Have you ever wanted to stay in a cottage in the United Kingdom over Christmas? You might after you read The Holiday Cottage by Sarah Morgan. It is on shelves today! Morgan is a British writer, and the jaunty British humor is welcoming–humor isn’t always present in novels.

The novel opens with a bit of a surprise that I’ll let you discover–it is definitely not like a normal sort of opening. Each chapter focuses on a different character–Imogen, Dorothy, and Sara. The main character is Imogen, who manages large scale business events. She manages a winery and is close to the owner, Dorothy. Dorothy’s daughter, Sara, has two children and a husband. They all have their own heartaches to carry in their souls which ties each character together.

There is a bit of mystery involving Dorothy and Imogen in the beginning of the novel, and this encouraged me to read further.

Each scene was filled with description, and I was able to picture all the characters in my mind. One of the descriptive, lovely lines in one of Dorothy’s chapters: “She loved the hushed stillness of these early winter mornings, the sense that the world around was snuggling down.”

Imogen unexpectedly has a month off from work, and Dorothy offers Imogen her cottage for the entire month, sensing she needs to get away from London. Without hesitation, Imogen takes her up on it.

And then the story takes a twist that no one will see coming. As I turned each page, I had to keep reading, and very rarely put the book down.

This book was like traveling to a small British village, and I loved it so much I didn’t want to leave. I hope there will be a sequel–I think the author definitely left it open for another sequel! If you love Christmas, if you love small towns and villages, you will absolutely LOVE this book.

The Holiday Cottage is a heartwarming family Christmas story. Imogen is a hard working professional with an idyllic childhood at least thats what people think. The reality is she makes up stories to seem happier than she is. Imogen is actually overworked and this leads her to make a huge mistake. She's forced to take time off to rest. When she gets an invite to stay a client's guest house for Christmas , she decides it's just the thing she needs. The Holiday Cottage is not the normal Sarah Morgan Christmas Romance but more of a family holiday story. It's cozy and sweet!

I don't usually care to read Christmas books so early but for some reason the last few weeks I've really wanted to read a Christmas book (I've even thought about watching Christmas movies). So I was happy that The Holiday Cottage was on my to-be-reviewed list for this month. I read Sarah Morgan's Christmas book last year The Book Club Hotel (read my review) and loved it.

This book was everything I wanted in a good Christmas novel. And it was exactly what I needed for a lazy weekend spent trying to catch up on some rest.

The set-up was obvious - a young woman with a rocky family history who is a bit of a workaholic perfectionist on the verge of burnout and an older woman who experienced a traumatic event and happens to have a holiday cottage on her country estate. At this point, I was thinking all there needs to be is a potential love interest - and cue the unlucky-in-love hardworking local veterinarian.

I thought I had the story all figured out when Imogen started to feel poorly with a headache and scratchy throat. And I was okay with that - it was comforting after having just finished a heavy read. But the story took a wild curve that took me on an emotional journey. I won't lie - I shed a few tears while reading the book - my heart hurt for Imogen.

Of course, there's a happy ending and it was just so sweet. It had all the makings of a heartfelt Hallmark movie. It definitely should be on your Christmas reading list.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Wednesday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2024/09/the-holiday-cottage-by-sarah-morgan.html

Holly Cottage, Dorothy's country home and the village in the Cotswolds are the absolute perfect, festive location for a holiday book. All of the descriptions of the cozy cottage, complete with the dog Imogen helps to rescue, give off the perfect cozy holiday settings; which is everything I want in a holiday book. I enjoyed the descriptions of how Dorothy's family celebrated Christmas and their various traditions. The plot itself however, was one that I found both implausible and needlessly complicated. The author foreshadows from the beginning that there is some huge secret that is being kept. The revelation does completely upend everything Imogen knew or thought she knew about her family. I won't spoil the secret here, but it is a big part of the plot and I had a really hard time with it.

At first I almost DNF this ONLY because it deals with heavy topics. With the work I do I try to avoid books with real life topics that are tough, but I’m a huge fan of Sarah Morgan. I’m glad I kept reading because I ended up so intrigued with the story. I did see some of it coming but that didn’t take away from the story at all. I ended up enjoying it a lot. It really captures the true meaning of Christmas no matter how cliche that sounds.

4.5 rounded up. This is another wonderful story to add to Sarah Morgan's catalog. It's about family and love and opening oneself up to others. There were a couple of things in the first half that I wasn't sure were going to work for me ~ I don't love troublesome mothers, or books where we figure out what's going on fairly early on ~ but I feel like she took this and was able to delve into the characters' stories and emotions to create a heartwarming holiday novel. Add in the cozy cottages and snowy villages and it's a wonderful Christmas book. Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the advance digital copy!

