A sweet holiday romance.

This is the first book I have read by Anita, and I found myself wanting to plan Christmas in Aspen.

The story is told from the viewpoint of Caroline Holt, a career woman who has a one-month rule to dating to avoid getting her heart broken. Set at Christmas, it weaves a number of love stories together, from her mother, who has recently passed, letters she discovers from an author popular in the 70's who seemed to vanish from the literary scene, her sister and an author she discovers while in Aspen. Each person's experience helps to break through her walls to take a chance and open her heart to the possibility of love and a relationship.

Christmas in Aspen is a sweet holiday romance. I loved the Aspen setting at Christmas time. Good writing and the description of the scenery makes me want to spend a Christmas in Aspen. A few different storylines woven throughout and blended very well. My favorite were the letters from Nina.

It’s always interesting reading stories about literary agents, editors and their authors as readers get a glimpse into the publishing world. Anita Hughes gives readers special insight into the lengths editors will go to find “that” book that will launch onto the best seller list, and yes, even save an editor’s career.

Caroline is a New York editor who is burnt out and trying to find the next book that will save her job. She’s going through mourning and needs a change. When she finds a letter addressed to her deceased mother to meet him in Aspen on New Year’s by an unknown person, she decides to meet him.

The story fluctuates between two storylines – a series of letters from an author to Caroline’s mother, a literary agent; and Caroline’s present day story. The letters are fascinating, telling a tale about a bestselling author who disappeared for forty years.

Caroline’s story is a slow-burn romance with a slew of characters that add to her adventure. Some characters are likeable, while others are difficult to connect with. The descriptions of Christmas in Aspen are vivid, making it easy enough for readers to immerse themselves in Caroline’s world. And there's a nice twist to the story on New Year's Eve.

Overall, it was a pleasant read, just in time for the holiday season.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

Caroline is an editor who has lost her spark, her joie de vivre. Part of her doldrums is the recent passing of her mother. Enter her sister Daphne. Daphne is the epitome of spontaneous, whereas Caroline is 180 degrees in the other direction. Caroline feels a responsibility to her mother, both for her sister and to uncover what secrets her mother did not share about her time at the Aspen Literary Conference. While Caroline wages those battles, she also struggles with what true love could be like without getting her heart broken. Great book that you will thoroughly enjoy!

Caroline finds a letter in her late mother’s effects. A letter from someone who says he never stopped loving her and promises to meet her in Aspen on New Year’s Eve. On a whim Caroline changes her Christmas plans and decides to go to Aspen to meet the stranger who loved her mother. There were several other stories within the main story which made it a slower read for me. However, it does have an happy ending, as Christmas stories should. I encourage you to read this holiday book to find out who the stranger was in Caroline’s mother’s life. That’s what makes this book have a really happy ending. Thank you Netgalley and St.Martin’s Griffin for the early copy. This review is my honest opinion.

Caroline is mourning the loss of her mother and feeling untethered. She heads to her mother’s cabin for Christmas after she changes her plans to travel to London. She needs this time to mend her broken heart, to mourn, to deal with career burnout, figure out what will be her next work project or risk possibly losing her job and just relax. So many emotions are so close to the surface and she is just exhausted. When she gets there it is surprise after surprise that causes her to pack up and head to Aspen to do one last thing for her mother. It was overall a nice read that led to a lot of change, opening of hearts, forgiveness and ultimately a lovely ending. I enjoyed the cast, with the exception of Caroline's sister. She was not immature and tedious. Uprated to 4 stars from what would have been a 3.5 rating if half stars were available.

My first Christmas read of the season, well end of summer anyway. The set up is interesting, Caroline, a successful editor, has hit burn out in her career and is still coping with the loss of her mother. In going through her mother's papers, she finds a letter to santa inviting her mom to meet a mysterious lover for New Year in Aspen.
On impulse, Caroline books a trip and plans to complete the meeting. While there Caroline reaches for that spark that led to her career in the first place and also happens to fall in love.
There was a lot going on here. Caroline's career, exploring Aspen, drama with her sister, a stack of letters addressed to her mom that she brought with her.
The story moved at a decent pace. The sister kinda annoyed me. The letters, while interesting, didn't grab me the way they did Caroline.
Why did Caroline keep referring to her mom by her first name in her thoughts? Little things pulled me out of the story. It was ok overall.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and author for the opportunity to read this egalley

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this title. Interesting idea for a holiday romance book, not sure how I feel about it all... It's mostly set after Christmas, could be a good read for that slump between the holidays.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Caroline decided to visit Aspen after reading a letter addressed to her mother. Caroline is having a rough time after her mom got sick. She loves her job, but is at a crossroads in her lif. I enjoyed this book.

Anita Hughes is my go to for my dose of Christmas romance. Caroline was a little hard to love. She was not my favorite FMC. The details Anita puts in her books always make me feel like I am there. Which is honestly my favorite part of most christmas books.

The book downloaded properly and was easy to read. I didn't love the book. I thought it was repetitve and Caroline kept saying the same thing again and again. I just didn't feel like the book moved along. And then there interruptions with the letters. It felt disjointed.

