Mary Kay Andrews

A Novella

The Santa Suit

Bria

This was...kinda underwhelming. If I read this during Christmastime, it probably would've gotten less stars.

A cute Christmas story with an even cuter couple and a lovely family reunion🎄💕

Hannah Alexander 

Bookworm

Heartwarming, light-hearted and fun.  Enjoyed the small town, neighborly generosity of the characters. The ending provided a nice twist.  Excellent read for the holiday season!

Kandi Pilgrim

Siya S

3.5 Round up to 4 because it lifted my holiday spirit quite a lot. 

I don't normally read much holiday romance, but this one was interesting, heartwarming, with a great plot twist around the end. A bit too whimsy and optimistic for my liking, but I guess I'm the problem, not the book 😂

Heather

4 stars ⭐️
If you’re looking for a short Christmas book, this one is for you! This book was so cute and cozy! It screamed hallmark vibes! Ivy and Ezra were cute together. However, I wouldn’t say this was a romance though. Ivy was so sweet to everyone in her town even though she barely knew them. The story is definitely more character driven over plot driven. But to me it made it extra feel cozy. This is my second Mary Kay Andrews book, and I can’t wait to read more of her work!

Cute, warm, fluffy (and, yes, formulaic) rom-com in a book form. Too bad about the banal title.

Hannah

Callie Anna

This story was very sweet but the romance was completely unnecessary. Ezra’s character could have been literally any man who could use power tools. Would’ve loved this just focusing on Ivy’s character arc and new house and friends.

Megan Oiler 

What a cheesy and cliche Christmas story. And I loved every flippin’ second.

Mikel Small

A very cute holiday read. It’s a shorter book too so if you have the time it could probably be ready in a day. I do feel though since it was shorter, the ending was rushed.

Liz Carpenter

3.5 ⭐s. Somebody turn this into a Hallmark movie, stat.

Kourtney

The Santa Suit was the perfect read to dip my toes back into reading. First, it is a quick read. Second - the plot lines were easy to follow and were enjoyable. We had Ivy trying to find herself after her divorce, the mystery of the Santa note, a possible romance, a career shift, and a B-plot storyline of her friend's online dating saga. It sounds like a lot, but they tied together nicely. And third - who doesn't love a small town during Christmas time!

While I enjoyed it for all the holiday fun, the only thing that upset me was that it wasn't long enough. We jumped straight into storylines or their conclusions pretty quickly, and storylines would progress much much faster than they would if this had 100 more pages to flesh things out a bit more.

Besides that, I enjoyed The Santa Suit for giving me some holiday warm feelings. This is now the second story I have read of this author, and I have noticed that the subject of being a "newcomer" into town and whether or not you're welcomed in has been a running theme. I wonder if this is in any of her other novels?

I received a free digital copy for review from the publishers via NetGalley. I then bought it because I was enjoying it and wanted to read the hardcover version. All opinions are my own!

From Mary Kay Andrews, the New York Times bestselling author of Hello, Summer, comes a novella celebrating the magic of Christmas and second chances in The Santa Suit. When newly-divorced Ivy Perkins buys an old farmhouse sight unseen, she is definitely looking for a change in her life. The Four Roses, as the farmhouse is called, is a labor of love—but Ivy didn't bargain on just how much labor. The previous family left so much furniture and so much junk, that it's a full-time job sorting through all of it. At the top of a closet, Ivy finds an old Santa suit—beautifully made and decades old. In the pocket of a suit she finds a note written in a childish hand: it's from a little girl who has one Christmas wish, and that is for her father to return home from the war. This discovery sets Ivy off on a mission. Who wrote the note? Did the man ever come home? What mysteries did the Rose family hold? Ivy's quest brings her into the community, at a time when all she wanted to do was be left alone and nurse her wounds. But the magic of Christmas makes miracles happen, and Ivy just might find more than she ever thought possible: a welcoming town, a family reunited, a mystery solved, and a second chance at love.

The Santa Suit A Novella

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