I didn’t get to this book when I planned on it but thank goodness I finally did. This book was witty, charming and everything I needed. How come I haven’t read more by Sarah Morgan?! 
I loved that this was a family tale and that it was a winter story that wasn’t too christmasy.

Wonderful holiday romance.  The setting is inviting and the characters are very loveable.  While the plot is somewhat predictable, as are most holiday romances, it in no way detracts from the enjoyment of the book.  Sarah Morgan is a wonderful storyteller, especially at Christmas time.

I voluntarily read an ARC of this book.

I read this book last winter and am embarrassed that I didn't post a review before now.  I will use my excuses of being pregnant and then COVID, but please accept my apologies.

This was a great Christmas romance and a fun read from Sarah Morgan.  I live in Arizona, so I love Christmas romances that transport me to somewhere actually Christmassy.  This didn't disappoint.  It was cute and offered a great HEA and I really enjoyed it.  Will definitely read more from her!

Oh my goodness, this was wonderful!

A Wedding in December is told from the POV of the three White family women: mother Maggie and her two daughters Katie and Rosie. Rosie, the baby of the family who spent much of her childhood very sick and may have moved across the Atlantic partially to escape the eternal smother-style mothering Maggie and Katie tend to employ toward her, surprises everyone when she calls them in late November to say she's getting married. In Colorado. To a man they haven't yet met. On Christmas Eve. Yes, THIS Christmas Eve.

Any family would probably be a bit surprised, even concerned perhaps. Is it too soon? Will everything be ready on time? How can they help from so many miles away?

And yes, some of those concerns are what the elder White women are thinking. But this is a Sarah Morgan book, so you know it's going to be more complicated than that! Maggie hasn't yet told her children that their father moved out months ago and they're planning on divorcing. (And of course *now* isn't the time to tell them, right? Just pause a moment and consider the hoops she might start jumping through to keep them in the dark--and then multiply by at least ten, because Sarah Morgan novel.) Katie, and ER doctor who was running on empty about ten months ago, had a hellish day at work several weeks past and just got through with a different kind of on-the-job difficulty minutes before taking her sister's call, is sure Rosie is moving too fast and buys her ticket to the States with the intention of stopping the wedding altogether. (Yes, she even admits this out loud to her flatmate. And amazingly, hearing it out loud doesn't make her reconsider. Yikes.)

Throw in one of the world's best (if slightly bossy and full of her own issues) future mothers-in-law, the (hopefully) future groom, his frustratingly loyal and gorgeous best friend (who knew the hefting-great-tree-trunks workout was so effective?) and of course, Mr. White himself, and you've got the makings of one heck of a story.

Add in a curious mountain lion, a blizzard, ONLY ONE BED (of course--I mean, you knew that already, didn't you?) and somebody's midmorning delight getting interrupted by--well, almost everybody in the book--and you know this is one book you're not going to be able to put down anytime soon.

I know I wasn't! And I haven't even mentioned the text message at about 94% that nearly had me in tears...

Verdict? A Wedding in December is one holiday book I am so glad I had the chance to read! I'll be counting the days until Ms Morgan gives us her next...

Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

I ended up really enjoying this after somewhat of a slow beginning. I nearly put it down, but I'm glad I decided to keep going because a lot happened and we got to follow not one, not two, but three couples whose relationships were put to the test during this whirlwind destination wedding. Set in the snowy mountains of Aspen, Colorado, this book had a little bit of everything, but organized in a way that felt interesting and not scattered. Everyone had a connection in one way or another, and everyone had flaws and things to overcome that made this such a satisfying end.

Definitely one to pick up for a feel good holiday read!

this was a good read, the characters were good and I enjoyed reading this book. It wasn't my favorite genre to read but I still enjoyed this.

I enjoy all of Sarah Morgan’s books and I was excited for this new holiday themed story. This was another entertaining book set in snowy Aspen. I love character driven novels and this is one revolving around a daughter’s hasty engagement. As the family converges for the wedding we learn of all the family dynamics and secrets involved. The parents are separated but keeping it a secret from their daughters and the bride’s sister is very skeptical about the groom and the wedding. I loved the atmospheric writing and how the groom’s mother is given a positive role rather than the trope of overbearing mother in law.

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

Ever since a publicist at Harlequin introduced me to Sarah’s dreamy (and a bit steamy!) series about the O’Neill brothers, I have kept my eyes out for anything she writes. ❤

What I liked:

The cover! So perfect!

