Debbie Macomber always turns out lovely Christmas stories. A Christmas Duet is no exception and is a quick read. I found this one hard to put down. Hailey', music teacher and assistant band director, decides to accept the offer of her friend to spend Christmas alone in a family cabin in a small Oregon town to spend some time songwriting. What she didn't expect was to meet a handsome local guy home for the holidays who loves music as much as she does and is in fact, works in the music industry. They click right away with their music and immediate friendship. Then family members, who are not supposed to know where she is, show up. This is such fun with laugh out loud moments interspersed with frustrating times and stress, but with such a sweet romantic ending and a down to earth special Christmas with family. Loved it!
I received a copy for the purpose of an honest review. These are my thoughts`.

Another winner with this Christmas romance. Hailey is being pressured from all sides. Obnoxious ex boyfriend from her past is desperately trying to made amends. Her overbearing mother is on his side. She has lost her passion to create music, which means she has lost apart of herself. So when her best friend gives her the opportunity to getaway from it all she is packed and ready to hideout. Once at the remote cabin she finds her muse and also Jay, a person with the same passion to create music. Unfortunately her hideaway is that secret and one by one her family discovers where she is.
A sweet funny fast paced story. Loved it! #AChristmasDuet

Hailey Morgan is reluctant to go home for the holidays, especially when she finds out what her mother did. Instead, she decides to take her friend up on her offer of a secluded cabin in Podunk, Oregon, where she hopes that her alone time will give her plenty of peace and quiet to work on her passion, songwriting. Things don’t start out exactly like she planned, though.

She meets Jay, a former musician himself, who arrives to help solve Hailey’s problem at the cabin. The two become close and realize they have a lot in common. Jay is encouraging and supportive of her songwriting, but he has an issue involving his former band that doesn’t end the way he wants, and that creates problems between him and Hailey. Can the two of them get past the difficulties and have a future together?

Family meddling, following one’s dreams, discovering new love, and more! Such a fun holiday read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

How can you not be a fan of Debbie Macomber’s books? They combine all the best of life and love. This book is no exception. It is a lovely Christmas novel about finding yourself while finding love.

Hailey has always had a love for music. As a high school band teacher, she’s gotten away from writing her own music, even if she has sold a few jingles for commercials. When her ex-boyfriend reappears out of the blue, Hailey realizes that her music may have gotten away from her due to him. He discouraged her, and since, she’s not felt she’s good enough to write music.

So when he worms his way into the family Christmas, Hailey decides to head the opposite direction to her friend’s family cabin for a little time to herself and her guitar. What she doesn’t expect is to meet a handsome man and fall in love with a little town called Podunk.

Grab a cup of tea, a cozy spot, and hunker in to enjoy this holiday novel. Honestly, it’s one of my favorite times of year for a little romance. This one will make you smile.

A Christmas Duet by Debbie Macomber is a sweet wonderful heartwarming Christmas holiday story. We meet Halley Morgan, who has always dreamed of becoming a professional song writer, but she currently is an assistant high school band teacher in Portland. Halley isn’t happy to join her family on Christmas, since her mother keeps pushing Halley’s ex-boyfriend to attend Christmas. Her BFF, Katherine are both happy for the holiday break, and when Halley talks about her ex planning to come to their house, she is desperate. Katherine suggests to her to use the family cabin in the small town of Podunk; enabling her to concentrate on creating her music. Halley decides to take up Katherine offer and escape having to go to her family’s Christmas celebration, with her ex planning to attend.

When Halley arrives at the cabin, she senses the feel of her journey in creating her music; but she also discovers some animals that seem to visit the cabin. When shopping at the town’s main store, the owner sends her son, Jay to help rid the animals; and Halley finds him to be charming and handsome, not to mention he too is a former musician. Both Halley & Jay play the guitar and are very passionate about creating music; though she loves writing songs, he is currently working on building his own company. In a short time, both begin to feel sparks between them, with lots of delightful banter and their love of music. Jay gives Halley encouragement inspiring her that she can be a successful songwriter, especially when she sang her song at the bar/restaurant, which became so popular, with videos opening up a possible career. Halley and Jay become inseparable, spending fun time together as well as playing music together.

I will say, I really did not like Halley’s mother, who was obsessive and determined to bring the ex-back into the picture. When the video of her song escalated, her parents found out where she was staying, comes to visit; of course, the mother lets the ex-know. It will take Halley to tell the ex she does not want anything to do with him; especially since she finds herself caring about Jay. I really loved Hailey and Jay together. I liked Halley’s sister, Daisy, who had who came earlier, concerned about her own boyfriend being serious.

A Christmas Duet was a heartwarming, charming, sweet, cozy romantic story filled with music and love. It was really nice to see both sisters have their own HEA. A Christmas Duet was so very well written by Debbie Macomber. I suggest you read A Christmas Duet, as you can n ever go wrong with anything by Debbie Macomber.

