I was expecting this to be a light-hearted Christmas romance read but I got so much more! While it had some of the predictability of a Hallmark Christmas movie, it also had a lot of depth. The book covered grief (parent death and miscarriage), trauma (military training accident), research on memory loss, and a mysterious necklace with a really interesting history. The book was well paced and the character growth was well done. This was my first Jenny Hale book but it won't be my last. Henry in particular was a complex and interesting character who I loved seeing change throughout the book. I would have liked dual POVs and while I liked the small town vibes, I found the narrators accent to be a bit annoying. Overall a great read. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC!

The narrator of this audiobook did a great job. There was just a slight southern accent that allowed the reader to grasp at least which part of the US the story is set. She did a good job characterizing each person with a different voice.
I'm glad that Stella and Henry got their second chance for happiness. It is just a shame that so much time past before they got it. While this dramatic romance has a sweet happily ever after, it feels like it takes a long time to get there. I felt like the angst lasted too long and Stella should have told Henry the truth long before she did. Her avoidance and running away instead of facing up to the truth was getting on my nerves.
I thought the concept of how happiness and a positive attitude play into other aspects of our lives/bodies was an interesting one. I know nothing about how it works with amnesia but I have seen it make a difference in people's daily lives. I loved the idea of our loved ones who have past, playing a role in our daily lives, whether it is sweet whispers or through memories etc.
I loved the sweet elderly man whose name escapes me at present. He was just such a lovely side character that added joy to the story.


Potential triggers: Loss of loved one, grief, miscarriage, infertility, spouse leaving
No sex, language or violence
*I received a complimentary audiobook through NetGalley and voluntarily chose to review it.

Stella Fisher left her home over 10 years ago after a personal tragedy. Nowadays, she’s a traveling writer and researcher living in London. When she gets a call from her mom to please come back to Tennessee for the holidays, she doesn’t hesitate.
The loss of her father has affected them deeply.
One person she didn’t expect to not only see but also be observing for her next research paper, is Henry Dutton. The boy she fell in love and left behind.
Henry is no longer the same person after suffering a TBI in Afghanistan and sent home. With anger issues and memory loss, his life is not an easy one.
Helping Henry while continuing to keep the secret of why she left him and the town, is hard.
Will Stella be able to help Henry find happiness and peace and at the same time, forgive herself ? Will she and her mother find happiness this Christmas without Stella’s father? Will the missing sister be back as well?
In the end, will Stella and Henry find their HEA?
This audiobook was a touching, clean , at times heartbreaking romance about family, new beginnings and second chances in life and love.
The narrator Emma Love did an excellent job with the voices.
I was entrusted a copy of this audiobook by Netgalley and Dreamscape.
The opinions expressed are solely my own.

There’s nothing like a nice cozy Christmas book by Jenny Hale to get you in the festive mood!! I really enjoyed this feel good book and I can’t wait to read more holiday books. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance audio book. To be published October 2023.

I enjoyed this book so much that I listened to the whole thing in one sitting! The book starts with our FMC Stella traveling home for the holidays to be with her recently widowed mother. Then we have our first mystery, she finds a necklace on the ground at the airport and is unable to return it to the owner. Once Stella arrives home her mom tells her that her sister is sort of missing in Costa Rica and got married, second twist. Then she has a chance encounter with her ex-husband who was injured and remembers absolutely nothing about her or how their relationship ended when she left with a big secret, twist three. By the way, this all happens in the first few chapters and there are even more twists and turns. I was worried because it felt like too many plot lines opening up, but it was a delightful little Christmas treat that wraps up the story quite well. My only piece of feedback is that if you are sensitive to how adoptive families are treated be aware because a lot of the book is spent talking about biological family being the only type of family, it does redeem itself in the end but that part was unpleasant. Overall I highly recommend!

Tropes: second chance, small town, and amnesia.


Thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape Select, Harpeth Road Press, and Jenny Hale for giving me an ARC copy to review. The opinions are my own.

Meet Me at Christmas by Jenny Hale was really cute and cozy, full of small-town Christmas cheer!

This book includes:

* Small-town charm
* Amnesia
* Second-chance romance
* Veteran/post-military wife
* Miscommunication/secrets
* Miscarriage
* Infertility
* Loss of a parent (off-page, preceding the story)
* Spirituality

Stella Fisher returns to her family’s farmhouse in Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee to be with her mom for the first Christmas after her dad's death. She's surprised to run into Henry Dutton, the ex-husband (they were married at 17/18) whose heart she broke when she ended their marriage post-miscarriage. He didn't know why she left him or even that she'd been pregnant.

But Henry isn't mad. Why? Because he ran off to the military after she left, to busy himself and push the pain of the breakup away. While there he sustained amnesia! Now she's the key to helping him remember his past and who he is.

Hale pulls off the miscommunication trope really well here. Normally I have a hard time rooting for the couple in books with a miscommunication/lack of communication trope as the main thing keeping them apart, because I don't believe those couples will make it to a longterm HEA after the short-term on-the-page HEA and don't feel like wasting my hope on them. In this case, largely because they were so young at the time of the original miscommunication and because it's rooted in major trauma (miscarriage and the belief that her infertility would hold him back from the life he wants), I was rooting for the couple anyway.

It's a charming, hopeful story of second chances and overcoming obstacles. That's perfect for the holiday season!

Thank you, NetGalley and Harpeth Road Press, for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.