Imogen lives for her work. She lives for it so much that she’s made up a personal life just to avoid her coworkers’ questions and to hide her lack of a life.
Dorothy runs her own company and likes Imogen’s marketing so much that she moved her account when Imogen moved to a new company. Her daughter Sarah is concerned that Dorothy has picked up another stray (Dorothy has any number of animals that she’s adopted as well as people who Sarah is afraid will take advantage. But they both know something that Imogen doesn’t and it threatens to upend her life.
Luckily, handsome vet (and son of Dorothy’s best friend) Miles is there to help. And he has a golden retriever named Ralph who has decided that Imogen is his person.
A sweet story. Fans of Morgan will know what to expect.

Four stars
This book come out September 24, 2024
ARC kindly provided by Canary Street Press and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

I hardly know what to say about Sarah Morgan's, The Holiday Cottage. Admittedly, I have a hard time recommending this novel for book clubs and libraries. Holiday Cottage has no real depth. If a 90 minute movie, the critic would label it sappy, but I can manage better than that. This novel has unresolved possibilities, which Morgan should have addressed with her editor. Imogene, the novel's protagonist, is best described as a woman with no life, no future, no family, and no luck. Even her dog is not real, and yet, Sarah Morgan solves all of Imogene's problem in 352 pages and 2 weeks in the country.

There are some good ideas at play here, but the execution needs work. The long opening section of the book is focused on Imogen's work life, which is her life. Her constant, chronic lying is tiring. Finally, she is assigned a mandatory vacation, is offered a short tern cottage in the country, solves her family dilemma in 5 minutes, and turns her life round in 2 weeks. Best of all she gets a real dog of the same breed as the fake dog photo on her work desk.

I wish Morgan would take her readers more seriously. We want more than a 90 minute holiday movie, or at least I do. What happens to Imogene's mom? Is she going to be dead and buried and written out of the novel? Is Imogene going to continue paying Tina's rent and buying groceries? What's with the long distance romance and dog sharing? I want some complexity in a novel. I have never read a Sarah Morgan novel before, and I guess this will be my last one, but it doesn't have to be. This is a fast, mostly pleasant read, but with more neurosis than I would expect in a holiday novel. Take the good ideas and craft a novel that really explores these ideas. Unfortunately the world is filled with abused children. What is Imogene going to do about it?

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Fiction and NetGalley. I am always bothered when I read a novel with possibilities than go undeveloped.

I really enjoyed this book. It had me tearing up at times. I liked the story and the characters. It was good to get different perspectives. Lovely holiday read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC on this book for my honest review.

Imogen has had hard life being raised by a single mom who continues to struggle with addiction. When she started at her new company a year ago she tries to fit in by creating the family and dog she wishes to have. She is an event planner/manager who works all the time and rarely sleeps. One day she has 3 events which she coordinates her time to be able to stop at all of them, except she gets a call from the hospital that her mother is there and Imogen needs to come. Her mother tells Imogen that she ruined her life and she wishes she did not exist.

Imogen's boss can see that she is near burnout and forces Imogen to take a month break over the Christmas season. Imogen has lunch with a client. Dorothy, before her break begins. Dorothy can see something is wrong and invited Imogen to come to her country estate and stay in the cottage for as long as she wants.

Pick up this book and read if Imogen gets the breaks she desperately needs and the Christmas she has always dreamed of.

The Holiday Cottage by Sarah Morgan was compelling, and I absolutely loved it. It wasn't easy, as it waded through numerous difficult issues, but the outcome in a Christmas Cotswolds setting was heartwarmingly satisfying. I recommend it highly.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

A slow burn family saga of painful past choices, toxic relationships/boundaries, forgiveness, hope, Christmas-time, & the most adorable dog, Ralph. I appreciated the many examples of productive & healthy conversations between adults who genuinely are good, caring individuals. I expected more tension, but this seemed to be more about creating new healthy relationships of trust and shared experiences. In the end it felt like a delightful read.
Thank you #NetGalley for the e-book!

I want to start this review by thanking Netgalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, Canary Street Press, and Sarah Morgan for gifting me with a digital copy of The Holiday Cottage in return for an honest review. I am so happy to say that I loved this book and had a hard time putting it down. Honestly, I did not want it to end. The cover is what drew me to the book in the first place because it is so Cozy and Christmasy-looking that I could not help myself. Besides, I have read other books by this author and have enjoyed them very much.

