This book is beginning of a series by Susan Mallery in Wishing Tree - a small town in Washington state, that really gets into the Christmas spirit.

Reggie is home to help her mother organise a very special renewal of vows, and brings with her, her Great Dane - Belle, and for me just might be the star of the show.  Reggie is about to discover that maybe love just might be around the corner.  Belle certainly works out early on, where her affection is going.  Harrison a young boy just might be my second star of the show.

Dena is a teacher, single and pregnant, because she wants a family and just hasn't found the right man. But could he be not that far away after all. If only she could believe.

The characters are interesting, the setting is one of those lovely Christmas settings, and there is a strong sense of family and sisterhood.

For me though I found a lack of tension in the plot, there is a lot of sweet set up, but I had to wait for a long time to get to where it became really page turning.  It finally finished in a satisfying way.

I love to watch Hallmark Christmas movies this time of year! One of my favorites is Marry Me at Christmas and, in case you didn’t know, it is based off of the book written by Susan Mallery! I knew I had to read her newest Christmas book, The Christmas Wedding Guest!

In The Christmas Wedding Guest you get two romance stories in one! Sisters, Reggie and Dena Somerville, come together in their charming hometown of Wishing Tree, Washington for Christmas and to plan their parents’ Christmas wedding! I really enjoyed seeing both sisters’ POVs and their love interests.

The town of Wishing Tree really stole the show though with it’s Christmas traditions and first snowfall celebration! It’s the type of place I would love to be at Christmastime! I look forward to reading more books set in Wishing Tree!

The audio was narrated by Tanya Eby and was good, but I really wish that there would have been two different narrators for each of the sisters. I could tell the narrator changed her voice for each sister, but I think it would have been elevated with two different narrators.

3.5 stars rounded up!

Thank you so much to HTP Books and Netgalley for the gifted eARC and Harper Audio and Libro.fm for the gifted audiobook. All opinions are my own.

Once upon a time, I devoured Susan Mallery’s books. I loved her storytelling and character development as well as her world-building - creating small towns that made me want to visit.

“The Christmas Wedding Guest” is her first about Wishing Tree, Washington, a small down that is all about Christmas. We meet sisters Dena & Reggie - Dena is a school teacher who also runs the local b&b and Reggie does some kind of invention testing? Design? In Seattle. She hasn’t returned to Wishing Tree in a year, since she got engaged and dumped in the span of a weekend. She heads back just to help out their parents, who are planning a huge wedding celebration.

Dena is intrigued by a guest at the b&b, Micah, who is actually a rock star. But Dena has a secret - she’s pregnant (via IUI). I did not like how it was repeated many times that Dena was “so brave” for having a baby on her own and I was flat out disgusted at the part where Dena is told some ridiculous things in her OB’s waiting room. It was so unrealistic and out of place.

Reggie’s high school boyfriend Toby, who left her heartbroken, is magically back in town and Reggie’s mother is obsessed with Reggie getting back together with Toby. How would you forgive someone for breaking your daughter’s heart that badly and then insist that your daughter get back together with him?

All in all, Susan Mallery’s books make me frustrated, each new one more so than the last. IUIs aren’t controversial. Women do NOT have to be made to feel like they have to be married. I wish she would update to more contemporary ideas like she seemingly wants to.

This ARC was provided courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley.

Dena and Reggie Somerville, sisters, are home for Christmas and busy planning their parents wedding to renew their vows. Reggie encourage terms her old love Toby. Dena is pregnant and on her own. She is helping a widowed songwriter staying at her B & B to find inspiration. Wishing Tree is a charming little town with loads of Christmas traditions. A new series filled with humor, love and great pets.

This is book 1 in a new series, Wishing Tree. It has two romances for sisters, Reggie and Dina who are helping organize their parents wedding celebration. Reggie runs into Toby her first love and Dina rents a room at her B&B to Micha a famous song writer who can write. In true form, nothing goes smoothly but a happy ever after does prevail. Fans of Susan Mallery will enjoy. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Want Hallmark in a book? Then this is the novel for you. Mallery writes a sweet tale of finding love even when the time seems horribly wrong. Old love, new love...Christmas and Love are in the air. If you want simple, happy, and sweet, this is the holiday book for you.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I am a fan of Susan Mallery's books and found this title to be a great read and perfect for the holidays. I didn't love that one of the sisters was "playing God" so to speak by scheduling when she was going to have a baby to work better for her, but in the end, it played out well. Loved all the characters and the story.

