Will this Christmas gift bring the possibility of love or yet another disappointment…

It’s the week before Christmas, and bestselling middle grade author Sutton Leigh is desperate to escape. She longs to rekindle her holiday spirit, but her meddlesome family is determined to keep pushing random bachelors on her so that she’s not alone for the holidays. Humiliating. But worse, a grumpy – but undeniably handsome single father–crashes her book signing and angrily demands that she stop communicating with his daughter. Sutton has no idea who his daughter is. She flees family and chaos to find her holiday bliss in a cozy, snow-capped Vermont resort – only to come face-to-face with the man who nearly ruined her release.

Middle school guidance counselor Drew Chambers is worried about his daughter Oaklynn’s blind devotion to Sutton, and now he can’t stop thinking about the intriguing woman. They call a truce for Oaklynn’s sake, so that they can each enjoy the holidays. Sparks kindle amidst twinkling lights, meddling relatives, and an unexpected blizzard. Will Sutton and Drew find love – or will their holiday magic melt away with the snow?

Titles in The Hope Springs Sisters series include: Destination Christmas ~

This is a clean, sweet romance with either closed doors/fade to black, or only kissing.

Title:  Destination Christmas
Series:  The Hope Spring Sisters #1
Author:  Candice Y. Johnson
Published:  October 10, 2025
Publisher:  Tule Publishing
My Rating:  4 stars

Destination Christmas begins The Hope Springs Sisters series with a delightful Christmas Romance featuring Sutton and Drew, a grumpy/sunshine couple if there ever was one!

I enjoyed diving into this first story in the series.  Sutton and Drew have a rather explosive, ugly first meeting at a book signing event for her most recent release, as Drew barges in demanding that she stop talking to his daughter, Oaklynn (who Sutton has never met), and offering parenting advice that she has no right to interfere with a parent’s role in their child’s life.  Whew!  Yeah, getting beyond that first meeting might be a challenge in and of itself!

When Sutton heads for a resort vacation in Vermont, a time away from family, business, and annoying men for this Christmas season, she has no idea that she’d be walking right into another encounter with the most annoying (and attractive) man ever.  Sparks might fly, but are they the angry or the attracted kind?  When her dysfunctional family descends upon her location for a family Christmas, she’s about to tear her hair out.  They are loud, argumentative, boisterous, and the very people she was trying to escape from for a break from the chaos.

Destination Christmas by Candice Y. Johnson is a fun, insightful, clean romance that kept me engaged throughout as I navigated through this large cast of characters.  I loved watching walls crumble as both Sutton and Drew began to let each other into their worlds, explore the attraction slowly building between them, and experience a truly unique Christmas together.  Their story sets up the series nicely, and I look forward to the next story in the series.  It’s well-written, full of all the differing emotions you could possibly ask for… and then some.  If that sounds like your kind of Christmas Romance, then you’d love this one.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the author or the author’s team via Booksprout, and I sincerely thank them for their trust. It is my choice to leave a review, giving my personal opinion about this book.*

This title is available at Amazon (affiliate link)