Who would have thought working with a former classmate would be so challenging? Now that they were both grown adults, building a relationship was extremely difficult. They had to create something fresh and move on from the past, and its painful memories. The two come to an agreement: Ella Wilson will auction her extravagant creations if she allows widowed Seth Hamil to demonstrate to her why Christmas is about more than just ornate decorations. Soon both begin to wonder whether fate has brought them together for a fresh start—and if Christmas wishes really can come true.
Talking about their high school experiences, Ella and Seth both understand that things weren't as they appeared. There were a ton of misconceptions. Can they put the memories behind them and work together the way her Aunt Addie wanted? Each person is aware that they have lost a loved one, and they are both grieving. Ella notices that Seth appears to be managing his grief in a constructive manner. They both agree on this and make a commitment to be more open about their feelings.
This is a touching tale about friendship, faith, and forming new connections. I enjoyed how Aunt Addie encouraged reluctant Ella to utilize her skills to help this little town raise the funds required to build and restore a recreation center which the community needs.
I appreciate how honest Seth was about his situation; he is still in mourning over the passing of his wife and is making every effort to take care of his dog and his teaching responsibilities. I adored how the entire community came together to host a wonderful Christmas celebration that included gorgeous decorations, dash of healing, and a beautiful romance!
I listened to the audio book and read the novel. I became fascinated with the way Trei Taylor's narrated this novel. I thought the narrator's voiceovers for several characters were outstanding. The more I listened to the audiobook, the more the narrative touched me personally. I could hear the characters’ frustration, anxiety, and longing as Ella and Seth worked together on the auction to obtain the necessary Christmas trees needed for the celebration. I liked the warmth, delight, and Christmas spirit that this tale evokes. This is a wonderful story to lose yourself in, and one that makes for a fun book club pick.The author includes discussion questions.
Disclosure Material Connection: I requested and received a copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Nora St. Laurent
TBCN Where Book Fun Begins!
The Book Club Network blog https://psalm516.blogspot.com/

Very sweet. Exactly what I was looking for to start the season off.

It is a small town second chance romance between Ella and Seth. There is snow. There are trees. There is laughter. There is hope. And there is a superstition.

Overall, I liked it. Baker's writing style is Hallmark, which is what I expected.

DNF at 25+%. The writing style wasn't really my jam; highly explanatory and overtold. I would have liked to see more inference and implied action versus being told all the things. I also had a hard time becoming invested in the MCs--I wanted to know more about the ladies of the church, haha!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I really wanted to read this novel (beautiful cover!) but unfortunately Snow Place Like Home was a DNF for me.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Paperback for the opportunity to read this novel.

This book gives all the feels of a sweet Hallmark Christmas Movie. You will not want to put this one down until you have read the entire book.

The characters show us that home is where the heart is, despite past feelings of former high school crushes, grief over the death of loved ones, renewed friendships, and finding new love.

I highly recommend this book for your holiday reading.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I actually DNFd this about 25% of the way through. I'm giving it 2 stars because it is fine, but just not for me. I didn't realize this was a very faith-focused book. I like the own voices aspects and the characters seem fine, but so much of this is set at the church or with God/Holy Spirit, and that's just not for me. Had I realized that, I would not have requested the book.

From what I read, the writing is decent, and this is probably a Hallmark movie in a book. Love the cover art, just didn't want to spend more time on it.

Ella loses her job in an art gallery so she goes back home. She doesn't like Christmas because of a trauma that happened when she was young. She runs into Seth, her secret high school crush, when she is back home and she has to pair up with him to run a fundraiser. Seth is a widow and he also had a secret crush on Ella. Second chance romance seems to ensue while figuring out Christmas. At least I assume. I stopped before anything else developed.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Publication date: October 10, 2023

Snow Place Like Home is a holiday second chance romance by Lacey Baker. I would also classify this one as more of a faith/Christian romance as well.

