The Asheville Christmas Gift

Carolina Christmas #2

by Hope Holloway, Cecelia Scott

The charming, heartwarming holiday trilogy continues, whisking you away to a dreamy winter in the mountains. With sweet romance, strong family bonds, and an uplifting story of hope and joy, this is the perfect Christmas collaboration between two beloved women’s fiction authors!

When the Chambers sisters receive an invitation from their jet-setting aunt to spend the entire month of December at the family’s cabin in Asheville, North Carolina, they have one question -- why? The retreat, tucked into the Blue Ridge Mountains, may be the site of many happy childhood holidays and summers spent enjoying the beauty of the area and each other…but it also holds sad memories. The sisters, and their aunt, have spent twenty-five years avoiding the cabin and renting it to strangers. Why would Aunt Elizabeth want her “dearest darling” nieces to put their busy lives in three different states on hold and spend a month in the mountains?

Eve, Angie, and Noelle, triplets born on Christmas Day, owe their very lives to their aunt, and they agree they must go. Once there, not only do they learn to let go of the past and embrace a bright future, they all start to see their lives in a new way.

Big city girl Noelle comes face-to-face with her first love and feelings for this single dad are strong, tempting her with a small town lifestyle that she never imagined she’d embrace. A stressed-mother of three, Eve revels in the change of scenery and begins to learn the art of letting go of complete control. And when Angie’s rocky marriage truly cracks, she finds a new kind of joy with a connection to the past and a reconnection with her daughter.

Can one Christmas in Asheville change everything? Join these strong, funny, and loving women as the holiday spirit lifts them as high as the Blue Ridge Mountains and promises a whole new life ahead.

The Carolina Christmas Trilogy
The Asheville Christmas Cabin -- book 1
The Asheville Christmas Gift -- book 2
The Asheville Christmas Wedding -- book 3

Genres: Christmas, Romance, Holiday, Fiction, Audiobook, Womens Fiction, Christian Fiction

270 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 10, 2023

Reviews

[Linda Langford · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent story. I enjoy all the characters—there are three sisters who are triplets! And, their families and friends. the Asheville, NC setting is gorgeous. I highly recommend.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Asheville Christmas Gift is a gift to all of us - it’s the second book in a trilogy just perfect for the Christmas season! Be prepared for some tugs on the heartstrings and maybe a few tears, plus plenty of other emotions! The characters are wonderful, and the magic of the cabin and love of family are compelling! I recommend reading the first book of the trilogy first, as the continuing story will be more complete. In addition, it’s too good not to want to read! I’ll be counting the days until the final book comes out!

[Amy Cobb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this series!!!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great second part to this trilogy! Exactly what you would expect in a Christmas Hallmark movie. Romance, friendship, a sister bond, etc. Clean and cute book. Looking forward to the third book! 🎄

[Sarah Tellas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute little hallmark book part 2. Like the story and characters and now too invested that I have to read the 3rd book lol.

[Gillian Howcroft · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cheesy but fun!

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐

[Sarah Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series. Can’t wait to start the third book. So sweet and cozy and just really reminds you of what’s important in life. Definitely recommend!

[Kristin Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great middle book connecting dots from the first book! This is a sweet story about sisters, family, changes and life priorities set around Christmas time.

[Cheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun, light series so far. Not faith based but faith flows through them, along with real life issues among the 40 yr old triplets, the books are based around. Light romance elements and relationships but not the sole focus. I wish I’d found them earlier. This would be perfect light reading for a busy December season.

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two-haiku review:

Continuation
Three sisters changing their lives
Family cabin

Some Christian aspects
Easy to love characters
Huge cliffhanger end

[Janeliz Morales · Rating 2 out of 5]

alright I know I gave the first book a one star, but I ended on a cliff hanger so I had no choice to continue on… this writing is decent at best but it’s like a terrible hallmark movie you know it’s trash but something inside you begs to keep watching …..

