REVIEW: The Christmas Cabin by Michelle Major

In The Christmas Cabin by Michelle Major, Lauren Maxwell is returning to Camp Blossom, with her teenaged daughter in tow, to attend her brother’s wedding. Camp Blossom always had a special place in her heart, as it was where she was happiest as a child, and where she met her first love, Ben. But when she returns to the camp, she doesn’t expect it to be in the run-down condition it was in, nor did she expect Ben to be the current owner. When Ben announces that the camp is scheduled to be torn down and developed, Lauren decides to not only convince her brother to have his wedding there, but to spruce up the camp and hold one last holiday event so it can go out on a high note.

Ben and Lauren had big plans to leave town together when they were younger, only for Ben to have to stay behind to help his alcoholic father. Since then, he’s been building his business and trying to turn his family’s reputation around. When Lauren returns, the pair need to confront the past, but when she finds out who he’s working with on the new development, it just may be enough to end them for good.

While this book seems like it would be mainly about Lauren and Ben, it’s actually about several complex relationships. There’s the relationship between Lauren and her daughter, Hannah, who has been acting out and getting into trouble. Hannah has been communicating with Lauren’s stepsister, Kayla, and there’s no love lost between the pair. While Kayla also looked up to Hannah growing up, Hannah always viewed her as someone who was trying too hard to appease their father. While Kayla had wanted to make the man proud to have adopted her, with the help of her new neighbor, she’s learning to stand up for what’s right instead of what her father wants. Then there’s their brother, Brody, who’s engaged to a woman but doesn’t seem to really want to marry her, along with all three of the sibling’s complicated relationships with their father. There’s also the relationship between Ben and his father, Bart, along with Bart and Jim, the former owner of the camp and the man that acted like a father to Ben when Bart couldn’t. While it seems like it may be a lot, the author does a good job of weaving all of them together and making readers feel invested in all of them.

This is the sixth book in the Carolina Girls series. It works well as a standalone, so if you haven’t read the previous books, you’ll be fine jumping into the series here. The copy I read also included a novella, A Carolina Song. This is the story of teacher Meghan Banks and country music star Walker Calloway. For readers familiar with the series, you’ll remember that they were introduced in book five of the series, The Front Porch Club. I’m not reviewing the novella here, but I will say if you haven’t read The Front Porch Club, you’ll most likely feel like you’re missing a lot of background regarding the couple if you read A Carolina Song.

The Christmas Cabin is a heartwarming tale celebrating not just the magic of the Christmas season, but the magic of second chances. There’s laughter, tears, forgiveness, healing, and growth for many of the characters. I would recommend it for readers who enjoy second chance tales, small town romances, and stories involving multiple complex relationships.

Book Info:

Publication: October 24, 2023 | Canary Street Press | The Carolina Girls #6

s a girl, single mom Lauren Maxwell hated Magnolia, South Carolina. And she thought she’d left her hometown in the rearview mirror years ago, but a message from her beloved baby brother, Brody, changes all that. He’s getting married on Christmas Eve. So a holiday at Camp Blossom, the rustic sleepaway camp that had been a haven during her growing-up years, it is. Lauren won’t even have to see her dictatorial father. Or her ex-husband, Ben…

When Ben greets her at the surprisingly decrepit cabin, he’s just as stubborn—and as irresistible—as ever. And when she discovers he’s working with her estranged father to buy the campgrounds and rebuild them as luxury housing, Lauren is furious. She won’t let the man who broke her heart win. So she and her daughter stay in town to block the sale.

But the magic of the Christmas season brings back memories Lauren tried so hard to forget: his crooked smile, their daughter’s laughter at the breakfast table, the feel of her hand in his. As the spark between them rekindles, Lauren realizes that second chances are real. And they’re worth fighting for.