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. In Mary Kay Andrews’ sparkling new 2023 holiday release, Big Lights, Big Christmas, Kerry Tolliver says goodbye to her family’s Christmas tree farm and hello to the bright lights of NYC. There to help her older brother sell trees at their family’s Greenwich Village destination, Kerry falls in love with the dazzling city, her delightful neighbors, and the charming single dad who sweeps her off her feet. Thirty-two-year-old Eva's life has been all about her new business since the last three years, after some personal tragedy caused her mindset to focus inwards. As her shop is due to launch on New Year's, she is busy even on Christmas, bringing her work and her assistant with her to a Cornwall manor to attend her friends Hallie and Kian's Christmas party. The strength of One Christmas Morning lies in its well-developed characters, each possessing their own flaws, dreams, and desires. As the story unfolds, their relationships evolve in a refreshingly realistic manner, showcasing the complexities of human connections. Readers will find themselves emotionally invested in the characters' journeys, rooting for their growth and transformation. Catherine Walsh gave the gift of romance last year with her novel Holiday Romance, and she’s continuing that tradition for 2023 with her holiday romantic comedy, Snowed In.

There were some very timely lessons in this story. Sometimes we shut other people out when we are dealing with grief and personal struggles. I can relate to that entirely and this book highlights how essential it is to pull people closer, not push them away. When Eva loses a big piece of her heart on a Christmas past three years ago, she can't help but to be bitter, angry, sad and heartbroken.One Christmas Morning has an interesting twist to the Time-Loop trope, unfortunately it feels overly repetitive and drawn out. Most of this story focuses on the plot rather than the characters. I want to know more about Eva, James, Hallie, and Kian and their friendship. It's always all about the characters for me. Haunting, magical and sparkling with Christmas spirit, One Christmas Morning is a festive love story with a difference. A clever and cathartic novel about healing, grief, facing up to ourselves and letting go, it tugged on my heartstrings and took me through every emotion possible. A warm and powerful debut” - Holly Miller, The Sight of You

Eva's focus is on the opening of her new business, but she promises her husband, James she'll spend Christmas with their close friends, Hallie and Kian at Penhallow, a manor house in Cornwall. She knows she needs to keep her word, but the childhood memories and her family's connection to this manor house haunts her.It is said that the people of Rosevear are lawless – that they steal from the ships that wash up on their shores. The islanders see it differently. They call it survival. Cozy up with Becca Freeman’s debut novel, The Christmas Orphans Club, a lovely addition to the holiday romance canon. Set in the glittering landscape of NYC, four friends’ annual holiday traditions are put to the test when it becomes clear that it may be their last. With razor-sharp wit and hilarious dialogue, Freeman crafts a heartwarming story of found family, friendship, holiday traditions, and the challenges of growing up. This is a very angsty Christmas story. The blurb gives most of the premise away. This is a match up between A Christmas Carol and Groundhog Day but without the humor. Eva has turned into a workaholic trying to get her new shop up and running. She has ignored her husband and friends for the last three years while trying to move on from personal tragedy. In a Nutshell: 'Groundhog Day' meets 'A Christmas Carol.' Not as light-hearted or heartwarming as you would expect from the theme. But if you are looking for a more emotionally intense book, this will work well. One Christmas Morning drops you into the main character, Eva's, life at a very pivotal moment. We see how far Eva has gone to launch her shop and start to understand how far out of the hole she has to climb. And then Christmas hits and the Groundhog day theme starts, along with Eva embodying the other guests at Penhallow to hopefully learn her lesson in time to repair relationships.

The story kept me hooked from the beginning to the end. There were so many twists I did not see coming. I loved the underlying romance as well. My thanks to HQ and NetGalley for the DRC of “One Christmas Morning”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.In this book, readers get to re-live Christmas Day over and over and over again. Phew, there’s a lot of roast dinners going on but thankfully, with none of the calories! However, despite being set on Christmas Day, I didn’t think it was a heavily festive book and I believe this was the right balance for my first Christmas read of 2023. When Eva's world collapsed 3 years ago just before Christmas, she threw herself into work to try and forget - to anaesthetise herself from the pain. Unfortunately all she has done is push those closest to her away - her best friends Hallie and Kian, her work assistant Diana, and even her husband James. When James makes Eva come down to xxxx in Cornwall for Christmas, this could be Eva's very last chance with all the people she loves best. Fortunately the house is full of the memories of the wonderful time spent there with her beloved Grandmother, and due to the magic of the house, her Grandmother decides to show Eva what could happen if she doesn't change her ways. To this end, Eva relives Christmas morning several times, each time in a different body, and sees the life she is heading for if things don't change. Eva is having Christmas, again and again. On the plus side lots of lovely meals and no calories. On the downside she seems to be condemned to waking up as a different guest of the Cornwall house party each Christmas morning until she can work out just what has gone wrong with her life.

This was a very well done twist on the whole "ghosts of Christmas past" theme. I liked how Eva gets to experience how everyone sees her, while she gets to live as someone else each day. Of course, by its very nature, the book is quite predictable. ( Though there was one incident at the end that I did not see coming.) So this book is not about the destination but about the journey. And the journey is handled decently. Eva has spent the past three years burying herself in her work, trying to forget the heartbreaking events of the Christmas that ripped her world apart. This year, the last thing she wants is to attend her friend’s weekend-long Christmas party. But at her husband James’ insistence, here they are. Wow! Wow! Wow! I want everyone to read this book that so we can talk about all the twists and turns as I am so worried about inadvertently giving away a spoiler!! Instead I’m going to try and tell you about the story line, as best as I can without giving too much away!The work life balance focus is also key. Again, it is easy to focus more on work during the tough times as it can be easier to control...but when you see yourself through other people's eyes, it is often clear how damaging a poor work life balance can be.