4.5 stars

In my opinion Sarah Morgan is the queen of Christmas Novels and I say that after only reading three of them (my aim is to start working through her backlog soon!). I absolutely loved The Christmas Book Club and quickly felt gripped by the story and it's characters.

Each woman in this book is going through something in their lives and are realistic characters who you just want to protect, Hattie especially. The dilemmas that they are facing are things that I think a lot of readers will relate to at one point in their life. This is a very character focused story and it's one of the many reasons I love Sarah's books. You get to know these characters, read from their points of view and get to watch them grow. I loved watching them come together to support one another.

I quickly fell in love with the picturesque Maple Sugar Inn. It sounds absolutely perfect and I would do anything to spend time in this inn! It just sounds the perfect winter wonderland and a magical place to escape to!

Also can I just say I loved that the book they were reading was by Catherine Swift who was one of the main characters in Sarah's book Summer Wedding!

If you're looking for a winter read this year then I really recommend picking this one up!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love Sarah's books, she always has wonderful characters, gorgeous settings and a happy ending and The Christmas Book Club lived up to all of her previous novels. It went at a nice pace, flowed really well and was the perfect book for snuggling up with!

I loved this book.
A brilliant feel good festive read you can’t put down.
The story is centred around four women. Erica, Claudia, Anna who are best friends and Hattie who is the owner of Maple Sugar Inn. Here is where the book is set and all at a pivotal time in their lives the women come together for their annual book club meet.
I loved the hotel setting, the Maple Sugar Inn is a magical winter wonderland.
I enjoyed the library where book club took place and the book talk throughout. I loved that they were reading a Catherine Swift book as their book club read, a character from a previous book by @SarahMorgan.
I loved the women’s friendship and they way they help and support each other. There’s a bit of romance too.
It’s a fun uplifting read. I definitely recommend reading this one. It’s the perfect book to curl up with and escape.
Thanks to #NetGallery @HQ for an arc of #TheChristmasBookClub in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own.
Book publishes 26 October 2023.

I adored this book! The setting, the wonderfully varied characters, everything!

Who wouldn’t want to have a vacation in a snow covered lodge and spend the week reading books with friends? Erica and Anna are not quite sure, for different reasons, but they and Claudia agree to go. All three women are facing changes in life but little do they know how much this week will shake up their lives. Hattie is the owner of the inn and has no idea how much these three friends trip will also impact her.

Four wonderful characters, all with different personalities and stories.

A story of love, friendship, life stages and most importantly books! All wrapped up in the perfect Christmas setting. A perfect cosy read.

Three best friends escape all the pre-Christmas chaos, to meet for their annual book group meeting in a beautiful hotel. It’s the escape they all need but will it provide the perspective and answers they have been searching for?

This is a charming festive read for the run up to Christmas. Perfect to cozy up to with a blanket and hot chocolate or to listen to the audiobook as you wrap presents.

It took me a little while to get into this book but around 50% through it got under my skin. I liked how the book centred on the friendship, rather than romance, as other Christmas books tend to. I loved the details of the inn and wished I was there myself. If you are looking for a lighthearted, feel good, easy read, look no further, you have found it.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved how this book was about women fixing each other's crowns. This was such a lovely read about friendship and having each other's backs without letting pride get in the way - although I did find that it took a while for the story to actually get going.

I also loved how Sarah Morgan incorporated Catherine Swift and Her Last Lover into this book - Catherine Swift being the main character of Morgan's previous book, Summer Wedding/ The Island Villa.

Overall, this was a feel-good and heartwarming read..

Oh I loved this book! Set in a picture perfect inn, I loved the dynamic between our 4 main characters, there was emotion and comedy, the perfect mix for the perfect book. Another fantastic Xmas read from this author, I look forward to the next one.

This was such a lovely feel good read, I really enjoyed it. The location sounded amazing and the characters were all pleasant and the sort of people you’d like to meet! All the little ends tied up neatly and I found it a really cute read. I’ve read lots by Sarah Morgan and have enjoyed them all x

Wow what a lovely festive feel good read. The maple sugar inn sounds absolutely amazing and I’d love to stay in a hotel like this. Three friends meet up for their annual book club break together. Erica chooses the Inn and her two friends Anna and Claudia are blown away with her choice as she usually picks City breaks for them. On arrival they are totally confused when Erica decides she has changed her mind and wants them to leave the next day. This book follows the problems that each of the three friends are keeping from one another and how they help each to deal with what’s going on in their lives and relationships.

