I enjoyed this delightful love story set in the mountains of Virginia during the Christmas holidays. It is very similar to several books I have read recently where a city girl falls in love with a small town guy, and decides to move to the small town. It took me longer to read this one, as the story was a tiny big slow moving. Still, it made me want to look into finding a small town where the people really are close-knit -- does such a place really exist?

My biggest complaint was the repeated use of bring & brought in place of take, took, & taken. We bring things here. We take things there.

Wonderful character that I instantly feel in love with. Chestnut Ridge is such a sweet town and I could see myself happily living there with all the fun residents. Everything Christmas was pulled into this fun story. I loved the tradition of decorating Christmas trees with a theme then giving them away after the winner was announced. This little town is so full of the most wonderful people who care about others and pour into the community and to those in need. With the Christmas tree stroll and all the fun Christmas activities this is the perfect book for a cold winter day. Add a handsome firefighter, a swoony romance, and you have a book you can’t put down. So much more to love with all the yummy food and laugh out loud moments that are sewn into the pages, earning this book a solid 5 stars from me!
Was given a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

Christmas in Chestnut Ridge by Nancy Naigle is a clean and sweet Christmas novel that would do the Hallmark Channel proud. City girl meets country boy and dismisses him because she could never leave the city. The Christmas tree stroll sounded fun though! I just can't imagine how they moved all those decorated trees without destroying them! A cute read that will put you in the Christmas spirit. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

A holiday story setting, but oh so much more! This prolific and successful author has added a new entry to her delightful list of successful books. It's not just another Christmas romance or love story. It is a heartwarming story of community, genuine caring for strangers who desperately need help and compassion, as well as reinforcing those feelings in everyone in the community of Chestnut Ridge.
The characters were honest, concerned, and interesting. The plot was interwoven around so many differences, yet the similarities of thoughts and actions made it a book that warmed this reader's heart and projected hope for all people.
A Christmas theme that can be enjoyed anytime, I loved this glorious book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read and express my own opinions about Christmas in Chestnut Ridge

A nice read centered around a small town at Christmas. The small-town community truly gets into the holiday spirit. Loved how the community comes together to support one another, and the visiting Sheila fits right in. This is a follow up to And Then There Was You (Sheila’s friend Natalie’s story) which is helpful if you have read it but not totally necessary. Well written and the descriptive writing had me envious of the creative Christmas trees!

Put on your favorite Christmas sweater, grab a hot chocolate, and enjoy this book while sitting by your Christmas tree! This is a lovely small town Christmas romance. Sheila comes to Chestnut Ridge to help her best friend compete in a tree-decorating contest, and as soon as she meets the good-looking fire chief the sparks begin to fly! Sheila gets caught up in the spirit of Christmas and the closeness of a small community in this heartwarming Christmas novel.

This is the second book in this series. You can read it as a stand alone or as part of the series. I forgot how much religious reference is in this series. I will say this book had less than the first one but still more than I care to read in my books. This is a heartfelt Christmas book. You can read this book quickly and fall in love with Chestnut Ridge. Overall, I did enjoy this book.

Thank you NetGalley for the early copy of Christmas in Chestnut Ridge. This srpry made me want to search for this small time to live in. Such a sweet heartwarming Christmas book. This story has so much love and compassion for others. Sheila and Tucker come from different asks of life but then they are so in sync with each other. But the question is can Sheila conform her big city ways to live in a small town or will Tucker make his move from the small town ways and adapt to the big city life? No spoilers here but you will love how this precious story plays out. So add to your must read list of upcoming cozy Christmas stories.

Sheila is an owner of a real estate company and is always too busy to visit with her friend Natalie. But this year is different and as Sheila learns, the town of Chestnut Ridge is beautiful at Christmas.
When a fire breaks out and a family’s home is destroyed, Sheila sees how the whole town comes together to take care of their own.
With endearing characters, a hottie fire chief, and the town coming together to help the displaced family, Sheila can’t resist making the true meaning of Christmas bright and cheery for all.
A sweet, clean romance and new beginnings for Sheila make this a very enjoyable Christmas story. Thank you Netgalley and St.Martins Press for the arc. This review is my honest opinion.

I enjoyed this book and the town of Chestnut Ridge so much. It was such a lovely read and the plot was perfect!

Big city realtor falls for small town fire chief in Christmas in Chestnut Ridge. While the town is cute—I’d love to go to the Christmas Tree Stroll!—I spent so much time annoyed with the main character that it soured the book for me. Sheila goes to Chestnut Ridge to spend Christmas with her best friend. She meets Tucker and there’s immediate attraction. They flirt, they date, but it could never be more because small town life isn’t for her. By the time they got to the friction point in their relationship, which she handled like a pouty teenage girl instead of a successful woman, I was over it.

2 stars because I’d like to hang out in Chestnut Ridge.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for an eARC. Opinions are my own.

