“Sara Richardson writes unputdownable, unforgettable stories from the heart” in this emotional holiday novel, where three sisters have one last Christmas to confront their pasts before their lives change forever (Jill Shalvis, New York Times bestselling author).
The Buchanan sisters all share special childhood memories of their Aunt Sassy’’s beloved Juniper Inn. There, they frolicked in the … their Aunt Sassy’’s beloved Juniper Inn. There, they frolicked in the snow, baked sugar cookies, and celebrated the town’’s annual Christmas extravaganza. They haven’‘t been back to Colorado in nearly fifteen years, but when their aunt invites them for one last Christmas, they can’‘t say no . . .
With her ex-husband whisking her children away for the holiday, Dahlia decides it’’s time to do something for herself. Juniper Springs is just as beautiful as she remembers, but it’’s also full of surprises — including the town’’s handsome doctor, who makes her feel like herself again for the first time in years.
To the outside world, baker Magnolia has the ideal marriage. Only the pain and sorrow of infertility have strained her relationship with her husband, perhaps beyond repair. But a holiday miracle is about to change her life.
After a whirlwind romance, youngest sister Rose is about to be married, but as the wedding draws near, she’’s unsettled by her fiancé’’s expectations that she become a society wife. Spending Christmas with her family could be a necessary reality check — or the beginning of a brand-new happily ever after.
Thanks to the strength of their sisterhood, some mistletoe, and the love of their Aunt Sassy, the Buchanan sisters will discover what it is they truly want this Christmas.
To the outside world, baker Magnolia has the ideal marriage. Only the pain and sorrow of infertility have strained her relationship with her husband, perhaps beyond repair. But a holiday miracle is about to change her life.
After a whirlwind romance, youngest sister Rose is about to be married, but as the wedding draws near, she’’s unsettled by her fiancé’’s expectations that she become a society wife. Spending Christmas with her family could be a necessary reality check — or the beginning of a brand-new happily ever after.
Thanks to the strength of their sisterhood, some mistletoe, and the love of their Aunt Sassy, the Buchanan sisters will discover what it is they truly want this Christmas.
To the outside world, baker Magnolia has the ideal marriage. Only the pain and sorrow of infertility have strained her relationship with her husband, perhaps beyond repair. But a holiday miracle is about to change her life.
After a whirlwind romance, youngest sister Rose is about to be married, but as the wedding draws near, she’’s unsettled by her fiancé’’s expectations that she become a society wife. Spending Christmas with her family could be a necessary reality check — or the beginning of a brand-new happily ever after.
Thanks to the strength of their sisterhood, some mistletoe, and the love of their Aunt Sassy, the Buchanan sisters will discover what it is they truly want this Christmas.
To the outside world, baker Magnolia has the ideal marriage. Only the pain and sorrow of infertility have strained her relationship with her husband, perhaps beyond repair. But a holiday miracle is about to change her life.
After a whirlwind romance, youngest sister Rose is about to be married, but as the wedding draws near, she’’s unsettled by her fiancé’’s expectations that she become a society wife. Spending Christmas with her family could be a necessary reality check — or the beginning of a brand-new happily ever after.
Thanks to the strength of their sisterhood, some mistletoe, and the love of their Aunt Sassy, the Buchanan sisters will discover what it is they truly want this Christmas.
bout to change her life.
After a whirlwind romance, youngest sister Rose is about to be married, but as the wedding draws near, she’’s unsettled by her fiancé’’s expectations that she become a society wife. Spending Christmas with her family could be a necessary reality check — or the beginning of a brand-new happily ever after.
Thanks to the strength of their sisterhood, some mistletoe, and the love of their Aunt Sassy, the Buchanan sisters will discover what it is they truly want this Christmas.
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I am a huge fan of this author’s contemporary romance stories. This is the first time I’ve read a book by her that isn’t classified as romance, but I still found it to be wonderful. Honestly, I’m a sucker for romance, so of course I devour those books more quickly. There are sweet and romantic elements sprinkled here and there throughout this story, but overall it’s a story about family and sisters. I didn’t read it at quite the same pace as her romance books, yet I still didn’t want to put it down.
There are some very hard realities these sisters have to face throughout this book. All three of them are going through intense lows, but coming together at their aunt’s house, away from their “real” lives, helps to lift them back up. Dahlia, Magnolia, and Rose begin to rediscover that special bond of sisters and realize they’ve been going it on their own when they could have been leaning on one another.
