No depth to the characters or their relationships, awkward dialogue, zero chemistry for people we were supposed to believe were falling in love.

Rating: 4/5 Stars
Pub Date: 10/8
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Caroline Holt, an editor in NY, heads to Aspen after finding a mysterious love letter at her late mother's cabin. It's from a man telling her he would meet her at Santa's Red Mailbox on NYE. It's there that Caroline finds not only a man to make the holiday interesting, but herself again.
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This book has Hallmark Christmas Movie written all over it. And let me just tell you - if it becomes one, I will be the first person to sit there with my eyes glued to the screen. I thought this was the cutest book. I fell in love with Caroline and her sister Daphne and Luke and Max. I loved the honesty in how deeply they loved and the lengths they would go for one another. And don't even get me started on Lily, such a smart and funny little girl who is very wise beyond her age.
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While this story is a romance, there is also a little bit of mystery as well. Throughout the book Caroline reads letters from a writer named Nina that were addressed to her mother. I had no idea what the meaning behind the letters from Nina were until the very end and I loved where Hughes went with that aspect of the story. Don't get me wrong, I definitely was interested in Nina's story as well, I just wasn't sure how it would tie in (and again it does). I also really liked the mystery and the anticipation of finding out who the mysterious lover is; though I did figure that one out very early on, it didn't stop me from jumping up and down with joy when I was correct. This just warmed my heart and really got me into the Christmas spirit.
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Overall, this is the perfect holiday read. I loved it. I am recommending it to all of my holiday romance readers and to all my Hallmark Holiday Movie watchers!! You will not be let down by this story! Huge thank you to NetGalley, Anita Huges, and St. Martins Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

After the death of her mother, book editor Caroline has gone into a funk. She hasn't felt like herself, and her boss is threatening her position with the company if she doesn't find a new book project to present to the Editorial Board by Spring. She heads up to her mother's cabin in upstate New York, only to be surprised by her younger sister that she's engaged to be married - to a man she just met! While cleaning her mother's paperwork, she comes across a letter from "Santa," or at least mailed from Santa's Mailbox in Aspen, Colorado. The letter is from a man that Caroline has never heard about, but he's declaring his true love for her late mother - he want's to meet her on New Year's Eve at Santa's Mailbox in Aspen.

Caroline changes her plans and flies off to Aspen to find her mother's lover - and to explain that her mother has died. Caroline soon meets a man who may change her view of love and her entire view of the world.

A fun Christmas read that's available now in bookstores. Special thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the Advance Reader's Copy of this book!

Thanks to St. Martin's Griffin for the advanced copy of Christmas in Aspen by Anita Hughes.

Christmas in Aspen was okay. Caroline is an editor and her mother has recently passed away. She decides to spend the holidays at her mother's cabin in upstate NY when she finds a letter addressed to her mom, saying he loves her and will meet her in Aspen, Colorado on New Year's Eve. So she flies to Aspen to meet her mom's lover.

This is definitely more women's fiction than romance, as it was about Caroline's mid-life crisis and grief. I struggled to connect with Caroline and her sister, and honestly found Caroline to be not very nice. The Aspen setting was the only redeeming quality of this book.

This was a DNF for me.

I made it through the first six chapters and had so many highlights and notes about things that didn't make sense or were implausible. Starting with the entire premise of the book. If your deceased mom's secret boyfriend plans to meet her on New Year's Eve, why do you need to go on December 22? Why are you bailing on your sister on the first Christmas without your mother? This is after cancelling plans with a guy in London the day before.

This junior book editor has a lot of disposable cash for last minute plane tickets (maybe she had a credit from ditching the London guy?) and 10 days at a luxury resort in Aspen at Christmas. She also thinks a hotel desk clerk will know her mom spent time with in JUNE at that resort. There is a lot of telling and not showing and so many plot holes and things that made me roll my eyes. I just couldn't any more. I didn't care enough to find out who the mom's beau was or the resolution of the mystery subplot.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. I am required by law to disclose this. #ChristmasInAspen #NetGalley

I felt that this book did a fantastic job at setting the scene and making me feel like I was really there. However, I found it hard to stay connected to because of the characters. Caroline was hard to relate to and I didn't really like Daphne... don't even get me started on manipulative Teddy.

Overall, this book was not as 'feel-good Christmas' as it was marketed. It was okay but I think it could have benefitted from a re-work of the characters.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my copy of Christmas in Aspen by Anita Hughes in exchange for an honest review. It published October 8, 2024.
As always, Anita Hughes writes a wonderful Christmas book. It truly has become a tradition that I look forward to every year. I just love everything about these books. Somehow, every book I read by her makes me need to travel to the destination, and Christmas in Aspen is no exception. Now I need to go to Aspen. The way that everything was described made me long to be there!
One thing that I especially loved about this book is that there were several stories going on within this. I loved the letters, the manuscript, and the story with Caroline. Everything was beautifully threaded together to be such an engaging story that elevates this book from your run-of-the-mill Christmas story, to a wonderful novel that you could really read any part of the year!

