Marnie Maclaughlan was at a crossroads. After ten years of hard work, her partner in the successful Total Elegance salon has offered to buy her out, and frankly at age 35 she is ready for a change. The last thing she wants or needs is her loving but overbearing family weighing in on such a decision with unwanted advice but with Christmas almost here she is certain any family gathering will focus on what she ought to do, in their opinions. Luckily her brother Scott has problem that just might provide Marnie with a solution. Marnie can get away for most of the Christmas season if she agrees to pose as a guest at the Mirabel Inn and fill out a secret survey on the inn's operations to provide the company that owns it with a solid understanding of the inn's value before arranging a sale.

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Luke Harrison was in his third Christmas without his wife Anne. If only she had listened to him instead of braving the winter roads when returning from Boston she'd be alive today to see their young son and his enjoyment of Christmas. After Anne's death the Mirabel Inn he manages has become home, and it's employees have become family. He has heard rumors the company that owns the beautiful old structure is planning to sell and he can barely stand to contemplate what that would mean for his life and his son's security.

Stella MacLean has written a nicely romantic, easy to read love story. My opinion of the story is a little skewed, as I dislike plots whose conflicts hang on a series of untruths that one main character needs to conceal from another. That aside, THE CHRISTMAS INN will provide a pleasant holiday read filled with engaging characters and lovely descriptions of the inn, its employees and guests.