Jenny Bayliss is one of my go-to authors every Christmas season and her most recent novel did not disappoint! This book was full of all of the most wonderful parts of Christmas; love, community, family - including found- family. Harriet was a breath of peppermint-scented air as a middle-aged main character navigating her first Christmas as a single empty-nester and living her own Hallmark Channel-worthy romance.

The storyline of fixing up the dilapidated theater paired with Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol was very entertaining and I grew fond of the misfit cast of teenage characters. There's nothing like a whole community coming together to fix up an old theater in time for Christmas! Kiss Me at Christmas is definitely at the top of my nice list this year.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a must read for the holidays! Cute rom com by an author who always gets it right. Brava!

Kiss Me at Christmas
•Jenny Bayliss

When Harriet’s daughter ditches her for the Christmas season (in a positive, but still heartbreaking way) she picks up a hottie in a bar and does the *jingle bell rock* 😏.

Then she quickly returns to her regularly scheduled life as a school therapist-ish where she immediately finds herself taking the fall for 5 of her most difficult students.

Said fall-taking leads to a showdown with a real life Scrooge and saving the community theater with a band of theater folk and some construction workers and *jingle bell rock* man.

🎭 🎄 ❄️ ❤️ 🎭 🎄 ❄️ ❤️

The Christmas Queen 👑 does it again. I loved this one. Jenny has such a talent at writing mature characters experiencing the joys of raising older children, found family, love, and community. Her small-town UK settings always give me all the feels and I love that she writes holiday without throwing holiday in your face.

I really enjoyed this book. I love a good Christmas book and this was just the gift I needed! Kiss me at Christmas…. A definite holiday read!

"Mucker Smucker Gloriana Ballbags!" (prepare for many phrases like this that will make you LOL!)

I absolutely adored this book. It is not my first read by Jenny Bayliss but definitely my favorite so far!
A good read to help you get in the Christmas Spirit! Bayliss writes in a way that helps you really get to know the characters which I love. I was drawn into the story and could not put it down. A combination of romance, found family, small town and hallmark movie vibes!

Kiss Me at Christmas follows our MFC Harriet Smith who is spending her first Christmas away from her teenage daughter, Maisy, who is participating in an exchange program in Upstate New York. Usually, the first to have her Christmas decor up, Harriet is not feeling it this year and plans to sulk in her loneliness and just miss her daughter. These feelings ultimately land her in the local bar where she meets James, the man she has a great one-night stand with.

Harriet is in charge of pastoral care at her local school. She takes her job very seriously and usually ends up doing way more than her fair share. When she assumes responsibility for the "Famous Five"- a group of students at her school that tend to get themselves into a little trouble and have strained home lives, she doesn't realize at first that these will be the young people that play a part in bringing her out of her Christmas spirit funk.

Sidenote: The "Famous Five" really pulled on my heart strings. This group of kids and the relationships they build throughout the story, make me think about how fortunate we are to have so many teachers/mentors who truly care for their students!

Hands down, five-star read for me! Thank you, Penguin Group Putnam, and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy in return for my honest opinion!

I loved every second of reading this book and it’s possible that it’s my favorite of this year. I loved all of the relationships; Harriet and James’, Harriet and the famous five, Billy & Grace (my fave), Emma and Harriet, and all of the misfits from different groups just meshed so well together. The story was so genuine and made me tear up a few times but made me laugh even more!

Kiss me at Christmas is a sweet holiday romance that wraps you in festive cheer. It takes a little bit to get there, but that's just a reminder for those of us that how lost our merry and bright feeling! The charming setting and relatable characters make it an enjoyable read. The slow-burn romance draws you in and has just the right amount of holiday magic. Some of the plot points feel a predictable, but the story and the joy of Christmas shine through. It makes for a lovely escape into the season and is perfect for a cozy night in.

This book kept me hooked every time I picked it up! Super cute and not just a standard Christmas tale.

While I adore Jenny Bayliss books. This one fell a little flat for me. It was still good, gave Clare Pooley vibes, but just left me wanting.

3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Harriet is alone for Christmas this year as her daughter is spending it in the States. All of the sudden she finds herself in charge of a theater renovation and creating a play after trying to take care of some miscreant students. Her Christmas isn’t so dreary with all these new people in her life.