Oh man y’all- I was supposed to be on a blog tour for this book with HQN and I got my dates completely wrong (the tour went from 11/21-11/27, I thought it went from 11/27-12/4), so I’m posting this very late, but I’m no less excited about sharing The Christmas Wedding Guest with y’all because 1) it was amazing and 2) I love Susan Mallery’s books.
The Christmas Wedding Guest 5/5 Stars
Summary from Goodreads:
“This two-in-one romance starts a new series that Mallery’s many fans will devour like a Christmas cookie.”—Booklist
Susan Mallery, author of the Fool’s Gold romances, cheerfully invites you to Wishing Tree, where Christmas comes to life…
The Somerville sisters believe in love, but they’ve lost faith it will happen for them. Reggie hasn’t been home since the end of the world’s shortest engagement. When her parents decide to renew their vows, she buffs up her twinkle to help with the Christmas wedding. Unexpectedly, Toby, her first love, is back too, and the spark between them shines as brightly as ever. In the spirit of the season, will they let go of past hurts and greet the New Year together?
Done waiting for the one, Dena is pregnant and on her own—on purpose. But then a gorgeous, sad-eyed songwriter checks in to a room at her inn. Micah, unable to write since he lost his wife, finds inspiration in Dena’s determination to be a mom. One snowflake-speckled kiss and he’s a goner. But Dena is afraid to believe that a rock star could fall for a cookie-cutter small-town girl like her.
As the Christmas wedding draws closer, these two sisters just might unwrap the most treasured gift of all—love.
Awwww small town Christmas romances make my heart so full these days. They also make me feel so old because sometimes the characters are my age and that is not what I remember from when I started reading these. Anyway. Wishing Tree, WA is such a charming and cute town and I loved both Dena and Reggie’s stories! And the fact that they both happened between Thanksgiving and Christmas while they were planning and official wedding for their parents for their 35th anniversary was so freaking cute! Wishing Tree had so many adorable traditions and I loved how into them everyone in the town got. Plot and pacing wise, Susan Mallery is a master and knows exactly what she’s doing (if y’all haven’t read any of her other books, I loved her Fool’s Gold series and her Happily Inc series) so those were both on point. And of course, I loved the characters. Dena being the responsible older sister who isn’t sure if she’s ever going to fall in love deciding to have a child on her own and then meeting someone who she could see a future with (I see myself in Dena a lot- minus the whole meeting someone part and the having a child right now part, but I have thought about have a child on my own once I hit 32/33). Reggie being jilted in love but meeting her old high school boyfriend again, her one true love and those feelings coming back. Belle, the best (and most terrified) great dane in the world. All in all, I really loved everything about The Christmas Wedding Guest and I think it’s such a cute book to read to get into the holiday spirit, so I highly recommend picking up!

3.5 stars

I love a holiday romance, so when I was given the opportunity to read and review a holiday romance by an author I had just recently started reading and loving, of course I jumped on the chance. So far, the books I’ve read by this author have been a bit more toward the women’s fiction end of things rather than the romance end. They all have romance, but it’s not always the central theme. In this book, I felt the journey of all of the main characters centered more on personal growth that opened them up to falling in love. They all wanted love, they just didn’t know how to go about finding the kind of love they yearned for.

First, I want to talk about the relationship between the sisters. Dena and Reggie are only a year apart and have always been very close. I really love their support and teasing banter. Not just between the two of them, but also their friends. And even their meddling (but truly lovely) mom. Nobody is afraid of telling the hard truths, but always with love and compassion and empathy.

While I enjoyed the Reggie/Toby pairing and felt they had a something, the connection between Reggie’s dog Belle and Toby’s son Harrison was even better. There was something holding Toby back from rekindling the first love romance he had with Reggie, and it had everything to do with Harrison. It’s made clear something terrible had happened in the past. Toby has gotten Harrison help, but it seemed to me that Toby needed to have some counseling himself. He does eventually open up to Reggie, but that barrier takes a bit longer to come down.