This book held my attention because it is not your typical Christmas fluffy story. I want to be clear: I am not slamming those types of stories because I love them as well. However, this story had some pretty heavy-hitting things, and I think that the author did a great job with them. I was interested throughout the whole story, and I was so curious about Dorothy and her daughter Sara’s mysterious past. In this story, we are following a young woman named Imogen whose life consists mainly of work. She has no social life to speak of, and her mother is truly a piece of work. I think Tina (Imogen’s mom) is probably one of the most selfish people I have read about in a long time. Imogen has a job that she loves and one that she is good at. Which I suppose makes sense since she does not have a life outside of work. Everyone loves her at work, from her boss to co-workers and her clients. They, however, do not know that Imogen is not who she says she is. In fact, it is rare that she shares anything true about herself with anyone. Imogen fears what would happen if people knew her real self. Imogen likes to keep her personal life to herself, so that is precisely what she does by spinning tales about her family and childhood. It appears to the outside world that Imogen has the perfect life. All things must fall apart eventually, though, right?

Imogen is a bit of a workaholic, and it isn’t long before something happens in her world, making her drop the ball on some of her clients. Her boss forces her to take the month of December off, and Imogen isn’t thrilled about it. She is terrified of not having her work to help her get through the holidays. Little does Imogen know that this forced time off could change her life in ways that she could never imagine. Imogen’s favorite client, Dorothy, hears about her forced time off and offers Imogen a chance to stay at her cottage in the Cotswolds over the Christmas Season. She is hesitant at first but quickly decides it might be a good idea because she could get away from her lonely London basement apartment.

Holly Cottage is the perfect place for couples and influencers alike to enjoy themselves and take great photographs. The cottage looks so cute and cozy that Imogen can not believe her luck. Dorothy is allowing her to stay in her extra home, which is typically a rented vacation home. The thing that Imogen does not know is that Dorothy has a reason behind her generous offer, and it does not take long to find out what it is. You see, Dorothy blames herself for something that happened years ago, and she is hoping that this offer will give her some solace from the past. The past that Sara, Dorothy’s daughter, tries very hard to escape from and a past that Dorothy is devastated by.

Sarah Morgan did a fantastic job of weaving these characters’ lives together. The way she described the setting made me feel all cozy and long for my own Christmas Tree while still being in summer. Her descriptions of the village with the Christmas Markets made me want to travel to England this Christmas. I found the characters to be interesting, and they made me feel for them emotionally. If you love a story about strong individuals, finding oneself, family, friendships, coming together, drama, cozy settings, romance, and Christmas with all kinds of animals, then I think you will love this story. In my opinion, Sarah Morgan knocked it out of the park with this Christmas story, and I am happy to say it will be one I will be gifting this year.

Trigger Warnings:

Emotional Child Abuse

Neglect

Excessive Drinking

Loneliness

Mentions of Strokes

Death of a Parent

Dysfunctional Family (involving a rebellious child)

The Holiday Cottage by Sarah Morgan was a wonderful heartwarming modern Christmas story. We meet Imogen, who is very successful and happy in her marketing job; as she devotes all of her time to her job and clients. Privately everything she reveals to her co-workers are in actuality illusions; such having, a boyfriend, family, and a dog. Imogen had a terrible childhood, with a mother, Tina, who wanted nothing to do with her daughter, other than giving her money. When Imogen is called to the hospital to visit her mother, she is late to a work-related project; which leads to her boss telling her she is burnt out, and needs to take a break for month away from her job.

Dorothy is one of Imogen’s favorite clients, and when she learns that Imogen is taking a break, she offers her to come to Cotswolds, and stay at her picturesque guest Holly Cottage for the month, which is close to Dorothy’s house. Imogen accepts the invitation, where she will spend the Christmas holidays at the cottage. Dorothy seeks her own redemption of her past, which will also change Imogen’s life forever. Dorothy’s daughter Sara, who lives close by, with two children and her husband; as she fears that the secrets of the past, could cause a crumbling effect, if truths are revealed.

Imogene is thrilled to be able to stay at the cottage during the holiday season, and when she meets Dorothy’s family at the house, she accidently sees photos of her mother, and Dorothy’s family. Imogene is shocked, and leaves the house, planning to go home; but when she slips in the snow, she is rescued by Miles and his dog. Imogen will learn from Miles many of the truths from the past, which make her willing have Miles and the dog help her go back to the cottage, where Sara and Dorothy find her. As both Sara and Dorothy open their hearts revealing how they loved her, before Tina took her away.