Maggie and Nick. While all the characters experience growth and change- I think I loved where Sarah took their story the most.

The ending. Gave me all the good Hallmark vibes.

 

Bottom line: For me, I really enjoyed this book. It had some great sister moments, some characters that really showed growth and a setting that I could really imagine from Sarah’s description.

I love books set at Christmas, and A WEDDING IN DECEMBER had not only Christmas at its core but also a lot of wedding planning. It was a quick read set in both England and Colorado with wonderful scenic descriptions. The story is told by either Maggie, Katie, or Rosie, and I loved the cover!

I could feel the gloom in England, and it wasn’t only due to the weather. Maggie and Nick are having marital problems and are now living apart, but neither of their grown daughters, Katie or Rosie, have even an inkling about it. Rosie calls from the United States where she’s gone to live for her schooling and drops a bombshell that’s she’s about to be married, and quickly too. Katie’s own life as a doctor is in turmoil, which no one in her family is aware of, but that doesn’t stop her from meddling in her sister’s engagement or her life.

As the family upends their lives to go to Colorado for Rosie’s wedding to Dan, whom they’ve never met, things take an interesting turn. I loved the characters, the wedding planning, and Snowfall Lodge, which is owned by Dan’s family.

Rosie has changed a lot, being on her own. Yet protective Katie finds it difficult to see her as an adult. The story is filled with secrets and romance, family and friends. From Rosie’s parents’ relationship to her sister’s involvement with Dan’s best man, love is in the air. The ending is nicely realized, though I would love to read more about this family in a future book.

Ms. Morgan is an author whose books I’ve enjoyed.  I’ve only read a few of them and have added more to my always growing TBR pile!

I love Christmas books. I love Christmas books centered around families. A Wedding in December was a an enjoyable Christmas read that was so while also being realistic. I did tend to get frustrated with some other characters, Rosie, in particular. I sometimes felt like they should grow up. This is also how we can feel about real-life families so although they frustrated me, it added reality. I would recommend this to readers who enjoy a nice sweet Christmas story.

I am so excited to share with you some of the new Christmas fiction books out there for this season. These books are wonderful reads that really take you into the Christmas season. These are available as a download with Kindle, or as a physical book, you can order from Amazon. I have put some Amazon links on this page, if you order from me, I will make a small commission!

I will post Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, some come back and see what I am sharing. If you love Christmas literature like I do, you will not be disappointed!

Our first book is A Wedding in December by Sarah Morgan. This funny, charming and heartwarming new Christmas novel is USA TODAY bestselling author Sarah Morgan at her festive best!



In the snowy perfection of Aspen, the White family gathers for youngest daughter Rosie’s
whirlwind Christmas wedding. First to arrive are the bride’s parents, Maggie and Nick. Their
daughter’s marriage is a milestone they are determined to celebrate wholeheartedly, but they
are hiding a huge secret of their own: they are on the brink of divorce. After living apart for the
last six months, the last thing they need is to be trapped together in an irresistibly romantic
winter wonderland.

Rosie’s older sister, Katie, is also dreading the wedding. Worried that impulsive, sweet-hearted
Rosie is making a mistake, Katie is determined to save her sister from herself! If only the
irritatingly good-looking best man, Jordan, would stop interfering with her plans…

Bride-to-be Rosie loves her fiancé but is having serious second thoughts. Except everyone has
arrived—how can she tell them she’s not sure? As the big day gets closer, and emotions run
even higher, this is one White family Christmas none of them will ever forget!



USA Today bestselling author Sarah Morgan writes hot, happy, contemporary
romance and women’s fiction, and her trademark humor and sensuality have gained her fans
across the globe. Described as “a magician with words” by RT Book Reviews, she has sold more
than eleven million copies of her books. She was nominated three years in succession for the
prestigious RITA® Award from the Romance Writers of America and won the award three times:
once in 2012 for Doukakis’s Apprentice, in 2013 for A Night of No Return and in 2017 for
Miracle on 5 th Avenue. She also won the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award in 2012 and has made
numerous appearances in their Top Pick slot. As a child, Sarah dreamed of being a writer, and
although she took a few interesting detours along the way, she is now living that dream. Sarah
lives near London, England, with her husband and children, and when she isn’t reading or
writing, she loves being outdoors, preferably on vacation so she can forget the house needs
tidying.

nice family drama/romance in the winter - so like a reverse beach read. A curl up in a chair with a cozy blanket while it's snowing outside kind of book.