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another hallmark story. Not horrible, but not great. I want to move on from this story but these cliffhanger endings are killing me!

[Get Your Tinsel in a Tangle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some gifts are easy to return. Others—like old heartbreak, unfinished business, and highly inconvenient romantic tension—not so much. In The Asheville Christmas Gift, book two in the Carolina Christmas series, a woman comes home for the holidays and finds herself face-to-face with the past she tried to leave behind. Because nothing says Merry Christmas like unresolved feelings and a town full of people who definitely remember what went down the first time.

Our heroine, still bruised from a failed relationship and a life that didn’t quite go as planned, is not in Asheville for nostalgia. She’s here for a fresh start, a clean break, and absolutely no emotional entanglements. But then there’s him—the ex who left a mark that never quite faded, the one she told herself she was over. But the chemistry? Still there. The tension? Thicker than a Hallmark Christmas sweater. And the past? Not as buried as she thought. As they’re forced into each other’s orbit—thanks to holiday events, well-meaning matchmakers, and the sheer gravitational pull of unfinished business—she’s left wondering: Is moving on really the same as letting go?

At 4.5 stars, The Asheville Christmas Gift is a nostalgic, heartfelt, and emotionally rich second-chance romance. You can read it as a standalone, but the town of Asheville (and its unapologetically meddlesome residents) is best appreciated as part of the Carolina Christmas series. If you love your holiday romances with big feelings, undeniable chemistry, and the kind of love that doesn’t fade even when it should, this one will hit right in the heart. And if you’ve ever tried to convince yourself that you were totally over someone? Yeah, good luck with that.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second in a 4 books series about triplets born on Christmas Eve. They are Angie, Eve and Noelle. They have returned to the Asheville N C area to share some family time. They have not been in the family home since their parents were killed in an auto accident.

The aunt who raised them after the death of their parents, Elizabeth, is planning to wed on New Year’s Eve.

The family situations are each similar but different. Angie lives in California with a daughter and a husband. No one in the family seems to like one another.

Eve, lives with her neurosurgeon husband, David, and three sons. The family is happy, but it seems that David works very long hours and the family time is generally just Eve and her boys. She home schools the boys and deals with much of life basically alone.

Noelle lives in New York. She has a job filled with demands, but she has the goal of going to London and working for Sotheby’s. The fact that her life is lonely is just the price she must pay to progress in her chosen field.

But, life is filled with surprises, new challenges and new joys. One simply has to look for them. And prayers can always help lead the way.

This is a charming book. There is true joy because the family is spending time with one another. The family love is nearly like a character in the story.

I enjoyed this story. But, this book, like the first one, has a cliff hanger ending. Not my favorite thing. I would recommend reading the books in order. I have the third book ready to go in my Kindle.

[Pj Ausdenmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

With perfect pitch and pacing, book two continues the journeys of triplet sisters Angie, Eve, and Noelle. When they made the decision to spend December at the family cabin they hadn't visited in 20+ years, little did they know how their lives would change. Now each sister is facing a crossroads, one that could change the course of the rest of their lives.

I have fallen in love with these characters. Scott and Holloway have created complex women about to turn forty, giving them realistic and relatable challenges with which I could easily identify even if I hadn't walked their particular path. Then they surrounded them with supporting characters who add depth, humor, conflict, and love. I want to know them, hang out with them, comfort them in times of grief, and celebrate unexpected joys.

These stories are filled with hope, heartbreak, family, faith, and the possibility of new beginnings, all woven together into a heart-tugging tapestry that had me laughing, crying, gasping with outrage, and sighing with delight. I'm already counting down the days until book three, The Asheville Christmas Wedding, releases on December 1.

I enthusiastically recommend the Carolina Christmas trilogy and strongly suggest reading the books in order.