While each sister has their own journey of self-discovery to take, they’re really not so different. Self doubt and an ingrained need to always be the helper to everyone else keeps them all from doing things that make them happy. They see that characteristic in each other, but have a harder time seeing it when they look in a mirror.
There is a lot going on in this story, but the author weaves it all together beautifully. I’m a stickler continuity and timing issues. The continuity in this story is spot on, but some of the timing gave me pause. In this case, I feel as though the author took artistic license on how long things take to accomplish in order to keep the flow of the story going, and I’m okay with that.
This story isn’t classified as romance, but it still gave me a Happily Ever After at the end, which I love.
**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**
When Sassy sends a letter to her three beloved nieces, it brings them back to the Colorado mountains for one last Christmas together. One is a divorced mother of two, one is overwhelmed with planning her wedding and dealing with her fiancé’s high society mother, and the third sees her marriage crumbling around her after struggling with years of infertility and innumerable pregnancy attempts.
Dahlia, Rose and Magnolia each have their own struggles and uncertainty, but there’s something magical and healing about being back at the Juniper Inn with their Aunt Sassy. They’re planning one last hurrah to make this the best Christmas the inn has ever seen, and each sister brings a skill set needed to make it happen.
Their time together finds the sisters reconnecting and strengthening their bond, allowing them to lean on each other when shocking family secrets are revealed. In the process, they learn forgiveness and acceptance and find hope for the future.
The small town is charming, the characters are likeable, and I love the storyline and underlying themes. If you enjoy women’s fiction, you’ll probably love this book. Aside from being a bit wordy, which potentially obscures the uplifting messages, I thoroughly enjoyed this story about these three sisters.
“Home for the Holidays” will tug at your heart as you read about sisters Dahlia, Magnolia, and Rose as they return to Juniper Springs after being away for years.
Dahlia’s marriage has ended and she needs to find confidence and happiness for herself again.
Magnolia’s marriage is crumbling and she isn’t sure how to save it, even when she still loves her husband.
Rose is engaged to be married, but wishes for the all-encompassing, passionate love while not losing her true self in the process.
At their aunt Sassy’s request, the three sisters return to their childhood Christmas sanctuary, Juniper Inn, a place where their hearts will heal and relationships are made stronger.
Ms. Richardson writes an uplifting story that will bring you hope and joy this holiday season.
This book was very sweet. The story of three sisters who travel to their Aunt’s inn for Christmas, with chapters alternating in perspective between the three women. One thing I loved about this book was that it was like three mini stories in one! So if you weren’t feeling one sister’s path, you still had another, and another, to focus on. Each of the three stories was basically a romance, with some reaching more of a solid conclusion than others. Read on for a more detailed discussion and spoilers.
~~SPOILERS~~
DAHLIA
Dahlia’s story was my favorite. I love a good later-in-life, single parent romance (gives me hope lol). She was truly free to find herself and a new relationship with sexy small town doctor Ian. There was no reason she couldn’t take over the Inn and start a new independent life away from her a-hole ex. I found her romance the cutest, and her story the most plausible. I almost wish we had seen more of them! A second date? More at the Christmas extravaganza? An epilogue?? I want more!
MAGNOLIA
I wanted to love Magnolia’s story. I love second chance romances because there’s a built-in history and connection–there’s no too-soon I-love-you’s or a rush to the altar to wrap things up in a happy bow. The characters have a past and the story just builds on that. But I think this story would be extremely difficult to read for anyone who struggles with infertility to read. In all honesty, I wish Magnolia hadn’t gotten pregnant in the book–instead, I wish she and her husband Eric had come together on their own, learned to love each other as partners again, baby aside. MAYBE in an epilogue they could have a baby or adopt or something, but it didn’t seem like they ever got over their argument, it just seemed like a baby magically solved all their problems. And that isn’t going to happen for everyone. For once, I’d like to see a couple in a romance novel struggling with infertility not just happen to get pregnant. This reminded me of one of the issue with The Friend Zone (which I love overall, but I likewise find this element problematic).
ROSE
Rose was the youngest of the sisters, and you could tell. It was difficult to come back from the moment she complained about her fiance’s unwillingness to miss an important work meeting to spend the day in bed with her. Like… he has to work? That’s what the weekend is for? She was being completely unreasonable and just started out the novel on the wrong foot. She quickly redeemed herself, and her fiance revealed himself to be kind of an a-hole (demanding she come back home with him, not standing up to his mother on her behalf, not supporting her career, etc.) and I grew to like Rose’s story, though it still felt very rushed. She seemed to go from very in love with her fiance to leaving him in the matter of a few weeks without a sudden triggering event. I feel like it would have made more sense for her to refuse to go back with him but say they would discuss it when she got home or something? It just felt very sudden.
