I was a bit concerned about reading a holiday book before the season had started, but I should not have worried about it. I was easily swept away into the story and the magic of the season.

I had recently read The Bookshop by the Bay, so returning to Chatham felt familiar. It was enjoyable to see some characters from the Bookshop and get to know some new people.

I enjoyed that there was not a lot of drama in this book. It would be the calm escape in the crazy time of the holiday.

"The Christmas Inn" by Pamela M. Kelley is a delightfully cozy and joyful novel that embodies the magic and warmth of the holiday season. This feel-good story centers around the FMC, Riley Sanders, who after losing her job just before Christmas, returns to her family's Inn nestled along the shores of Cape Cod. Her intentions to help her mother who has suffered a broken leg quickly becomes a journey of self-discovery and reconnection. The inn, decked out with mistletoe and snowflakes, provides the perfect backdrop for the unfolding drama, familial bonding, and romance.
There are plenty of positives in "The Christmas Inn." The story is undeniably sweet and wholesome, making it a perfect Christmas holiday read. The author has crafted charming female characters, each contributing to the narrative's heartwarming appeal. The novel features three romantic subplots, including a new romance and two second-chance love stories, adding variety to the reading experience. The intergenerational relationships add richness, as the novel spans three generations, emphasizing the timeless theme of returning home to family. Additionally, Pamela Kelley's knowledge of food and wine is evident, adding a delightful sensory layer to the festive setting.

However, the book has its shortcomings. At times, the emphasis on food and drink to set the scene feels overdone, with an overload of hot chocolate and frequent references to wine and alcohol. The rapid succession of scenes often lacks depth, with some sections feeling more like telling than showing. Riley’s second chance at love with her old boyfriend comes across as somewhat flat, with little internal thought or emotion driving their actions, making the secondary character romances more compelling by comparison. The predictability of the main character's storyline and the lack of a strong romantic struggle can be disappointing for readers expecting a more dramatic love story. Moreover, the descriptions of the setting could use more detail to evoke that old-world charm of a traditional Christmas holiday.

Despite these flaws, "The Christmas Inn" ends on an upbeat note, capturing the spirit of second chances and the joy of family. The novel's charm lies in its ability to create a comforting, festive atmosphere that feels like a warm hug on a cold winter's night.

A big "thank you goes to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to review this Christmas novel.
I would rate it a solid 3.5 to 4 cups of hot cocoa (stars), as it succeeds in delivering a heartwarming holiday tale, even if it falls short in some areas.
NetGalley Reviewer: 1375356 (Christina H.)

It’s never too early to get in the Christmas mood. Like reading a Hallmark movie set near Cape Cod. Riley loses her job in Manhattan just before Christmas and heads home to help her mom run a b&b after she broke her leg. Will being away from the big city and her work obsessed boyfriend change her mind about her small town… and her widowed high school sweetheart with a kid tempted her to reevaluate her life? Will her mom ever find love again? Will the older Franny who came home to see her dying sister filled with memories from letters her sister wrote come back home too?
Is it predictable?-yes. Does everyone have a happy ending?-obviously. Does it just make you feel cozy and warm?- it did for me
Thank you NetGalley & St Martins Griffin

I have to admit that I am a big fan of Ms. Kelley's. And the Christmas Inn is another wonderful novel. Riley grew up on Chatham, on the shores of Cape Cod. She is a successful content marketer in New York City, dating an attorney on the fast track. But her success comes to a halt when she is laid off before Christmas. She packs up and heads home to Chatham to help her mother at her BnB. While in Chatham, she is immersed in family and the small town charm of Chatham, including a former high school flame. There are several intertwined plots, all of which are neatly wrapped up at the end. The Christmas Inn is a delight, as all of Ms. Kelley's books are. You won't be disappointed with this one!

Who wouldn’t want to spend the holiday season, or any season, in beautiful Cape Cod. Riley rushed home to Chatham, one of my favorite towns on the Cape, to help her mom run her bed and breakfast, the Chatham Coastal Inn. Her mom’s broken leg didn’t slow her down too much, but she was glad to have Riley with her during the busy holiday season. Riley needed something to keep her mind off of her unemployed status and the fact that she wasn’t sure her boyfriend had time for anything but work! Was he really the one for her and would she ever come first in his life? Riley knew that time spent back home with her family would ease her mind and just make her happy! What I love most about this book is that perfect strangers became friends, and almost like family. Riley and her mom Beth, befriended Franny, one of their guests and included her in all of the holiday festivities. Riley’s old boyfriend Aidan and his son were staying at the Inn, and Riley made sure they both had a special Christmas. Their holiday guests became family, old friends became more and the magic of the holiday brought romance for three special couples. If you love a happy ending, holiday sparkle and Cape Cod, then “The Christmas Inn” is where you need to be this holiday season!!