Hailey Morgan has always dreamed of becoming a professional songwriter but life has always gotten in the way. As Christmas is approaching Hailey does not want to go visit her overbearing family.
Hailey would much rather spend her Christmas alone in a rustic cabin in the middle of nowhere working on her music.
But things don't go as planned when she arrives in the cabin in Podunk. Hailey finds a potential love interest and music partner and her family unexpectedly arrives. Hailey gets the chance to change the direction of her life and her relationships.
This is a heartwarming story that feels cozy and warm- perfect for the holidays!
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

What a great Christmas story. One that shows us we should never give up on our dreams, even if they don’t happen in our timeline. I think it also shows us that what we think isn’t what others think of us. Great story and wonderful characters. I received this book from NetGalley, but my opinion is my own.

Debbie Macomber books are always heartwarming and encouraging.

Hailey has always written jingles ever since she was a child. Her love for music and words are endless. Not getting the support she needed to choose the path for a career in writing music, she became a music teacher. Three years prior to her teaching position, she broke up with her long time boyfriend, Zach. He made it clear he was not supportive and found fault in her music.
She lost her mojo for writing and now is ready to move on and write and play again.
Out of nowhere Zach reaches out to her and wants to rekindle the relationship. Desperate to get her back, he contacts Hailey’s mom and gets himself invited to their house for Christmas.
Furious, after Zach doesn’t take the hint, Hailey accepts her friend’s invitation to her family’s remote cabin. Two weeks alone with her guitar and thoughts sounds amazing and she accepts the invite.
Her family has other plans!!!
Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for an ARC read.

Sometimes you just need a little solitude, even at Christmas. Solitude and quietness is exactly what Hailey needs. So, when Hailey's best friend offers her family's cabin in Podunk for a Christmas getaway, Hailey takes the plunge. She has made her meddling mom very unhappy. Bless her mom. She means well, but she needs to stay out of her daughter's love life.

Hailey is pleasantly surprised at the little town of Podunk, especially after meeting Jay (Jethro). She was imagining something a little different when she heard his name. Their first meeting was just perfect. As they grow closer, Hailey sees that Jay is everything that her ex-boyfriend was not. It seems a quiet Christmas is going to happen, but the surprises just kept coming.

Debbie Macomber's books are always heartwarming and full of life. It is not really Christmas book season until I have read this author's signature Christmas book each year. This one checked all of my favorite things about a Christmas book.

Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Nothing will put you more in the holiday spirit than Debbie Macomber's book, A Christmas Duet. It is Ms. Macomber early Christmas stories that turned me into reading books and becoming submerged in the stories, places, and characters. This is a sweet and cozy holiday story filled with not only romance and love but also one of a renewal of one's self, forgiveness, taking chances, and family.

Hailey, high school music/band teacher as well as an aspiring songwriter, has loved all things music from a young age. She has written many songs and jingles but let a relationship affect her drive and dreams. She's had a song tune/lyrics stuck in her head and in a creativity funk, per the suggestion of her friend, she travels to Podunk, Oregon to stay at her friend's family cabin. Jethro, aka Jay, a musician (a fairly famous one) turned aspiring music producer has come home and helping out at his mom's store (who happens to also be the mayor). As we get to know him, we come to find out he had some legal issues with prior bandmates that in a way forced him to rethink what he was doing and the why.

When the two of them meet due to a feisty raccoon "resident", they have instant chemistry and sparks and right away they hit it off. I absolutely LOVED both Hailey and Jay's journey -- not just the relationship between the two of them but also their journey individually in self discovery and renewing of their passions. The town of Podunk seems surreal.....if it was a real town, I would LOVE to attend their Winter Festival. Ms Macomber tells the setting with such vivid creativity and visualization. I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of Hailey's personal growth personally but also within her immediate family. There's some meddling family dynamics and an ex that complicates things that add some intrigue and depth to the story that shows that not all things are cupcakes and rainbows.

Sweet, clean romance. Small town fun. City girl with a small town boy. Christmas music and festivals. A story of second chances in life and love. Plenty of sweet kisses. Chemistry was so natural and perfect. My only complaint, which does not affect the story at all, is that the point of view of the story is from Hailey, and selfishly I would have loved getting insight and details from Jay as well. I would still highly recommend to all to read. I absolutely loved this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the advanced copy of this book. All my thoughts and opinions are all my own.

#BookRevew : A CHRISTMAS DUET by Debbie Macomber

I've really enjoyed A Christmas Duet by Debbie Macomber. It's a great length, somewhere between a novella and a full-length book. I wish it were longer, though. I wanted to learn more about them. It's great that the story didn't drag on and stayed focused on the main plot. It's like a Hallmark movie without the clumsy characters. It was a heartwarming story with clean romance.

