On the tiny, beautiful, and remote island of Mure, halfway between Scotland and Norway, a new hotel opening is a big event. New mother Flora MacKenzie and her brother Fintan are working themselves half to death to get it ready in time for Christmas. 

The new hotel’s impressive kitchens throw together two unlikely new friends: Isla Gregor is the hardworking young girl who has been a waitress in the island\'s cafe, dreaming of a bigger, better life now that she’s at a proper fancy hotel. Konstantin Pederson is working his way up in the hotel\'s kitchens too…but he is also, secretly, the only son of the Duke of Utsire. Konstantin has been sent to learn what it is to work hard for a living, before receiving his inheritance. Although he’s initially resentful, the place grows on him; he has never met anyone quite like Isla and her fellow Murians before. 

As the island’s residents and special VIP guests gather for the hotel’s grand opening gala, Christmas is in the air. But so are more than a few small-town secrets…”

CHRISTMAS AT THE ISLAND HOTEL was really hard for me to get into. I requested this one without doing any research because Christmas plus Jenny Colgan has to equal pure delight, right? Not so fast. I absolutely love Jenny Colgan, so I did what I thought was best and set this one aside after reading the first few chapters. Not forever, just until I can get my hands on the preceding three books in this series. Yes, please take note that this is book four in a series. Usually, I don’t have an issue jumping around in a series, but this one I think is best read in order. There are so many intriguing characters that I want to dig deeper into how and why they are where they are. Please don’t let this deter you from picking up this book. I will be keeping this one at the top of my “to-be-read” pile along with the other three in this series.