[Frieda Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

As

For some reason I wasn't able to leave a review for book 1, but it would've been almost a carbon copy of this one! Sweet, country Christmas stories with Christian ethics throughout! Almost 40 y/o triplets, born on Christmas Eve & Christmas Morn return to the family mountain cabin 25 years after a horrendous tragedy broke their family in two. Can they bear to return? And stay for the entire month of December?They're not sure, but for their beloved Aunt, they will make the effort. Read how they each react to this trip, the changes that brought it into being, & the changes it causes in each of them! The characters are strong, yet vulnerable. I fell in love with all of them, especially a cute, smart, bubbly 7 y/o girl! Well let's say all but one, no, two by the end of book two. The descriptions of the settings are so good, I can see them in my minds eye, & since I live a few hours away & I love that region anyway, it was very easy! I recommend reading them in order. The story continues one to the next w/o breaks. History plays a huge part, so if you're a history buff like me, you'll get extra bang for your buck! Now I've got to get into book 3!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the "middle child" the Carolina Christmas series.

If you remember my review on Book 1, you know I had gotten hung up on an incorrect fact included in the book (character stated they had gotten their DVM at a college in NC that does not nor ever has had that degree - the college that has that degree is about 30 minutes away.) Though overall I had liked the story in Book 1.

The story line in this book was a continuation from Book 1 and I really liked seeing the sisters' story lines evolve. We see Eve, Noelle, and Angie all reevaluate what family means and where they want to be with their lives. Two of the sisters made pretty big decisions in this book and I'm hoping Book 3 will provide some resolution for the 3rd sister.

My favorite quote from the book came from Noelle's new friend Beth...
"Thank you, but I do want her to learn the lesson that life doesn't always go the way you want it to. Sometimes you're the angel, sometimes you're Sheep Number Two."

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 2 in the series takes up, literally, where book 1 left off. Interesting developments in the lives of the three sisters. Cliffhanger ending.
"The forecast for Christmas is chilly with a chance of major life changes for three sisters who have been brought together by their aunt. The month in Asheville has already opened the women’s eyes to new possibilities, and each of the sisters must make major decisions this holiday season.
With her daughter joining the family at the cabin, Angie faces the fact that her marriage is over, but has no idea how or where to start again. Noelle can no longer deny that the boy she once loved is now a man she could love again…although it would mean giving up her big city life and exciting New York career. Eve and her husband discover an opportunity that would upend their comfortable lives, but might bring them immeasurable joy." synopsis copied

[Diane Jewell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Asheville Christmas Gift ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is book 2 of 3 and it needs to be read in order.

Another great book and a must read by everyone who loves an awesome Christmas theme trilogy.
As a later in life romance joining two families who have been who have both suffered a great loss. After raising teens to become adults and are now ready to find their happily ever after.
As the adult go back to their childhood home, they uncover secrets that are over hundred years old. These secrets could destroy everything. Book 2 ends in a huge cliffhanger. I'm waiting patiently for book 3.

This book releases on November 10. So pick up your copy today and settle in for a day, cause you won't put it down till the end. Its a fast easy action packed adventure.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It has wonderful characters in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and a great plot. I couldn't put it down! My Christmas decorations will have to wait another day before they're completed!


Amazon synopsis:
The forecast for Christmas is chilly with a chance of major life changes for three sisters who have been brought together by their aunt. The month in Asheville has already opened the women’s eyes to new possibilities, and each of the sisters must make major decisions this holiday season.

With her daughter joining the family at the cabin, Angie faces the fact that her marriage is over, but has no idea how or where to start again. Noelle can no longer deny that the boy she once loved is now a man she could love again…although it would mean giving up her big city life and exciting New York career. Eve and her husband discover an opportunity that would upend their comfortable lives, but might bring them immeasurable joy.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The magic and heartwarming story continues for triplets Eve, Angie, and Noelle in The Asheville Christmas Gift. Each woman is dealing with the possibility of change as they realize what it means to be together at their family’s cabin for the month of December. My heartstrings were pulled in multiple directions. First, good, emotional tears came with a wonderful Christmas gift at a church play. Then there is a magical essence felt throughout the cabin emanating from the love the family has for each other. And then everything comes to a screeching halt with the cliffhanger at the end. Oh my! I cannot wait for the final book in this trilogy!

