I fell in love with Anita Hughes's Christmas books when I read Christmas in Vermont a few years ago. Along with Debbie Macomber, Mary Kay Andrews, and Nancy Thayer, Hughes is one of the authors I look for at Christmas time.

Going off to be alone and finding your passion seems to be a theme for Christmas books this year.

Caroline has a lot of rules about relationships and love. She only has flings that last no longer than a month. But she is also a romantic at heart (though she might not realize it). While going through some of her mother's things at the cabin she runs across a red Santa letter envelope. A man is planning on meeting her mother next to Santa's Little RedMailbox in Aspen on New Year's Eve. The only problem - her mother died a couple of months ago. Determined to discover her mother's lover and not have him think she stood him up, Caroline books a room at the same hotel that her mother had been at that summer and heads to Aspen.

We don't have to wait too long for the romantic setup of the story. Soon after Caroline arrives she meets Max. I liked both of the characters and they have good chemistry together - you will be rooting for Max right away.

What I really liked about Christmas in Aspen is that there are 4 stories of love. We have Caroline and Max and then there is Caroline's sister Daphne who has been dating Luke for just a few weeks but they already know they are meant for each other and are engaged. But there are two other storylines that I became very invested in as well. When Caroline was at the cabin in Hudson, she also picked up a stack of letters from an author who had been popular in the 1970s and was hoping Caroline's mother could relaunch her career. In the letters, she describes her own world-romance romance. And finally, there is the author that Caroline discovers in Aspen who is writing a romance novel based on his own romance with the girl who got away.

These stories are all sweet and the characters are endearing. I wanted to be in Aspen, hanging out with them. Oh, and I have to mention the cute little girl who is Max's niece. She is like 6 going on 30 and advises Max on how to get the girl. It is very cute.

If you are looking for a sweet Christmas love story, then you need to put this book on your reading list.

My review is published at Girl Who Reads - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2024/10/christmas-in-aspen-by-anita-hughes.html

Life teeters on the edge for editor Caroline. She has been at odds with her career since her mother’s death. With an ultimatum to find her next book to publish, she goes to spend Christmas at her mother’s cabin with her sister. A detour to Aspen happens when she reads a mysterious letter to her mother from there. Many things happen in Aspen, testing Caroline over and over.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sisters trying to get through the Holiday's after their mom passes was going to be a sad book. But then a letter arrives that makes them want to go to Aspen and do some research into the last few months of their mom's life. Not only do they learn things about their mom but they fall in love with Aspen, find friendship, love and a surprise at the Santa Mailbox on New Year's Eve.

This ended up being a very happy enjoyable read with some very fun and surprising revelations.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

good romance and loved how they found love and each other. They survived their trials and found their way back to each other. another great romance.

⭐️⭐️ When I saw the title and cover of this book, I expected a Christmas romance. This book lacked both and left me feeling disappointed. I didn’t not enjoy Nina’s letters and the multiple storylines. A thumbs down for me!

Thank you for this ARC! I have read all of Anita Hughes's Christmas books and enjoy them immensely. They take place in beautiful locations with delicious foods and endless financial resources. They are a great, holiday fairytale escape!

Overall, an enjoyable read, very much like a Hallmark movie! I did have trouble getting into the book and considered not finishing it a few times right at the beginning. The book goes very slow at times and I’m reading it a little early in the year for Christmas love stories. I think reading this in early to mid-December or even over Christmas would’ve made this book a much easier read!

There are several different storylines/love stories going on at once to follow along with. There was Daphne & Luke’s whirlwind engagement, Anne’s mystery man, Nick & Savannah‘s summer love, Nina’s secret life, and, of course, Caroline’s resistance to anything more than a casual fling.

If you love a spice-free, holiday romance with a multitude of love stories to fall in love with, then be sure to add Christmas in Aspen to your holiday reads!

This was the second book I read by this author and while I loved the setting, I had some issues with the story. I also had trouble connecting to the characters. Caroline was hard to relate to, I didn’t like Daphne, and while I liked the story set in the past at first, I hated Teddy more and more as the flashback progressed. He was manipulative and came on way too strong

This book is a wonderful Christmas romance if not more women's fiction. It's a beautifully written story that holds your attention.. I really enjoyed the strong and interesting characters and storyline. Caroline goes on quite a journey finding herself and what she wants or deciding to settle with things as they are after the loss of her Mom. There is just enough mystery to keep you turning pages. This was a fun and entertaining read you will happily stay up too late turning pages to the end.

After the death of her mother, Caroline receives a little red envelope from her mother's lover asking him to meet her in Aspen on New Year's Eve. Caroline and her sister have no prior knowledge of their mom being in a relationship, so Caroline flies to Aspen to meet the letter writer himself. They are both surprised to meet each other and fill in some details from their pasts. I found this book to be just okay. There was a story within the story that didn't fully feel connected to the main storyline to me. However, you still get the Christmas/winter feels, the family story, and love!

