Christmas in Aspen was a wonderful easy to read story about a Caroline who is an editor but has found it has been a hard year keeping herself upbeat about her job. This is compounded by the loss of her mother.
While going through her mothers’ things she finds a letter to her mother and this springs into action to fulfill what she sees as a tribute to her mother. The letters say her mother was to meet a man by the Little Red Mailbox in Aspen on New Years Eve.
The story is told in such a sweet loving way, and I encourage you to read this book. It filled me with such emotion I know I will read this one many times. The romance, location, holiday, and a bit of mystery makes this book wonderful.
Thank you NetGalley, Anita Hughes and St. Martin's Press for the Arc of the book Christmas in Austin. This is my personal review.

Oh my goodness!!!! This story just has completely melted me. I can not even begin to tell you how darling it was. Get ready to start your holiday season with the most phenomenal book! Well done!

A perfect Christmas story to help get me through the hot summer months. The story and settings really help put you in the holiday mood.

This was a lovely romance novel with surprising depth. I just loved it and will definitely be reading this again around Christmas! Highly recommended!

This was a delightful holiday read with a twist. It captures the magic of the season and the complexities of love and loss. It left me with a smile on my face and a warm feeling in my heart.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Name of Book: Christmas in Aspen
Author: Anita Hughes
Genre: Romance
Publisher: Saint Martin’s Press- Griffin
Pub Date: October 8, 2024
My Rating: 3.3 Stars
Pages: 304

Editor Caroline Holt was supposed to be spending the Holidays in London with Brad, an attractive British editor. Only her job is on the line. Caroline loves being an editor, but in the last year burnout has taken over. She has been mourning the death of her mother, and her grief has taken its toll on her job - she is looking to get that spark back.
So it heading to her childhood cabin
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 3:00 pm

Awww What’s not to love about a romance set in beautiful Aspen, Colorado?
True it wasn’t a big WOW for me but it was perfect for super-hot July afternoon.

Want to thank NetGalley and Saint Martin’s Press-Minotaur for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for October 8, 2022.

There's a lot going on in this story. It starts with Caroline Holt finding a letter in a Santa Claus envelope to her late mother. A man, who didn't sign the letter, says he loves her mother, Anne, and will be waiting for her at Santa's Little Red Mailbox in Aspen on New Year's. Caroline decides she must be there to meet him. In the meantime, her sister announces she's getting married. Caroline's idea of romance is to date someone for a month, then dump them, and finds the concept of marriage difficult to understand. And, thus, begins a story of love lost, found, family, balancing life and work, and, well, so much more. What mostly pulled me to the book was the idea that Caroline words as a book editor for a prestigious firm in New York, hence we'd be getting to see some of what goes on behind the scenes that brings books like this to us.

To be honest, I was up and down with the book. I didn't particularly like Caroline in the beginning, finding her not only a downer but was put off by her overall attitude toward life in general, not just romance. She is still suffering from grief over her mother's death, yes, but Caroline seems to bring it up constantly, making it hard to root for her. She's also determined that since she doesn't believe in happily ever after, she needs to meddle in her younger sister's romance. And, even when she meets an interesting man, one she is definitely attracted to, she makes it clear to him that she has "rules" and they basically evolve around not allowing anyone to get close to her. I did like her determination to meet the mysterious man of the letter, however, so he wouldn't feel her mother had simply blown him off. In other words, there is a heart there, it's just well guarded. And, in the meantime, if she wants to keep her job, she needs to find a sensational new author to present to the publishing company's powers that be. That is complicated, of course, and there is also that series of letters her mother had kept dealing with a once beloved author's own love life. And, well, that's all I'm saying about the plot.
I envisioned the setting as sort of like being caught in the magic of a snow globe and living in Alaska, I do know a thing or two about "life in a snow globe". Aspen sounds lovely in the winter although the title is a bit misleading as much of the action occurs between Christmas and the New Year. There's a somewhat unexpected twist at the end and the overall plot was interesting, albeit I also found the way the stories merged confusing initially. Toss in the obvious impact grief was still having on Caroline and the bubbly, magical spirit of Christmas seemed a bit subdued, although Caroline's jaunt on a snow cat (snow machine in Alaska) sounded like fun. Overall, though, while not quite pulled in to the extent I'd hoped, it was an interesting read and I liked the peek at the pressure on editors to constantly produce the next best seller, so to speak, all the time. It was interesting to watch her work with the young author, for instance, ironically trying to lead him to ways to insert more feeling/emotion into her promising work, something largely missing from her own life. Thanks #StMartin'sPress - #StMartin'sGriffin and #NetGalley for this early peek at a holiday celebration.

