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The Christmas Inn
Author: Pamela Kelley
Source: NetGalley
Date Pub.: September 24, 2024

The Christmas Inn was like a sip of fresh, clean, and cool water to a dry soul. September has been a hard month in this house, and Ms. Kelley’s story was about a disillusioned young lady, Riley, who loses her job in NYC (her dream town) right before Christmas, returns home to Cape Cod to help her divorced Mom run a bed & breakfast, and reconnects with some pretty great people. Honestly, I loved everyone in this book, even the lousy boyfriend. This is a Hallmark-style romance, that runs a predictable plot and I enjoyed every gosh darn minute of the book. Thank you to the author for giving me something sweet, hopeful, and charming to read when I needed it most. #TheChristmasInn @pamelamkelley @NetGalley @stmartinspress #romance #COZYRomance #sweet #charming #atmospheric #fun #smallTown #love #future #hope #christmas #holidays #happynewyear
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I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the opportunity to read this novel.
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The Christmas Inn is a cozy Christmas read and will make you wanna curl up with a by a Christmas tree. Riley lost her job just a few days before Christmas and she calls home and learns her mom needs some help at their family inn. So she packs her up stuff and head to their in on Cape Cod earlier than she had planned. While Riley is there she gets to connect to with all the guests like Franny, and reconnect with her old boyfriend Aiden. She also gets to spend quality time with her mom doing all the things around the inn plus all their holiday traditions. Riley soon realizes how special the inn is at Christmas and how special the people around her are. I thought the Christmas Inn was just a sweet little Christmas read and I really enjoyed it!

Yeassss. I love holiday romance soooo much. I love a hallmark movie type read and this is exactly that!!!
I loved the cape cod setting and the characters and the whole inn vibe. Riley and her mom interact with a bunch of visitors at the end they’re all really great, but Franny is the best. She was just so sweet
Highly recommend.

This is a story that you could enjoy any time of year. There's a trio of romances for women in different generations in this clean and charming book. I love that the romances are slow growing, even the reconnections. I find that more realistic than instalove stories. The characters pulled me right into the story. I only wished that I had some of the recipes that Riley and her mother made. I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher through Netgalley. This is my honest and voluntarily given review. The more books that I read by Pamela Kelly, the more that I look forward to her next book. I know that I will have an enjoyable story.

Picture this - there’s a fire crackling in the fireplace, you’re curled up on the couch with a cozy blanket and hot chocolate and the Hallmark Channel is playing their latest Christmas movie. That is exactly the vibes that this book gives. It should be added to everyone’s holiday TBR list!

Thank you for this ARC! It was a delightful holiday story of family, romance and hope. It has several women of different generations as main characters, which was appealing. The details on food and festivities were just right. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone that enjoys a Christmas story.

The Christmas Inn owner Beth has a serious mishap and is relieved to welcome her daughter Riley home after the young woman loses her job. Life in Cape Cod is slower than New York City and gives Riley a chance to look at her life in a new way. She keeps busy working to promote business for her mom's inn while her updating resume. She misses her workaholic lawyer boyfriend who she sporadically spends time with.
Riley eases into helping her mother and enjoys meeting guests of the inn including Franny, a widow who has come to visit her dying sister. An interesting addition to the guest list is her high school sweetheart, Aidan, a widower with young son, Luke. Each character is interesting and the inn's description, an excellent place to stay.
This is my first time reading a Pamela M. Kelley book. I appreciate receiving the advanced reader's copy from St. Martin's Griffin via NetGalley. This is my own unsolicited opinion of the book. This is a nice second chance romance story during the Christmas season. There is a bit of repetition, noticeable but not irritating. I will admit to feeling that I was getting a wine list and critique at one point. There was a lot of wine going on. The cheese selections sounded intriguing. I enjoyed the Christmas feel of the story. I appreciated the clean romances, anticipation of Riley's choices and could even see that this group could inspire a second book. I think it's a good pre-Christmas read right now. I give it a 4 out of five stars.

This was a sweet holiday read that had all your favorite things: snow, hot chocolate, a bed and breakfast, Christmas events, and lots of wine! Although you could tell right away where Riley's love interest really fell, there was really no true romantic development between them until the final pages of the book (there was actually more description about Riley's mom and her mom's romantic storyline). The book felt a bit long, especially with Riley being oblivious to way she very clearly felt about her job opportunities and her boyfriend, but there were also moments where the writing felt like it fell a bit short. I really enjoyed all the local references in Cape Cod and some of the history shared about this actual locations, and now have an urge to make raspberry squares after reading how easy they might be to make!

