Imogen is an absolute genius in her job. Unbeknownst to her coworkers, she has no life outside of work. The life they think she has is all a fallacy, and she is beginning to have trouble keeping up the façade. Her only family is her mother, who is a cruel woman that resents having a child and blames her for everything bad in her life. Her favorite client Dorothy invites Imogen to spend her time off in a cottage on her property. She thinks it might be a good place to figure things out, especially because she always spends the holidays alone. It seems that Dorothy has secrets of her own as well. The author alludes to a tragedy during the holidays for Dorothy’s family as well. Dorothy’s daughter is very against the idea, which doesn’t seem to make sense at the time. But secrets have a way of coming out and all of their lives will be changed forever.

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Happy Publication Day!!! This book holds all the warmth and magic of the holiday season. The setting makes me visualize the movie “The Holiday”. The main character, Imogen has lived a rough life with a useless mother. Yet, Imogen has thrown herself into being a very successful event planner. This character makes you cheer in on throughout this book. There is a plot twist that makes the book even more compelling. Without giving it away, this is a definite must read this holiday season. Actually, I am hoping there is a sequel to this one. I would love to see the characters again. Thank you to NetGalley and Canary Street Press for this advance read.

Imogene is a marketing genius. She’s professional and never makes mistakes. Her colleagues and clients are well aware of this. What they don’t know is that all of the stories she tells are fake. No happy childhood and she only pretends to like Christmas. An uncharacteristic mistake forces her to take time off from work, the last thing she wants. She is saved when a favorite client invites her to stay at her cottage. Dorothy, the client, has a chance to make up for things from her past by inviting Imogene to the cottage. Soon secrets are revealed and family drama ensues. Fast paced with great characters. A great book for the holiday season.

Such a fun read! Highly recommend.

Many thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Imogen is a workaholic. With no social life, she has created a faux life to fit into conversations with her coworkers and clients. One day, everything implodes, and her boss tells her to take the rest of the year off. With no family other than her mother, who just kicked her out of her hospital room, Imogen has nothing to do and nowhere to go.

Her favorite client invites her to stay at her cottage in the Cotswolds, an idyllic spot to stay and give her life a reset. Until she discovers a secret which will upend her life forever. Frantically leaving, she bumps into the local veterinarian and she finds she enjoys his company. He helps her see life differently and is a good sounding board for what's going on.

Imogen has two choices, either seek out the full truth of everything she learned or leave and shut out those who have answers. As she spends time with a newfound family, she enjoys the holidays and finally feels a place to belong, but can it last? She's spent a lifetime alone and it would be a huge change to accept the new facts and a possible new love.

A beautiful trip to the Cotswolds for Christmas, new family, and new love make this the perfect holiday read!

The perfect holiday read! I loved everything about The Holiday Cottage - the characters, the setting, the pets, the humor, all of the surprises along the way, and especially the ending. I didn't want their story to end.

An all around feel good festive Christmas story. Author Sarah Morgan has such a way with character development and connecting all the pieces. I couldn’t wait to jump into this Holiday read a couple months early, it’s just what I needed to get excited about the Holidays to come.

Imogen has set such high standards for herself and her work ethic has pushed her to limits beyond what one would consider “normal”. She is at the top of her game in marketing and her co-workers “think” she’s handling it all. Little do they know she has masterminded a “fake” family life including her very own loving dog. She just wanted to “fit in”.

Imogen is pushed to her limits and is being forced to take some much needed time off. Her favorite client, Dorothy, just so happens to offer her a stay in “Holly Cottage”, a remote quaint and cozy place. This could be JUST what Imogen needs.

Sara, Dorothy’s daughter is hesitant with how close Dorothy is getting to Imogen including letting her use the cottage. The shocking secrets, realities and hope is what brings this novel to the forefront and Imogen to a place she never imagined.

The Holiday Cottage has it all, even romance. I love how Sarah Morgan quickly develops a relationship to one you feel like you’ve known or seen for years. She pulls it together in a nice little bow leaving room for your imagination.
I highly recommend this Holiday read, 5 stars ! Enjoy!

Thanks to @Harlequintradepublishing @Canarytradepublishing @Htpbooks @netgalley for this eARC
All opinions are my own.

Imogen is a marketing genius, but she has no real life outside of work. She is rejected by her mom and has no family that she can turn to when Christmas is coming and her boss wants her to take a much needed break. Enter Dorothy, a wealthy client of Imogen’s who invited her employee to come stay in her holiday cottage in the country for Christmas. Family secrets are revealed methodically in this well-crafted and compelling novel about being yourself and discovering truths about others, too. Imogen’s story is a sad one of all work and no play, so when she has the chance to get out of London and spend time in the country, she jumps at the chance. Little does she know that she will find more in that little country cottage than she ever expected. The revelations in this novel come quickly once they begin and the moderately paced plot gets faster and more intensely interesting right away. I loved how the stories of all of the characters were woven together into one brilliantly conceived novel. I also enjoyed getting to know the characters, even the dog Ralph who is intuitive and an instant friend to Imogen just when she needs one. With cleverly concealed secrets and plenty of family drama and action, this is a wonderful book to enjoy and discuss in a book group!
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16th CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

Sarah Morgan's Christmas books are a part of getting ready for the season every year for me. No matter where she chooses to take me or what character's she's going to introduce me to, I know I'm going to enjoy it.