Slowly, Imogene learns the truths, and together Imogen, Sara and Dorothy will forge a bond, that brings them together, as a family. Imogen realizes that her mother, was evil, and took away the family she never knew she had. Her relationship with Miles also changes things, as they both will find love; not to mention the wonderful addition of the dog.

The Holiday Cottage was a wonderful heartwarming story of family, friendship, hope, love, and discovering to cherish to their new found bond that will enrich their lives. The Holiday Cottage is so very well written by Sarah Morgan. This was a captivating story filled with many emotions along the way. I suggest you read The Holiday Cottage.

The bones of this story are really good. Career-driven Imogen is raised by a mom who was absent at best, emotionally abusive at worst. When she's reconnected with a family she didn't know much about—and had been fed lies about—she has a second chance at family.

However, this book was so oddly paced. We spent 1/3 of the book focusing on career, about two pages for the Big Reveal that should have had quite a bit more tension, an obsession with a dog (this was serious overkill) and then an abrupt ending without a resolution to a very big plot line. Holiday spirit, yes. Recommended reading, no.

Such a cute Christmas story! I loved seeing how it all came together, I will definitely be recommending this to anyone looking for a cute holiday read about a woman finding her path and a dash of romance sprinkled on top.

I love Sarah Morgan’s books & this one is no different! Honestly, this book could be a Hallmark movie! It wasn’t the best Christmas book or Sarah Morgan book I’ve ever read, but it was still a cute, quick, holiday read!

This book follows 3 POVs: Imogen, Dorothy & Sara. Imogen is a workaholic with a mom who doesn’t really want to be her mom. Dorothy is a mom, grandma & business woman who lives in a small village & is all about family! She is also a client of Imogen’s. Sara is Dorothy’s daughter who is a mom, works for the family business & also lives in the small village & loves her town & family.

The Holiday Cottage is a cute book for the holidays! You can definitely snuggle up with this book & listen to some Christmas music! This book has some family drama, a small town, found family, a little romance, & some twists!

I always love how Sarah Morgan ties the POVs together! I think that is one of my favorite things about her books. Would definitely recommend for a quick holiday read that definitely gives Hallmark movie vibes!

I am a Christmas fanatic and this was the perfect read to get me in the mood even though it isn't December yet. This will definitely be one I go back to in future years for that wholesome Christmas vibe. With that said, that doesn't mean there isn't a good mix of angst throughout this story line which definitely kept me hooked!

Imogen has always had to fend for herself and hasn't had any family except for her mother, who never really wanted her. She overworks herself to keep busy but eventually it becomes to much. Enter Dorothy, her client who has become a close friend to her and offers her the Holly Cottage to escape while Imogen is told to take a month off of work. Dorothy and her family are so kind and giving, even when some of their intentions are based on them trying to see redemption for mistakes they have made in the past. The quaint little town Holly Cottage is set in is the perfect Christmas scene and just what Imogen needed. But she didn't expect to gain as much as she did from staying in this cottage.

This story was full of heartwarming moments and leads you on a path of self discovery and the ultimate found family trope. I kept trying to guess what the big twist was going to be and I was definitely shocked. I loved how Dorothy was able to give Imogen a family after so long and how open Imogen was to changing things so that she could fully enjoy life. She and Miles were and adorable match and I am obsessed with them. If I could jump in a book to visit a Christmas town I would definitely do it here! Christmas tree farms, holiday school plays, ice skating, a town that is decked out in everything Christmas, quaint bakeries/shops, beautiful snowy views? I could go on and on, this book was just overall everything I could ask for in a Christmas story!

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this gifted copy in exchange for my honest review!

Immy's life has been less than ideal, with her mother (who has issues) being her only family and a fake-life that she makes up to fit in at work. She works hard, she works a lot, and she does her best to carve out the life she dreams of having. One of her clients, Dorothy, has a secret and is working on sharing it with Immy, but like most secrets, it comes out in an unexpected way. I feel like this book could really have been set at any time of the year, as the holidays were more of an afterthought to it or a setting, but it's still a good story. I would love to see a follow up that gives Immy some resolution to the ghosts she has been carrying far too long.

Another lovely book from Sarah Morgan! Although this is a Christmas story, it is deeper than that. I loved the character development and sense of place, and I feel sure our patrons will enjoy this one!