Loved this book!!!! It’s the Christmas season and Riley unexpectedly loses her job, her mother has an accident and her help is needed back home the job loss isn’t such a tragedy! There are several different loves stories going on and you’re invested in all of them! The characters are delightful, a must read!!

The Christmas Inn is a feel good holiday story that will tug at your heartstrings and make you believe the magic of the season. It begins when Riley loses her job when her department is eliminated, and she becomes restless and ready for a change. When her sister mentions their mom broker her leg, Riley drives to Cape Cod immediately, to help her mother run their B&B inn, trying to use her skills to increase occupancy. As she reconnects with her hometown, family, and friends, she begins to question whether NYC is still where she wants her home. She also discovers her high school sweetheart who lost his wife three years earlier is living at the B&B with his 8-year-old son, while his house is being restored. Aiden and Riley renew their friendship and enjoy some activities together with 8-year-old Luke. As Christmas approaches, a few intriguing stories emerge about the guests at a B&B in Cape Cod during the holiday season in the winter. The characters are relateable and the reader will be able to easily identify with any of the stories within the main story that is happening concurently. This touching story truly is a testament to the truth that family isn’t necessarily those we are related to but those we care about and hold close in our hearts. Looking forward to some network turning this into a movie. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher.

The Christmas Inn by Pamela Kelley is a charming holiday read that gave me all the cozy, Hallmark movie vibes I was hoping for. Riley, recently laid off from her Manhattan job, returns home to help her mother, who has broken her leg and is unable to manage their family-owned bed and breakfast. While back in her small town, Riley reconnects with an old high school boyfriend who is now a guest at the inn. Torn between her life in Manhattan and the potential for a new beginning in her hometown, Riley faces a heartwarming dilemma about where she truly belongs. This book was a delightful escape, and I loved every festive moment of it!

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for this e-ARC.

This was a lovely read! I enjoyed every bit of this! A very sweet and entertaining book. This is the first book I've read by this author and it won't be the last. It was well written and well developed. I loved the characters and the story so much.

TOTALLY new author for me - and boy oh boy was this a treat! Riley loses her job, goes back to help her mom who broke her leg run their Inn - and who is staying there - none the less but her old boyfriend and his son. This story will make you want Christmas to come even sooner no matter when you read it...

The Christmas Inn was the perfect way to kick off my holiday reading this year. From the start, I was drawn into the story, feeling the chill of winter right alongside Riley as she faces the harsh reality of her job as a content editor being replaced by AI, just days before Christmas. Her boyfriend, on the fast track to becoming a partner at his law firm, cancels their date, making the day feel even colder and lonelier.

If this were a made-for-TV Christmas movie, I could easily see today’s popular actors bringing these characters to life. But it’s not a movie—it’s a book, and that makes it so much better. Pamela Kelley has crafted a cast of likable characters who truly come alive against the charming backdrop of Cape Cod at Christmastime.

Riley’s journey doesn’t just unfold in the big city. After losing her job, she heads back home to help her mother recover from a broken leg. As she sends out resumes and searches for her next career move, she discovers more about herself than she ever imagined. Her life and boyfriend may be in New York, but as the story progresses, so does Riley’s understanding of what she truly wants. Like many before her, she faces some tough decisions—and soon.

Yes, the story is a bit predictable—it is a Christmas romance, after all. But there’s always something that keeps you hooked, with just enough twists to make this heartwarming tale impossible to put down. So, grab a cup of hot chocolate or a glass of Cabernet, and dive into your Christmas TBR list. The Christmas Inn is the perfect book to start with, filled with all the charm and warmth needed to make you smile.

This is a warm and cozy Christmas read, focusing on strangers who come together at a small inn before the holiday season due to loss of job, injury recovery, home renovation, or loss of a family member. Riley returns home to help with the inn and finds the welcoming environment that she didn't realize how much she needed. She is able to fill her creative niche and also connect with some of the guests. This story is a happy read for the holiday season.