This holiday romance is perfect for anyone looking for a a hallmark setting with a little more substance.

Caroline Holt is an editor, going to her late mother’s cabin shortly before Christmas to meet her sister Daphne. Carolyn is burnt out and told she needs a new book by the first of the year or may lose her job. Going through the mail, Carolyn finds a letter addressed to her mother. There is a man who will meet her mother on New Year’s Eve in Aspen. She boards a plane to let him know her mother died. Carolyn feels a lot of pressure and fears that love will break her heart, so she avoids relationships. Daphne introduces her to her fiancé and tells her they will be married soon. Carolyn believes it is too soon for Daphne to commit to a wedding. Once in Aspen Carolyn runs into Max and is wondering whether she should explore a relationship. Daphne and her fiancé travel to Aspen to be married on New Years. This book is full of love. Carolyn is drawn to a stack of letters she found in her mother’s things that she takes along to read, revealing love. She also runs into Max in Aspen and feels he may change her mind about love. Daphne and Luke have a few tense moments that draw Carolyn in. Great book with wonderful characters and a great setting for love and Christmas celebrations.

There were things I enjoyed and I didn’t enjoy about this book. I figured it’d be a Hallmark-style cozy Christmas romance read, but it was a bit different than expected. There were a plethora of plots and subplots that made the romance focus of this book more of a sub romance. The characters were boring, frustrating and lacked any true depth. The romance was kind of just lost between the pages and the chemistry also wasn’t well fleshed out. I find irony in this because the FMC, Caroline, is quite literally a book editor helping to edit a manuscript of a local writer to add more emotions to the characters, yet this book itself contained no emotion. Overall, it wasn’t a displeasing read, but I wanted more.

Caroline, an editor from NYC, is going through what seems to be a bit of a crisis in the book. Her publisher is demanding a manuscript for them to purchase, she’s struggling with her sister’s sudden and quick engagement, she’s walled off emotionally, and she’s having troubles moving on from her mother’s death. She finds a letter from Aspen, addressed to her mother, from an unknown lover asking her mother to meet him in Aspen. Caroline decides to go, hoping to gain some closure and learn more about her mom’s lover while also keeping him from being disappointed that she didn’t show up. She brings letters from a late author her mother was friends with to read, as well as manuscripts to review for her work.

While in Aspen, Caroline meets Max, who owns a new local distillery. Max pursues her pretty heavy but Caroline is reluctant and closed off most of the book. With her failing interrsts in relationships, she decides to meddle in her sister’s engagement instead as an insecurity. The whole thing is just annoying and over the top and continues throughout the story.


Overall, the amount of plots (though they all were resolved) and the lack of emotional and character depth made this read just average for me. I truly felt by the writing that we were reading about a bunch of 70 year old characters in their golden ages due to lack of personalities and meaningful connections.

Thank you to St. Martins Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Christmas in Aspen by Anita Hughes is a heartwarming tale of holiday magic and love reaching new heights. This perfect holiday romance transports readers to the enchanting winter wonderland of Aspen, where the spirit of Christmas shines brightly. I was swept away on a journey filled with festive cheer, romance, and the joy of the season.

Before I get into the review, a quick thanks to both NetGalley and the publishers over at St. Martin's Griffin for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Christmas in Aspen follows a book editor who meets up with her sister at her mother's cabin a few months after her mother dies. They go through her mail and discover that she had a romance a few months before her death and that they man wants to meet up with her in Aspen at Christmas time. The book editor decides to go to Aspen to meet with her mother's lover in order to give him the bad news. But once she's there the book editor finds a romance of her own. Christmas in Aspen comes out on October 8th and is available for preorder now.

This book had way too many plots and subplots for what the author was trying to accomplish. We follow Caroline while she heads to Aspen to meet up with her mother's "lover" was Caroline calls him. We watch her have her own romance. We see her reading letters from one of her mom's old clients. Her sister is deciding to elope with a man she met less than 6 weeks prior. And we watch her struggle with career issues. It made the story feel aimless. It doesn't help that the author keeps the reader at arm's length from the characters so the reader feels absolutely nothing for them. Most of the characters feel really flat and unrealistic.

The author did make Aspen seem like a winter wonderland full of Christmas magic which is something I DO really like in Christmas related books and movies. I wish there had been more of the Christmas stuff, but how would it all have fit with the massive amount of plot points that the author had to get through? For Christmassy rating, I'm going to give this one 3.5 poinsettias out of 5. It was really good on that front, just not great.