RATING: 4 STARS
2019; HQN/Harlequin

A Wedding in December is my second novel by Morgan, the first also being a Christmas related story. I enjoy the romance, but it is the storylines with the family that make them endearing fun reads. In this story we have two sisters that are different as night and day but have been close. When the younger sister decided to get married over Christmas, the older sister swoops in to make sure her sister is making the right decision. Yet, she has a secret of her own that she has not shared with her family. Their parents who have always been together are separated but have not told them yet. They arrive arm in arm pretending they are still happily married. I am down to listen/read another book by Morgan...maybe later this year she will put out another Christmas novel.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

Such a great story about a family struggling with their lives and how they learn to try and fix them. Parents Maggie and Nick have been lying to their daughters for months. They are not living together and getting a divorce. When youngest daughter Rosie calls with the news that she is getting married, Maggie and Nick decide to pretend that their relationship is fine. Bride-to-be Rosie is confused and a little flighty. She is questioning her decision due to her older sister Katie’s negative comments. Katie is just a mess; she is a doctor who is seriously burnt out and hiding something from her family. Her plans are to break up the wedding to protect Rosie because she believes that she knows what is best for her. The characters are intriguing and just a little broken, but that just makes them easier to associate with. There is a lot of drama in this book, but the family is strong and manages to sort it out in a wonderfully touching story.

A perfectly sweet holiday story to sink into, with multigenerational love stories to make this a perfect fit for almost any romance reader. I'm a huge fan of Morgan's and will continue to read anything she writes!

Okay, LISTEN. This review is about two weeks late. Why? Because of life! Because I’m not able to prioritize reading these days, even though I’d like to. Because this one was kind of difficult for me to get into, so I ended up binging some stuff on Netflix instead. All sorts of bullshit reasons, really! So my apologies to the very wonderful marketing people at Harlequin, and I will keep reading and reviewing your wonderful books… hopefully when my life is a little slower? Maybe? Anyway! You didn’t come here for my excuses, so here’s the for realsies content, mmkay?

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In A Wedding in December, three women in the same family tell the stories of their complicated lives and how they intersect and diverge from their loved ones in the span of about a month. Maggie, the matriarch, is in the middle of divorcing her husband of thirty years… but they haven’t told their daughters yet. Maggie wants to keep it from them for as long as possible, because she’s ashamed that she couldn’t make her marriage work and she only wants what’s best for her family. She’s sad, and she feels like no one truly knows her. But when she ends up spending Christmas far from her home in England on a beautiful mountain in Aspen, Colorado, she finds that maybe her marriage isn’t so doomed after all.

Rosie is twenty-two and newly in America for a PhD program in fairy tales – not literally, the program is in Celtic folklore and mythology, but that’s pretty much what she studies at Harvard. She met Dan at the gym while trying to get in better shape to control her terrible asthma, and they fell in love immediately in a whirlwind. Dan proposed at Thanksgiving, and the wedding is planned for Christmas Eve in his hometown of Aspen, Colorado, on the property that his family has owned for years. Rosie is over the moon, but also terrified that everything is moving so quickly. She reassures herself, because her parents (her mom is Maggie!) met and married in a whirlwind, and they’re the happiest they’ve ever been! She never speaks a word of her doubts to Dan… which comes back to bite her in the end when the truth starts to come out.

Katie, Rosie’s older sister, is an Emergency Room doctor who has seen a lot and never made time for herself. A traumatic experience with a patient in October left her shaken and questioning if she really wants to be a doctor for the rest of her life, and when she learns that her sister is getting married in a rush, she puts all of her energy into stopping the wedding rather than supporting her sister and trying to work through her own issues. Rather than stopping her sister’s wedding, she gets blindsided by Dan’s surly, thoughtful best man, and suddenly everything starts to fall into place for her.

I promise these storylines make a lot more sense when Sarah Morgan writes them over me!