What is sweet Christmas story. Loved the setting and ALL the characters (well maybe not Jack). The only time I like a story wrapped up so neatly, is when it’s Christmas time 🎄

The Christmas Inn is a delightful holiday escape. After losing her job in NYC just before the holidays and learning her mother has just broken her leg, Riley decides to return home to help her mother with her Bed and Breakfast and enjoy time with family while she navigates her next move. I believe this is the third book I've read by Pamela Kelley, and I have thoroughly enjoyed each one. The Christmas Inn transports you to a cozy Cape Cod inn, complete with a cast of characters easy to like characters, some passing through town, some from the past, and some looking for a future. I enjoyed watching Riley's character develop throughout the book as her feelings on her life adjusted, but I also enjoyed the other storylines of Fanny navigating her first holiday season without her sister, and Beth as she meets a new friend. The Christmas Inn as a perfect holiday read. Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's for this advanced copy, all opinions are my own.

Oh my goodness, this book was like a snow globe just perfect. I can not get over how adorable this love story, the setting, just the whole thing from start to finish. Loved it!

I’ve seen this premise in a book before, but you know what? It worked and I really enjoyed the book. A warm hug of a Hallmark type Christmas book. It’s clean, calm, not really any drama but It’s a book you’d want to share with your mother or grandmother.

When AI makes Riley Sanders redundant at her job it isn’t what she was planning on having happen, especially right before Christmas. I guess if there’s such a thing as perfect timing at the wrong time it would be now. Jobless right before Christmas Riley finds her mother has broken her leg and needs helping to run her Christmas Inn. Packing her cat and little else she welcomes the change of scenery as she’s now back in her hometown helping her mother.

Memories fade but don’t disappear as she sees her former high school love staying for the Christmas season at her mother’s inn. As the snow falls and the fire crackles at the Cape Cod inn, Aidan is happy to help Riley and her mother with some of the heavy work at the inn all the while remembering their high school romance.


Aiden is there with his son Luke and has a hard time at Christmas as his wife passed away a few years ago but he wants to make it as happy as possible for his son.


Riley is in a relationship with a financial guy, a mover and shaker who believes making partner and working long and then even longer hours is more important than any relationship.

When things seem to be going well with Riley and her rekindled relationship with Aiden she needs to step back and reevaluate not only her relationship with Jack but job wise as well.


I enjoyed meeting Beth, Riley’s mother a friendly woman who just may be getting a second chance at a romance as well, later in life. Warm, friendly and perfect for that hot chocolate with cookies reading.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

This is a sweet story of coming home. The timeframe is a few weeks before Christmas and is set in a town on the shores of Cape Cod. Riley has just lost her job because of AI. She calls her sister for a shoulder to lean on and learns their mom has broken her leg. With no job to hold her in Manhattan, she goes home to help out. Her boyfriend is a lawyer in Manhattan who works all the time and she rarely sees him so leaving is no problem. Taking Lily, her cat, she spend the next few weeks helping her mom run the Inn she owns. Using her marketing skills, Riley helps her mom increase reservations. During this time, Riley finds her boyfriend from high school is now a widower with a young son. Love blooms as Christmas approaches for many of the people connected to the Inn. With Riley's hunt for a new job and the feeling associated with the town, she has to put her priorities in order. What is she to do? Grab a copy to find out.

I received a free copy of, The Christmas Inn, by Pamela Kelley, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Riley Sanders lost her job right before the holidays, she decides to go home to Cape Cod, to help her mom, who is injured, run her inn. I am sure that an inn in Cape Cod at Christmas time, is beautiful, and Riley gets to spend Christmas time with her mom, on the cape. This was a lovely story.

I just finished an arc for "The Christmas Inn" by Pamela Kelly. Like all of the other books I have read by Pamela I really enjoyed the story and the characters. Riley moves back to Chatham to help her mother who has broken her leg. Riley had just been laid off of her job, so she had the time to help her mother run her Inn. Riley's high school sweetheart is living at the Inn with his son while their house is being fixed. Franny is at the Inn because her sister passed and she came to say her good byes. The story is about how they deal with the holiday and their changes. The book is light and easy. I really enjoyed it, but I didn't seem to read it as fast as Pamela's other books. I would recommend reading this book.

Even though I read this in August, this was the perfect Christmas book. It wasn't an over-the-top holiday read, and I didn't feel weird reading it in August. The story is not really about Christmas but about family, hope, and friendships. I loved the characters and their struggles with life; that added a realistic element to this read.