A Nantucket Christmas: A Novel

This was such a delight! I was hoping for a book that reminded me of Elin Hilderbrand’s “Winter Street” series with good family drama on cozy wintery Nantucket, and that’s exactly what I got! As a small warning, this one opens with a heart-wrenching dog abandonment scene, which I was a bit unprepared for in a Christmas book, but have no fear, things work out!

This follows the story of a blended family who is getting together for the holidays. Nicole and Sebastian have recently married, but Kennedy, his adult daughter is still hoping her father will reunite with her mother Katya. Kennedy is very pregnant and also has an adorable 4-year-old Maddox, who is one of the stars of the book. This is a wonderful, cozy novella with tales show more of Santa and Mrs. Claus arriving on the island by boat, Christmas cookies and hot chocolate, snowy trips into town to see shops filled with colorful ornaments, and cozy dinners at home with family. And drama. What would Christmas be without drama? Five candy canes!

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. show less

Nicole Sommerset is newly married to a divorced, retired attorney and enjoying her new home on Nantucket. She’s redecorated to make Sebastian’s house her own, and is eagerly planning a traditional Christmas with his daughter, Kennedy, her husband and 4-year-old son, Maddox. But Kennedy has her own plans – to get her parents back together again – and she’s using her late-stage pregnancy as an excuse for all manner of bad behavior.

Thayer writes charming Christmas-themed stories where the reader knows in advance that things will all work out in the end. This one also has a charming subplot involving a stray dog.

I thought several times that Thayer may have gone overboard in making Kennedy so awful – self-indulgent, show more self-pitying, manipulative and downright rude to Nicole. But then we’re introduced to her icy mother, Katya! Yikes! The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I’m glad that Thayer didn’t wipe the slate clean and have these two bad apples completely mend their ways. That would have been too unrealistic – even for a Christmas story. show less

A Nantucket Christmas by Nancy Thayer holds all of the Christmas spirit along with a little Grinch.
Sebastian and Nicole Somerset are all set to experience the joys and wonders of a magical
Christmas together as a newly married couple. Sebastian has vacationed on Nantucket for
many years and has a home there. Nicole lived in Boston but came to Nantucket at the insistence of her friend
Jilly, four years prior to experience "The Stroll". Islanders at Christmas time stroll down main street
looking at lights, experiencing the love and joy of the season together. Nicole met Sebastian at a party and
fell in love. Over a four year period they got to know one another and took things slow. Neither
ready to jump into a relationship as Nicole was a show more widow and Sebastian's former marriage
ended in divorce.
Now things are different. Sebastian and Nicole are newlyweds and very much in love. Sebastian's
daughter Kennedy and her family are set to come and spend Christmas with them but there
is one problem, Kennedy wants her parents back together and plans to try and sabotage
Nicole at every turn. She has no wish to even get to know Nicole. With nerves setting in for Nicole
and jealousy setting in for Kennedy, the Christmas holiday proves to be filled with all sorts of
emotion. Then you must factor in Kennedy's son Maddox and a little dog named Snix.

I enjoyed this quick read very much. Nancy Thayer's feel of a small town Christmas transported
me onto its streets. I rooted for Nicole, Maddox and Snix. I wished for change in Kennedy and her
mother Katya. I wanted peace, love and joy for all.
Nancy Thayer wrote a story that sums up many holidays around the world. Hope, turmoil, sadness, unity,
love and finally peace. I read this book in about 4 hours, so it is a quick read. But, it transports you and makes
you not want to put it down.
I was given a copy of this book for the purposes of review. show less

Maybe it's the novella style of this Christmas tale, but I found myself a bit disconnected with the humans in the story, while the dog's story absolutely tugged at my heart. And I kind of felt like Kennedy was a little old to be doing a Parent Trap style wish. And being short, it's easy to see where this nice holiday read is headed. This is all tempered by the absolutely beautiful descriptions of Nantucket in the winter and their holiday traditions. Nicole (and all her holiday sweaters) do make a lot of the festivities come alive.

It took me awhile to warm up to this one. I think it was from the beginning that I had reservations; I didn’t get a Christmas warm, glowing vibe when the book starts off with a deserted puppy! The next thing that made it hard was I could not relate to any of the characters.
But...
I really appreciate that the chapters are so short; actually this book was a very quick read which I also appreciate since more than likely like myself most people are reading this during the holidays and ain’t nobody got time for that (big ok chapter book). So although it started off slow and rough once I got about halfway through I read the last half in just a couple of hours and it went very quick. The ending was wrapped up extremely fast with a nice bow show more and peace on earth. Guess I’d rather have that than a long drawn out ending with the same outcome; just rip it off like a bandaid.

I’ve got 2 more of these Christmas Nantucket books and will give another a go. Basically it is a nice easy read for the holiday. show less

It’s Christmas time and you know what that means. Time for the cheesy, heartwarming Christmas books! Nantucket Christmas is the perfect mix of both. Sure, I knew pretty much exactly where the story was going about a fourth of the way in – much in the same way that you quickly figure out how a Lifetime movie will end once you start watching it. I didn’t mind this at all though. It was just what I wanted to get me even more into the Christmas spirit. I loved Nicole and her endless holiday cheer. I wanted to be her daughter by the end of the book.

There is conflict in the book but nothing too serious. Kennedy is a spoiled bitchy brat and I wanted to slap her silly at times. But it’s not like she was planning to murder Nicole or show more anything. And Kennedy’s mom was even worse than her! Luckily she didn’t play a big part in the book.

If you like to veg out watching a Lifetime movie on a lazy Sunday afternoon then this is the book for you. At only a little over 200 mass market sized pages, you will be able to finish it in one sitting. And you will have a smile on your face when you do. show less

I was looking forward to reading this novel. It was short so it would have been a quick read during the busiest time of the year and it was about my favorite time of the year too.
However, instead of the good, heartwarming story I expected I got instead a collection of dislikable characters and a dull and uneven story that had very little to d with family values and more to do with pure malice.
This story was told using everyone’s point of view, even a stray dog.
Even Maddox a 3-year-old going on 40 was impossible to warm up to. The fact that this child was only 3 and his thought were that of an adult just sort of freaked me out a bit. Even the dog Snix was annoying, whinny and hard to like.
Maddox’s mother Kennedy was a pure conniving show more *itch that was maneuvering to get her father who had remarried for love, back with her uber beautiful and cold as ice mother Katya. The machinations this poor pathetic soul used to do this was just cruel.
This was not the type of story I wanted to read to get into the holiday spirit. The fact that this short book ended on a ‘high’ note (childbirth on Christmas Eve during a snowstorm, while the 3 year old has run away) was just hackneyed.
Nicole-the stepmother was a character we should have been able to like, but she was too much the martyr to even warm up too.
The men in this novel are clueless wimps.
None of these character exhibited the least little bit of common sense. Who in their right mind allows a 3 year old to play outside in the winter alone? I don’t care what Nantucket is like or how safe it is supposed to be.And that is just one of my complaints.
This was a very fast read, chaste and not romantic – it is said that the author is (quoting from book description) “Known for her heartwarming observations of family life.”, but with this novel I really have to wonder just what kinds of families is it that she is observing for her books. Read at your own risk! *ARC supplied by publisher* show less