Christmas in Vermont

I received an advance copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed this book but the story was very predictable. However it is definitely a great holiday read. Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to review this book.

Just the story I needed to read...a lovely Christmastime romance. Loved reading Christmas in Vermont by Anita Hughes.

This was an excellent heartwarming story of second chances. Set at Christmas time, it was full of nostalgia & sweet memories. The characters were well defined & easily relatable. The scenery was perfectly described & easily pictured in the mind. Saving the Inn was the best charity for the time frame & pulled your sympathies into the story. This was a very entertaining read & I think will be perfect for the Christmas season.

“...that was the thing about synchronicity: it appeared in your life when you least expected it and made your dreams come true.”
The story of Emma and Fletcher’s reunited love is heartwarming with the perfect amount of holiday magic. Even though their lives went in separate directions after their intense “first love” chemistry in college, Christmas magic (with help from Emma’s insistent friend, Bronwyn and Fletcher’s daughter, Lola) brought the two back together at the charming Snowberry Inn. Christmas in Vermont brings the quintessential holiday warmth that everyone loves in a good Christmas love story.

I received a digital copy from NetGalley. Thank you.
This is a great Christmas Miracle read. This is a sweet romantic read that will just make you feel good. Emma finds her old boyfriends watch in a pawn shop on Christmas and she wonders what happened and where he is now. Emma's friend finds out he will be at a inn for the holidays and buys Emma a weeks vacation there. This is a story of fate and coincidences and the spirit of Christmas of helping others. It is a must read.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I love Anita Hughes books! This was a fun, cute Christmas romance book set in Vermont. It made me want to spend some time up there!

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy! A wonderful holiday story about the magic of Christmas week in the beautiful surroundings of Vermont. A feel good story of found love, the importance of friends and family with a little bit of synchronicity thrown in. Settle in with a cup of hot cocoa and enjoy!

A nice Christmas story. Great for the holidays and reading by the fire. I enjoyed the plot and characters.

Anita Hughes never fails to disappoint with her cozy scenic filled stories. I loved the setting of this book and Anita is so good at setting the scene I felt like I could feel the cold snow and smell the fir trees! This would be perfect to read when your craving and missing the Christmas season and all the cozyness that goes along with it. With heartwarming characters and plot this book just begs to be read while cozy in a warm blanket perfect balance of charm and romance!

A perfect Christmas read! Filled with real emotional life's struggles. Loss, love and never giving up. I loved the way it all came together! A fast and heartwarming easy read! Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for my honest review!

There are several things in life that go well together, without explanation, peanut butter and jelly, spaghetti and meatballs, Anita Hughes and Christmastime and Vermont and snow. Reading Anita Hughes novels are somewhat of a Hallmark movie inside a snow globe. Anita is always able to take us on enchanted journeys to different parts of the world to find not only love but whats really important. Christmas in Vermont is no different, This book is filled with maple syrup and quaint little inns and parts that I'll be honest made me downright giddy.

4 stars!
Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

This is an easy reading romance that follows a very simple theme: synchronicity... ie: fate.
This is a sweet story where the two main characters were once in love but ended up splitting and find their way back to each other as fate often works that way.
I loved the setting in Vermont, it truly made me want to visit and in winter especially.
The character of Lola is very fun to read and it’s sweet how she inadvertently pushes her father to be with Emma.

A perfect read if you're looking for a sweet book about synchronicity/coincidence, finding love, losing love, hoping to find it again, friends who we love anyway when they push us way beyond our comfort zoned are more than a little too perfect and annoying, but do in fact love us, honesty and letting go of “old” stuff. The story is set in a lovely town in Vermont. The town and its people are an integral part of the story and had I never been to the beautiful state I would be planning my on visit now! It starts with Emma, who is seriously challenged in the relationship arena in a pawn shop to sell a bracelet from her “this close” relationship that she ended only days before. While glancing around she finds a beautiful watch she had given to the love of her life years ago. She trades the bracelet for the watch and so with a giant push from her best friend begins her journey. I don't want to give away too much as what fun would that be, but there are some lovely people along the way, a precocious and yet a bit annoying 9 year old, snotty power hungry actress, amazing inn owner, fun and supportive town people all on a mission to rediscover the joy of the holiday season, love and themselves.
I will say that though I really enjoyed the read, it was a bit formulaic. Many of the authors books are variations on the same theme and though no great surprises a quite fun, enjoyable and worth the read.