Dena and Micah were a couple I could get behind from the start. Theirs is a beautiful story. It gave me warm-fuzzies throughout the whole book. Not that they didn’t also have issues to work through. I just felt their chemistry much stronger than the other couple’s. There was a low simmering fire every time they were in the same room, yet also a sweetness to their interactions.

With all that being said, I did have some issues. One that even threw some sour into the sweetness of one of the characters. Toby is a single dad because Harrison’s mom did not want a child. Reggie’s reaction to the story of how Toby came to be a single dad was not great. What bothers me is I don’t feel the author intended it to be a bad thing. To me, it put a notch in the negative column when it came to that character. The important thing, in my mind, is Harrison’s birth mom realizing she was not capable of adequately caring for a baby and finding the best home she could for that baby. There is also mention of a bit of an antiquated idea of what a family is supposed to look like that really bothered me when it came to this part of the story.

Recently, I read another book with a widower that had aspects that bothered me. Micah is a widower and Dena was afraid he was still in love with his deceased wife. I cannot be reading these books back to back. That thought process drives me batty. In this story, Micah at least addresses this issue with Dena. As does Reggie. It’s at least put into perspective in this story. I’ll say it again in case you didn’t see that other review…of course he still loves his dead wife! They loved each other and she died, that doesn’t mean their love poofs into the ether. It also doesn’t mean he cannot find love again. Not better or worse love, different love. Ugh!

So there was a lot of good with some annoying issues that popped up now and again. And I adore this town! I want to live there. I found out there is a novella that deals with one of the sisters’ new friends and her HEA and I’m already on the waiting list at my library for that one. If you like a small town romance, you’ll really get behind this small town. It’s amazing.

Loved this story. The characters were likable and Wishing Tree was the perfect setting. I found myself wishing t town was real and longing for that small town Christmas vibe.

Favorite Quotes:

“Sarcasm becomes you.” Reggie raised her glass. “It’s a classic look that flatters all of us.”

“This is why I never had children,” Ursula grumbled. “First you throw up, then they throw up. It’s too many fluids for me… you can’t drink and you get hemorrhoids. I remind my friends of that when they try to convince me God’s a woman. There’s no way God’s a woman.”

She planned to stay awake so she could remember every moment. She would need the details for when she was eighty and reliving the past.


My Review:

This is a pleasant holiday story to crank up the seasonal reading binge with liberal sprinklings of wit and humor, cute animals, family drama, small-town living, community Christmas traditions, and contemporary romance. The storylines were engaging and easy to follow, the pace was slow and leisurely, and the characters were endearing and likable. Everything I have come to expect and enjoy in a Susan Mallery book. And this one kicks off a new series based in a small town near Seattle, which has definite standards and expectations for the holiday season. I look forward to returning there but only on my Kindle, as I am a tropical gal who avoids snow and cold weather.

4.5 Stars

The perfect holiday gift for contemporary romance fans everywhere, Susan Mallery’s The Christmas Wedding Guest is an adorable festive charmer I couldn’t get enough of.

The Somerville sisters have long given up on love. Although, there isn’t a single doubt in their minds that true love exists, the sisters’ relationship history is one never-ending catalog of disasters. With their parents deciding to renew their vows, Reggie and Dena find themselves living back home unaware that they might just find everything they’ve always wanted in the last place they’d ever thought of looking.

Reggie hasn’t been home in ages, but with the acrimonious end of her last relationship, helping plan and coordinate her parents’ vow renewal is the distraction she so desperately needs. Reggie never imagined that she would find herself falling in love again, but when she crosses paths with her first love Toby, she finds herself wondering whether she should take a leap of faith and grasp this unexpected second chance at happiness.

