Welcome to Day 8 of #12booksofchristmas. During December I am sharing 12 festive reads. The idea came from the wonderful Icelandic tradition of Jolabokaflod where a book is given on Christmas Eve and read together. We are three quarters through the list which is unbelievable as it is flying this year. In case you’ve missed any titles below is a list of #12books so far this year….

• Day One - Countdown to Christmas by Jo Thomas
• Day Two - Who KIlled Father Christmas Edited by Martin Edwards
• Day Three - This Christmas in Paris by Sophie Claire
• Day Four - Tied up in Tinsel by Ngaio Marsh
• Day Five - Winter in New York by Josie Silver
• Day Six - A Shirley Hughes Christmas by Shirley Hughes
• Day Seven - How To Survive Christmas by Jilly Cooper

2024 saw me celebrate a bit of a milestone birthday. I was lucky enough to receive the most wonderful gifts, one of which was a year in books from my friends. This involved 12 books, beautifully gift-wrapped, some with other treats in to be opened on the first of the month. This is December's choice which I was very delighted to receive!

The Plot

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.

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.

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 with theirs. Will this Christmas be the end of the book club’s story or the start of a whole new chapter?

My Thoughts

There are some authors who often feature on my #12booksofchristmas list and Sarah Morgan is definitely one of those. There is a reason for this, they know what their reader is looking for and of course they love to write stories, In this case Sarah Morgan has chosen to write about her favourite things - friendship, books, Christmas and romance! And these just happen to be some of my favourite things as well, and definitely what I love to read about at Christmas.

The story centres on 3 friends, Anna, Erica and Claudia. Everything seems perfect for Anna, a doting mother and wife, but she is scared about her children leaving home for University and what her life will look like after they have gone. Claudia is mourning the end of a relationship and has now lost her job and her passion for it. Career-woman Erica enjoys a glamorous lifestyle of travel, hard-work and beautiful holiday stays but is nursing a big family secret.

The 3 women decide to hold their annual Book club at the wonderful Maple Sugar Inn which is run by widowed Hattie who is also bringing up her delightful daughter. Hattie is exhausted but is determined that each of guests will be made to feel very special during their visits to the Inn. She is coming to terms with her feelings for Noah, a local farmer. But then disaster strikes in the kitchen.

I very much enjoyed this and wanted to stay at the Maple Sugar Inn which was surrounded by snow, beautiful walks and there was plenty of hot chocolate and cake to enjoy if you had burned the calories making snowmen. The girls' friendship was lovely, and I think all of them had problems they were working through that affect a lot of women at different parts of their lives. I’m always pleased to see a character called Hattie and she was a delight. A lovely person, giving of herself to others. As the friendship between Hattie and the Christmas Book Club grows, Hattie grows in confidence and realises that she needs to follow her own instincts rather than trying to maintain her departed husband’s vision.

This was a lovely, yummy read and it was perfect to curl up with during the storms we have been having in February, preferably with a Maple Sugar hot chocolate.