The Christmas Book Club

By Sarah Morgan

What it’s about?

A long-lasting friendship
Every year, Erica, Claudia, and Anna reunite for their book club holiday. They’re bonded by years of friendship and a deep love of books, but there is still so much they keep from each other . . .

A perfect Christmas escape
At the cosy Maple Sugar Inn, Hattie specialises in making her guests’ dreams come true, but this Christmas all she wants is to survive the festive season. Between running the inn and being a single mother, Hattie is close to breaking point.

The start of a brand-new story…?
Over the course of an eventful week, Hattie sees that the friends are each carrying around unspoken truths, but nothing prepares her for how deeply her story will become entwined in theirs. Will this Christmas be the end of the book club’s story or the start of a whole new chapter?

What I think:

This is the perfect book for the holiday season. It has everything you need – friendship, romance, a cosy inn and lots of snow.

All of the characters are strong and capable women who need to work out what they want from the next stage of their lives to bring them happiness.

Hattie owns Maple Sugar Inn but has failed to put her own stamp on it since the death of her husband. Looking after her daughter, managing the Inn and dealing with some unprofessional and difficult staff leave her exhausted and miserable. It’s not until things come to a head that she begins to take control and develop her own vision for the future.

Three of her guests are also facing similar crossroads and their time at the Inn will help them make some life-changing decisions.

Erica is successful and independent, but a life spent in hotels has left her lonely. She has a friend with benefits, ‘Sexy Jack’ but her feelings are growing and she needs to be sure before she takes the next step. She has also found out something about her past that could affect her future and is hoping her time at Maple Sugar Inn will deliver some answers.

Homemaker Anna is facing an empty nest as her twins are growing up and thinking about college. Her marriage and home seem perfect but her future lacks purpose and she is terrified.

Claudia is facing a full on crisis. She has broken up with her long-term partner and lost her job. Despite all of her experience as a chef, she has lost her passion for cooking and life in LA is no longer the dream come true it used to be.

With the three friends meeting for a catch up week of books and gossip, they are keeping secrets and trying to make difficult decisions. A lifetime of friendship brings these very different women together.

This was such a cosy, winter read. The Inn sounds gorgeous and I would absolutely love to stay there isn real-life. A week long book club with girl friends sounds like a dream.

I loved each of the four omen, who despite their very different experiences and paths in life are caring and supportive of each other. There’s lots of laughter and tears as they each work towards their own happy endings.

Perfect holiday reading to snuggle up with and it’s not so Christmassy that you can’t read it into January.

A great start to 2024!