Ivy Perkins finds herself divorced and has to start over, and as a child she always loved going to see her grandmother who had chickens that would eat out of her hands. So she decided to buy a farm, raise chickens and next year plant a garden. She bought a farm, which turned out, it needed some repairs, but it also had many amazing surprises.
The movers lost her furniture, so she got the furniture back that she had given to the thrift store, and once it was back in there, it just seemed to be, meant to be. When she moved to the farm she had expectations, but as she was fixing up the farm and meeting some people in the community, the things she thought she wanted, wasn't what she wanted after all.
Things started to fall into place, and she just felt like this was home. When she finds the Santa suit, she finds a note from a child, and she wants to find the child, even though she doesn't have anything but the letter to go by.
This is an uplifting story, that even when things wasn't working out for Ivy, she knew this was where she was supposed to be. She found the person she was supposed to become, and the life she didn't know she needed until she found it at the farm. She embraced the life she had, and she embraced the people she met, and together they inspired each other.
I received an ARC from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley.

“The Santa Suit” by Mary Kay Andrews
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Release Date: 9/28
Genre: Contemporary Fiction

This was super cute. I really enjoy Mary Kay Andrews books. I was very excited when I got this approved by Netgalley!
If you love a small town Holiday read this is for you!

Ivy Perkins decided the best way to move on from her divorce is to buy a fixer upper Farmhouse in a small town. Ivy knew buying a house sight unseen would be risk, but she wasn’t expecting the house to be such a fixer upper. While she was cleaning out all the old junk left at the top of the closet she finds an old Santa Suit. In the pocket there is a note from a little girl named Carlette wanting her daddy to come home from the war. The note left her with so many questions that she decided to ask about town about Carlette.
Meanwhile her realtor Ezra keeps popping up helping her around the Farmhouse. She’s beginning to see what it’s like living in a small town. Ivy has banned herself from falling in love again, but date may decide otherwise.
A woman discovering herself after divorce, a mystery, romance, and Christmas!

Sweet, easy read that makes me want to put up my Christmas tree! Thank you to NetGalley for an enjoyable read.

Mary Kay Andrews' new novel, "The Santa Suit", is a wonderful Christmas read. This book will transport the reader to a small town filled with warm and endearing characters, and to an old farmhouse with a bit of mystery. A tale of second chances, and a touch of Christmas magic that will appeal to a variety of readers, including fans of Mary Kay Andrews, and those who can't resist the pull of a good holiday read. An engaging story with just the right amount of pages for reading during the busy holiday season. Curl up with a warm drink and enjoy!

Thank you to Mary Kay Andrews, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this advance reader's copy.

Mary Kay Andrews has always been the queen of the Southern beach reads as far as I'm concerned, but it turns out that she rules in the Southern Christmas reads department too! I picked up The Santa Suit to read the other day when I needed a heartwarming, humorous story that I knew would let me escape from life while I was lost in the pages--my air conditioner was out that day in the still NC 90 degree September heat, so I figured what better way of trying to stay "cool" than think Christmas magic, snowfalls, Santa, and all the other joys of the holiday season while sitting in front of a fan! It worked (for a while)!

I'm not really a Hallmark movie kinda gal--my favorite Christmas movie is Die Hard, but I do love to read anything that makes you feel the magic of Christmas, and The Santa Suit does just that. Ivy Perkins is recently divorced and needs a fresh start. She buys an old farmhouse, sight unseen, in a small NC mountain town but when she gets the keys from her real estate agent, Ezra, she realizes that the house needs a lot more work than she thought and is a bit overwhelmed. While going through items left in the house by the previous owners, Ivy finds a Santa suit with a letter to Santa from a child in it. Ivy is touched by the letter and can't stop wondering if the little girl got her wish. This leads Ivy on a search to find out what happened to the little girl. Her search leads her on a journey that allows her to make wonderful friends in the community while solving the mystery of what happened to Carlette, the little girl, and her family. There's also a sweet romance and the resolution of the mystery was quite wonderful!

All in all, this was wonderful! It is such a feel-good story that you definitely don't want to miss it. If you love Christmas stories or movies, then The Santa Suit is the perfect story to make you feel festive and merry!