In this book, Imogene's life is her work. She had a rough upbringing and just tried to move forward. However, when her neglectful mother's accident causes her to mess up at her job, she is sent off for a vacation right at Christmas time. She ends up in a small cottage owned by a business acquaintance. She gets involved with the people, the secrets they hold, and discovers along the way that there really is more to life than her job.

As usual, a totally delightful story from Ms. Morgan that is filled with family, love, forgiveness, and joy at Christmas time.

Thanks to Canary Street Press and NetGalley for this e-book. All thoughts are my own.

Sarah Morgan has done what she does best. Creates the perfect family dynamics and found families into a great holiday read.
It is almost tradition to read Sarah Morgan for the holidays.
She creates the complex characters and develops their story and backgrounds to immerse you into their world and their experiences.
Sarah created Imogen's & Dorothy's world and we are all living in it as supporting characters. Dorothy is the angel we need and Imogen is us, over worked and learning she needed the support of her found family and self.
Highly recommend this Sarah Morgan book for this holiday season, and maybe a trip to a Holly cottage ourselves.

Have you ever wanted to stay in a cottage in the United Kingdom over Christmas? You might after you read The Holiday Cottage by Sarah Morgan. It is on shelves today! Morgan is a British writer, and the jaunty British humor is welcoming–humor isn’t always present in novels.

The novel opens with a bit of a surprise that I’ll let you discover–it is definitely not like a normal sort of opening. Each chapter focuses on a different character–Imogen, Dorothy, and Sara. The main character is Imogen, who manages large scale business events. She manages a winery and is close to the owner, Dorothy. Dorothy’s daughter, Sara, has two children and a husband. They all have their own heartaches to carry in their souls which ties each character together.

There is a bit of mystery involving Dorothy and Imogen in the beginning of the novel, and this encouraged me to read further.

Each scene was filled with description, and I was able to picture all the characters in my mind. One of the descriptive, lovely lines in one of Dorothy’s chapters: “She loved the hushed stillness of these early winter mornings, the sense that the world around was snuggling down.”

Imogen unexpectedly has a month off from work, and Dorothy offers Imogen her cottage for the entire month, sensing she needs to get away from London. Without hesitation, Imogen takes her up on it.

And then the story takes a twist that no one will see coming. As I turned each page, I had to keep reading, and very rarely put the book down.

This book was like traveling to a small British village, and I loved it so much I didn’t want to leave. I hope there will be a sequel–I think the author definitely left it open for another sequel! If you love Christmas, if you love small towns and villages, you will absolutely LOVE this book.

The Holiday Cottage is a heartwarming family Christmas story. Imogen is a hard working professional with an idyllic childhood at least thats what people think. The reality is she makes up stories to seem happier than she is. Imogen is actually overworked and this leads her to make a huge mistake. She's forced to take time off to rest. When she gets an invite to stay a client's guest house for Christmas , she decides it's just the thing she needs. The Holiday Cottage is not the normal Sarah Morgan Christmas Romance but more of a family holiday story. It's cozy and sweet!

I don't usually care to read Christmas books so early but for some reason the last few weeks I've really wanted to read a Christmas book (I've even thought about watching Christmas movies). So I was happy that The Holiday Cottage was on my to-be-reviewed list for this month. I read Sarah Morgan's Christmas book last year The Book Club Hotel (read my review) and loved it.

This book was everything I wanted in a good Christmas novel. And it was exactly what I needed for a lazy weekend spent trying to catch up on some rest.

The set-up was obvious - a young woman with a rocky family history who is a bit of a workaholic perfectionist on the verge of burnout and an older woman who experienced a traumatic event and happens to have a holiday cottage on her country estate. At this point, I was thinking all there needs to be is a potential love interest - and cue the unlucky-in-love hardworking local veterinarian.

I thought I had the story all figured out when Imogen started to feel poorly with a headache and scratchy throat. And I was okay with that - it was comforting after having just finished a heavy read. But the story took a wild curve that took me on an emotional journey. I won't lie - I shed a few tears while reading the book - my heart hurt for Imogen.

