This is only the second book I have read in this series (I also read the first one). The first book didn't do it for me so I wanted to try this one as well. Sadly, this book didn't do it for me either.

Perhaps if I had read the entire series, I would know everyone's names and backstories. But since I haven't, I felt like this was A LOT of people and side stories to keep up with on this tiny island of Mure - Flora, Joel & Baby Douglas; Fintan and his deceased husband Colton; the new chef that came along with his silent female baker; Isla who works in the new restaurant; Konstantine who is Norwegian royalty banned from his country and exiled to Mure to work as a dishwasher in the restaurant; Lorna and her Syrian doctor lover; the doctor's wife who is missing since the Syrian war; and the list goes on and on.

It's a cute story, but I just didn't feel any sort of connection with any of the characters. Certainly not enough to have me read the next installment (assuming there is one) or even any books in this series that I missed.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The opinions stated above are mine without biases.

Such a treat to be back on Mure with the delightful characters Colgan has created! Christmas is my favorite holiday so enjoying the season with them was icing on the cake. Flora's new tensions as a working mother were authentic and I appreciated Colgan addressing how couples can handle these in a healthy, and perhaps slightly non-traditional, way. Isla had more of a starring role in this book and getting to know her better was a real treat as was being introduced to a mysterious newcomer. My only disappointments were that it felt rushed at the end and the Saif/Lorna story has moved from intriguing to depressing and uninteresting. I hope there is more fleshing out of some of these stories in the next installment. Colgan is a must-read for me!

This was so much fun to read a Christmas book in a summer climate. I also liked the characters had some wit to them.

Jenny Colman's books are among my favorites, and this one did not disappoint. It was lovely to return to the tiny Scottish island of Mure and get caught up on the lives of all the characters that Jenny wrote about in The Endless Beach, and it was also nice to meet a couple of new ones. If you are looking for a lovely Scottish story, with plenty of Christmas spirit thrown in, this is your book!

I loved returning to the charming, cozy Island of Mure in Christmas at the Island Hotel by Jenny Coligan. This was a lovely sweet love story with charming side characters. Reading this book while eating sad desk lunches felt a like Saturday lie-in with a milky tea. It was so calming and a perfect Christmas read! This book feels timeless, like you can enjoy it now and for many years to come. Coligan writes with whit Agot had me in tears.

Loads of fun being back with my Mure Island friends. An enjoyable take on Christmas through the eyes of different nationalities and different ages. Christmas at the Island Hotel was a nice escape from reality.

I’ve adored every book in this series, and Christmas at the Island Hotel did not disappoint. Colgan introduced a lovely assortment of new characters to Mure and did a wonderful job of moving along the stories of our old favorites. Not sure if this was the finale but it could be...but I’ll still be looking forward to the next saga on Mure!!! Thanks NetGalley for this copy!

This book starts out slow by defining the characters and their personalities. Konstantin is the son of a Duke. He is very self absorbed. His father takes everything away from him and sends him to Mure, a tiny island. Flora and Fintan are brother and sister trying to open a hotel that was left to Fintan. Isla is a local hired to help in the kitchen. There are secrets, drama and some romance. I enjoyed the book after their slow start. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for the E-ARC. This is my own opinion.

Well folks, it was definitely worth the wait! I totally loved this fourth book in the Mure series. It. Was. Wonderful! I actually read it twice before writing my review because I enjoyed it so much!

Jenny Colgan has written a funny, romantic, heartwarming story with all my favorite returning characters as well as some wonderful new ones. Some unfinished business from the prior book is addressed with the possibilities for a Book #5 (hope, hope, hope) as well.

An added bonus, there was no profanity (OK, two bad words but that's all), no graphic sex, and no disparaging comments about specific politicians.

I sincerely thank NetGalley for sending me this ARC. This didn't impact my review as I had already pre-ordered it anyway and it's been the number one "Want to Read" on my list since I finished reading "Christmas on the Island" a few years ago.

Christmas is coming to Mure Island and so is the planned opening of Colton’s Hotel, the Rock.

Fintan and Flora work to have an opening of the Rock that would have made Colton proud. Opening a first class hotel and restaurant isn’t easy anywhere, but on the remote Scottish island of Mure it is an extremely difficult task.

My friends from Mure! (Sigh) I have missed the characters in this series. It was wonderful to check in with them again in the pages of Jenny Colgan’s latest and lovely book in the Mure series. Everyone has their challenges in this story including Flora, Joel, Fintan, Saif, Lorna, and Argot. How and when did Argot go from being precocious to bratty, I wondered? There are some wonderful new characters, too, like Gaspard, a rough around the edges French Chef, sporting serious ink. In my mind he stole the show on every page he appeared.