Ella Wilson has just lost her job. After her fiancé left her last year, and now the gallery she works in is closing, Ella knows the Christmas jinx is still going strong.

Ella returns to her small hometown to spend the holiday season with the aunt her raised her after her mom died.

Seth Hamil is making it through the season. He loves Christmas but ever since his wife passed away he can’t quite find the Christmas spirit. When his first love returns home after 10 years away, he is determined to show her how special Christmas can be.

Ella and Seth find a way to each other as they both deal with heavy emotions and grief. Ella and Seth not only find their feelings for each other but find their faith as well.

This was a 3 star read for me. The story dragged in some places and spent extra time on peripheral characters. Potentially setting them up for a future story. As noted above, I would advertise this as more of a Christian romance and I likely wouldn’t have picked it up. Not typically my style but I would recommend it to fans of this style.

#NetGalley #laceybaker #snowplacelikehome

This was such a comforting read. I loved the dual POV and watching them fall in love. Baker did a great job with this story.

Love, family, and a chance to break a Christmas jinx. Ella doesn't believe in Christmas because she believes in the Christmas jinx. Seth is still mourning the loss of his wife and doesn't believe he's ready to move on yet. When Ella loses her job she returns home after being away for years, she and Seth reconnect. This time they aren't kids but adults who see the world a little differently. Can they finally connect and make a future together?

This is a sweet story about two people who are given a second chance at love. The author decided to focus on their relationship and how they fit into life of their small town. I thought it was a good choice to keep the focus tight instead of spending time with long descriptions. The author slowly gave out details about characters and locations but wove them into the conversations or observations of the main characters. Both characters had nice growth curves that felt believable. Yes, their love story is quick but they did know each other for many years when they were kids even though they didn’t really spend time together back in the day. The addition of other romances felt natural and added to the growth curves of the main characters. I even enjoyed the Christmas theme.

My one big issue with the story is the timeframes. Ella is given the monumental task of running the Christmas tree auction but the ideas she has would take a lot longer to implement in real life than she had in the story. In the end, it didn’t bother me enough to downgrade my review.

This is a small town second chance romance. The author does not tie up all loose ends. If you like sweet romances with no major drama, give this a try. I will read more from this author in the future.

#SnowPlaceLikeHome #NetGalley

Ella's Wilson finds herself at a crossroads when her job as a Curator comes to an end with the business closing
down. Ella decides to head to her Aunt Addie's to celebrate Christmas. Ever since Ella's mother passed away when Ella's was eleven Christmas has been a hard holiday to celebrate. Ella has always felt like she was in the middle of a Christmas jinx because things always seemed to go wrong around the Christmas holiday. Being back in Bellpoint with her Aunt Addie and being coaxed into being on the Christmas committee to earn money for the school's Ella's finds herself paired up with her high school crush Seth Hamil. Seth decides that he will help Ella learn to love Christmas again. This book had all the feels and is perfect for getting in the Christmas mood.

Snow Place Like Home is a lovely holiday offering from author Lacey Baker. Past Christmases have brought heartache to art curator Ella Wilson. After making special wishes with her mother on the Christmas Star when she was 11, Ella found herself orphaned a few months later. Although welcomed into her Aunt Addie’s loving arms and home, that experience has tainted this holiday for Ella, especially after her fiancé’s departure just last Christmas. And now the Christmas jinx has struck again with the loss of her position as curator at a small Philadelphia art gallery. With time on her hands and a job search to handle, Ella agrees to return home to Bellepoint, PA, to spend the holidays with her Aunt Addie.

With hopes of bringing her girl home, Addie Gibbs is surprised and elated when Ella agrees to come home. As they negotiate the festivities, especially those centered around her church, Addie does all she can to bring Ella into the forefront. When Addie brings Ella to a meeting to plan the yearly festival of trees auction, her next step is to bring Ella into the planning meeting
with her background in marketing to assist in the strategizing. Ella is hesitant, but Seth Hamil, Ella’s high school crush and widower of Rhonda Hamil who devised this auction to support programs for children, is not in favor of a newcomer that may change Rhonda’s vision.