This is a good book. The two main characters are Caroline and Max. Caroline is an editor. Max is an owner of a distillery in Aspen. Caroline lives in New York but comes to Aspen during Christmas. They meet at a bar and there is an instant attraction. They both have issues but together they work them out and fall in love.

3.5⭐️

While i love a good Christmas setting, this story wasn’t as warm and fuzzy as i wanted. I enjoyed the setting, but some of the story characters and story line i just didn’t connect as well with. It was a different kind of emotional — a lot of secrets. Just different than i was expecting.

A great festive read, emotional in places, as it tells the story of several different intertwined lives.

This book dealt with some heavy topics and some strong feelings of grief, but in the same token, also gave me the warm and fuzzy feelings all simultaneously. A beautiful story.

Honestly this book kind of made me feel sad. I was expecting more of a cozy, hallmark-y holiday read, but it didn’t hit the way I was hoping it would. Thought it was sweet, I couldn’t really connect with the characters and it didn’t fill me up with happiness and hope which is what I am looking for in a holiday read. I also think naming a book with “Christmas” in the title leads the reader to believing it’s more of a Christmasy book.

This book felt very much like the movies…..Valentine’s Day and New Years Eve…….where you have multiple people to keep track of….and it is definitely not spicy.
There are multiple storylines. There was Daphne & Luke, Anne’s mystery man, Nick & Savannah, Nina’s and Caroline.
So if these hallmark type movies except with a billion things happening are your jam….this book might be for you.
I received an ARC of this title, all opinions are my own.

I really wanted to love this one but I struggled to connect with the story! It left me wanting more and lacked a bit of the Christmasy feel I was hoping for.

I did really enjoy the letters that were incorporated throughout the story as well as the mystery with Santa’s Little Red Mailbox.

Just because it wasn’t the book for me, if you’re looking for a light & charming holiday read I bet you’d enjoy this.

I have loved Anita Hughes' other Christmas books so I was SO excited to read this one! Additionally, Colorado is such a beautiful place, it made the perfect backdrop for a story like this one!

Hughes does such an amazing job of engaging you with her characters, and this book is no exception. Add in the fact that there is a real theme here (finding yourself again after a loss), and it just makes the story all the more real and relatable.

This is definitely a book to read this Holiday season!

A chick-lit Christmas story a story of the goodness that can come after tragedy. I think this is a good story to start your holiday reads

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!!

What a good book! I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I loved the main characters! They had great chemistry and worked so well together. I loved how the book just flowed. My first by this author but will not be my last!! I love a good Christmas book!!

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for an earc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Editor Caroline Holt is on her way to her late mother’s upstate cabin in Hudson to spend the holidays. She was supposed to be in London, having a holiday romance. But this Christmas, she isn’t in the mood to get her heart broken again. Caroline loves being an editor, but in the last year burnout has taken over. She has been mourning her mother, and she is looking to get that spark back.

In the cabin, Caroline finds a letter addressed to her mother. It’s in a red envelope, and the return address is Santa’s Little Red mailbox, in Aspen, Colorado. The letter is from a man declaring his love for her mother. He’ll be waiting for her in front of the Little Red Mailbox at three pm on New Year’s Eve.

Unable to ignore her curiosity, Caroline takes the next flight to Aspen to meet her mother’s mysterious lover, but things start getting complicated when she meets another man in town. The more they run into each other, the more she is drawn to him. And when Caroline finds out the truth about the person her mother had loved, she unravels secrets of her own past.

By the end of Christmas week, Caroline gets a chance to rewrite her own destiny by confronting her fears of loving again and possibly leaving behind what she thought was a perfect life.

This book surprised me - I admit that I haven't read a lot of contemporary, Christmas-y stories, so I didn't have a lot of preconceived expectations. I will say that if you're expecting this to be very Christmas-centric, it's not. The bulk of the story focuses on New Years, so don't go into it expecting a lot of Christmas feel-good scenes. I enjoyed the storyline between Caroline and her love interest. I found the letters rather took away from the story rather than added to it. But overall, 2.5-3 stars for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I adore Anita Hughes Christmas books and this one did not disappoint. Caroline Holt was suppose to be spending Christmas in London until her mom passes away. She finds a letter addressed to her Mother from Aspen and decides to head there for Christmas instead. This book is full of fun secrets and twist and turns.

This story felt so magical and was perfect for this time of year. With the main character mourning I related to this deeply. The main character is grieving and feeling lost. There were a lot of secrets revealed giving this book a bit more depth than your typical feel good holiday y story.