Home for Christmas by Holly Chamberlin wasn’t my favorite Christmas book ever, but it definitely wasn’t the worst.
You know how some holiday stories can get overly saccharine? Home for Christmas is like that. Just a little. The two daughters are just a little too perfect, the main relationships in the book are just a little too on the nose, and everything gets tied up a little too neatly in the end.
But, hey. It’s Christmas, right? WE WANT HAPPY ENDINGS. And Home for Christmas delivers that, along with a ton of Christmas cheer.
What’s Home for Christmas about?
Most of Home for Christmas is devoted to main character Nell and the Empty Nest Syndrome looming in her future as she prepares for what may be her last Christmas with her daughters, who are young adults ready to strike out on their own. Desperate to savor family holiday moments, Nell goes a little Christmas-crazy with baking, crafts, and decorating in an attempt to prove to her girls – and herself – that there’s no place like home for the holidays.
Home for Christmas is part of a book series set in Yorktide, Maine (I love the name of that town!), but you can jump into this book without having read the previous ones in the series. I looked them up, and they all seem to follow different Yorktide inhabitants rather than one particular family or person. The only thing you need to know is that Yorktide is a sleepy, quaint New England village, which is exactly where you want a cozy Christmas novel to be set.
What I didn’t enjoy about Home for Christmas
I suspect that if I were a middle-aged mother – or any mother, really – I might have enjoyed Home for Christmas a little more. I’m all for a woman trying to find herself, but Nell’s predicament became tiresome toward the middle of the book. I was so grateful when The Best Friend pointed out that it’s a good thing Nell’s daughters want to boldly explore the world and live their own lives. Because, honestly, the time and energy Nell spends trying to sway her daughters into thinking no place is as good as with Mom is a little sickening.
Should you read Home for Christmas?
If you can get past the co-dependent family dynamic in Home for Christmas, you’ll breeze through this warm-hearted book that counts down to the holiday with light relationship drama, potential new romance on the horizon, and lessons about love and family that will remind you of the true meaning of Christmas.
What’s the book-inspired recipe for Home for Christmas?
Be sure to check back in for my book-inspired recipe: Baked Flounder with Shrimp Stuffing.