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

-Review posted to NetGalley, Goodreads, and Twitter on 9/21/21 and will be posted to Amazon on publication day

This is my first Mary Kay Andrews book and I was not disappointed! This book follows Ivy, who is recently divorced and buys an old farm house that she has never seen a town that she has never been to. In the house, she finds the previous owner's Santa suit with something surprising still in the pocket.

I could not help but feel as though I were reading a hallmark movie. A Christmas one. You know the one where the ornament factory is about to close down? And it's up to a doe-eyed girl and the guy that she just met and kind of hates to prevent this from happening? So it's not EXACTLY that, but there were definitely some hardcore Hallmark inspiration in here.

There were very few characters in the book though Ivy was the only character that was well developed. Most of the conversations were clipped and short, but it made for a very easy read all together.

3- stars

Small town charm.
A hunky next real estate agent/neighbor.
Christmas magic.

I mean, could there be anything better?! The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews was the most charming, and wonderful Christmas love story. Ivy Perkins has recently gone through a devastating divorce and decided to make a big change in her life, so she buys, sight unseen, the Four Roses Ranch in North Carolina. She packs up her dog Punkin, her two new chickens, and moves from Atlanta to start a new life. But when Ivy arrives at her new Farmhouse, she realizes she may have gotten more than she bargained for as the properly is going to require a little more work that she thought, and the previous owners left a while bunch of furniture and old things. As she starts to sort through it she finds a Santa Suit and in the pocket is a note from a little girl who wished for her dad to return from war. Not able to let it go, Ivy tries to track down the girl from the note to figure out if she got her wish. As she works to figure it out, she learns the joys of small town living making new friends along the way, including her hunky real estate agent and neighbor Ezra who is constantly offering his assistance. Will Ivy solve the mystery of the letter and potentially find a second chance at love?

This book was so sweet and so much fun. I loved Ezra and Ivy and their banter from the beginning when first pulls up to the farm house. This whole book so beautifully captures small town living and all its charms. The simple things like the candy shop or the Christmas stroll were so cozy and homey you just wanted to be transported there with them. This is the kind of book you cuddle up with by the fire with a cup of hot cocoa while its snowing outside and it just makes you all warm and happy inside. Maybe it was the town, or Ivy, or the Santa Suit (or the Mrs. Claus suit), but there was definitely some Christmas Magic in this book.

This is the first book I have I have read by Mary Kay Andrews but it will not be my last. I cannot wait to dig into more from her after reading this one.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

What I Loved

I'm such a sucker for a sentimental Christmas story, and The Santa Suit is all that and more. I loved the whole tone of the story as it made me feel good with every word I read. I'm pretty sure I smiled the entire time I was reading it.

I loved the whole Christmas magic angle. Just mention the word magic, and you grab my attention. How it is used in this tale adds to that beautiful, heart-warming feel of the entire story and brings together all of my favorite things about the holiday – the magic and wonder, the atmosphere of giving, and the love everyone gives to one another. The Santa and Mrs. Claus suits are part of the magic, and they are fun to imagine.

The technical aspects work together to create a beautiful, fast-paced read that leaves the reader with goodwill and warm emotions. The story is told from a third-person omniscient perspective, which adds to the story's fairytale-like feeling. It is full of natural dialogue that is a treat to read and makes the pages flip quickly. The setting adds to the Christmas feel, as well, because even I have taken my family to the NC mountains around the holidays for the quintessential holiday experience. And, the characters are developed very well for such a short format. They are relatable and imaginable in a small southern town setting.

Characters
As I just said, all the characters are relatable, especially the main character Ivy Perkins. She bought her fixer-upper farmhouse sight unseen because, after a recent divorce, she needed a change. I can understand that feeling. She tackles challenges rather than be overwhelmed by them, and I liked and respected that in her character.

The support characters are a fun collection of generations. Ivy befriends her real estate agent, Ezra Wheeler, who also becomes a reluctant (on her part) love interest, Phoebe, who is young and involved with a man solely online, and Lawrence, who is an aged man living alone since the death of his wife.

Reminds Me Of
It's a traditional Christmas story, so it has those Hallmark vibes without the cheesy emphasis on romance, though it does have its budding relationships.