I’m such a sucker for a Christmas love story and this did not disappoint. I love the characters and thought they were developed really well. This goes more than just a love story though, you will leave Reflecting on your own life and destiny.

Being from Vermont, I HAD to read this book, and was glad I did. I love a cozy winter love story. Like a hallmark movie in a book, i would definitely recommend this.

Great Christmas magic & romance. The book was a tad bit predictable. And I just can’t agree with a 9 year old being so into grown ups business. She basically broke up her dads engagement. Other than that. A very cute story. It made me want to visit Vermont.

I wasn't sure if I would like this book because I usually go for thrillers or historical fiction, but the synopsis and cover drew me in and I was not disappointed. This book was well written and had an interesting plot, the characters were well developed, and I found myself rooting for a happy ending for a number of the characters. If this were a movie, I would watch it every Christmas! I definitely recommend this book!

This is a delightful small town Christmas story. It’s a tale of second chances for Emma and Fletcher, - perhaps it’s fate or just coincidence, although Emma’s friend is convinced it is synchronicity. Set in the backdrop of a beautiful Vermont Inn, and the magic of Christmas. Emma, Fletcher, and his daughter, Lola, are wonderful characters. This is a heartwarming read, perfect for getting into the Christmas spirit.

4 star review of  Christmas in Vermont by Anita Hughes
 
I love any story that is centred around Christmas; it’s a time for family and friends to get together, celebrate and reflect.
 
This was a fun, quick read and one I thoroughly enjoyed. I liked Anita Hughes’ style of writing and felt as though I was a part of the magic of Vermont.
 
Have you ever wondered about the “one” who got away? That’s what happens to Emma when she stumbles across an old gift she gave to her college boyfriend Fletcher and brings him to mind. Could it be fate? Emma has never really gotten over him and has always wondered what could have been.

With a little help from her best friend Bronwyn, she is off to a little inn in Vermont and about to find out, or is she? Things don’t go to plan but yet again fate steps in. Sometimes it’s just meant to be.

I really liked Emma, Fletcher and his little girl Lola, they were easy to relate to and Bronwyn was a great secondary character. Will the magic of the holiday season bring happiness and a re connection for Emma and Fletcher?

Vermont sounds like a beautiful place to live or visit and I found this story to be full of hope, love and family, of second chances and fate. A festive and sweet story that will get you in the mood for the holiday season.

I received a copy of this book through the publisher via Netgalley.

Christmas in Vermont by Anita Hughes
Starts with Emma and she's pawning her ex's jewelry he had given her a week ago as he jetted off to Hawaii for Christmas holidays, without her.
Her bestie gives her a week long stay in VT and she has nothing to do in town so she heads up there from NY. Lovely descriptions of the area and activities to do.
She's agreed to take over 'kids club' at the inn for room and board. She runs into her first love-Fletcher who is there with his daughter and new fiancee.
Chapters go back in time to when they first met and the things and places they'd go. Then you are back to the present and then the past...
Cool winter activities to do and with Fletcher's help they can run a fund raiser for the inn owner who is struggling to keep it open. Like all the discussions about overseas locations, can't wait to visit myself.
Rather predictable how this is gonna work out by the end.
Synchronicity and fate make this story work.
Received this review copy from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

Synchronicity or a push from fate? Emma and Fletcher were a couple in their senior year of college, but went their separate ways after graduation to further their careers. Fast forward eleven years and they meet up again in Vermont. Christmas in Vermont is a sweet story of Christmas magic and second chances. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martins Press for an ARC. The comments and review are my honest opinion.

