A home for the holidays A novel

In the satisfying latest from Hahn (The Lifestyle), a singer contends with family secrets and a new romance. Mel Hart is content performing in a Chicago wedding band with her boyfriend, Dan. After Dan accepts a lucrative touring gig with another band, the two break up, leaving her with no place to live. She's also reeling from the unexpected death of her mother, Connie, whose alcoholism gravely impacted their relationship, and her grief swells when she moves back into Connie's house two weeks before Christmas. There, she has a surprise visit from Connie's old friend Barbara, who tells Mel about Connie's early career as a singer-songwriter and surprising connection to a now-prominent country star. In a charming subplot, Mel falls hard for Barbara's soon-to-be-divorced son Henry, a doctor. Hahn elicits sympathy for Mel and Connie in plaintive flashbacks to Christmases past and tense mother-daughter moments, like when a teenage Mel kept her dating life secret from Connie, who tried to protect her ("Between the two of us, hadn't I been the one making good decisions," Mel reflects). This feel-good holiday novel has just the right amount of grit. (Sept.)

Wedding singer Mel Hart has always had a mixed relationship with Christmas. When Mel was a child, her mother, divorcée Connie, did much to keep the myth of Santa alive for her. But as Mel grew older, she realized that her mother's creative impulses were fueled and complicated by her addiction to alcohol. As an adult, Mel loves her, but nothing has changed in regard to Connie's alcohol dependency, other than her mother seems to be getting sicker. As Christmas approaches Mel gets a call that Connie has died. As grief, guilt, anger, and regret take hold, Mel gets a surprise lifeline. A woman named Barb shows up on her doorstep, claiming to have once been her mother's best friend. She insists that Mel come home with her. Once at Barb's house, Mel learns of a different part of Connie's life. As she grapples with all that she learns, Mel finds new connections with her mother, a way to move forward in her own life, and a possible new love interest. VERDICT Hahn's second novel (after The Lifestyle) explores love and grief and the complexity that comes with both. Fans of Kristan Higgins and Mhairi McFarlane will find much to love here.--Jane Jorgenson