What I Wish
I wanted the plots threads to be tied up more than they were, even if just lightly. When I finished, I found myself going, "But, what happened to the candy store, what happened with Ivy's career and the house, and what happened with Ezra and Ivy? So many questions! But, these questions did not detract from the enjoyment of the story after the fact at all. I want to know.

To Read or Not to Read
Wrapped up in the glow of Christmas magic, The Santa Suit proves that the best gifts come in small packages.

Mary Kay Andrews takes you on a heartwarming sleigh ride with her new novel, The Santa Suit. The book is filled with all of the sweet, witty and magical elements of Christmas!
Ivy Perkins is recently divorced, and in desperate need to get a fresh start. So she leaves the big city and purchases a farmhouse on-line in a small town. The house and property are everything she dreamed of – that is until she arrives after the closing. The house is more of a fixer upper than Ivy anticipated. In addition to taking care of the repairs, Ivy also has to contend with the prior owner’s furniture and belongings which are spread throughout the house. It all seems very overwhelming until her realtor comes to the rescue. He is both handy and handsome! The author waves her wand, and the magic begins!
The storytelling cadence is perfect and I could not put the book down! The novel has all the right elements for a wonderful and heartwarming Christmas story. The characters were unique, genuine, and people I would love to be friends with. This is my second book by Mary Kay Andrews and I will be sure to recommend the book to others.
Thank you to NetGalley, Mary Kay Andrews, and St. Martins Press for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to get approved for this book as I have been reading Mary Kay Andrews books for years and always enjoy them. The southern charm is so heartwarming. In the Santa Suit, we meet Ivy Perkins who is newly divorced and ready for a fresh start when she buys an old farmhouse in a small town. When she discovers the belongings of the previous owners were never removed, she begins clearing out and donating to charity. She discovers an old Santa Suit and it the pocket is a letter from a little girl named Carlette who wrote Santa her Christmas wish. This note sends Ivy on a hunt to find out what happened to the little girl and if she got her wish. During her sleuthing, she meets new friends and becomes closer to her realtor, Ezra. The Santa Suit was a tie in the town as was the husband-and-wife team that used to light up the house and dress up for the holidays. This was a quick moving read and such a joyful story.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Email: DaniReadsTooMuch@comcast.net

Ivy Perkins sells everything she owns, loads up her car with Punkin, her dog, a box of baby chickens, and a suitcase of clothes after a nasty divorce. She drives straight to the farmhouse she bought sight unseen in North Carolina. Her real estate agent, Ezra, is waiting for her with the keys to her new home--and he's not only hot, he's helpful. But she is no not ready for hot, and gradually accepts the help.

Ivy discovers that the house comes stuffed with furniture, and keepsakes in the closets. While cleaning out the house and making it her home, with Ezra's help, Ivy begins to meet the people in the town and get involved with their lives, while learning about the lives of the former owners. Who were the local Christmas Center each year, complete to Santa suits.

This is a lovely slow burn romance full of human interest, ordinary people gradually coming together to bring out the best of the human spirit. It's a splendid holiday read--good for any time of the year, actually, especially right now with pandemic and all the rest of the anxious news.

Thank you Net Galley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I rarely ever mark a book as DNF but sadly this book made that list for me. Based on all the amazing things I've heard of Mary Kay Andrews, I wanted to fall in love easily with this book.
When Ivy moves into a fixer upper house, she finds a Santa suit left by the original owner and is struck by the magic of Christmas. She finds a note left to Santa from a little girl who just wants to bring her dad back from the war. Ivy goes on a hunt along side town locals to find out if Santa ever helped her with her wish.
I felt like the story jumped right in to Ivy obtaining the house and meeting Ezra, that I did not get to know Ivy as a character on her own standing without him- I just got to know Ivy AND Ezra. I also didn't feel a connection to these two characters so I wasn't as invested in them and their mission. Another qualm I had was that I understood that Ivy was on her mission but could not comprehend her WHY of it all- why was she so invested, why did finding the note spark something in her. I could tell by the plot writing that she wanted to find it as she would mention it but I did feel the passion running her mission.
I got as far as chapter 5 and even though I wanted to love the book I just feel like I personally probably wasn't the target audience here. I feel like if I was older, curled up in a chair by the fire and more around Christmas time- I might have enjoyed this more. I am still intrigued to try this author's other big novels that have released!