Emma discovers a watch that she gave a former boyfriend in a pawn shop. Her friend discovers he's spending Christmas in Vermont and books Emma in the same inn. Sparks fly as they reunite, on,y Emma discovers he has a daughter and fiancée. Hughes proffers another sweet holiday read about two people, kept apart by misunderstandings, who get a second chance. The setting could not be more festive in Vermont with the snow and holiday cheer.

I have reviewed "Christmas in Vermont" for the New York Journal of Books where it will be posted on the evening before the publication date.

"Christmas in Vermont"

Emma can't seem to make a relationship last. She meets a guy she thinks—as well as hopes—will be "the one," but by the time they’ve been together a year, she dumps them. She recently did this with Scott, her latest beau. He booked a trip for them to spend Christmas in Hawaii, but she broke up with him before they could go.

On Christmas Eve, Emma heads to a Manhattan pawnshop to sell the bracelet she received from Scott. She is surprised when she sees the watch she had given her college boyfriend, Fletcher, 11 years prior. Fletcher was the one she thought she'd be with forever, but after graduation, Emma, who wanted to work in the publishing field attained a lucrative position in the City, while Fletcher, with his heart set on directing plays, received a position as an assistant director in London which he couldn't turn down. This was the end of their future together.

Emma tells her best friend, Bronwyn about finding the watch, and Bronwyn reads the inscription on the back:

“To Fletcher, you have my heart," Bronwyn read and looked up excitedly. "Finding this watch isn’t strange at all. It’s synchronicity."

“What do you mean?" Emma asked.

“I took an undergraduate psych class on synchronicity at NYU," Bronwyn answered. "It means a meaningful coincidence that plays an important role in our lives," she finished triumphantly. "You were meant to find this watch.”

“It was crazy finding it there of all the jewelry stores in the city." Emma nodded. "But that’s what a coincidence is."

“Synchronicity is different, you have to act on it, or you lose the possibility of the greatest occurrence in your life. Synchronicity at Christmas is even more special, it’s the season of miracles."

Emma wondered again why she had the impulse to buy Fletcher’s watch. But she couldn’t let it sit there with all those rejected pieces like the toy soldiers in the Nutcracker ballet.

“We’re going to find Fletcher and get in touch with him," Bronwyn was already walking towards the computer.

Happily married with two little girls, Bronwyn wants the same for Emma. She discovers Fletcher is staying at the Smugglers Inn in Vermont and her Christmas present to Emma is a six-night stay at the same inn where Fletcher is for the holidays. Emma doesn't want to go, but it’s better than being alone, so she acquiesces.

After settling in, Emma goes ice skating and is shocked to see Fletcher. He is accompanied by a young blonde and a preteen girl. She wants to head back to New York, but she agreed to help Betty, the innkeeper with the children's activities as the current director is ill. Little does she know there's only one child in residence, and it is none other than Fletcher's loquacious daughter, Lola. Knowing she cannot compete with Megan, Fletcher’s leggy younger woman, she decides to stay for Betty as she does not back down on her promises.

Emma and Lola meet later while Emma is playing the piano at the inn. Lola coerces Emma into accompanying her while she sings at talent night. She is unable to refuse the enchanting girl even though she knows it is inevitable she will run into Fletcher.

Feeling desperate, she gets in touch with Bronwyn:

"Enough about me, I want to hear about you and Fletcher. Let me guess, you ran into each other last night at dinner, and he asked you to join him. You roasted chestnuts until midnight and talked about everything you missed. Then you stumbled up to his room and made love all night. Now you're going to join him in the outdoor Jacuzzi where you'll sip schnapps and make heart-shaped rings with your breath."

"That's definitely the movie version." Emma nodded. "The real-life version is I went ice skating yesterday and saw Fletcher with some leggy blond and a beautiful little girl. I was too embarrassed to go downstairs to dinner and was determined to leave this morning. Only, it's snowing, so I decided to play the piano." She took a breath.