Overall, I think this book would work better with the General Fiction or Women's Fiction crowd than the Romance crowd. It hits on some heavier themes and it doesn't display the romance as prominently as I would have liked.

A romance set in Aspen during Christmas sets the tone for this book. A book editor, Caroline who recently lost her mother finds that her mother had a lover and tries to find him in Aspen . During this book Caroline is faced with her own dilemma of finding another book and possibly finding love as well.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s Griffin for this arc. This books comes out October 8, 2024.

I was so excited for this one, as it was one of my most anticipated Christmas reads for this year, however, I was very disappointed. I loved the idea of the story being centered around a daughter finding a love letter of her mother's who recently passed away. In the letter, a mystery man asks her to meet at Santa's Little Red Mailbox on New Year's Eve. However, that part of the story took a major backseat to the current events of Caroline and Daphne's life. I initially liked the story, but as it went on, I felt like the chemistry between Caroline and Max was very forced and kind of fizzled. About halfway through, I started getting bored with the direction all the different side stories were going and was disappointed the letter wasn't a bigger part of the overall book. With that said, I did enjoy the author's description of Aspen and it sounds like the ultimate cozy, winter town.

Caroline Holt is a NYC editor, but has lost her spark and now her job is in danger. The mother that instilled the love of books in her, has passed away. Caroline never knew the identity of her father, but is close with her half-sister.

Caroline meets her sister for Christmas at the family cabin and is greeted by her sister and her sister’s fiance. She did not even know about him and is extremely concerned at the speed of the relationship. Also at the cabin, Caroline finds a letter while going through the last of her mother’s things. The letter is from a man that says he can’t wait to meet her at Santa’s mailbox in Aspen on New Year’s Eve. Immediately, Caroline is intrigued and books a flight to Aspen. Soom she is followed by her sister and the fiance.

While trying to retrace her mother’s previous trip to Aspen where she met the mystery man, Caroline befriends Max, a local distiller. Caroline never dates anyone more than a month, so a holiday fling sounds perfect. When Caroline confronts her sister about moving her wedding to Aspen this Christmas, they get into an argument. Her sister calls Caroline on her avoidance of opening herself to finding love.

Can everyone work out their issues in time for Caroline to meet the mystery man?

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a chance to read an advance copy.

I usually rate holiday books against others of the same genre. They're a bit... unto themselves I guess you could say, so it doesn't feel fair to compare them to non-holiday novels. They're all a bit Hallmark-y. That said, this one fell flat for me even within the Christmas category. The dialog and romance was flat and stilted, and it lacked that sparkle that I'm looking for in a book like this. I was intrigued with the story, it was just not for me in terms of the execution of it.

This was a quick read. Who wouldn't dream of a Christmas in Aspen? One sister is too quick to jump into relationships, while the other is led by fears of being hurt. It will appeal to readers who like holiday romances, as it checks all the boxes. Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read the ARC.

Christmas in Aspen by Anita Hughes is a beautiful Christmas story. Christmas stories touch something special in our lives they give us love, kindness, and hope for the future.

Christmas in Aspen is a romance written in some ways for Hallmark. We follow Carolyn as she navigates her first Christmas without her mom, her sister’s quick engagement, and her own loveless life.

This was a cute read. There was so much going on, and I didn’t like the different plots all following one character, but she was likable enough. She was helping a man edit his book, and we had to follow his story. She was trying to convince her sister not to get married after two months, and we had to follow her and her fiancé’s story. She had old letters that belonged to her mom that didn’t fit the book at all. Each letter wrote like a novella and not letters. I didn’t really see the point in adding them.

The book was cute, and I love a good Christmas book. This one was okay. I received this ARC for my honest review.

Overall, this was a cute story. There were a lot of characters and stories to keep up with. Caroline's negativity was really annoying to me personally. She said that she would be happy for her sister and then the next thing would happen and she was quick to be a pessimist again. She could have just not said anything and then any of the fights that she and Daphne had wouldn't have happened. Who ended up being at the mailbox for Anne was a surprise and I was hoping that everything would have a sort of karmic reasoning. Although the secret lover of her mothers did have feeling, I am sitting here just a bit disappointed in how everything ended. Who gives out their boss's email instead of their own? I just, with all the characters and all the stories, I didn't fall in love with anyone and I was-- I wish it gripped me more. Maybe less to keep track of and more time to fall in love with someone: Daphne and Luke, Caroline and Max. Anyone really.

Thank you to NetGalley and Anita Hughes for the advanced copy of Christmas in Aspen