If you love a sweet cozy romance, then this is the perfect story to grab this season. A very slow-burn romance set is an amazing landscape of the Blue Ridge mountains.

The author weaves a delightful story of friends and neighbors, along with a sweet love interest that grows slowly throughout the book. The small-town atmosphere comes across perfectly as the two main characters connect and develop their friendship, leading to more. I loved the Chief and he was a beautiful balance to Sheila, the visitor.

This story is a part of a series, but this is a total standalone book too. Christmas in Chestnut Ridge is a sweet and dreamy romance that leaves you with a smile on your face from an author who delivers the cozy story with finesse.

4.25 stars for Christmas in Chestnut Ridge! I am a sucker for a great small town Christmas story, and can I just say Oh my Christmas! This novel by Nancy Naigle is what Hallmark movies are made from; it's filled with love, romance, and Christmas. I've never had the pleasure of enjoying a book from Ms. Naigle prior to this ARC, but I'm most certainly looking forward to other works Christmas themed or not. Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the perfect book if you need some simple pre-holiday escapism. It is a clean novel. Every situation is heartwarming; the people (and there are many)are very kind and very sweet, the town is quaint, and even the horror of a house fire turns into a lesson in loving your fellow man.

This is a very worthy read.


However, I could not connect with the main characters of Sheila and her best friend. I couldn't even figure out what age bracket they were supposed to be in. A tiny bit of this story was just a tad too sweet for me, even when Sheila and Tucker have their little spat toward the end of the book.

I don't regret reading this book, though - we all need some sweetness with our sour!

*ARC was supplied to me by the publisher, St. Martin's Griffin, the author, and NetGalley for pre-reading and reviewing purposes.

This is a perfect read to get into the holiday spirit. The people in Chestnut Ridge care about each other. It is a romance and there are a few romances going on, but it is also about people caring for each other in a small town.

This story made me smile. It made me want to go visit Chestnut Ridge for the holidays. It would be fun to see this as a Hallmark movie.

This Hallmark-worthy Christmas tale is about a red-headed beauty who finds love, hope, and purpose in her life after visiting Chestnut Ridge for the holidays, a friendly town nestled in the mountains of Virginia. Sheila Aldridge is a successful realtor who owns her own company in Richmond. Recently divorced, she really doesn’t want to spend Christmas alone. She also does not want to be any couple’s third wheel. Her bestie Natalie invites her to spend Christmas with her and her beau Randy. She coaxes her lonely friend by selling all the magical holiday events she knows Sheila will enjoy, especially the Christmas Tree Stroll. The main attraction in this novel is a massive community tree-decorating contest. Sheila is a planner and organizer, while Natalie is a gifted artist. They just might win the whole enchilada.

After Natalie’s husband Jeremy passed away, she lost all her belonging to swindling con-artist Marc Swindell. (Yes, that’s his name.) She made a fresh start in Chestnut Ridge out of necessity. Natalie met detective Randy Fellowes when he took her case. He too moved to the small town as well to be with Natalie. Sheila agrees to visit Natalie and Randy, but will stay with 89-year-old Orene Fischer at her Mountain Creek Inn so the love birds can have some alone time.

Sheila’s internal conflicts arise before the start of this journey of hope and healing. Before she leaves Richmond for Chestnut Ridge, Sheila shows a luxurious estate to a couple who has kids. She wanted children of her own and considers this her way of helping other parents. Her ex-husband Dan claimed their childless state had nothing to do with the divorce, but she doesn’t buy that. He remarried and his wife is now expecting a child.

Cassie, Sheila’s sister, is planning to spend time with their mother Cynthia for Thanksgiving, while Sheila will visit at Christmas. Cynthia has Alzheimer’s disease, and the sisters had a falling out over their mom’s placement in a memory care unit at a nursing facility. Sheila’s mom doesn’t recognize them. The sisters savor the time they have left with their dear mother. Sheila and Cassie are experiencing what Ronald Reagan’s daughter Patti Davis called “the long goodbye” in her memoir of the same name. “Alzheimer’s snips away at the threads, a slow unraveling, a steady retreat,” Davis said. As a witness, all you can do is watch, cry, and whisper a soft stream of goodbyes.”

Sheila meets handsome fire chief Tucker, along with others from this close-knit community when she arrives for the Holiday Warm-up at Orene’s home. Discussion of the tree-decorating contest is foremost on everyone’s thoughts. Groups of 8 team up to decorate one of about 120 Christmas trees set up in the high school football field. The path to the trees is lined with Christmas-themed street signs. After the contest, the trees are donated. Nancy provides decorating pointers throughout her novel with instructions about the Christmas Tree Stroll. People can use her details to recreate a similar event in their community.