This was a really cute one! With mystery letters and a dash of holiday spirit, Caroline is in for a romantic and mysterious adventure.

This is a charmingly unique story. There are romances, but there is nothing sweet about any of them. Many characters to dislike and wonder about the attraction. A bit of a mystery to be solved on New Year's Eve. Resolutions for all involved surprised me, but I guess love conquers all. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy. My review is voluntary.

3 Christmas in Colorado Stars

I totally picked this one for the setting! It was fun to read about the holiday traditions in Aspen.

The action centers around Caroline and her sister, Daphne. They are celebrating their first Christmas since they lost their mom, Anne. They thought she was going to beat cancer. Anne and Caroline are both involved in the publishing industry.

Christmas plans are changed when a mysterious letter arrives for Anne from Santa’s Little Red Mailbox in Aspen. Anne and the mystery man were set to meet on New Year’s Eve. Sadly, she dies before this happens. Caroline is intrigued and decides to head to Aspen to meet the man and explain.

Several other subplots are going on here. Caroline has been reluctant to commit to anyone, and Daphne has a rapid engagement, so Caroline worries that she’s rushing into things. Then, Caroline reads a series of letters that were sent to her mother by another writer. Caroline also nurtures a local writer to get his book published. And just who is the mystery man who loved her mother?

I think this one may have had too many things going on to be a strong read for me. In this case, the instant-love with Caroline and Max didn’t work for me.

I received a free copy of Christmas In Aspen from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

The story follows Caroline’s impromptu trip to Aspen after finding an anonymous love letter to her late mother. The letter explains that he will be waiting for her in front of the little red mailbox in Aspen on New Year’s Eve. Caroline couldn’t bear the thought of this man showing up and wondering why her mother isn’t there, so she books a last minute flight and plans to stay for Christmas week and meet the man who her mother loved.

The overall story was really cute, I just wish it was executed better. The biggest issue I had was that there were so many characters and story lines to keep up with - Caroline and Max, Daphne and Luke, Anne and the mystery man, Nick and Savannah, Nina and Teddy, Nina and James, the characters in Nick’s book, and more… It was very overwhelming and I found it hard to fall in love with any of the characters. I felt like there were a lot of incomplete thoughts and abrupt endings to conversations that I would have liked to see through. I also felt like the ending was really rushed with tying off all of the different story lines.

The details in the story were good, I was able to really feel the emotions and visualize the setting in a lot of the scenes. Most of the story took place after Christmas, but I still felt the magic of a “Hallmark movie.” There was also a surprise at the end which I really liked.

A snow-filled holiday read! Set in Aspen, Colorado, Anita Hughes’ latest Christmas romance is an enjoyable read and a fine love letter to the village of Aspen. I’ve had the pleasure of reading many of Hughes’ holiday-themed novels over the years, and find that her greatest skill is in establishing a strong sense of place and transporting the reader to that locale. She seems to especially excel in describing snowy mountain towns. While the book did not include quite as much Christmas-specific content as some in the genre, it is a quite pleasant, cozy read with likeable characters and multiple romances with which one might spend an afternoon in front of a roaring fire, sipping whiskey or hot chocolate.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the privilege of a complimentary ARC. Opinions are my own.

Very cute and sweet Christmas romance!! Felt like a hallmark movie in the very best way! I loved the characters and their development! I would absolutely read more from this author!

thank you netgalley for the e-arc. anita hughes is predictable in the way that you can count on a beautiful winter setting and characters connecting in a way the reader will actually care about. the aspen setting was different, you dont really get that often, its usually "ski resort" or "chalet". because of the flashbacks, it made me hate teddy more and more.

Christmas in Aspen by Anita Hughes
A Novel
Description
A heartwarming story of holiday magic and love scaling new heights

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 is Caroline Holt's story.
This is Max's story.
Christmas in Aspen by Anita Hughes is a 4 star book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.

Caroline is grieving the loss of her mother. It’s her first Christmas without her, and her sister Daphne suddenly announces her engagement to a man she just met. Caroline is reeling, and when she finds a letter from her mother Anne’s mysterious lover, she heads to Aspen to find him. This book has some really cute holiday moments that made me long for a peppermint hot chocolate and gingerbread cookie!

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for a review and opinions are my own.

It is a lovely story about trying to move forward after the death of a family member and finally thinking of your happiness. I love the close sibling relationship that Caroline and Daphne have. Though not without problems, they both care about each other deeply. The letters included in the main story were entertaining, and it was interesting to see the difference between those old letters and the main story. The idea of Caroline traveling because of a certain letter was so touching and I couldn't have expected that outcome. I don't usually read Christmas stories but I can say that I definitely enjoyed this one.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher!