It Started With Christmas: A gorgeous and heartwarming Christmas romance

Holly has spent the time since her grandfather’s death looking out for her grandmother. Nana is still grieving from her husband’s death, and looking for a way to make her smile, Holly thinks it’s the perfect time to head to the cabin north of Nashville for the holiday. While the cabin has been rented out since she redecorated, her grandmother had cleared the reservations, and the cabin is empty: Holly is hoping to recapture some of the magic from the family Christmases of past and off they go. Being worried for her grandmother and being at a bit of loose ends herself, Holly has hopes that a change of scene and place will help her find a new direction for her life, one where waitressing isn’t the be and end all. She planned to go to school for interior design but her grandfather’s death threw all of those plans into chaos, and she’s mired in self-doubt and questions. With the storm, added complications in the form of Joseph, the most recent guest stuck in the cabin with the weather, and his own wedding coming soon, the connection between he and Holly is instant: and something her grandmother doesn’t seem happy with. It’s difficult being in the place where her grandfather’s memory is so present, and with the return of her best friend from his career in music on the road after leaving without a word, and his belief that he’s in love with Holly and they are meant to be together adds yet another complication. Constantly revisiting memories of her grandfather, torn between her feelings for Joseph and the shock at being asked to finalize the wedding plans, and helping Joseph find his own family connections, the story has plenty of sidetracks into emotionally fraught and tearful, all with a touch of joy and happiness attached. When push comes to shove, and a box of presents left by her grandfather all bring tears and smiles to everyone, and the holiday arrives with choices for Holly to make for her future, an opportunity from her best friend turned singer Rhett becomes the chance she needs to move forward and find what she wants, without expectations, without influence and without worry. A story about being grounded in your past, reaching for your future, and finding out what is most important in this life. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Where to begin...lets just say that this book was freaking amazing! Jenny Hale spun a story that had me laughing and crying...I highly recommend! Holly, who takes care of her Nana since her Poppa died, remembers the Christmases they spent at the cabin just outside of Nashville and Holly wants to spend this Christmas there to try and get the magic back that they shared in the past. Although the cabin gets rented out, to make extra money, they believe that it is empty now...but it's not. Because of a huge snowstorm none of them can leave so they make the best of it. This is a down home feel good story of love, happiness, friendships (new and old) and discovering what you acutally want to do with your life. Will Holly find love? You'll have to find out by reading the book.