Dena had given up waiting for ‘The One’, so she decided to take charge of her fate and is now looking forward to the birth of her first child. The soon-to-be mom has come to the conclusion that a happy ever after is not on the cards for her – until gorgeous songwriter Micah checks in at her inn. Having lost his wife, Micah has a bad case of writers’ block, but Dena’s courage and determination awakens his muse and he once again finds the passion for his craft he thought he’d buried with his spouse. As the two of them find themselves getting closer and closer, they quickly give into temptation, but could a global superstar like Micah ever even contemplate a future with a small-town girl like Dena?

Will Reggie and Dena be following their parents down the aisle this Christmas? Or are they destined to be disappointed yet again?

Susan Mallery’s books are the literary equivalent of a catch-up with your girlfriends: wonderfully uplifting, brilliantly feel-good and so much fun! The Christmas Wedding Guest is a must-read sprinkled with all the humor, charm, mischief, romance and heart Susan Mallery is known for.

A holiday treat that tugs at the heartstrings and tickles the funny bone, The Christmas Wedding Guest hits all the right notes and will knock readers’ socks off as they find themselves unable to put this book down. Reggie and Dena are two fantastic heroines it is hard not to care about and cheer on to finally get the happy ending they so richly deserve.

An outstanding romantic read from one of the genre’s best-loved writers, The Christmas Wedding Guest is another keeper by the fabulous Susan Mallery.

This was a very cute Hallmark movie of a romance book and it was a really fast read. So we have two sisters Reggie who hasn’t been back home to Wishing Tree since the day she got engaged and then broken up with on the same day and Dana who is a teacher with no luck in the romance department and decided to have a baby without a partner and quit waiting for the right man. Of course who is back in town but Toby with his son in tow and who is Reggie’s first love and then Dana starts falling for Micah a gorgeous sad-eyed songwriter who lost his wife and unborn child a year ago in a car accident and has been unable to write anything since then. So just a really cute and fun story but I really enjoyed reading this and there were a couple moments of angst with Toby determined to not try again because he doesn’t trust his own judgement after his last girlfriend was a nightmare and hurt his son and of course Micah who has a ex-wife who makes Dana think he lied to her and wasn’t coming back. But it ends with happy endings all around and I can’t wait to read the next book in this new series.

Thanks to HQN and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book in e-book form. All opinions in this review are my own.

A great small town holiday story. The Sommerville family has a lot going on this holiday season. Reggie reluctantly returned to town to help out with her parent's vow renewal ceremony. Last year she was engaged and dumped in a spectacular way over a weekend. Dena is juggling early pregnancy, teaching and running her B & B. Both are not looking for romance and are surprised when things take that turn. Great characters with plenty of humor and a fantastic dog! Looking forward to visiting the town of Wishing Tree again.

3.5 stars
The Christmas Wedding Guest is a sweet Christmas romance involving 2 sisters who find love in their small home town. I did ultimately enjoy the overall story. I liked the setting of Wishing Tree. It seemed like a cozy small town and their traditions were unique and fun. Out of the two sisters, I liked Dena and Micah's romance the most. Their fall into love was really adorable.

Reggie and Toby's relationship was a second chance romance. While I was rooting for it, I didn't find it was exciting. It was more about Reggie trying to convive Toby to get his head out of his butt the whole time. My one complaint was that this story was much more vanilla than I am used to from this author. There is a lot of talk about sex in the story, but they never follow through on page. It was a bit of a let down. I am looking forward to the next in the series. I do recommend this one.

THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING GUEST is the second book in the Wishing Tree series and I can’t believe how quickly it was to read this funny and romantic story. THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING GUEST will surely pull at your heart strings and make it very hard for you to put down. If you are like me, you won’t be able to stop until you know what happens to all of these beautiful people in Wishing Tree. Not to mention all the awesome kids and loving dogs in this heart warming story! Susan Mallery sure knows how to get her readers in the holiday spirit.

Dena is oh so lovable that you can’t help but cheer her on as she tries to figure out her place in Wishing Tree, Washington. THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING GUEST deals with so many different emotions that one minute I was giggling and the next tearing up. Reggie, Dena’s sister, sees her first love again after many years, Toby, and darn it if the chemistry doesn’t kick in all over again! I just love second-chance romances, and Toby and Reggie really pulled at my heart. The pages of this nearly perfect book are filled with family, love, and second chances. Maybe Dena and Reggie really need to rethink their feelings of giving up on finding love. Oh and for the record, I’m calling dibs on Micah! He is such a big hearted, loving, and caring man!!

