3.5 Stars
This was a cute little Christmas read that starts out around Thanksgiving time. This is about a mother and daughter working on their relationship and another woman starting over. It was a nice feel good read. I have not read any of Rachel Hanna's other books so I really want to read the 2 books leading up to this one now.
Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for the opportunity to listen to this Audio book.

This was the first book I have listened to by Rachel Hanna and let me tell you it won't be the last. Anne Smith narrated this book and she did a fabulous job!! I absolutely loved this short Christmas story. The characters where relatable and enjoyable. If you love small towns, family, friends and romance then this book is for you!! I would Highly recommend this wonderful book for the holidays.


Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Select, Rachel Hanna for allowing me to listen to this ARC in advance for my honest opinion.

This was a charming and delightful Christmas read about healing relationships and finding community. It was a fun return to Jubilee and a sweet way to feel surrounded in Christmas spirit.

I loved the small town setting and found both female leads very relatable. Their individual stories were great, but I wasn’t sure why they were both told in the same book - maybe there is a connection that I’m missing as I haven’t read the previous two books in the series? The book switches between events in both Madeline and Frannie’s lives frequently and a little abruptly. Perhaps it would make more sense if you were reading the print / ebook, but I kept getting confused and having to go back a bit. The narrator has a lovely soothing voice which is perfect for this sort of book and I enjoyed listening to her.

While listening to this book, I realized my own mother wound was too great to really enjoy this book. Unfortunately, the relationship I have with my mother was all I could think about during this book. My rating is based off writing and flow of story, not my personal issues tainting the story for me.

There's nothing cozier than reading a Christmas novel this season. This one warmed my heart even more. Madeline, a novelist who recently moved to a mountain cabin in Jubilee, receives a visit from her mother. They haven't spoken to each other for years, but their mother knocks on their door with suitcases in hand. What will come out of here? This journey, from October to Christmas was filled with so many emotions, that I even considered moving to Jubilee. This is the magic of literature, the story is so believable that the desire to get to know this community, so special as Jubilee, grew within me.

This is the third book in the series but can stand alone. This is a quick read. I was entertained but felt like Christmas was a secondary theme. It was not a long story so character we’ve felt rushed.

Sweet, small town, romance. But, clean, wholesome and Hallmarky vibes...

So this takes place in a small town by the name of Jubilee.
The main character is Madeline who has moved away from her hometown where she grew up with her Mom, and arrived here, in Jubilee, in order to try to kick start her romance writing vibes (she is an author of romance, and was encouraged to try a change of pace to try to help her mindset... as she was in a bit of a slump...)
So, she tried it out, and LOVED it...so she's here for the long haul.

Then we have Frannie, a nurse, who just lost her grandmother and has inherited her home in Jubilee. She has taken off from work in order to get her grandma's house in order, but while there and going thru her things, she finds another surprise. One that just might change her life!

Lots of terrific characters throughout...and this one will definitely tug at your heartstrings!
We have older neighbors, young kids, and just neighborly neighbors who all add to the ambiance of small town living. Add in some old boyfriends, and new love interests, and the sparks start to ignite...

We also have Madeline's Mom, who shows up unannounced, and is NOT welcome. But Madeline tries to grin and bear it and get along with her Mom. Can they make it work. Can they resolve some long standing issues?

Of note: This is book #3 and I have NOT read the earlier ones...and I did not feel lost. So that was definitely a plus.

On the cons side…at least in the ARC ( hopefully it will be corrected in the actual book)…there is absolutely NO PAUSE, break, breath or anything in between chapters. You don’t know it’s ended until she says chapter whatever. Also, since there are two completely individual main characters, it would’ve been better, imo, to keep the characters separated by chapter maybe? That’s not done here, so you go from a conversation with Madeline and her Mom, to Frankie in an entirely different conversation. And one has NOTHING to do with the other. Again, this might just be a problem with the ARC? Not sure…

Also, I found it to be very Christian inspired or religious based. This is not a problem for me, but may be for others…although the title does contain Christmas… Just a heads up.

In any case…Thanks to #NetGalley and #DreamscapeSelect for an ARC of the audiobook which will be released soon (12/15/23). I believe the actual book has already been released.

#ChristmasInJubilee by #RachelHanna.

3 1/2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 for me, rounded up to 4.

Check out all my upcoming reviews and previews on FB @ #BookReviewsWithElaine or on IG @ #BookReviews_with_emsr.

Thanks for reading along with me! 📚📖

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Select Audio and Rachel Hanna for the prerelease copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Also thank you to a great narration job by Anne Smith.
Madeline is a nurse who came to go through her grandmother’s house after she passed away. After finding an expected note in Grandma’s Bible big changes begin happening for her. She is surprisingly united with her estranged mother, Eloise and given a second chance at love with her high school sweetheart.
A heartwarming Christmas story of love, reunions and second chances! The book is sure to put you into the Christmas Spriit. This book is number 3 in the series, but I haven’t read the first two and it was fine. I do plan to read more by this author. I really enjoyed her writing.

Book Title: Christmas in Jubilee
Series: Jubilee Series #3
Author: Rachel Hanna
Narrator: Anne Smith
Publisher: Dreamscape Select- Rachel Hanna
Genre: Women's Fiction, Romance
Audiobook Pub Date December 15, 2023
My Rating: 3 .3 Stars
Pages: 177

This is third in the Jubilee series and we follow the festive time from October to Christmas.