Erica, Claudia, and Anna meet every year, normally in the summer, for a week away to discuss books. They have done so since they were at college together as a way to escape from their studies. This year they didn’t manage a summer trip so are going away for a week in December. Anna reluctantly agrees as she doesn’t want to leave her twins who are due to leave home for college next year. Claudia is a chef who has recently lost her job and can’t really afford the expense but wants to be with her friends. Erica has chosen the Maple Sugar Inn, situated in Vermont, run by a young widow Hattie. Hattie is struggling as she has a young daughter but wants to make sure all her guests have a great holiday.
We soon discover why Erica has chosen this hotel for their stay.
I enjoyed reading this book and as a pre Christmas read I would recommend it as a light, heart warming book.

Sarah’s done it again! Another feel good festive treat. As always the cover is soo enticing and the story within didn’t disappoint. Grab a hot chocolate and a blanket and snuggle down with this book this winter

English-born Hattie Coleman needs a Christmas miracle if she is to keep her Vermont hotel The Maple Sugar Inn running over the festive season. A young widow with a little daughter, she's struggling, and her temperamental chef and bad-tempered housekeeper aren't helping. Meanwhile, 40-year-old chums Erica, Claudia and Anna are on the way to the hotel for their annual book club break. Each has her own life challenges looming - and at least one has a secret to spill. Will Christmas work its magic for them all?
This is Sarah Morgan in top form! She gives us four strong female characters with very real-life problems whom the reader can instantly relate to. She invites us in with a strong and intriguing plot, the threads all drawn together beautifully. Then she sprinkles the narrative with warmth, friendship and romance, and of course lots of Christmas sparkle.
The men in the story = Noah, Peter and "sexy" Jack - have their parts to play, too, keeping romance firmly to the fore.
Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without children, so little Delphi, Hattie's daughter, is a welcome addition to the story. She has the strongest Christmas wish of all. Can Santa make her dreams come true, too?
This is a wonderfully cosy Christmas read, I really enjoyed it.

This book made you feel ready for Christmas; it was warm and cozy. Another fantastic book from Sarah Morgan. A book built on great relationships between friends and how they can help each other deal with issues in their lives which are very relatable. A great book for Christmas time.

This was a wonderful heart warming story with great relatable characters who I wanted to know more about and I did!! Hattie is such a sweet character who's had it tough when her husband died a couple of years ago. Meanwhile a trio of girlfriends who meet up every year for their annual book club meet, they choose Hattie's hotel to stay at. It's a picture perfect Christmas lovers paradise. Who could want for more?. But Erica, the one who booked the hotel has an ulterior motive......
I loved how the hotel was the centre point, helping the rest of the story evolve, and boy did it!! I felt quite emotional in places, so you may need a tissue or three!!
Many thanks to HQ Stories for the chance to read this arc copy via Netgalley.
#Netgalley, #hqstories, #sarahmorganwrites.

I’m such a Sarah Morgan fan and really enjoy how happy her books leave me. This was no exception. Her characters are as complex as ever and I admire how she can have four main characters, all with their own story, that intertwine and each have their turn in the spotlight. Plenty of festive joy as well, which is always a bonus!

Rating 4.5/5

For me, Christmas would not be complete without a Sarah Morgan book. I’ve read one of her books every year I’ve done my festive book reviews and they are always some of my favourites. The Christmas Book Club has 100% been my absolute favourite so far, I could not put this book down.

Sarah Morgan has always been excellent at writing realistic family/friend relationships and the ones in The Christmas Book Club are no exception. It says a lot about the writing when I find the friendships more heartwarming than the actual romance. Don’t get me wrong, the romance was also very cute, but there’s something about building familial bonds in festive books that I just love.

I’m not always a fan of books with more than two POVs, however, it was done well here. Each character had something to bring to the story and they meshed together very well. You could really tell that Erica, Claudia and Anna had been friends for a long time and it was nice to see Hattie slot into their lives seamlessly.