[Julie Booklover · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

As we move further into the story, we prepare for Christmas, surprise guests, and wedding planning. The magic of the season and the cabin is throughout the story, with heartstrings getting tugged. The triplets have choices to make, and each one is in a different place from the beginning of book one.

I love the characters and the theme of family. Faith plays a big part in this book, but the lessons chosen are perfect for the season. The month is ending; will the girls return to their lives apart? As choices are made, I am anxiously waiting for the final book in the trilogy.

Thank you to the Authors for the advanced copy; this is my voluntary review.

[Sue Negrillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asheville Carolina
Great series, book 2 sisters continue the Dec trip to see Aunt Bitsy. Eve and Husband David is wanting another baby, he decided to go into private practice and move to Hendersonville. Angie is still working at The Biltmore, has great relationship with her daughter and her husband comes to the cabin and tells them they are going back to Cali. She tells him no that she wants divorce. Noelle she is getting closer to Jace and Cassie and want to be with them. Jace tells her he loves her they go on a date are called back to deliver a horse. She hasn’t decided what to do.
They are getting ready for the Aunts Wedding to Sonny. On New Years Eve.

[Jane Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book two in the Carolina Christmas series continues the delightful story of the Chambers triplets as they reunited at their family's cabin in Asheville, North Carolina, after twenty-five years. While they relax and unwind in the Blue Ridge Mountains, they each take inventory of their present situations. By returning to their roots and observing the transformation that occurred in their aunt's life, they find clarity and discover the confidence needed to determine the direction of their futures.

Let me invite you to cozy up with a blanket and cup of hot cocoa for a heartwarming holiday story.

[Paula Withrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asheville, God, love and happiness

I have lived in Asheville, North Carolina for nearly 20 years, moved here because of a job. In the past three or four years, it has become very crowded, very expensive, and then there was the hurricane in 2024.
I keep toying with the idea of actually leaving here. But this series of books just reminds me of what is so special about, not just Asheville, but Buncombe County, and Western North Carolina. Very difficult choices the sisters had to make - difficult life changing decisions in this book, but I know that they will each get their happy ever.

[Donna Rutledge · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in the series about the Chambers triplets. Eve, Angie, and Noelle are all home after twenty-five years away from their home. They all have busy lives but there's a, lot going on. Eve is with her husband and three boys, Angie is with her daughter and looking into the cabin's past, and Noelle is seeing an old flame.

The girls are enjoying time with their aunt and her new beau. There is a wedding in the New Year to look forward to and Brooke is with her mom and not her dad.

[Melinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice continuation of the Chandler triplets saga which leaves a good cliff hanger at the end, enticing the reader to begin the next one. Even though it is quite predictable what will eventually happen between Noelle and Jace, it was unsettling to have Noelle agree to so many of her professional responsibilities, when her heart and mind were definitely elsewhere. A little honesty with her boss early on would have been nice, though I realize it would distract from the overall magic of the holiday and exciting love prospects. Time to continue on to number 3.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, so I’ve officially fallen in love with this family and everyone else! Wow such beautiful storytelling with real-life issues. I swooned, got emotional and angry (rightly so), and even fretted at some point throughout this book. The authors do such an amazing job at letting you come along the characters’ emotionally journeys and really feeling their emotions. I wondered how the first book was going to be with 3 povs but I enjoyed it and book two was even better! Can’t wait to dive into the next one in the series. So far these have been my favorite Christmas reads (listens) this year!

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second book of the Carolina Christmas trilogy just brings you deeper into the lives of the three sisters. Some things are going well and some things are left on pretty shaky ground. But like all of the prior authors’ books, you will feel like you are there in the mountains, celebrating the holiday with this family. You want them to be your neighbors and your friends. This is such a heartwarming series about family and love and the magic of Christmas. Can’t wait for the final book!