9781335147271_TSX_prd

3 Things I Loved
Katie. Look. I’m an older sister. I totally understand Katie’s nature, and if my sister were to call me on Thanksgiving and tell me she was getting married in a foreign country on Christmas Eve, I’d probably freak out a little too. So yeah, Katie was my fave. I lived for her chapters. And I’ve also been in the place where the thing I’m good at isn’t my love, and that’s a really hard thing to reckon with. But anyway, team Katie.
Maggie. I’m listing Maggie second here because, even though I’m not a mom, I felt the depths of Maggie’s pain and confusion. I’m recently divorced. I know what it’s like to grow apart from the person who was supposed to be your life, your world. I know what that feels like, and let me tell you, it sucks. Maggie’s story has a happy ending, and I was happy to read it.
Rosie (and Dan, and the setting!). I’m putting all of this together because it’s Rosie’s wedding to Dan that brings them all to Aspen in the first place. Oh, it’s all so romantic, and Dan is a super great love interest, and Rosie is relatable and young and fun.
Basically, the main characters in this book were complex and funny and frustrating and they were lovely.

Dislikes/Problematic Content
THERE ARE ONLY WHIIIIIIIIIIIITE PEOPLE IN THIS BOOOOOOOOOK. Straight white people, to be exact. Ugh.

I think I’m just constantly surprised that so many people believe that white people only encounter other white people. I mean, the rich mountain towns in Colorado… yeah, okay, it’s probably mostly white people. But you could TRY. Authors. Come on. The default shouldn’t just be all white people. D I V E R S I F Y.

And for goodness sake, I guarantee that more people are gay that you even know, so throw some into your books. You know how they say that life imitates art?

Art should imitate life too.

As for a general dislike, even though I ended up loving the book a lot, it took me a LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time to get into it. I almost gave up, actually, at around the 20% mark! I’m glad I didn’t, but it was a slow burn at the beginning that was almost too slow.

Rating
A reminder of the rating scale:

Red = DNF, I hated everything
Orange = Ugh, no thank you
Yellow = I mean, I’ve read worse, but there were problems
Green = This was good! 
Blue = Oh my gosh, I loved this book!
Purple = This is the unicorn of books and I will be rereading it until the binding falls apart and EVERYONE should be reading it!
Okay, so this is a tough one to rate for me. I ended up enjoying it, like I said, but it took me a really long time to get into it. And… I’m going to make a bigger announcement about this later in the week, but 2020 is going to be the year of the romance, and I’m going to start being a little more critical of the representation found in these books that are supposed to be about happiness and love! I’m already getting into that mindset, so here we go. I’m going to give A Wedding in December a YELLOWISH-GREEN rating. More diversity would make it a better book and give it a higher rating for me.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. And I’M SO SORRY I’M TWO WEEKS LATE WITH THIS REVIEW. I had good intentions, I swear.

Happy reading!

Yes, I know it’s January but, seriously, when I’m sitting by the fire and drinking cafe au lait, my brain still wants to read holiday themed, cozy reads. Since it’s not quite time for Valentine’s Day yet, I’m still reading some great books from Christmas and pretending that they are “Winter” themed books instead. Won’t you join me?

I absolutely adored A Wedding in December. This is exactly the fun, sweet, warm, witty story that I like to read any time of year but especially in the dead of winter. Don’t you just feel all warm and toasty reading a good love story? Okay, yeah,  I maybe stretching it a little but you know what I mean!

Rosie, an ex-pat from the UK, is marrying a yank from Aspen Colorado. Her family has flown in to celebrate the big day but not everyone is in the mood for festivities. Rosie’s parents are on the brink of divorce and her sister, Katie, who always has had a say in everything Rosie has done, is not happy about the groom, a man she has never met. When Katie meets his best friend, she is even less happy. Hi-jinks and shenanigans abound as the White family tries to keep secrets, break up the wedding, put everything back together again AND salvage their familial relationships. The writing is perfect, the characters are so realistic and the fun is abounding in this charming WINTER tale! I highly recommend it any time of the year.

Oh my goodness, this was wonderful!

A Wedding in December is told from the POV of the three White family women: mother Maggie and her two daughters Katie and Rosie. Rosie, the baby of the family who spent much of her childhood very sick and may have moved across the Atlantic partially to escape the eternal smother-style mothering Maggie and Katie tend to employ toward her, surprises everyone when she calls them in late November to say she's getting married. In Colorado. To a man they haven't yet met. On Christmas Eve. Yes, THIS Christmas Eve.

Any family would probably be a bit surprised, even concerned perhaps. Is it too soon? Will everything be ready on time? How can they help from so many miles away?