Like her author books Jenny’s main theme is a mid life woman finding herself with a smidge of romance in the back ground. And I do love a more mature main character. This book just took too long to get interesting. It was also a little repetitive as far as the kids doing something bad and Harriet fixing it. The cast of characters is loveable and funny but just not amazing.

So again, while the book was good it just wasn’t amazing and didn’t wow me.

"I know a lot of adults but not so many of them act like grown ups." That line made me stop and rewind, read a few times over. Such a great line. This book is a vague Dickens retelling during which a school counselor and a group of scholarship students at a local school revive an old theater to prove to its owner, the town matriarch that owns the property but refuses philanthropy, giving back to community is worthwhile. Appropriately, they are trying to change a modern-day Scrooge's mind by putting on A Christmas Carol. Through a motley cast of unlikely characters and a variety of displaced community groups, the entire community comes together to make a Christmas show come to life with all of the wildness and chaos of renovation and winter weather. It was such a sweet story from the interplay between each characters, how they grew, and the humor displayed throughout. I loved this read and started recommending it before I was even through with it!

#arc
#netgalley
#kissmeatchristmas

Five shining stars! Jenny Bayliss is a comfort author for me, no matter the season. She pours her heart into all her books, and she doesn’t skip a beat with this one. I was so grateful for the opportunity to read this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review – thank you, G.P. Putnam’s Sons and NetGalley. I immediately bought a physical copy, if that’s any indication of how much I loved this book. It might be my new favorite of hers.

KISS ME AT CHRISTMAS follows Harriet Smith, a single mom navigating the holiday season solo while her teenage daughter participates in an exchange program in New York. After wallowing in her solitude at a local bar, she finds some comfort in a one-night stand.

Under Harriet’s watch as a social worker is the “famous five” – a group of students with rough backgrounds. One day she learns that the students have trespassed into the now-defunct Winter Theater. Upon their discovery by the police, she takes the blame for them. As compensation for the students’ trespassing, the theater owner insists that Harriet clean up the theater, in addition to directing a final Christmas play in preparation for the building’s sale. And who happens to be the owner’s lawyer? None other than Harriet’s one-night stand. Aaand…action!

Like Bayliss’ other books, this is a wholesome, lighthearted romance, but with so much additional depth, especially when it comes to her characters. There’s much-needed representation in her cast, with disability and foster care being two of note. The lovable community could warm even the coldest, Scrooge-iest of hearts. Harriet is a hoot, and her quippy inner monologue evokes Nora Ephron. For obvious reasons, I’m partial to a character named Carly.

Read this if you enjoy holiday romances, but especially if you love found family and small-town vibes.

This story, set at the holidays, focused on Harriet, who is on the pastoral care team at a private school in the UK. She loves looking after the kids at the school she works at, but the real focus of her world is her lovely daughter. However, this is the first Christmas - ever - that Harriet's daughter won't be home for the holidays, as she's away on an exchange program. Harriet's whole world is set on tilt, because if she isn't living to be needed as a mother, then what is she there for?

With that going on in the background, Harriet is caught up in a situation where she steps in to try to cover for some of the students at her school who have good hearts, but often get into trouble. As a result, Harriet makes a deal to help renovate the aging Winter Theatre in their town and commits to finding a way to put on a performance of A Christmas Carol within a few week's time.

From there, the story takes off and all of the individuals in their community that are seeking a place to go, a home, or a 'found' family grows as so many people get to know each other better and work together to create a very special kind of holiday magic. I really enjoyed the story that focused around a woman who isn't a young thing in her twenties, but rather, she's closer to middle age. The message that she is slowly learning over the course of the book is that treating yourself with care is reason enough to do something. You don't have to be an afterthought - you can can do nice things for yourself because you are worth it and it's not just about what you do for others that counts.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review.

I can't get enough of the holiday novels and especially Jenny Bayliss's novels! "Kiss Me at Christmas" was set in a small town and was full of romance and holiday spirit which I just loved. This is the perfect read sitting around your Christmas tree this holiday season!

