The Christmas Cottage by Samantha Chase captures the true essence of the holiday season. The plot centers around a story of a fairy tale, family traditions, what it means to experience the holiday, and the ability to find love in the most unexpected place.
If you love a friends-to-lovers story that is set in a small town, takes place during the Christmas season, has the perfect amount of amazing family history sprinkled throughout, and includes a cottage with a creative and unique ability, then one-click it now!
Lacey Quinn has one job, to assist her best friend Ava with one task before she is to be married. A job that includes ensuring all of Ava’s wishes are fulfilled. There’s just one problem, Lacey isn’t sure she can comply with some of the requests. It’s time for Lacey to set her differences aside and but when her past surprises her in the most unlikely place, will it ruin everything? Memories of the past resurface and it will prove why Samantha writes feel good romance.
Ean Callahan is the bride-to-be’s older brother, who also happens to be Lacey’s best friend. It’s been ages since Ean has visited his family. Will his reunion be stir up old feelings? One night was all it took to drive Ean away from home, but if he has the courage to confess his one regret, he might discover that the fairy tale is true. Will Santa bring him love for the holidays?.
In anticipation of the Hallmark Movie premiere this weekend, I re-read this beloved fan favorite to truly enjoy the screen adaptation of this holiday treasure. My original review was for The Christmas Cottage/ Ever After collection that I received from the publisher for a fair and honest review. I felt The Christmas Cottage deserved it’s own post. I am eagerly waiting the premiere this Saturday night. I am excited to see how they bring to life the details in each scene, the witty dialogue, and the magic of the Christmas story. It’s a captivating and charming story perfect for your holiday stash.
Add a log to the fire, make a batch of hot cocoa, and bake some cookies. The holidays are about to be sweet and full of warmth!
Excerpt:
Ean took the hint and did what she asked. True to her word, by the time he had the fire settled, she was placing two bowls on the table. He walked over, and noticed the mammoth binder on the counter. Curiosity got the better of him and he picked it up on his way to the table. “What’s this?”
Lacey let out a small laugh. “That,” she began, “is your sister’s dream of what this cottage should look like for her wedding night.”
Ean opened it and looked at the labeled tabs. “Food…flowers…lighting…” He looked at Lacey. “How many categories are there?”
“Seventeen.”
His eyes bugged out a little on that one. “Are you supposed to completely remodel this place? Does this say furniture placement?” he asked incredulously. “How does she expect you to do all of this alone?”
“Oh, you mean you didn’t get the memo?” Lacey asked, ready to witness on Ean the same exact expression she’d had when Ava told her the news.
“What memo?” he asked slowly, not liking the look of mischief on her face.
“As best man and maid of honor, it is our job to get this place ready for the newlyweds.”
“What?”
“You heard me; you and I get the great honor of setting the scene for your sister’s wedding night sex.”
Ean dropped the binder to the floor as if it had burned him and glared at Lacey as she laughed. Her face was full of merriment and innocence and she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Lacey had been a pretty girl, and even in the awkward teen years it was possible to see the woman she would become, yet none of that prepared him for the woman sitting across from him. She simply took his breath away, and right now, when she finally let her guard down, he felt like he was looking at the sun.
“I am not facilitating my sister’s sex life,” he began.
“Oh, lighten up. She’ll be married and she wants the cottage and her wedding night to be perfect. There are diagrams…”
“Please tell me they’re of the floor plan and not anything…else.” His appetite was slowly fading at that disturbing thought, but then Lacey laughed again.
“The floor plan, color schemes, foods…she’s clipped things out of magazines, she’s very organized. Part of me loves her for it and another part of me wants to beat her with the binder. She’s fixated on this place.” Lacey nodded towards his bowl. “Eat, please, before it gets cold.”
Ean took a spoonful and felt the flavors burst to life on his tongue. This simple, quickly thrown together chili was a culinary delight. “This is amazing,” he said finally. “I can’t believe you just whipped this up.”
Blushing at his compliment, she took her own first spoonful, realizing that she’d waited for him to taste it first, anxious for his opinion. He didn’t disappoint. “Cooking is second nature, but back to Ava. She’s turned into a bit of a bridezilla.”
“Mom’s told me,” he said around another mouthful of chili. “She was the last person I’d thought would be that way.”
“I guess you don’t know until it’s your turn.”
“What about you, Lace? Any trip down the aisle in your future?”
Her blush this time was out of embarrassment. “No,” she said. “So now that you know you need to be a part of this, I guess we can go through the book and divide and conquer.” The change of subject was swift and luckily well received.
Ean merely nodded, wondering why someone as beautiful as Lacey wasn’t attached. Was she just getting over a break up? Was she jealous of Ava? That thought was dismissed before it even took hold. Lacey wasn’t the jealous type; she had no reason to be. Ean loved his sister dearly, but she lacked the confidence that Lacey always had. Truth be known, he had been a little dismayed that Ava and Mason were marrying so quickly, but he knew his sister had always been a little obsessed with the idea of following the family tradition and marrying on Christmas. “True, she could wait until next Christmas…”
He didn’t realize he’d spoken that last part out loud until Lacey dropped her spoon and said, “Exactly! Why does it have to be this Christmas? What harm could waiting another year cause?”
“So you think this was a little rushed too,” he urged.
“I do! I asked her about it and it seems that Mason is just anxious to get himself settled with his law firm and having a wife and baby would make him extremely happy. Add that to the fact that Ava wants nothing more than to be part of the Callahan Christmas wedding tradition and it’s like a feeding frenzy.”
Ean stood so quickly that his chair fell over. “Wait a minute, wait a minute,” he snapped. “Are you telling me that Ava’s pregnant? Do my parents know?”
Oh, boy. Awkward. “Ean, sit down. Your sister is not pregnant.” Lacey explained to him the conversation she’d had with Ava a week ago. There was a little feeling that maybe she was betraying Ava’s confidence, but hey, this was Ean. He was Ava’s brother and maybe he was the key to helping Lacey figure out how to convince her friend to do some serious soul searching before the wedding.
“So he wants Ava to give up everything and do exactly what he wants?” Ean was pacing the kitchen, his dinner momentarily forgotten. “I’ll kill him! There’s no way my sister is going to…”
Lacey stood and placed a hand gently on his arm to stop him. “You’re not going to kill Mason. That would be ridiculous.”
“He can’t force Ava to get pregnant and drop out of school, Lacey. I won’t allow it!”
She sighed. He was obviously thinking along the same lines she was. She was really worried about Ava’s decision. “It just seems like they need to have an honest heart to heart conversation. I think Ava is scared to rock the boat because she wants this wedding so badly. She believes in the fairy tale of this house and feels that if they spend their wedding night here, their marriage will be perfect and all of their issues will be resolved.”
Ean looked at her like she’d grown a second head. “Well, that explains it; we need to get her checked in to a psych ward because clearly she’s crazy!”
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Author Info:
Samantha Chase is a New York Times and USA Today bestseller of contemporary romance. She released her debut novel in 2011 and currently has more than forty titles under her belt! When she’s not working on a new story, she spends her time reading romances, playing way too many games of Scrabble or Solitaire on Facebook, wearing a tiara while playing with her sassy pug Maylene…oh, and spending time with her husband of 25 years and their two sons in North Carolina.
Website – https://www.chasing-romance.com/
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