Book Review: Kiss Me at Christmas by Jenny Bayliss

Pages: 400

Genre: Holiday/Romance

Pub. Date: September 24, 2024

Publisher: Penguin

Source: Publisher for review

Other Books By Author: Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

 

 

Goodreads says, "White Christmas meets Nora Ephron in Jenny Bayliss’s latest wholehearted, ensemble-cast holiday extravaganza.

Christmas can officially get stuffed because Harriet Smith is not feeling bright and merry this year. She hasn’t for a while. So when her college-aged daughter opts for Manhattan’s winter wonderland instead of Christmas at home, Harriet finds herself seeking solace in a wine-soaked one-night stand.

But how Harriet will spend the holidays is swiftly decided for her after she takes the fall for some students who break into the town’s old Winter Theater. To get the students off the hook, the theater’s elderly owner requests that Harriet direct the washed-out stage’s final Christmas performance. And Harriet will do anything to help the kids . . . even work with the owner’s lawyer who, as it turns out, is her less than impressed one-night stand.

Directing the play with him won't exactly change her life. But it might just reignite the Christmas spirit and remind her what makes life merry and bright again."

 

Harriet Smith's Christmas is not off to a great start. She finds herself alone since her college-age daughter will be spending the holidays in New York City. She doesn't even feel like decorating for Christmas, even though she loves the holiday. Feeling depressed, she heads to her local pub to enjoy one too many mulled wines and finds herself engaging  in a memorable one-night stand. She knows there is no future in this relationship, so she moves on by throwing herself into her work at the school. While trying to advise a group of students, she ends up trespassing into the town's old theater and ends up taking the fall for her students. As her punishment, the theater's owner has requested that Harriet clean up the theater, which is in a state of disarray, and organize one last holiday performance at the Winter Theater. If not, the theater's owner has threatened her with the law. Harriet works at a school with a lot of budding actors, so this won't be too bad, right? Insert the lawyer..... it's her one-night stand. Cue the awkwardness! Kiss Me at Christmas by Jenny Bayliss is a charming and heartfelt novel that gave me a lot of White Christmas vibes.

I really enjoyed Harriet from the start of Kiss Me at Christmas. I love that Bayliss focused on a mature woman as her protagonist with a grown child; I really appreciated that. Her interactions with her students at work were very relatable and if you have ever worked at a school, you will appreciate her experience of organizing and directing a holiday play. I also have directed my former students in A  Christmas Carol, so this plot line was right up my alley. The subplot of her relationship with the lawyer, James, was also done well, although I did feel myself gravitating to some of the other subplots, especially with the students. 

If you are looking for a holiday read that is reminiscent of White Christmas in that an entire group of people are putting together a holiday extravaganza one last time, you'll appreciate Kiss Me at Christmas. It was just what I needed -- a feel good holiday romance. So, let me know in the comments if you are a fan of Jenny Bayliss and if Kiss Me at Christmas is on your holiday TBR list.