Well, this tale started off with a drunken, curse-laden one night stand...and maybe that's why it was hard to want to root for this couple from the start. Maybe that's just me? Fortunately it felt like after that there was a shift in the tone and it did give off the Christmasy, slightly cheesy relationship and small town vibes I was after. I just didn't understand the beginning when Harriet's quirky not-quite-cursing self became established, and James' brooding but gentle personality came out. The beginning just wasn't indicative of the rest to me.
Lots of characters were introduced and different plots unfolded within, and maybe that seems like overkill, but it all unfolded as it should. The tension near the end was a little overplayed in their young relationship, and dare I mention the recklessness of the first act again? It didn't make sense for these two trying to work out their futures when they're in their 40s.
In short, if the first chapter was reworked the whole entire story would check off cozy romantic Christmas vibes.
Thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons Publishing for this ARC. All opinions are mine.

Really enjoyed this book. It does have a very slow start and in the beginning you’ll be wondering if Harriet is just a doormat type of person (letting herself be taken advantage of) but she’s not. Stick with it. I find myself wholly invested in the group of folks that came together in the theater. The story is uplifting and rewarding. Feel good without the saccharine feel. There are problems and hurdles which make the plots feel realistic. My only complaint would be the ending felt a little forced and it would have been better to explore more details of the side characters lives.

This was a delightful read! I will read anything that Jenny Bayliss releases because it's guaranteed to provide warm and cozy vibes. The story, itself, has some really great themes - healing, finding your self-worth, and the power of community development (just to name a few!). It's not as romance forward as her other books. It's more a story of finding oneself amidst the chaos of life. I would definitely recommend this read, as well as any other of Jenny's books.

thank you netgalley for the e-arc. love a christmas/holiday story when something in a small town needs to be saved! this time with the christmas play needing help and the life of the theater depends on harriet! i really liked how it was more focused on a "family" relationship and not a love interest relationship. well written as always, jenny.

This marvelous Christmas story tells the tale of a newly renovated community theatre and the members trying to perform A Christmas Carol before the theatre is sold. It all started because 5 students were caught skipping school in said theatre by their guidance counselor – who takes the heat and offers their community service as payment so the landlord doesn’t press charges.

Harriet, the guidance counselor, was not expecting their ramshackle group to grow, and while she hoped the theatre could be an access to the community – she did not anticipate it becoming THE community hub. As she works to pull the production off, she is not expecting to partner with the landlord’s attorney – who happens to be a man she had a one-night stand with the night before.

Why Kirsten loves it
A lot is going on in this story in the best possible way. Some students bring talents and gifts to life as they earn confidence working on the production. Other community members find their place in the group and help mentor the children. There is romance, a fantastic production, and so much Christmas cheer. I also got choked up at the acknowledgment of Hanukkah and the mini celebration they have for one of the theatre members. Representation means so much.

This book definitely had all the holiday movie vibes and feels. I expected it to make me feel warm and fuzzy and in the holiday spirit, and it certainly did that. I'm not surprised that I loved this book (I have never not loved a Jenny Bayliss book), but I was surprised that it might be my new Jenny Bayliss favorite!
I loved the quirky and fun side characters (who doesn't love a theatre troupe) and the fun way that our MCs ended up having to spend time together (definitely an unusual plot line!). As a theatre kid and a lawyer adult, I really connected with and found so much joy in the incorporation of the theatre environment into the book (as well as the classic overworked lawyer).
Definitely adding this book to my must-read Christmas list!

When Harriet learns that her daughter will not be home for Christmas this year, she drowns her sorrows with mulled wine and a one night stand. But there is no time to sulk as she is needed back at work the next day on the pastoral care team for a private school. She has tasked herself with keeping a close eye on her students and help keep them from making foolish mistakes. In the process, she takes the blames when they are all found trespassing in the town’s run down theater. The theater owner agrees to let them all off the hook, if they clean the theater and put on a performance, even offering to have her solicitor assist in the process. Harriet will do anything to help the kids, even work with the solicitor, who turns out to be her one night stand.

This was a perfectly cozy seasonal read. I do wish I had read it closer to the Christmas season, but that is completely on me for not paying attention to the pub date when I requested the arc. I loved the diverse characters, covering a wide range of ages and personalities, and the relational dynamics present in this story. Although there’s a romantic element, I felt the book focused more on the importance of community and self care. It was overall a heartwarming and comforting read.
Rating: Liked

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.