And yes, some of those concerns are what the elder White women are thinking. But this is a Sarah Morgan book, so you know it's going to be more complicated than that! Maggie hasn't yet told her children that their father moved out months ago and they're planning on divorcing. (And of course *now* isn't the time to tell them, right? Just pause a moment and consider the hoops she might start jumping through to keep them in the dark--and then multiply by at least ten, because Sarah Morgan novel.) Katie, and ER doctor who was running on empty about ten months ago, had a hellish day at work several weeks past and just got through with a different kind of on-the-job difficulty minutes before taking her sister's call, is sure Rosie is moving too fast and buys her ticket to the States with the intention of stopping the wedding altogether. (Yes, she even admits this out loud to her flatmate. And amazingly, hearing it out loud doesn't make her reconsider. Yikes.)

Throw in one of the world's best (if slightly bossy and full of her own issues) future mothers-in-law, the (hopefully) future groom, his frustratingly loyal and gorgeous best friend (who knew the hefting-great-tree-trunks workout was so effective?) and of course, Mr. White himself, and you've got the makings of one heck of a story.

Add in a curious mountain lion, a blizzard, ONLY ONE BED (of course--I mean, you knew that already, didn't you?) and somebody's midmorning delight getting interrupted by--well, almost everybody in the book--and you know this is one book you're not going to be able to put down anytime soon.

I know I wasn't! And I haven't even mentioned the text message at about 94% that nearly had me in tears...

Verdict? A Wedding in December is one holiday book I am so glad I had the chance to read! I'll be counting the days until Ms Morgan gives us her next...

Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

A lovely blend of women's fiction and romance, Sarah Morgan's A Wedding in December will have you laughing, sniffling, and sighing with delight. There's such a wonderfully real, and complex, family dynamic going on here that's fully explored along with each of the three romantic relationships. Bride and groom to be, Rosie and Dan are young, in love, and I couldn't help but be in their corner. While both of them seem to be easy going and uncomplicated at first, I liked the bite Morgan puts in each of these characters and enjoyed their evolution through the book, especially Rosie's. Katie, the over-protective older sister has perhaps the greatest amount of growth throughout the story. My heart ached for her and, though I didn't care much for her at the start, she ended up being one of my favorite characters by the end of the book. But it's the parents who stole the show, at least for me. Their hilarious, complex, and poignant second chance romance, set in motion because they lied and told everyone they were on their second honeymoon, was the highlight of the book for me. I enthusiastically recommend adding A Wedding in December to your holiday reading. 

*ARC received for fair and unbiased review

I ended my holiday-themed reading with this absolute gem of a romance novel. Rose White is the youngest of two daughters. She wakes her mother up with a late night call to tell her not only that she’s engaged, but also that she plans to get married over Christmas in the Aspen, Colorado—just a few short weeks away. Maggie isn’t so sure this whirlwind wedding is a good idea. Rose has not known the groom for long. Of course Maggie will go to the wedding, as will her husband. But she’s determined not to let on to anyone that she and her husband, Nick, are planning to divorce and have not been living under the same roof for months. It would ruin the happy occasion and break their daughter's hearts. They can pretend to be happily married for their short trip to the United States for the wedding, surely. 

The White’s oldest daughter Katie has always been a bit skeptical about this thing called love. She knows Rose is making a mistake, and she plans to do what she can to talk Rose out of this silly impulsive wedding if it is the last thing she does; meanwhile hoping no one will notice the mess her life has become, how she doubts herself and kept hidden the trauma she recently suffered.

Perhaps you can imagine what comes next. Rose begins to doubt her decision to marry her adoring fiancé, Dan, because of her sister’s doubts. There’s the gorgeous best man who sees right through Katie—and to whom she finds herself attracted to in a way she’s never felt before. Then there are Maggie and Nick, empty-nesters who have raised two beautiful daughters and who have grown apart over the years, losing the spark they once had.

Oh my gosh, how I loved this book! Lack of communication is at the heart of the novel and the cause for so much of the characters’ frustrations. If only everyone would talk to each other about what they are thinking and feeling! The novel comes at relationships from several different angles: that of sisters, mother and daughter(s), and the more romantic ones, including that of husband and wife. You also have Katie’s story dealing with the trauma and her need to forgive herself and heal. Sarah Morgan does an excellent job of putting the reader into each of the three protagonists (Rose, Maggie, and Katie) lives, and I could relate to each of them in varying ways. While all three of the women’s stories are strong, I most connected with Maggie. I love that the author included her story—love isn’t just for the young! I thoroughly enjoyed A Wedding in December—and how I would love to stay in one of those tree houses at the resort they were all staying!