I adored this book, I savored every word.

Sweet holiday story that's part of a series I have yet to read in chronological order. I didn't realize this was a series so I had a few missing links to fill in but the story didn't suffer to badly from that yet I'd suggest trying to read the previous books. It wasn't as interesting of a story as I had hoped but a mostly enjoyable read.

A truly wonderful Christmas story, filled with many characters loving, grieving, repenting, trying to move on and just live their best life.
Wildly entertaining. Joyful and a little sad. So we'll written that I felt I knew these people.
Don't miss this gem.

A delightful holiday story to read in the heat of the summer on the beach! Jenny Colgan’s books are always relaxing to read.

Jenny Colgan has been a favorite of mine since I read Amanda's Wedding almost 20 years ago. She is an author that I have loved everything I have read by her. The Mure Series is so amazing. It is sweet and fun and touching. Colgan writes so well. I can picture myself there with all the characters. This one did not disappoint. It is a great book in general but an awesome Christmas Story. This books gave me the feels. Highly recommend.

Did not care for this book, however I can see that some readers would love it. Set on a fictional island in Scotland, the story follow several characters and their attempts to open a new hotel at Christmas. Several story lines going on with different characters, I just couldn't connect with any of them. For readers who like to read about different places, this might appeal to them

Jenny Colgan is one of the three authors who write “Women’s Fiction” that I will read. That I love to read. Funny, heartwarming, a guaranteed happy ending but with plenty of lovable characters who manage not to descend into stereotype and / or caricature.

Fintan has been left a behemoth of an almost-ready hotel on a tiny (and beautiful and stupendously cold) Northern Scottish isle by his late and beloved husband. All he really wants to do is make cheese. His sister Flora, struggling with the demands of a maternity leave steps in to help out. Add a fully-tattooed, garrulous (but magnificent) French chef, a spoiled Norwegian playboy stripped of all things monetary and / or digital and sent to the dungeons (I mean the hotel kitchen), plenty of charming and well-written locals who are not short in the personality department, and you have a situation ripe for comedy, heartbreak, and healing romance.

I’m impressed that Colgan has managed to seamlessly introduce hetero- and homo-sexual relationships and the stressful experience of a Syrian refugee family into a typically shallow genre. And while sticking to the required fairy tale ending, she manages to include real, and often insoluble problems, that her characters have to simply learn to make the best of.

Jenny Colgan is one of my favorite authors. I was super excited to receive an ARC from #netgalley for her latest book, Christmas at the Island Hotel. This is a continuation of her Mure Island stories, so, in my humble opinion, it should be read in order, which makes this the third book in the series. However, it does stand alone with an emphasis on a previous minor character, Isla, and newcomer Konstantin. In this story, the gorgeous new luxury hotel The Rock, which Coltan built, is getting ready to open for Christmas. Fintan is supposed to be the manager but he is sidelined with grief, so Flora, on her maternity leave, takes over. Isla, sent up to the hotel from the Seaside Kitchen to help, meets Konstantin, a banished playboy from Norway who is working in the kitchen. As the story of Isla and Konstantin builds, previous character's relationships and situations are woven throughout to paint another delightful picture of life on this isolated island. Another perfect offering from Jenny Colgan!

What a delightful story. Jenny Colgan is able to take simple ideas and spin them out to be pleasurable reads. Set on the Island of Mure, a Scottish island, remote, harsh, where the weather is always a factor, and transport to the mainland might be by ferry if the weather is good, or not at all if the weather is uncooperative.

A cast of oddball characters, some of whom who have been introduced in earlier books in this series, live and love on the remote Scottish island. (I have not read the previous books in the series.) Fintan is going ahead with opening the hotel that his partner had started. Everyone on the island has opinions about the hotel and the staff - Gaspard, the irascible chef, the young, blond Norwegian who has been exiled by his father, with only his dog, Bjark, to keep him company. Somehow the community comes together to make this Christmas extra special. Lots of love, lots of heartache, but above all, a sense of community.

So excited to visit Flora and the gang again. I adore this series and look forward to each new book. This time around Fintan is trying to cope with opening the hotel of Colton's dreams. We meet a cranky chef and a young man of means who was financially cut off from his family. As always a humorous, heartfelt look at small town life. Another hit!

Love this series, the setting and the characters. Charming as always as The Rock opens and more characters come to the island of Mure on the remote coast of Scotland.