The Christmas Book Club has two of my favourite festive ‘tropes’: small town and cosy inn. I don’t know if these are technically tropes, but you know what I mean. Books set in small towns are always a hit with me and when it involves Christmas, I am in literary heaven. I adore the sense of community in small towns and the group of people at the Maple Sugar Inn, which Hattie owns, were so wholesome. There was definitely a sprinkling of found family in this story and it was very heartwarming.

If you are looking for a fun festive read that centres on friendship and family with a sprinkling of romance, you need to read The Christmas Book Club. It has been my favourite festive read of the year so far and it’s going to take something very special to top it.

The Christmas Book Club by Sarah Morgan



Every year, I look forward to Sarah Morgan’s Christmas book, usually a romantic family tale set in suitably snowy surroundings. The cover of this year’s book promised more of the same, with a cosy inn pictured in a snowy landscape. I listened to the audio version of the book and was transported to a warm and welcoming inn in Vermont where I would love to be spending Christmas, or in fact any time of the year.



The story centres on four women. Erica, Claudia and Anna are old friends who meet once a year for a week in a hotel where they talk about a book they have all read and generally have a catch-up and enjoy just being together. They usually do this in the summer months, but this year events have forced them to change that pattern and they are meeting close to Christmas. Erica, usually a lover of large, impersonal city hotels, has booked the Maple Sugar Inn in Vermont, where single mum Hattie is struggling to keep the place afloat after the death of her husband. As the week progresses, the friends are surprised to discover that there are things they don’t know about each other. They also begin to worry about how they can help Hattie and her little daughter and perhaps even steer her towards a young man who is clearly interested in a romantic relationship with her.



I highly recommend this heart-warming Christmas book, full of interesting characters and surprising revelations. The three friends are very different in temperament and background, but they have a wonderful relationship that was a pleasure to watch. I thoroughly enjoyed looking on as their secrets were revealed to one another; the fact that they were all holding onto something the others didn’t know about them could well have broken the group apart. The reader had to wait to find out how strong their bond was. I really admired Hattie for carrying on running the inn as her husband had wanted even after he was gone, but at the same time hoped that she could take a leap of faith, follow through with her own ideas and also listen to her heart. One extra detail that I loved was that the book the women were reading was one by an author who starred in a previous Sarah Morgan novel - a clever touch. This is another triumph for Sarah Morgan and another book readers would doubtless be delighted to find in their Christmas stocking.

Christmas is not Christmas without a Sarah Morgan book.
Three close friends, Erica, Claudia, and Anna. Every year, they meet and spend a week together discussing the book that they have chosen. This year, they meet at Maple Sugar Inn. Erica's choice.
Erica is very career focused, while Anna is family devoted. Claudia gas just list her job as a chef. Her partner of ten years has just run off with a younger model.
Hattie owns Maple Sugar Inn. She is a single mum to five year old Delphi. Her husband died two years ago, and Hattie is trying to keep Brent's dream alive, but she is struggling.
I adored this book. The setting is amazing, and I would definitely book a stay.
There are also some sexy men for some of the ladies.
The book they chose for bookclub was by Catherine Swift, which was the main character in Sarah's summer book, Summer Wedding. Loved that touch.
A perfect Christmas read with a sprinkling of romance. What's not to love?
Thanks to Netgalley and HQ for the ARC in return for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book, and it was perfect for reading as it gets cold (I was missing Claudia's food and Hattie's hot chocolate, let's be honest...)

This was heart-warming, and a beautiful story, minimally about the book club as per the ladies in the book, but more about the people involved, and their lives, and the twists and turns, ups and downs that they are going through... let alone the hopes and dreams and fears that they all have that are holding them back or urging them on...

The relationships that we have are important and can either lift us up or leave us floored, this book showed there is good in everyone...

....and added fun always comes if there is a small child involved!

This book was a cosy little read to start me in the mood for my favourite time of year...

I loved the detail in the back stories of the main characters and the then the subsequent character development throughout. It made the characters feel familiar and really got me invested in their happiness.

The inn sounds idyllic and super Christmassy and I was loving the vibes throughout.

A little bit predictable in some of the character arcs but still a very worthwhile read.