3 Christmas Books I Still Hope to Read this Holiday

by Donna Huber

Merry Christmas! It's Day 25 of our 25 Days of Christmas Reading. I hope you found something good to read. I'm still hoping to squeeze in 3 more holiday reads before the bell strikes midnight on New Year's Eve. I've been busy with holiday prep and reading the last few new releases of 2023. I'm ready to binge read Chrsitmas books. In case, you are in the same boat, here are the 3 Christmas books I'm still hoping to read this holiday.

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The Wishing Bridge by Viola Shipman

November 2023; Graydon House; 978-1525812002
audio, ebook, print (368 pages); holiday romance

Susan already reviewed this book earlier this month. I didn't get to read last year's Christmas book until this summer (read my review). 

Once the hottest mergers and acquisitions executive in the company, Henrietta Wegner can see the ambitious and impossibly young up-and-comers gunning for her job. When Henri’s boss makes it clear she’ll be starting the New Year unemployed unless she can close a big deal before the holidays, Henri impulsively tells him that she can convince her aging parents to sell Wegner’s—their iconic Frankenmuth, Michigan, Christmas store—to a massive, soulless corporation. It’s the kind of deal cool, corporate Henri has built her career on.

Home for the holidays has typically meant a perfunctory twenty-four-hour visit for Henri, then back to Detroit as fast as her car will drive her. So turning up at the Wegner’s offices in early December raises some eyebrows: from her delighted, if puzzled, parents to her suspicious brother and curious childhood friends. But as Henri fields impatient texts from her boss while reconnecting with the magic of the store and warmth of her hometown, what sounded great in the boardroom begins to lose its luster in real life. She’s running out of time to pull the trigger on what could be the greatest success of her career…or the most awkward family holiday of her life.

Buy The Wishing Bridge at Amazon

Meet Me Under the Mistletoe by Jenny Bayliss

September 2022; G.P. Putnam's Sons; 978-0593422229
audio, ebook, print (432 pages); holiday rom-com

A city bookshop owner heads to the English countryside for a holiday reunion—only to face her childhood enemy.

Elinor Noel—Nory for short—is quite content running her secondhand bookshop in London. Forever torn between her working-class upbringing and her classmates’ extravagant lifestyles at the posh private school she attended on scholarship, Nory has finally figured out how to keep both at equal distance. So when two of her oldest friends invite their whole gang to spend the time leading up to their wedding together at the castle near their old school, Nory must prepare herself for an emotionally complicated few days.

The reunion brings back fond memories, but also requires Nory to dodge an ill-advised former fling. When she falls quite literally into the arms of Isaac, the castle’s head gardener, who has nothing but contempt for the "snobby prep school kids," the attraction between them is undeniable. And as Nory spends more time with Isaac during the wedding festivities, she finds herself falling hard for the boy she used to consider an enemy. Nory and Isaac explore their common ground, but pressures mount on all sides, and Nory must decide what kind of life she wants to live and what sort of love is worth the risk. 

Buy Meet Me Under the Mistletoe at Amazon

The Book Club Hotel by Sarah Morgan

September 2023; Canary Street Press; 978-1335009265
audio, ebook, print (368 pages); women's fiction

With its historic charm and picture-perfect library, the Maple Sugar Inn is considered the winter destination. As the holidays approach, the inn is fully booked with guests looking for their dream vacation. But widowed far too young, and exhausted from juggling the hotel with being a dedicated single mom, Hattie Coleman dreams only of making it through the festive season.

But when Erica, Claudia and Anna—lifelong friends who seem to have it all—check in for a girlfriends’ book club holiday, it changes everything. Their close friendship and shared love of books have carried them through life's ups and downs. But Hattie can see they're also packing some major emotional baggage, and nothing prepares her for how deeply her own story is about to become entwined in theirs. In the span of a week over the most enchanting time of the year, can these four women come together to improve each other’s lives and make this the start of a whole new chapter?

Buy The Book Club Hotel at Amazon

Are there still more Christmas books you are looking forward to reading this season? Or are you just now getting time to read a Christmas book? If you need more recommendations,  check out all of our 25 Days of Christmas Reading posts.

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.

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