Review: Home for Christmas

Synopsis:

From New York Times bestselling author Courtney Cole, the Magic of the Christmas Season sends a woman back in time to the 1940s where she meets her own grandmother and learns the true meaning of family and the holiday.


Piper McCaulley doesn’t know which way is up or down. Her gran, her last remaining family, died two weeks before Christmas, leaving Piper to reevaluate her life. Did she really want to stay chained to the family business just to hang on to this old house? She didn’t care that her great-great-great grandpa had built it with his own hands. How could she make huge life decisions if she’d never even been outside of Alaska?

She needs to leave the snowy wilderness that’s her backyard and see the world, and since her gran left her a battered old compass, Piper takes this a secret message from her beloved grandmother: to follow her heart.

But before she is even a foot outside the door, Piper finds herself caught in a blizzard and wakes up in 1945 in the original home that her ancestors had built–a time when her gran was just a girl Piper’s age. Once she has gotten over the shock, Piper has the joy of getting to know her grandmother in a whole new way, a way that sheds light on everything Piper had come to know and not know about her own past.

Over the course of one magical holiday season, Piper must go on a journey through time to learn the meaning of real love, home, and how a family legacy can connect one another forever. 

Rating: 5-stars

Review:

Home for Christmas by Courtney Cole is a heart melting Christmas story. Inside, I follow a young woman, Piper, as she navigates the history of her family. In the present time, she lost her grandmother and is struggling with the weight of her family home. She does not fully appreciate the historical significance nor the value of her family home. It seems appropriate that she experiences a journey in the past to figure out what makes a home. Family plays a central theme in this tale. I love how this has a present and past journey just like the move, A Christmas Carol, did. But Courtney Cole’s novel has a much happier tune. This beautiful love story has a Hallmark vibe for sure. I am a huge fan of Hallmark. Home for Christmas is clean, heartfelt, and engaging. The characters make it more relatable. It is easy to fall in love with them all. Overall, Courtney Cole is a new writer to me, and this has made me add her to my all-time favorites. She writes so clear, and her pacing makes reading a joy.