As Ella and Seth embark on this adventure, and family members root for the two to overcome the sadness of their pasts as they devise their plans for the fundraiser, the reader is pulled along for a beautiful sleigh ride. This is a lovely, richly woven story and perfect for the Christmas season. I very much enjoyed this book and I do recommend it!

-god i've never loathed anything as much as i hated this book. its awful. simply terrible.
look i'm no stranger to mind-numbingly boring characters boring characters but this one was next level with the said characters being annoying, was like cherry on top.
-ella was highly unlikable like i get it that something really tragic happened almost 20 years that made her hate christmas as much as i hate this book but that doesn't mean she gets a free pass to remind me of it every other paragraph. am i supposed to enjoy the plot or just console her 3 times each page because she is this giant-almost-in-her-30s baby who can't seem to have a grip on herself?
-if ella was unlikable, josh is no better obviously. but since the bar is utterly low im just gonna point out that atleast he was tolerable but to compensate that he has this weirdass family and i finally understand why kluas said "this family makes me wanna murder people" so there's that.
-the urge to dnf this was too strong to resist but i did it so kudos to me. yay. it was so long for no reason, the book could have such a short cozy christmas read but nevermind. highly disappointing.

Such a cute and heart warming sort about love, loss, and faith! This cute small town book is filled with so many of life’s common problems and how you can over come them with the Holy Spirit. I loved seeing such a great and beautiful story that shows how important faith is!

This was sweet heartwarming Christmas romance. I felt like there was so much room for the character development but ultimately it just felt repetitive. I really wanted to see the characters work through their grief together. I felt like too much happened off the page that would have made for a more compelling story.

This was like just like sitting down to watch a hallmark movie. You know how it is going to end and you just get to enjoy the ride.

This was a cute read.
I loved the small town setting. Christmas books are some of my favorites.
I felt like it was slow at times and there wasn’t really anything crazy happening. It felt flat.

It’s a short read so I would recommend I just wish more happened.

I absolutely loved reading this sweet heartwarming story. It's a beautifully written small-town Christmas romance that is the perfect book to escape life with. The author brought the book to life with her words, and it played out like a movie in your mind. I can't say enough good things about this book.
I received a complimentary copy from Thomas Nelson via NetGalley and was not required to post a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

If you're looking for a beautiful holiday romance to read this Christmas, look no further than Snow Place Like Home.

Right from the start, I was drawn into this sweet story. Going home for the holidays is always one of my personal favorite Christmas tropes and this one uses that well. Both Ella and Seth have experienced loss in their lives--- her mother and his wife. As such, grief (and how that can impact the holiday season) is a big theme in this story and as such wasn't the super happy holiday story that I often enjoy most. Despite the tougher topic though, I found that this had a beautiful message of healing and faith that still had me walking away with a sense of hope. I think a romance with a widow can often be a little bit of a tricky subject to do well--- showing that epic love we expect in a love story, without making less of that previous marriage... and I really felt like this one really balanced that very well.

As much as I enjoyed the romance, I really also enjoyed seeing Ella's relationship with God grow... perfect message of faith for the holiday season. Overall, I really enjoyed this story.

**I received a complimentary copy for consideration. All opinions are my own.

I loved this book but who doesn't love a Christmas romance story a heartfelt perfect Christmas read that I would recommend if you like a simple sweet story

This has all the warmth and feeling of a Hallmark Christmas movie. A second chance small town romance. Ella has lost her job and is finally returning home for the holidays. Seth living in Bellepoint, is recently widowed and is working on the committee for the annual Christmas tree auction. Ella with her art gallery background is pulled into helping by her aunt. Watch the relationship unfold.
This book does have a religious foundation, which isn't usually my cup of tea, but it doesn't impact the overall story too much.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.