointed that I wasn’t interested in this one. I have loved other Jenny Bayliss books and will continue to check out her new releases. This one didn’t work for me for a bunch of reasons- too many characters, too much going on, not enough holiday spirit.

I wanted to like this one. I did. I overall enjoyed Bayliss’ first novel and her second was alright. The premise of this one sounded promising - three estranged half-sisters reuniting after their eccentric, mostly absent father has passed - but I don’t know, something didn’t work for me. I didn’t get far before I put it down. I’ll likely give it another chance at a later time but for now there are others that seem like I’d enjoy more (including her previous novel, Meet Me Under the Mistletoe). Content and trigger warnings include loss of a parent, homosexuality, some profanity.

A December to Remember was exactly what I want from a Christmas book. There is love, family, community, a little festive gathering in a small town. It was a perfect and emotional read for the holiday season.

I absolutely fell in love with the North sisters. They were all so incredibly unique and lovely. Even though they each had their own issues, they were all quick to take care of one another even though they hadn’t seen each other in years. I loved following along with each of their love stories and fell in love with their respective partners as well. This is closed door when it comes to romance but I really enjoyed that as it let us have more time with each couple’s emotional relationship which I found more fulfilling than the physical relationship.

Another part of this story I absolutely loved was the community in the small town of Rowan Thorp. There is nothing like Christmas in a small town and this winter solstice was no exception. I loved the women in this town and how they were obviously the backbone of the community. They truly made the town what it was.

My only negative experience with this book was that it was a bit long. I think that it maybe could have been a little shorter. As much as I loved the women, there were times I would lose focus because something else was going on in the story that didn’t feel super relevant. But overall I really loved it.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the eARC and my local library for the audiobook borrow. I bought the paperback for myself.

A December to Remember
by Jenny Bayliss

Narrated by Elizabeth Sastre

Story Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (0-5)
Narration: 🎧🎧🎧🎧 (0-5)
Overall Rating: 4/5
Steam: 🔥 (0-5) Closed door but no details before or after.

What I’m Starry-Eyed Over:
🤩 Elizabeth Sastre is a lovely storyteller and it’s such a treat being told the story in a beautiful English accent.
🤩 Cover beauty.
🤩 So much beautiful description.
🤩 Messy family fun.
🤩 Reconnecting sisters.
🤩 An antique store scavenger hunt.
🤩 Three different and heart-warming relationships/love stories are featured. So much representation: lesbian marriage, fertility struggles, age-gap/single parent, nerdy man.
🤩 Winter solstice celebration.

What I’m Wishing/Dizzy About:
💫 So many characters—we get to know them only to a limited extent.
💫 This is more women’s fiction/family drama, so there’s not as many feelings of lust and longing as I’m used to in romance books.

Every year, three half sisters all spent the summer with their mutual father, Augustus, who owned a very unique antique shop. After his death, the women are summoned for the will reading and find out there are conditions to their inheritance - they all must stay and run the store. It’s a lovely story about sisterhood and family.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

I received an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This book is a wintery wonderland come to life in a unique story of three half sisters needing to come together to carry out their deceased father's final wishes: to host a winter solstice celebration in Rowan Thorpe.

Things I liked: the wintery vibes, the characters (Maggie, Star, Simone, Joe, Duncan, Augustus, Evette, Verity, and Patrick are well developed and distinct characters), the playfulness/community of the people of Rowan Thorpe, the imagery.
Things I didn't like: the pacing lagged at times, some of the descriptions were a bit overdone, I had a hard time getting into the first 50-75 pages.

Overall this is a well-written and well developed story but is has A LOT going on in it. All three sisters have their own transformations and love interests. I'd say this is more of a wintery set women's lit book than a romance book. I'm glad I read it, but I think it would do better as a movie than a book, or maybe it could have been broken up into a different story. I liked Maggie and Star's stories much much much more than Simone's. I'm not sure if this needed a bit more of an editing eye, but I felt there were a lot of details shared that as a reader I didn't necessarily NEED to have (ie, half the epilogue felt superfluous). Again, overall a nice story, but it was just very long. 3.5 stars overall.

Filled with charming locals, antique treasures, and a winter solstice celebration, this was a perfectly cozy story that would bridge the gap nicely between a wintery read and a full-blown holiday read. I adored it.
Aside from their matching green eyes, the North sisters are anything but similar. Given only four weeks per year to visit their mysterious father and his beloved antique shop in Rowan Thorp, the three half-sisters had a unique upbringing, to say the least.
Years later, with some peculiar requests left in their father's will, the estranged sisters are forced together once again.
A quirky stipulation bringing family closer together is one of my favourite storylines! And it is so easy to connect with the North sisters-Maggie, Simone, and Star. Their personal conflicts combined with their growth as sisters was so touching and enjoyable.
There's three delightful romances, too! A super heartwarming story for the upcoming months!

This book seemed like it was trying to fit too much into it. I feel like it could’ve been cut down to a smaller text if a bit had been more concise.

I was looking forward to this holiday-themed book, but unfortunately the writing felt a little bit too juvenile for me.

I have made it a tradition for the past few years to read a Jenny Bayliss book to kick off my holiday season and it just starts my December off with so much warmth and joy! This book somehow made me fall even more in love with her work. This story of sisterhood and community was so beautiful. The characters are captivating and I was completely transported to Rowan Thorpe. There are romances and love rekindling, but I really liked that the focus was on the plethora of relationships that can exist when you are open to them.

I received a free advance copy of this book from the publisher back over the summer, and I saved it up til now because it sounded like such a delightful read for December. I'm sorry to have deprived the author of a gushing review for several months but I have no regrets. This book is best enjoyed with a nip in the air and the promise of a warm beverage in sight. 💜

“Maybe by sifting through the past they could find their way back to when they were summer sisters…”

This book follows the journey of three estranged sisters, with three very different personalities, as they work together to complete the scavenger hunt set forth by their father in his will. In turns hilarious and heart breaking, this book is a charming holiday story featuring small-town romance, forgiveness, and family.

The sisters have had hard times, as one does over the course of a lifetime, but they're contrasted nicely with a touch of whimsy, hope, and some sweet romance. I enjoyed the focus on the spirit of Christmas and community traditions, but even more so the Winter Solstice, which I feel sets this apart from other holiday rom-coms.

It was wonderful to immerse myself in the village of Rowan Thorp with these flawed (but richly drawn) characters and unwrap the many layers of this story.