Obviously, I had a soft spot for Dahlia’s story and was ambivalent about the other two. But that was the great thing about this book! We got three stories woven together into one complete package, so I was always entertained and genuinely looked forward to finding out what would happen to all three women. It had oodles of holiday cheer and Christmas-y goodness–all the qualities you could in a holiday read. It had romance and family and even a dog. Pretty much checked all the boxes!
Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review!
What a beautifully written story centered around the Christmas holidays. This story features three sisters that used to love visiting their Aunt Sassy at the Juniper Inn in Juniper Springs, Colorado. Then, one year, their mother tells them they won’t be going back. Aunt Sassy sends each of the girls a special gift and an invitation to come for a visit. She makes them think it’s her last Christmas. Each of the sisters needs to get away for different reasons. Grab your copy of this wonderful and see what happens with Dahlia, Magnolia, and Rose. If you love stories about family, then you will absolutely love this story.
I received an advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley and this is my voluntary and honest review.
Home for the Holidays is a great sister bonding story. Rose, Dahlia and Magnolia are sisters all at different stages in their lives. They haven’t spent a lot of time together in a lot of years. When they heard from their Aunt that they hadn’t talked to in years, they all reached the same decision to spend their Christmas holidays with her. It’s a great premise for the reunion and for each of them to face what isn’t working in their lives and what to do about it. I really enjoyed the story. It made me laugh, cry and gave me the warm fuzzies. I will definitely keep an eye out for more books from Sara Richardson. It’s a great holiday read. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.
WOW!!! That was my reaction to this book. I feel in love with the cover and always have enjoyed this author so I dug in blinding have not a clue what the book was about. I so enjoyed it. I love the closeness of the sisters. I love Sassy, oh my what a pistol she is. I also liked how the author didn’t even try and sugar coat any of the sisters lives, because of this the sisters felt like I was catching up with friends. The sisterhood in this book will make you long for that if you don’t have it and will make you appreciate it even more if you do have it. This book is not necessarily about one love story but family the most important thing ever. I loved that the author kept this story a good clean read and it will put you in the mood for Christmas that’s forsake. Seriously you can not go wrong with this book. I am not sure if the author plans a follow up in the future but I am ready for more from these three. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Holidays are for families!
Rose, Dahlia and Magnolia haven’t seen their estranged aunt Sassy for many years but when she asks them to visit her at the Juniper Inn, they decide to make the time. Dahlia is divorced and her ex-husband is taking the kids to Europe for Christmas, Rose is planning her wedding with the help of their overbearing mother and Rose needs a break after her last round of IVF with her husband failed.
Home for the Holidays shows that they reconnect with each other at The Juniper Inn and they make the choice that is the best for each of them.
I love Christmas stories and Home for the Holidays is a perfect book about bringing families closer together.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
A great Christmas book centering around three sisters at crossroads in their lives. Dahlia, Magnolia and Rose used to spend summers with Aunt Sassy at her Inn when they were children, until their mother and aunt became estranged. When they receive a letter from their aunt asking them to spend one last Christmas at the Inn with her, they cannot refuse. Dahlia is still recovering from her divorce from her cheating husband, Magnolia is dealing with infertility and Rose is questioning her engagement to the “perfect” guy. The sisters need to take time to figure out what they are going to do with their lives and to reconnect with each other. This is a wonderful book that you could see being made into a Hallmark movie. My only complaint was that I wish this was a trilogy, so each sister could have a fuller resolution to their story. I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley for my honest review.
I found Home for the Holidays by Sara Richardson to be a wonderful escape into small town living during the Christmas season. The three main characters, the Buchanan sisters, Dahlia, Magnolia and Rose return to Juniper Springs, Colorado, after many years away, when their Aunt Sassy invites them back. All three sisters are in need of some time away from their normal lives to sort some things out. Dahlia is recently divorced with two kids and needs to reevaluate what she wants in life. Magnolia is desperate to start a family but even in vitro fertilzation hasn’t been successful and this is causing problems in her marriage. Rose is engaged to be married to one of the most eligible bachelors in Savannah but is rebelling against his mother taking over the wedding plans and her life. This time away is meaningful for all three. I really enjoyed this heartwarming story of love, life and happiness.