I liked how Hailey and Jay connected through their shared love of music. Their jamming sessions sounded fun. I also enjoyed the family dynamics and how they evolved. The sweet sisterly moments were especially touching. Fans of holiday romances will definitely appreciate this book.

Rating: 4.5 ⭐
Pub date: Oct 15 2024

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and #netgalley for the complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

Debbie Macomber is wonderful at writing feel good, clean, heartwarming stories. Hailey Morgan was planning to go home for the Christmas holidays. But her meddlesome mother invites the boyfriend who broke up with her three years ago to their home. So her friend's offer of a winter cabin near a small town sounds like a perfect getaway. She wants to work on writing her music which has always been her gift.

At the cabin she meets Jay who is visiting for the holidays and helping at his mom’s store. Her sister also shows up not wanting to go home either. Hailey’s overly zealous mom brings some extra humor. Is the story realistic? Probably not. But it is enjoyable, although a little too saccharine for me. I think it will please Macomber fans and readers looking for a clean (kissing only) Christmas Romance.

A Christmas Duet by Debbie Macomber ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What another Christmas novel by Debbie you don't say!. She didn't disappoint.

A beautiful love story perfect for the holiday season.

This is a sweet Christmas story where two sisters find love. Hailey is a high school music teacher trying to get her music career going. Jay is guitarist now running a record production company. The plot of the story is centered around recapturing the meaning of Christmas. The setting is a very small Oregon which delights in the holiday. The characters are kind and lovely. It is an exciting and interesting story that readers will love.

Hailey Morgan once had big dreams of becoming a professional songwriter, but instead she is working as an assistant high school band teacher in Portland. As the holidays approach, Hailey dreads the annual tradition of spending Christmas with her family and dodging her mother’s meddling questions about her love life. When Hailey’s best friend offers her the use of her family’s empty cabin in Podunk Oregon for a rejuvenating solo holiday retreat, Hailey finally decides to do something to make herself happy. However, upon arrival she discovers the cabin has been invaded by several wild animals. Luckily, Jay, the son of the town’s main store proprietor—and an incredibly handsome and charming former musician to boot—is more than willing to help. Hailey and Jay find that they enjoy each other's company, and have a lot in common, so they start spending time together - chopping down and decorating a Christmas tree, playing music together. & attending the town's winter festival together. Jay’s positive feedback and encouragement inspires Hailey to believe she might succeed as a songwriter after all. But even in her snow-dusted oasis, family holiday drama still finds Hailey, interrupting and threatening her newfound peace and confidence. Suddenly her Christmas paradise has become a winter storm and Hailey must weather through the challenges to stand up for herself and embrace the holiday spirit.

I always enjoy this author's Christmas stories. They never fail to put me in the Christmas spirit. This is a light, quick read that is fun and festive. I could not stand Hailey's mom or her ex-boyfriend, but I loved all of the other characters. I was definitely rooting for both Hailey & Jay as well Hailey's sister Daisy & her boyfriend Charles. If only their mother would just butt out and let things progress naturally! I definitely suggest you add this to your list of Christmas reads for this year.!

Readers who enjoy sweet Christmas stories will love this book. Many readers look forward to Debbie Macomber's Christmas book. The characters are realistic and relatable. Who wouldn't want to spend a delightful Christmas in Podunk.! Highly recommended!

I thoroughly enjoyed Christmas Duet. The story centers on Hailey, a woman deeply passionate about music but lacking the support she needs to pursue it fully. After a relationship with her ex-boyfriend ends because he pushes her toward a more traditional career, Haily finds herself unfulfilled in her current role as a teacher. When an unexpected opportunity leads her to a remote town, she not only rediscovers her love for music but also encounters the encouragement she’s been missing. Christmas Duet beautifully explores themes of personal growth, passion, and finding the right kind of support to pursue one's dreams.

Debbie Macomber never disappoints. Here Christmas novels are always light and fun reads. Very much enjoyed her newest book, ‘ A Christmas Duet’. Another North Pacific feel good story.

Another charming offering from Macomber, who knows all the right feels for a Christmas themed novel. Hailey wanted to get away from it all for the holiday- especially away from family drama and her mom's questions-so she happily takes herself off to her pal Katherine's cabin, only to discover it has animal inhabitants. Luckily, Jay is there to help. Turns out Jay is also a music producer and so Hailey has a chance to bond with someone who has the same likes. But wait- what will they do when her family starts to turn up? Thanks to Netgalley for the ArC. A happy read.

Hailey has always dreamed of writing music. So far, her love of music has led her to write a few songs for advertisements and to teach high schoolers. When given an opportunity to have a quiet, remote place to try to create something new, she will find that much more than music comes into her life. However, her loved ones do an excellent job of trying to distract her. This was a delightful read! I have to say I read it in one afternoon. Loved the characters…every single one!