"Then Fletcher's daughter heard me playing and convinced me to accompany her in tonight's talent show." . . .

. . ."Is his fiancée nice?" Bronwyn asked.

"I don't know! Fletcher hasn't seen me, and I don't know what to do when he does," Emma moaned. "Lola calls her the good witch. Apparently, since she came into the picture, Lola feels ignored." . . .

. . ."Lola is afraid the new fiancée is stealing her father away," Emma explained. "That's why I couldn't say no. She's desperate to perform in the talent show so Fletcher will notice her."

"Don't you see, it's synchronicity all over again." Bronwyn peeled the mud off her cheeks. "You were planning on coming back to New York but then you got snowed in. Of all the people who heard you playing the piano, it was Fletcher's daughter. You're going to perform in the talent show together and it will all work out perfectly."

"You forgot about the blond fiancée with the diamond ring that's as big as a bird's egg," Emma reminded her.

Emma still harbors feelings for Fletcher, though she cannot act on them especially now that he is engaged to Megan; and this engagement happened not long after he and Lola's mom divorced. Emma realizes she's no match for the gorgeous actress, though Lola states she does not like the woman.

Lola overhears Betty confiding she is fearful of losing the inn due to financial reasons, so she and Emma plan a benefit to raise money. Meanwhile, things between Fletcher and Megan appear rocky.

The time span of this novel commences at Christmas with each chapter counting down to New Year’s Day. The reader is introduced to a lot of backstory from both Emma and Fletcher supplying information of their history together. The snow filled countryside of Vermont along with the delightful characters makes this an enchanting holiday read.

"Christmas in Vermont" by Anita Hughes
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. The flash-backs were ever so helpful in understanding the 'whys' and 'where-fores' in the story line. A Clean Sweet Contemporary tale.. with a lot of twists and turns twixt beginning and ending. I received an ARC from the publisher and this is my review. If you like mostly happy, clean contemporary romance stories.. I believe YOU will really like this story, too!! Happy Reading !!

I would like to thank Net Galley for the ARC of this book. Christmas in Vermont has all the perfect elements of the perfect holiday romance. Having just broken up with yet another boyfriend, Emma takes a bracelet that he gifted her to a pawn shop planning to donate the money to charity. While she is there she discovers a watch that she gave her college sweetheart, Fletcher. She exchanges her bracelet for the watch, and a chain of events that will change her life begins. Without giving too much away, her friend books her in an Inn in Vermont. She arrives to a magical holiday setting including a few feet of snow, a cozy inn, abundant food, festive holiday decorations, but most importantly, Fletcher.. Never mind that he is there with his nine year old daughter and gorgeous fiancé, The story is told through flashbacks to Emma and Fletcher’s college days mixed with the countdown to New Year’s. It is a sweet albeit predictable story, that you will want to keep on reading, not because you wonder what will happen, but HOW it will happen. i enjoyed this book and would recommend it for a great holiday read.

Second chances at lost love rule throughout Christmas in Vermont. It is a sweet story of what if’s and of what could be’s…if only he was not engaged already. Fate has other plans that must be carried out.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

With its gorgeous cover and enticing description, Christmas in Vermont promises to be a fun, touching love story in the dreamy setting of New England. I read the novel in a matter of a few days. It was like watching a fun rom-com with all these flashbacks to the good old days of college. From New York to London and Vermont, the plot embarks the reader on a moving journey where both lead characters are pushed by fate to reminisce and rekindle their past romance. The writing style is nicely flowing, well-paced and very vivid, you can easily picture all the scenes unfolding before your eyes.

I really recommend this feel-good festive book. It delivers on its promise of a delightful magical romance. On top of it, you’ll learn a thing or two about “synchronicity”, a fun add-on that made me think of the NY-based movie Serendipity.

Loved this sweet romance novel, that made me feel as if I were in Vermont at Christmas lol. Holiday stories always catch me.