Reggie is only supposed to be back in town for her parents. They are renewing their wedding vows, but the more time she spends with Toby, she realizes the harder it is going to be to leave him behind. Make yourself a yummy hot drink, get your favorite blanket and get on the couch. THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING GUEST is an awesome way to spend the afternoon or evening. I’m so excited to continue with the Wishing Tree series and learn more about my new found friends. Once you start THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING GUEST you won’t be able to put it down and will find yourself cheering for Dena and Micah as well as Toby and Reggie, as they try to navigate their way through a very different and unique situation. Susan Mallery will pull you in from the very first page and never let you go! They need to make this series into a Hallmark movie!

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley. All opinions expressed are my own and were voluntarily given.

When Reggie Somerville comes home it is bittersweet for her. She is still feeling the sting of being dumped by her fiancé a day after he proposed and is nervous to face the town of Wishing Tree but she is determined to help her parents plan their recommitment of vows celebration. She is enjoying being back with her family and when she finds out her first love is back in town with his son, she soon finds herself wishing for a Christmas miracle.
Dena Summerville has given up hope of ever finding love in a small town, so she went ahead and took matters into her own hands and is now expecting. Along with running her late grandmother’s inn, being a teacher and getting ready for a new baby, her life is full. When she meets the new guest at the inn, she has no idea how her life will change. Will she have something else to celebrate this Christmas?

This was just the sweetest Christmas story by Susan Mallery. Two sisters, each given up on love find happiness during the holiday season. I loved the small-town festivities, the diversity of the characters and how we got to read not one, but two romances in one book. I can not wait to visit Wishing Tree again to see who the next book is about as we get to meet several other characters during the story. A special thanks to Harlequin Publishing for an advanced readers copy that I voluntarily read and reviewed.

THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING GUEST (Wishing Tree Book #1) by Susan Mallery is an enchanting small town Christmas contemporary romance story times two featuring two sisters and their very different paths to HEA. I am very excited that this is going to be a series and I cannot wait for more from Wishing Tree.

The Somerville sisters are excited about their parents wedding to renew their vows.

Dena Somerville is a teacher at the local Wishing Tree elementary school besides owning the small town’s B&B. Being financially secure and never having been lucky in love, Dena decides to have a baby on her own. Micah Ruiz has come to town for the holidays to visit his ex-band mate and try to get inspiration for his song writing. When he meets Dena, he is intrigued by this woman’s strength to have a baby on her own and he is falls for her with their first kiss, but Dena is afraid to believe that a rock star could fall for a small-town girl.

Regina “Reggie” Somerville has returned after a year away to help her mother with her wedding. Being her own boss and having a job she can do from anywhere she moves back to her parents’ home for the holidays with her rescued Great Dane, Belle. She is surprised to learn her first love and high school sweetheart is back in Wishing Tree with an eight-year-old son. Toby finds he is just as attracted to Reggie as he was before he left town as an eighteen-year-old. Reggie wants to give their relationship a second try, but Toby has been hurt in the past and has difficulty trusting. Can Reggie and the holidays work their special magic to get Toby to love again?

Ms. Mallery’s writing wraps you up in the story like a cozy blanket that you do not want to leave until “The End”. I feel like I should be able to find Wishing Tree on the map and become friends with all the town’s occupants. I appreciate that the sisters are very forth right and honest. They were each dealing with different relationship paths and men, but their stories were believable with the help of family and their circle of friends. These are mature relationships with realistic problems and dialogue. There are no sex scenes in either storyline, but there is plenty of caring, love and romance. I am looking forward to reading about more romances in Wishing Tree and checking in with these two couples again.

I highly recommend this Christmas contemporary HEA times two and this author!

The Christmas Wedding Guest by Susan Mallery is the first book in the Wishing Tree series. If you are looking for heartwarming and swoon worthy holiday romance set in a small town, then The Christmas Wedding Guest will make the perfect addition to your reading list. This latest offering from Susan Mallery features two sisters, who while planning their parents’ renewal of vows ceremony, discover love.

