The Christmas Bookshop (The Christmas Bookshop #1) by Jenny Colgan

Summary (from the publisher): Carmen feels lost. The department store where she has worked until now is closing, and now she doesn't know what to do. She certainly doesn't want to move back home to her perfect sister Sofia in her perfect house with the perfect children and the absolutely perfect life in Edinburgh.

Sofia honestly doesn't want to welcome Carmen either. Her sister has always been sarcastic and uncompromising. But Sofia is expecting again, the bookstore is short of hands, and their mother's greatest wish is for the two sisters to get along better with each other. Maybe she should give Carmen a chance?

At Sofia's instigation, Carmen is soon swept into the daily grind of the old bookstore. However, it turns out that it will take a true Christmas miracle to get it back on track. Can Carmen surprise them all this Christmas? And can she mend the rift with the most important people in her life: her family?

Review: Thank you to Goodreads Giveaway and Avon Books for the free ebook!

Carmen has lost her department store job and is adrift. When her sister Sofia works it out for her to work in a bookstore at risk at closing, she is reluctant to take the job. Her sister seems to have the perfect life with her three children, lawyer job, and another baby on the way. But once there, Carmen throws herself into trying to pull off a Christmas miracle and keep the bookstore open. 

There is a lot going on in this. There is a sort of love triangle between Carmen and two men she meets in Edinburgh. There is the bookstore, which is run by an interesting character with a complicated backstory and family history himself. There is Carmen's complicated relationship with her sister and nieces and nephew. There is the animosity between Carmen and her sister's nanny. There is Carmen's career and her struggling over where to go next. On the one hand, I really did like that this is not just a love story but a whole lot more. On the other hand, this just felt like a lot happening in a relatively short book. 

At heart, the most meaningful and moving relationship story in this book is between Carmen and her sister. The two had always had a bit of a fraught relationship and have very different personalities. I loved the arc of their relationship over the course of this book and seeing them reconcile many of their differences and become closer. I also especially loved seeing Carmen go from a very absent and indifferent aunt to one that is very attached to her young nieces and nephew. 

I read about 60% of this on my kindle and listened to the other 40% on audio. The narrator had a nice voice, but it just didn't feel as performative or with much emotion into the narration and I enjoyed it significantly less. Interestingly, when I read on my kindle, this felt like a four-star read but the audio felt like three stars at best. Splitting the difference and giving it 3.5 stars. 

Stars: 3.5