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Unabridged Digital Audiobook
Runtime: 3 hours, 43 minutes
Read by Leslie Howard
In Pamela Kelley’s The Restaurant, three sisters were forced to spend a year living and working together at Mimi’s Place, the Nantucket restaurant that was passed down to them by their grandmother. Though their year-long arrangement is long over, they’re happy to be back together again in the audio edition of the follow-up, Christmas at the Restaurant.
The story returns to Nantucket as Christmas is approaching. It’s been over a year since sisters Jill, Mandy, and Emma took over ownership of Mimi’s Place with executive chef Paul, and so much has changed in that time. Emma and Paul have rekindled their high school flame, and Mandy has moved on from her divorce with a new man, Matt. When Jill and her new husband, Billy, decide to leave Manhattan and spend December on Nantucket, everyone is excited for some family festivities. But as the sisters’ lives continue to change, so does that of their bartender, Gina, who’s surprised by the arrival of her old crush from her college days.
As the staff and owners of Mimi’s Place prepare for a busy holiday season, their stories are just as cozy and dependable as a fluffy old blanket and your favorite Hallmark Channel Original. This series isn’t one for deep, meaningful reads. Instead, it’s sweet but shallow, the interconnected stories of a family of women (and their staff, too), whose lives seem to revolve around making the right match and having a family. None of them, it seems, are quite complete unless they have a husband and kids. And while their stories about finding love and starting a family are charming, they can also be a little maddening. Two of the sisters live on a beautiful island, where they run a beloved restaurant—and the other also co-owns a successful recruiting business in Manhattan. It seems like maybe they could find some fulfillment in life in ways other than getting married and having kids.
Still, there’s just something undeniably charming about Nantucket in winter, the mouth-watering food, and the holiday festivities—with plenty of light romance mixed in. And where it’s lacking in development (and perhaps a more modern perspective on the value of women), it makes up in holiday dreaminess.
Christmas at the Restaurant isn’t an especially memorable read. The characters are rather flat, and their stories are fluffy and predictable. But if you’re looking for a light, easygoing read to add a little entertainment to another busy holiday season, it’s a likeable choice.
Listen to the review on Shelf Discovery:
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