A Christmas at Hotel del Coronado by Kathleen Denly packs a punch in only 180 pages. First, it’s a sweet second-chance romance. Eleanor and Thomas grew up together and were first loves, but life got in the way and separated these two innocent friends. At the start of this story it’s been two years since Eleanor and Thomas have seen one another, and both are working under some seriously flawed misunderstandings. I appreciate how Denly maneuvers her main characters through active communication to illustrate that a lot of misunderstandings can easily be solved through talking and listening. My favorite aspect of this story is the journey Eleanor and Thomas took to become actual good friends again. Yes, the romance piece is lovely, but it’s the getting-back-to-friendship that I liked the best. This story is also a fantastic history lesson. I loved the attention to historical detail. It is very clear that Denly did her homework (and then some) with this story. I love that one of the prominent characters in this short story is based on a real-life woman. That will always be cool to me as I feel it adds such great depth and reality to the storyline. I really loved feeling like I was in San Diego in the late 1890s. Denly does a superb job of crafting her setting and transporting readers to this unique time period. And, lastly, there’s the murder mystery. I genuinely had no idea whodunit. This kept me turning pages well past my bedtime as I just had to discover who the bad guy is. See, for a novella, this book packs a ton into a small chunk of pages and I loved every minute!

A Christmas at Hotel del Coronado is an excellent Historical Romance novella that I highly recommend. If you are in the mood for a good mystery, for an endearing second-chance romance, or to be transported back in time, then purchase a copy of this story today. You won’t be disappointed you did!