Tragedy strikes when a fire takes a family’s home before Christmas. The community teams up with first responders to help meet every need. I found this part of the novel the most heartwarming and uplifting. How great would it be to live in a place where people work together in unity to restore stability for families in crisis mode?

My Review
This novel is the second book in the Chestnut Ridge series. I probably should have read the first book. Nancy did remind readers of actions that happened in the past. In And Then There Was You, Natalie Maynard moves to a fishing cabin owned by her late husband after she loses everything to the swindelling swindler Marc Swindell. Sheila isn’t supportive of Natalie’s move. She believes her bestie will return to Richmond. In this novel, Sheila remarks how surprised she is that Natalie stayed and settled into this small town.

Sheila also had a falling out with Cassie over their mother’s care prior to this story, so I’m guessing it’s in that first story. And she must have been more like a workaholic in that one, too. People admonish Sheila when she makes calls back to her office during her stay. I didn’t think Sheila spent that much time contacting her staff, but Natalie says her bestie micromanages too much. In fact, at one point, Sheila lies to Natalie about calling her staff to hide what she had been doing all day. I had the feeling people had a problem with any amount of checking on her business in Richmond. I’ve never owned a business, but I have seen small businesses come and go within 6 months of opening. Sheila makes great career and life decisions at the end of this novel, but I disagreed with the “whys.” She beats herself up too much. I didn’t see that Sheila truly had a work-life imbalance.

I did want to skip parts of the novel that were too detailed until I realized that the “on-the-nose” writing made for a great writing exercise. Most people know how to open doors, answer cell phones, and so forth. Eliminating the unneeded descriptions, showing instead of telling me everything would have strengthen the pace and activated my imagination. As it stands, I found my eyes scanning over the extra details. But I did laugh about Marc Swindell, named for the crime he committed. I thought, “Natalie, girl. Can we talk? With a name like that, YouTuber Dustin Poynter would have grabbed his red flag and be ready to run all over the park with it.”

I did learn quite a bit about fire-fighting since love-interest Tucker heads up the Bull Mountain Boys with sweet Doris who is like a den-mother. I appreciate them all the more since three people in my family are firefighter/paramedics.

Nancy’s books Christmas Joy, Sand Dollar Cove, The Secret Ingredient, and Hope at Christmas have all been adapted for television. I couldn’t help but think Hallmark needs Tesla to sponsor the movie if this story adapted for television. Sheila owns a red Tesla and I swear this novel is a PR dream. She and others share all the great features of this luxury vehicle. The red Tesla may even be its own character. Not that I minded. Who doesn’t love a shiny red Tesla?

I recommend Christmas in Chestnut Ridge for those December evenings when you just want to relax and unwind after a long day. The plot overall kept me engaged enough to keep reading. You’ll love the Christmas town with its tree farms and kind, loving people Nancy has created. You might find yourself on Pinterest looking at Christmas tree decorating hacks. Maybe you’ll even book a ticket to see the Blue Ridge Mountains during the holidays.

Sheila's best friend Natalie invites her to participate in the Christmas Tree Stroll in town. Natalie moves from the city to Chestnut Ridge and loves it. Sheila is a big city realtor and doesn't see the attraction to small town living. She plans to spend two weeks in town and stay at a good friend of Natalies home. When a family's home burns she meets and gets to know Tucker the fire captain. The two work together to help the family with six little kids that now has lost everything.
Tucker and Sheila are very attracted to each other and love spending time with each other. Shelia is helping Natalie with the tree decorating for the Christmas Tree Stroll and the more time she spends in town the more she loves that feeling of community.

Christmas in Chestnut Ridge by Nancy Naigle
This is part of a continuing story of wonderful friends. The main couple are Tucker and Sheila - but it was such fun catching up with old friends. There is angst, baggage, discovery, kindness, lots of laughs and some tears, this all leads to a very HEA. After reading this book I want to move there.
Reasons I enjoyed this book:
Action-packed Easy-to-read Inspirational Informative Wonderful characters Great world building Tear-jerker Entertaining Happily Ever After Romantic Funny Page-turner.

Wonderful characters that I instantly fell in love with! Chestnut Ridge is such a sweet town, and I could see myself happily living there with all the fun residents. Everything Christmas was pulled into this fun story. I loved the tradition of decorating Christmas trees with a theme and then giving them away after the winner was announced. This little town is so full of the most wonderful people who care about others and pour into the community and those in need. With the Christmas tree stroll and all the fun Christmas activities this is the perfect book for a cold winter day. Add a handsome firefighter and a swoony romance, and you have a book you can’t put down. There is so much more to love with all the yummy food and laugh-out-loud moments sewn into the pages.

Thank you NetGalley, St Martin Press and Nancy Naigle! This is a heartwarming Christmas story where sparks really fly! Grab some hot chocolate and immerse yourself in this wonderful season of giving with old friends and new. The best gifts come from the heart.