Another fabulous holiday read by Pamela M. Kelley! I love the cozy. warm, holiday feel of her books; it's like wrapping myself in a big blanket in front of the Christmas tree. I loved the little glimpse into the recurring characters; it felt like I was coming home.

So far, really enjoying my holiday reading binge and definitely filling up on some holiday fun, romance and some family craziness. The book summary pretty much lays out the start of the story. For Riley, there’s nothing like going back home to Cape Cod after getting laid off from her NYC job because she was replaced by AI. As luck would have it, Riley’s mom, Beth, broke her leg while tending to her Cape Cod B&B and is struggling with keeping the Inn full lately. Alas, super marketing whiz, Riley, home for the holidays to help out while Beth is on the mend. Riley does her marketing magic and voilà, reservations start coming in.

Can’t have a holiday romance story without a hunky widower or any other male who is single as a pringle. This hunk happens to be, Aiden, Riley’s high school sweetheart, who she dumped after graduation, before going off to college, because she had no intention of coming back to Cape Cod after college. Aiden, who did come back after college, so that he could take over his father’s accounting firm, so his parents could retire – to AZ, where millions of other east coast retirees flock to. Aiden married a townie and they had a son, Luke. His wife died three years earlier. Aiden and Luke are staying at the Inn through Christmas because of some unexpected home repairs. Aiden has decided that he and Luke are going to skip Christmas this year, unbeknownst to Luke.

Most of the story revolves around updating the promotion, branding and marketing of the Inn to get reservations back up to what they used to be. There are also the issues Riley is having with long-time boyfriend, Jack, who is a workaholic, much to Riley’s concern and displeasure. Riley and Beth have also decided to make this Christmas a special one for Luke, in spite of Aiden’s resistance. The guests at the Inn are a wonderful addition to the story, especially, Franny, an elderly woman who just lost her beloved sister and is mired in grief. Her sister left her some letters, messages about how to move on.

This story, including the romance sections, was kind of slow and a little bland; very G-rated for those that like to know that kind of stuff. There wasn’t even much drama until deep into the second half. The ending was nice and wrapped up the story in a big, pretty bow. The second half was better than the first half, which saved this story from a disappointing rating.

The character development of most of the characters was fairly good. The pacing was really slow, with the second half being a little better than the first half. The storyline was ok, once again, the second half was a little better than the first. The writing was fine, but one of the most surprising and funny things about the story were the recipes that Beth and Riley made for the Inn guests. I actually wrote a few of them down to try out. I’m looking at an overall rating of 3.25 that I will be rounding down to a 3star review. I want to thank NetGalley, St Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

#NetGalley #StMartinsPress #MacmillanAudio #TheChristmasInn

If you’re craving a heartwarming, feel-good story set against the backdrop of a Cape Cod Christmas, The Christmas Inn by Pamela Kelley is the perfect choice. As comforting as a cozy blanket and hot cocoa on a cold day, this book is a delightful blend of personal growth, second-chance romance, and the magic of the holidays.

The story follows Riley Sanders, who unexpectedly finds herself without a job just before Christmas. When she learns that her mom has broken her leg, she decides to head home to Cape Cod to help out with the family inn. The inn is charmingly set along the shores, and Riley hopes the change of scenery—and her family—will provide a much-needed distraction from her troubles.

Little does she know, her mother’s inn isn’t faring as well as expected, especially with the holiday rush approaching. The guest list is shorter than anticipated, but among the handful staying at the inn are some key characters—Aidan, Riley’s high school sweetheart, and his son Luke, who are temporarily living at the inn while their home undergoes renovations. There’s also Franny, who is grieving the loss of her sister and carrying four unopened letters meant to help guide her through a new chapter in life.

Kelley does a fantastic job of capturing all the cozy, festive vibes of Christmas on Cape Cod. From the crackling fires to the festive cookies, the setting alone makes you want to book a holiday escape. While the storyline is predictable in the best kind of way, I found myself enjoying every moment of it.

I particularly loved how Franny’s journey paralleled Riley’s in its own quiet way. Franny’s inner conflict between returning to her life in Manhattan or staying in Cape Cod felt authentic and meaningful. It’s a story of growth, love, and finding what matters most. The romantic subplots, especially between Riley and Aidan, are sweet and believable—they add to the holiday magic without feeling forced.

I also enjoyed all the holiday activities described at the inn and in the community. The festivities added to the cozy, nostalgic feeling and gave me all the holiday feels, even though I was reading this in September!