Another winner from Anita Hughes. This story brought the family connections, romance, and life struggles to the pages. A delightful holiday read for Christmas in July!

Christmas in Aspen was a wonderful easy to read story about a Caroline who is an editor but has found it has been a hard year keeping herself upbeat about her job. This is compounded by the loss of her mother.
While going through her mothers’ things she finds a letter to her mother and this springs into action to fulfill what she sees as a tribute to her mother. The letters say her mother was to meet a man by the Little Red Mailbox in Aspen on New Years Eve.
The story is told in such a sweet loving way, and I encourage you to read this book. It filled me with such emotion I know I will read this one many times. The romance, location, holiday, and a bit of mystery makes this book wonderful.
Thank you NetGalley, Anita Hughes and St. Martin's Press for the Arc of the book Christmas in Austin. This is my personal review.

Oh my goodness!!!! This story just has completely melted me. I can not even begin to tell you how darling it was. Get ready to start your holiday season with the most phenomenal book! Well done!

A perfect Christmas story to help get me through the hot summer months. The story and settings really help put you in the holiday mood.

This was a lovely romance novel with surprising depth. I just loved it and will definitely be reading this again around Christmas! Highly recommended!

This was a delightful holiday read with a twist. It captures the magic of the season and the complexities of love and loss. It left me with a smile on my face and a warm feeling in my heart.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Name of Book: Christmas in Aspen
Author: Anita Hughes
Genre: Romance
Publisher: Saint Martin’s Press- Griffin
Pub Date: October 8, 2024
My Rating: 3.3 Stars
Pages: 304

Editor Caroline Holt was supposed to be spending the Holidays in London with Brad, an attractive British editor. Only her job is on the line. Caroline loves being an editor, but in the last year burnout has taken over. She has been mourning the death of her mother, and her grief has taken its toll on her job - she is looking to get that spark back.
So it heading to her childhood cabin
In the cabin, Caroline finds a letter addressed to her mother. It’s in a red envelope, and the return address is Santa’s Little Red mailbox, in Aspen, Colorado. The letter is from a man declaring his love for her mother. He’ll be waiting for her in front of the Little Red Mailbox at 3:00 pm

Awww What’s not to love about a romance set in beautiful Aspen, Colorado?
True it wasn’t a big WOW for me but it was perfect for super-hot July afternoon.

Want to thank NetGalley and Saint Martin’s Press-Minotaur for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for October 8, 2022.

There's a lot going on in this story. It starts with Caroline Holt finding a letter in a Santa Claus envelope to her late mother. A man, who didn't sign the letter, says he loves her mother, Anne, and will be waiting for her at Santa's Little Red Mailbox in Aspen on New Year's. Caroline decides she must be there to meet him. In the meantime, her sister announces she's getting married. Caroline's idea of romance is to date someone for a month, then dump them, and finds the concept of marriage difficult to understand. And, thus, begins a story of love lost, found, family, balancing life and work, and, well, so much more. What mostly pulled me to the book was the idea that Caroline words as a book editor for a prestigious firm in New York, hence we'd be getting to see some of what goes on behind the scenes that brings books like this to us.

To be honest, I was up and down with the book. I didn't particularly like Caroline in the beginning, finding her not only a downer but was put off by her overall attitude toward life in general, not just romance. She is still suffering from grief over her mother's death, yes, but Caroline seems to bring it up constantly, making it hard to root for her. She's also determined that since she doesn't believe in happily ever after, she needs to meddle in her younger sister's romance. And, even when she meets an interesting man, one she is definitely attracted to, she makes it clear to him that she has "rules" and they basically evolve around not allowing anyone to get close to her. I did like her determination to meet the mysterious man of the letter, however, so he wouldn't feel her mother had simply blown him off. In other words, there is a heart there, it's just well guarded. And, in the meantime, if she wants to keep her job, she needs to find a sensational new author to present to the publishing company's powers that be. That is complicated, of course, and there is also that series of letters her mother had kept dealing with a once beloved author's own love life. And, well, that's all I'm saying about the plot.
I envisioned the setting as sort of like being caught in the magic of a snow globe and living in Alaska, I do know a thing or two about "life in a snow globe". Aspen sounds lovely in the winter although the title is a bit misleading as much of the action occurs between Christmas and the New Year. There's a somewhat unexpected twist at the end and the overall plot was interesting, albeit I also found the way the stories merged confusing initially. Toss in the obvious impact grief was still having on Caroline and the bubbly, magical spirit of Christmas seemed a bit subdued, although Caroline's jaunt on a snow cat (snow machine in Alaska) sounded like fun. Overall, though, while not quite pulled in to the extent I'd hoped, it was an interesting read and I liked the peek at the pressure on editors to constantly produce the next best seller, so to speak, all the time. It was interesting to watch her work with the young author, for instance, ironically trying to lead him to ways to insert more feeling/emotion into her promising work, something largely missing from her own life. Thanks #StMartin'sPress - #StMartin'sGriffin and #NetGalley for this early peek at a holiday celebration.

This holiday romance is perfect for anyone looking for a a hallmark setting with a little more substance.