In Book 1 “Welcome to Jubilee” we are introduced to romance author Madeline Harper whose marriage is falling apart and isn’t excited about writing another romance. Her agent suggested a stay in the tiny mountain town of Jubilee, Georgia located in the Blue Ridge Mountains?

In Book #2 “All Tucked Inn” Lanelle Callaway, the steadfast matriarch is determined to have her daughter Heather take over the Inn. However Heather is happy in Atlanta.

Now n Book #3 “Christmas in Jubilee”, we continue to follow Madeline Harper. She, of course, has adjusted to Jubilee and changing her writing style from big city romance to country slower pace living romances. She loves the people and is excited for the holiday season to begin.
That is until her estranged mother Eloise shows up on her doorstop. Her mother has always been very critical of any and all of Madeline’s choices.

We are introduced to Frannie who inherited the family’s home and downtown retail space -which Frannie hopes to convert to a bakery.
Imagine her surprise when a high school sweetheart shows up at her door.
I did enjoy this. I love a good Christmas story.
Don’t want to be negative about a story that was a nice enjoyable read but I thought it should be just Christmas.
Fall is a unique time; fall activities are very different than Christmas activities and deserve its own story - fun activities such as Octoberfest, football games and Homecoming, as well as all the fall harvest festivals/activities.
Perhaps next year’s story will be “Fall in Jubilee”!

Want to thank NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for this early audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for December 15, 2023.

This is a very sweet, small town Christmas romance that is high on the holiday spirit scale. Lots of found family and extended friends. I think I would have absolutely benefitted from reading the previous books in this series, as I felt a little bit thrown into the mix and not understanding or knowing a lot of the characters. So I wouldn't recommend picking this one up out of order. I did enjoy that one of the couples is older. The pacing of the narrator on audiobook was pretty slow so I ended up listening to it on a faster speed, but she had a lovely tone. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to provide my honest review.

This is the third in the series, but it was easy to know the characters and their place in the series. The chapter endings were rushed to start the next chapter. Very surface level characters

‘Christmas in Jubilee’ has small town charm and heartfelt family reunion, two things that are lovely to find in a Christmas tale, but the writing style didn’t work for me. It oftentimes felt overwritten and awkward, and the dialogue didn’t sound like the way real people speak.

Madeleine’s mother has never respected her career as a romance author, but after attending a book signing the mother apologizes and understands the career. This transformation occurs in about a paragraph, so it doesn’t feel earned or true.

The story is told as a split tale between two women, Madeleine and Frannie, in alternating chapters. The stories are only loosely related, so instead of reading one cohesive story it felt like reading two books at the same time. I would have preferred them as stacked novellas, one first and then the other, instead.

All in all, this wasn’t my favorite Christmas story. That said, I Jubilee is a cozy small town and the story is easy reading. The story would work in place of an evening spent with a Hallmark movie, so ultimately it does what it came to do (even if I would have preferred a bit more finesse).

Thanks, NetGalley and Rachel Hanna, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Dreamscape Select for an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this small town romance. Especially the relationship between Madeline and Eloise, her mother.

A saccharine sweet Christmas love story. It was like a Hallmark movie in book form. A very cozy read.

Personally I thought Madeline was a little hard on her mom. But this could be through my lens because I miss my mom so take that with a grain of salt. The mom was a little harsh at times (she was in her 70s so old school).

I listened to the audiobook version and appreciated the author used the characters names often bc it was hard to differentiate so many characters with one narrator.

This is book 3 of the author's Jubilee series, but you don't need to read the first two to follow along (I haven't read either, nor any of her other books). I am not sure if this book felt rushed and superficial to me because it was a shorter Christmas story, or if all her books are like this, but the book was generally full of platitudes and super basic character development. It also didn't feel super Christmasy, given that the timeline started before October, and equal time was spent on a Harvest Festival and Thanksgiving. Madeline's mom comes to visit, and they have been estranged for a long time (how long is not really defined). Her mom is super critical of everything and they talk to each other the way a 17 year old would talk to her 45 year old mom, not like they are 55/78. I.e., their relationship felt extremely immature As they make up, the "real" reason for the visit comes to light, and the reaction is so childish and petty I found myself forgetting how old they were supposed to be. It almost felt like a YA book.

Based on a super quick synopsis review of books 1 and 2, it looks like Madeline, 55, is the series main character, and book 2 had a secondary character's story as did book 3. In this book we have a Fannie, 30, whose grandma passed away and left her a house and a store, return to town and reconnect with her old boyfriend. The story takes place in the same town but does not overlap at all with Madeline's story. The transitions between the two on audio were very abrupt and it went back and forth a lot. I think alternative chapters would have been cleaner, or just have two separate books since they really didn't have anything to do with each other.

The book felt like a cozy Hallmark movie, sure, but the best part is the author was sure to have BOTH characters say that their lives felt like a cozy Hallmark movie. So, in case you weren't already feeling it, you will get beat over the head with it after a day of Christmas activities..

I hope that her non-seasonal books have a bit more depth. For all my criticisms, I'd be willing to listen to one just to find out. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.