Of course, there's a happy ending and it was just so sweet. It had all the makings of a heartfelt Hallmark movie. It definitely should be on your Christmas reading list.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Wednesday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2024/09/the-holiday-cottage-by-sarah-morgan.html

Holly Cottage, Dorothy's country home and the village in the Cotswolds are the absolute perfect, festive location for a holiday book. All of the descriptions of the cozy cottage, complete with the dog Imogen helps to rescue, give off the perfect cozy holiday settings; which is everything I want in a holiday book. I enjoyed the descriptions of how Dorothy's family celebrated Christmas and their various traditions. The plot itself however, was one that I found both implausible and needlessly complicated. The author foreshadows from the beginning that there is some huge secret that is being kept. The revelation does completely upend everything Imogen knew or thought she knew about her family. I won't spoil the secret here, but it is a big part of the plot and I had a really hard time with it.

At first I almost DNF this ONLY because it deals with heavy topics. With the work I do I try to avoid books with real life topics that are tough, but I’m a huge fan of Sarah Morgan. I’m glad I kept reading because I ended up so intrigued with the story. I did see some of it coming but that didn’t take away from the story at all. I ended up enjoying it a lot. It really captures the true meaning of Christmas no matter how cliche that sounds.

4.5 rounded up. This is another wonderful story to add to Sarah Morgan's catalog. It's about family and love and opening oneself up to others. There were a couple of things in the first half that I wasn't sure were going to work for me ~ I don't love troublesome mothers, or books where we figure out what's going on fairly early on ~ but I feel like she took this and was able to delve into the characters' stories and emotions to create a heartwarming holiday novel. Add in the cozy cottages and snowy villages and it's a wonderful Christmas book. Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the advance digital copy!

Imogen lives for her work. She lives for it so much that she’s made up a personal life just to avoid her coworkers’ questions and to hide her lack of a life.
Dorothy runs her own company and likes Imogen’s marketing so much that she moved her account when Imogen moved to a new company. Her daughter Sarah is concerned that Dorothy has picked up another stray (Dorothy has any number of animals that she’s adopted as well as people who Sarah is afraid will take advantage. But they both know something that Imogen doesn’t and it threatens to upend her life.
Luckily, handsome vet (and son of Dorothy’s best friend) Miles is there to help. And he has a golden retriever named Ralph who has decided that Imogen is his person.
A sweet story. Fans of Morgan will know what to expect.

Four stars
This book come out September 24, 2024
ARC kindly provided by Canary Street Press and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

I hardly know what to say about Sarah Morgan's, The Holiday Cottage. Admittedly, I have a hard time recommending this novel for book clubs and libraries. Holiday Cottage has no real depth. If a 90 minute movie, the critic would label it sappy, but I can manage better than that. This novel has unresolved possibilities, which Morgan should have addressed with her editor. Imogene, the novel's protagonist, is best described as a woman with no life, no future, no family, and no luck. Even her dog is not real, and yet, Sarah Morgan solves all of Imogene's problem in 352 pages and 2 weeks in the country.

There are some good ideas at play here, but the execution needs work. The long opening section of the book is focused on Imogen's work life, which is her life. Her constant, chronic lying is tiring. Finally, she is assigned a mandatory vacation, is offered a short tern cottage in the country, solves her family dilemma in 5 minutes, and turns her life round in 2 weeks. Best of all she gets a real dog of the same breed as the fake dog photo on her work desk.

I wish Morgan would take her readers more seriously. We want more than a 90 minute holiday movie, or at least I do. What happens to Imogene's mom? Is she going to be dead and buried and written out of the novel? Is Imogene going to continue paying Tina's rent and buying groceries? What's with the long distance romance and dog sharing? I want some complexity in a novel. I have never read a Sarah Morgan novel before, and I guess this will be my last one, but it doesn't have to be. This is a fast, mostly pleasant read, but with more neurosis than I would expect in a holiday novel. Take the good ideas and craft a novel that really explores these ideas. Unfortunately the world is filled with abused children. What is Imogene going to do about it?

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Fiction and NetGalley. I am always bothered when I read a novel with possibilities than go undeveloped.

I really enjoyed this book. It had me tearing up at times. I liked the story and the characters. It was good to get different perspectives. Lovely holiday read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC on this book for my honest review.

Imogen has had hard life being raised by a single mom who continues to struggle with addiction. When she started at her new company a year ago she tries to fit in by creating the family and dog she wishes to have. She is an event planner/manager who works all the time and rarely sleeps. One day she has 3 events which she coordinates her time to be able to stop at all of them, except she gets a call from the hospital that her mother is there and Imogen needs to come. Her mother tells Imogen that she ruined her life and she wishes she did not exist.

Imogen's boss can see that she is near burnout and forces Imogen to take a month break over the Christmas season. Imogen has lunch with a client. Dorothy, before her break begins. Dorothy can see something is wrong and invited Imogen to come to her country estate and stay in the cottage for as long as she wants.

Pick up this book and read if Imogen gets the breaks she desperately needs and the Christmas she has always dreamed of.