Christmas in Vermont is a love story and it blew me away.

I would love to spend Christmas in Vermont I think initially it tapped into my love for New England.

Emma goes to a pawn shop and notices a watch she had given to a boyfriend 11 years ago. She buys the watch and stay at an inn in Vermont where her ex boyfriend, his fiance and their daughter are staying.

I enjoyed the love story and the descriptive writing. Anita Hughes is an amazing writer.

Thank you to Net galley for the opportunity to review this book. It fit right into my Christmas in July readathon.

The shadow of the one that got away lingers and Emma can't seem to maintain a relationship longer than a year. When her latest relationship disintegrates at Christmas she finds the watch she had given to the one that got away in a pawn shop. She spills the tale to her best friend, Bronwyn, who adds to the magic of Christmas and gifts Emma with a holiday week in Vermont. Fletcher, the one that got away, is at the same inn with his daughter and fiancee. How will Emma face him? But sometimes things aren't what they seem and there just might still be some Christmas magic.

Christmas in Vermont is a delightful and charming love story about the magic of second chances during the most festive time of year..
I would recommend this book.

Christmas in Vermont is a second chance at first love novel. It reads much like a Hallnark movie would read in book form. I loved the descriptions of the fictional Vermont town. If you like Christmas romance, this is a book you will enjoy

Christmas in Vermont is like a hallmark movie. You just have to read until the end. The characters are wonderful and sometimes funny. You'll want to rush off to Vermont for the Christmas holidays. Sometimes love can withstand distance and time.

Heartwarming, lovely second chance Christmas romance. Highly recommend.


Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

This was my first book by Anita and I really enjoyed it. I read this as an unedited ARC so there were a few errors but I could over look that because I knew it was unedited. I’m sure they will be fixed by print time. This was a sweet story and though about love wasn’t overly sexual. It is a cute holiday read and I will be looking into more of Anita’s books.

A little cheesy but aren't all good summer romances that way? I fell in love with the character's even knowing how it ends. I loved the descriptions of a small town in Vermont in the winter. I want to go back and see how things go in the summer when they go back to Vermont for summer stock.

Fate? Synchronicity? What is it? A contemporary romance story to put you in the Christmas spirit during the holidays. Take a trip from Manhattan to beautiful snowy Vermont.
Heartwarming story of losing love and finding it again.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book.

Christmas in Vermont is a book I would add to my holiday collection of books. During the holidays, I love to read books that are similar to the Hallmark Channel movies, and this one fits that bill perfectly.

Emma is a 30 something copywriter for a large advertising firm in New York City. She replaces her boyfriends on an annual basis, usually right before the holidays. This year’s ex is Scott, with whom she was supposed to be spending Christmas in Hawaii. Scott had not only gifted Emma with an amazing vacation to Hawaii, he had also given her a beautiful bracelet. Emma is going to pawn this bracelet and donate the money to charity, but she sees a watch in the display case that looks very similar to the one she gifted her first love, Fletcher, back in college. The watch is what sets off a series of events that her friend Bronwyn calls “synchronicity.”

I got so wrapped up in this story that I simply couldn’t put it down. Emma’s habit of giving boyfriends 364 days before sending them on their way makes you wonder if she will ever find true love. Bronwyn’s intervention sends Emma on a holiday adventure that is predictable, but still thoroughly enjoyable.

If you enjoy those endless Hallmark movies at the holidays, this is the book for you. Cute, fun, romantic, seasonal… all those adjectives sum up perfectly what this book is about. Because I love those movies for transporting me into romantic holiday wonderland, I loved this book. Quick and sweet read.

Review will be posted to BookwormishMe.com closer to publication date.

ANITA HUGHES has been a favorite author of mine for many years. I felt strange reading a Christmas novel at the beginning of summer but this one was well worth it. Great story.

Such a merry read for the holidays. Grab a cup of coffee and curl up. I couldn’t stop reading this book.