Christmas at Holiday House

A Novel

By: RaeAnne Thayne

Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson

Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

In the town of Silver Bells, there’s always a feeling of Christmas in the air.... Let love - and RaeAnne Thayne - melt your heart this holiday season!

This New Year will bring widowed nurse Abigail Powell a fresh start in a different city. Excited about the chance to create an unforgettable Christmas for her young son in picturesque Silver Bells, Colorado, Abby has been hired to take care of her dear friend’s recuperating grandmother. But sprightly senior Winnie insists she doesn’t need looking after. What she does need is help decorating her historic mansion, Holiday House, for a seasonal town fundraiser. Abby warms to the festive task, but she’ll have to contend with her own personal Grinch: Winnie’s prickly grandson, Ethan Lancaster.

Ethan Lancaster is good at a lot of things. Relationships surely aren’t one of them. His ex-fiancée convinced Ethan he was incapable of love, and he believes her…up until the moment he impulsively kisses Abby. What is it about this vibrant woman and her sweet son that knocks his world off-kilter? He knows they’re leaving town after Christmas. He just didn’t expect they’d be taking a little of his heart with them. But as he and Abby work together on the magical Holiday House through the record cold weather, visions of a different future dance in his head…one filled with warmth, love and a new beginning for them both.

Don't miss Thayne's next release, The Path to Sunshine Cove: three love stories in one with the emotional pull of Debbie Macomber, Barbara Delinsky and Susan Wiggs!

©2020 RaeAnne Thayne (P)2020 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

Theme of Xmas

Enjoyed the premise and the characters in it and the actors very nice audio book
I don’t know anything else per de

Nice. Well read.

Story good. Child centric at times. Many forced attempts at inclusiveness. That added a shallow quality. If you want a gay character add one in earnest don’t skate around the perimeter. It is 2020 after all not 1989. We can handle it.

loved it!

Especially loved the narrator. great job and wonderfully written! I could picture the Holiday house in my mind, great descriptions!

What a sweet story! Loved it and all the characters

The characters and family were so sweet and loving in this book. How she intertwined them all together with all the families

Awesome story!!!

I love RaeAnne Thayne!! I hope there are several more stories to come!!! She has always had sweet loving and awesome stories!!!

Love it!

I enjoyed this story so much I didn’t want for it to end. I would’ve loved another chapter or two to describe Christmas morning. Would definitely be interested in a part two.

Cute story. Needs better narration

I listen to audiobooks mostly in the car while driving so my listening is not continuous. Unfortunately the narrator uses the same voice for all the younger women, making it difficult to follow who’s talking.

Mixed bag

The good- small town set during Christmas with characters you want to root for.

Narration- her female characters are great. Her male characters sound female and rigid.

The not so good- Whatever the issue or hesitation is for each character- the issue is repeated word for word in multiple chapters as if the reader can't remember the beginning. I found this insulting to the reader and at least suggest a thesaurus as to not say "her parents divorce made her unable to believe love doesn't cause pain" for the 7th time.

More good- I did enjoy the story. The majority of it reads like a Hallmark script.

What's missing- I love a story that keeps me guessing. There is not a mystery element. We are not wondering any backstory for any character. I felt things could have been more descriptive.

I tried 3 other authors before landing on this book. I'm picky. I love authors like Denise Hunter, Rachael Bloome and Macomber. It was an enjoyable story. I probably would read another book by this author. I think some of the things that bothered me were due to it being read aloud than had I just read the book myself.

Enjoyed

A lovely story. Ended too soon. Would have liked an epilogue. Still recommend the read.

Started out slow

I thought I would return it because I couldn’t get into it, but then it got good. I was rather disappointed with the ending however since it was just left hanging. Didn’t even hear Christopher’s take on Christmas and all the gifts.