I am late in discovering the greatness of Susan Mallery, this being the third book of hers I have read. Based on experience with the two books read prior to this one, I expected an enjoyable story and she didn’t disappoint.

I had a wonderful time visiting the quaint town of Wishing Tree. A town where the residents celebrate the first snowfall. Everything about The Christmas Wedding Guest was awesome. The characters, the romance, the setting, the writing and let me not forget the dogs.

The Christmas Wedding Guest introduces two sisters, Dena, who tire of searching for Mr. Right and ending up with Mr. Wrong and Regina, whose fiancée proposed and dumped her in the space of one weekend. Dena gave up looking for the one went and got pregnant on her own terms. But then a gorgeous musician/songwriter, staying at the bed-and-breakfast Dena operates, will prove to her that love comes knocking when you least expect it. One year after the breaking of her engagement. Reggie returns home to help in the planning of her parents’ renewal of vows. After an encounter with her high school sweetheart, she discovered he still owned the key to her heart. However, circumstances from the past threaten to ruin the possibility of a second chance at love.

Mallery created a feel good romance, which I enjoyed from start to finish. The story touched on abuse. It played a role in the decision made by Reggie’s love interest. A decision, which I understood the reason for it being made, however I expected it to change because of his past with Reggie.

Micah, Dena’s love interest will made me swoon. He had his share of loss, but knew he had a second chance at love with Dena. I loved how he treated her, especially when she experienced bouts of nausea because of her pregnancy. Although it did not take away from the overall story, I found the handling of drama introduced near to the end disappointing. The initiator of the drama and the underlying issue were not addressed.

In The Christmas Wedding Guest Mallery delivered the perfect story to get you in the mood for the holiday season with two swoon worthy romances. It’s a wonderful story of second chances, healing and love. It will make you laugh, shed a few tears, and have you believing in happily ever

Having read Susan’s The Vineyard at Painted Moon and The Stepsisters, I was very happy to receive an invitation to the blog tour of her Christmas story. And again, Susan does an excellent job in sucking you in, directly from page one. We learn that Reggie’s parents are going to renew their wedding vows after 35 years. And that Reggie’s a bit reluctant to come back home to her parents. Because last year she got engaged and dumped within the same weekend. And in their small home-town, everyone knows her story. But with her sister out of the count due to her pregnancy, Reggie promises to come and help her parents. Reggie’s sister Dena is a planner. organizing is her forte and it helps her to manage the B&Bs she inheri­ed from her grandmother, alongside her job as a teacher. However, since Mr. Right didn’t present himself, she decided to get pregnant with the help of a sperm donor and raise the baby as a single mother. She didn’t plan for the pregnancy keeping her barfing and puking all the time and leaving her tired and helpless.

Fortunately she can count on her sister Reggie, to help her out. When Reggie got roped into not only helping out with her parent’s wedding vow party, but also with her sister’s school project, she has to admit that she has missed the community feeling. That is, until she discovers that one of the parents in the school project is none other than her high school crush Toby. The boy who broke her heart and left without a trace. But now he is back, and a single father… with their attraction still there: will they be able to work together? Or will their past push them apart?

Dena never expected to find a man, especially not some kind of super-star like Micah, the famous song­writer. Looking for some peace and quiet, Micah rents a room at a B&B in the town of his best friend, Steven. After the death of his wife and their unborn child, Micah has had a writers block. Maybe a remote location can help him find some focus and inspire him with some lyrics. The gorgeous owner of the B&B certainly distracts him. When Micah learns that Dena also is Steven’s son’s teacher, he offers to help her out with some music lessons at school.

Dena can’t believe that Micah would actually be attracted to her. But with Christmas rapidly approaching, maybe miracles do happen.

The story in the Christmas Wedding Guest flows naturally. The chemistry is slowly burning and the characters are cute and funny. Dena’s insecurities about Micah were a bit annoying sometimes, since she is so confident in every other aspect. But in all, a wonderful story. Especially at christmas time.

Five out of five stars from me and a special thank you to Netgalley for providing the arc.