Final Thoughts:

The Christmas Inn is a heartwarming read that’s sure to lift your spirits, whether you’re in the mood for holiday cheer or just looking for a feel-good escape.

Heartwarming and merry! I enjoyed this lovely mother/daughter tale, which is imbued with the Christmas spirit and depicts Christmas in Cape Cod’s Chatham in a beautiful and appealing manner. The story made me want to search real estate ads for my own cottage in Chatham, and I felt the characters were relatable and authentically depicted. The plot lines also feel tailor-made for a Hallmark Channel Countdown to Christmas movie.

For my taste, I did find various aspects of the book - such as descriptions of meal preparation - to be excruciatingly over-descriptive. I do not need to read about boiling water for pasta and salting the water, for example, and eventually found myself skimming such descriptions, which I felt bogged down the story. Also, given the attention to details of so many foods, I thought it odd the book does not include recipes. Perhaps those would be a fine addition to an Afterword or at least a website/social media offering by Pamela Kelley once the book is published.

All that said, I also found this romance novel to be cozy and Christmassy. 3.5 stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for a complimentary ARC. Opinions are my own.

A heartwarming holiday story that left me feeling joyful. It was the salve that my heart needed to ward off the stressors that bombard my days!!

I appreciate NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for a copy of The Christmas Inn, by Pamela Kelley, in exchange for an honest review. This was such a sweet story - think Hallmark Movie in book form. Riley, a marketing manager in New York City, unexpectedly loses a job she enjoys right before Christmas. She returns to her childhood home of Cape Cod to help her mother, who has broken her leg, run the cute bed and breakfast she owns. While there she gets to know the other people staying at the Inn and builds relationships with them. Mainly her high school love, Aidan - who is now a widower with a young son and Franny - a widow who has just lost her sister and learns to love Cape Cod again. Riley realizes there's more to life than the life in the big city she's been living. This precious story is sure to be one of your holiday favorites.

What a heartwarming holiday story! Set on the shores of Cape Cod this bed and breakfast is one I would love to stay in!!! Breakfast, wine & cheese party’s and chocolate turndown service makes this a home away from home. Through no fault of her own Riley ends up leaving Manhattan to go home to Cape Cod to help her mom run the bed and breakfast while recovering from a broken leg. Riley realizes how much she has missed home and the people she loves. The holidays are so special and there is a lot of love in the air, Riley, her mother and the people they have come to love have a lot of decisions to make! This was such a heart warming Christmas Story!! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely love this time of year to read Christmas books! I absolutely adore them and this one will forever be on my top list of Christmas romance!

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this. Riley returns home to help her mom. She brings new ideas to her moms inn to generate more visitors. She meets an old love she still has feelings for. An enjoyable holiday book.

I loved this book it made me feel like I was in a hallmark movie! It had all the cozy good feels to it! It was such a good vibe to just to get up in the holiday spirit! This was definitely a 4 star for me!

Riley Sanders didn’t plan on losing her job as a content marketing manager right before Christmas. When she calls her sister Amy to vent, she learns that their mother has broken her leg and could really use some help at the inn. Riley decides to head home to the inn, nestled along the shores of Cape Cod, in time for the Christmas rush. She is happy to help and needs something to distract her as mistletoe is hung and snowflakes begin to fall. When she gets there, she not only finds delicious cookies and a crackling fire to lift her spirits, but also the sense of family she’s been missing all along. There’s Franny, a woman who has just lost her sister and has four unopened letters from her that she plans to use to open her up to new experiences on the Cape. And there’s Aidan, her high school sweetheart, now a widower, who is staying at the inn with his nine year-old son, Luke. What begins as a quick stay over the holidays to help her mom turns into something that means much more—a second chance at romance, a deeper sense of found family, and all the joy and wonder that comes with Christmastime on Cape Cod.

I am familiar with the author's name, but I think this is the first novel that I have read by her, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Her characters are well developed and her message of the importance of family and friends is evident. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for introducing me to this author.

There're parts of this story which I absolutely love, and then there were bits which bored me till I zoned out. We have 3 FMCs, all of them at pivotal times in their life and undergo a decent character arc over the course of the book. The setting and its descriptions were quite pleasant to say the least. I love that all of the characters get their happy ending in the end, but the process of getting there was pretty tedious. The writing was off at times, with way too much filler to unnecessarily lengthen the book and the character voices were at times hard to distinguish. The occasional scenes with lovely banter kept me going and that was the only thing that made the listen worthwhile.