I absolutely adore Christmas books and this one was so cute! It’s not Christmas without books and I can never have too many! I highly recommend this little gem!

This book is magical! It describes wonderful Christmas settings and traditions interwoven with special people’s connections, kindnesses, and love. It includes the magic of Santa, snow, and decorations! I highly recommend this holiday book.

Title: The Santa Suit
Author: Mary Kay Andrews
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Five
Review:
"The Santa Suit" by Mary Kay Andrews

My Opinion:

"The Santa Suit" was one sweet Christmas romance that featured how one person's purchase changed so many people's lives in a story as it was for Ivy Perkins. The author did an excellent job giving the reader a little magic in how well this story will come together. After a horrible divorce, we find Ivy and her dog, Punkin, and five baby chickens moving to a new place in Tarburton, NC., and purchasing a farmhouse that needed some work. This is when Ivy makes friends with the townspeople and where the magic will be thrown in. What will happen when Ivy finds a Santa Clause suit on the closet shelf with an old letter to Santa from a little girl named Carlette? How will this Santa suit affect her life and some of the people she has met in the town? Like Erza, Phoebe, and others in the story, the characters were all well-developed, which added so much charm to the story where one will find a little bit of mystery and some sweet romance. This story will be a 'delightful, heartwarming, and captivating' story that will put a smile on one face, and it may even become one of your favorite Christmas holiday stories.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Griffin and Netgalley for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for an honest review.

If you are looking for a heart-warming book to give as a Christmas gift this year, look no farther! This story is utterly charming! Ivy Perkins, fresh from a painful divorce, buys a hundred-year-old farmhouse in the hills of North Carolina sight unseen--a huge leap of faith for her, done with the hope to start a happier chapter of her life.

Four Rose Farm, it is called, for the family who once lived there by the name of Rose. Their furniture and clothes are still there, including a beautiful Santa suit that Ivy discovers in a box on the highest shelf of the bedroom closet. The Roses were well known for their wonderful display of Christmas lights and for dressing up as Santa and Mrs Claus for the children of the town. And in the pocket of the Santa suit, Ivy finds a touching letter written to Santa by a little girl many years ago which now leads Ivy down a path of discovery...and perhaps a better future for her and everyone she meets. This is a lovely story with charming characters, just a perfect for the holiday season.

I received an arc of this novella from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks for the opportunity!

Ivy Perkins left behind Atlanta and her ex-husband in pursuit of a new start in North Carolina. She bought an old farmhouse site unseen and when she shows up with her dog in tow, Ivy quickly realizes that she might be in over her head, the house is filled with furniture and belongings from the previous owners. As she’s organizing, Ivy comes across a Santa Suit and in its pocket a letter from a small girl asking for the return of her father. Ivy can’t stop thinking about the note. Her desire to know what happened to the girl in her family sets her off on a path filled with sweet new friends, potential love and a delightful community just outside her door. The Santa Suit was a true May Kay Andrews novel, filled with lots of heart warming friendships, some romance and a delightful storytime. Fans of Andrews will enjoy this Christmas story and I recommend reading it curled up on the couch with a glass of wine (or hot cocoa)!

A sincere thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A wonderful Christmas story about starting over, finding love and Christmas magic! You will love it - it’s got something for everyone. Ivy buys a fixer upper online and when she sees it she finds out she has her work cut out for her. Thankfully she meets some new friends who are willing to help her. Ezra - the sexy real estate agent and Phoebe who has secrets of her own that Ivy will be able to help with and return the favor. Lawrence and Punkin are two characters that you won’t forget. Ivy takes the town by storm and she herself gets to experience some of the Christmas magic! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Mary Kay Andrews, and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC. This is the first Mary Kay Andrews book I have read. It is a homey, small town romance. There is no real problem to overcome for the heroine Ivy and the hero, hunky real estate agent Ezra. There is an endearing cast of characters. Maybe we’ll meet them again.

The Santa Suit is a delightful holiday read. Ivy Perkins is newly divorced and ready to start over. She leaves Atlanta to move to the mountains of NC. She buys an old farmhouse site unseen. Little does she know the previous owners of the house were responsible for bringing Christmas cheer to the whole town. Ivy has to find herself in order to find her future and her place in her new town.