A December to Remember by Jenny Bayliss
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

A December to Remember by Jenny Bayliss is a cozy character-driven story about love, family, and new beginnings. It’s propelled by the estranged relationship of three half sisters.

This book is part of my 10 Christmas Books For This Holiday Season – 2023.

My Overview

Maggie, Simone, and Star North are half sisters who spent summers in together as young girls. Now as adults, the North sisters are estranged. When their father, Augustus Balthazar North, dies he leaves his entire estate to them. That includes North Novelties and Curios, the shop he owned, which has been in the family since 1740. The shop is located in the small village of Rowan Thorp, where he lived. The catch to receiving the inheritance, is that the sisters must complete a scavenger hunt that Augustus left for them; find the Monopoly homes he hid. They also need to plan the Winter Solstice celebration. The last thing these sisters want to do is work together, but they agree the inheritance is worth the challenge.

The sisters each have different backstories, along with issues and problems they are dealing with. The more time they’re forced to spend time together for the sake of the challenge they must complete, the more their relationship changes. In addition to the scavenger hunt, they must collaborate to prepare a Winter Solstice celebration. Regardless of the outcome of their efforts in completing said tasks, the opportunity for the sisters to rekindle their relationships with each other, is what makes it a December to remember for them.

Aside from the romance aspect, the themes of family and community play a significant role in the storyline. The endearing characters, along with the setting in the lovely town of Rowan Thorp, make this a charming and cozy story. I only wish this book would’ve been shorter, to make it a more compelling story. As it is, I found the story cumbersome and repetitive.

My Recommendation

I enjoyed this story, but not as much as I’d hoped. However, I don’t want to discourage anyone from giving this story a try, since many others have enjoyed it. If not for the audiobook narration, I don’t think I would’ve finished this story. Therefore, I recommend the audiobook.

Have you read this book yet?