Book ~ "Christmas Camp Wedding" (2019) Karen Schaler

From Goodreads ~ After finally becoming partner at her advertising agency, Haley Hanson barely has time to plan her Christmas Eve wedding with her fiancé, Jeff. When their perfect location falls through at the last minute, they need to find a new venue fast. But everything is booked for the holidays, except for the place where Haley and Jeff fell in love, Christmas Camp.

With time running out to transform the inn into a winter wonderland, Trisha, a top wedding planner is brought in to help; she also just happens to be Jeff’s ex-girlfriend.

Will Jeff and Trisha’s Christmas past get in the way of Haley’s Christmas future, or can Christmas Camp still work its magic for a holiday happily ever after?

Haley and Jeff met and fell in love last Christmas.  Her boss had sent her to Christmas Camp to help her discover Christmas ... Jeff's dad, Ben, runs the camp.  Haley and Jeff are now engaged and getting married on Christmas Eve at her parents' soon-to-be-opened B&B.  It's part of a marketing plan to entice others to go to the B&B and get married there too.

A couple days before the wedding, pipes break and the wedding is moved to Ben's B&B.  No problem, right?  Ben has even found a wedding planner named Trisha for them at the last minute.  When Haley discovers that Trisha is an ex-girlfriend of Jeff's and is still in love with him, that adds even more stress than Haley needs.

This is the second in the Christmas Camp series (I read the first one last month).  I don't usually read romance stories like this but I was interested enough to want to find out about Haley and Jeff's "happily ever after" (I assumed there would be one).  I did find it hard to believe, though, that Trisha and Jeff had broken up three years ago, she was still in love and pining for him, while she wasn't important enough now to him to tell Haley about her.  And I can't believe Haley's friend, Kathy, was in love with Jeff's friend, Steve, and thought he might be "the one" after just meeting him yesterday.

This story is written in third person perspective from Haley's point of view.  It was a light read with a happy ending for all.   There are some recipes at the end.

Book ~ "Christmas Camp" (2018) Karen Schaler

From Goodreads ~ Haley Hanson’s idea of the perfect Christmas is escaping to the Caribbean to work so she can avoid all the traditional Christmas distractions. Over the years, she’s sacrificed her personal life to climb the corporate ladder at a prestigious Boston advertising agency. Now she just needs to land a coveted Christmas toy company account to make partner. But first, her boss, Larry, thinks she needs a holiday attitude adjustment so he ships her off to a Christmas Camp at Holly Peak Inn to help her find her Christmas spirit.

Arriving at the charming mountainside inn, Haley meets the owner’s handsome son, Jeff, and feels an instant spark but resists the attraction, refusing to be distracted from her goal of doing all the required Christmas tasks as fast as possible so she can get back to work.

At first Haley struggles with all the traditional Christmas Camp activities. It’s not until she finally allows herself to slow down, live in the moment and let Christmas back into her heart, that she begins to grow closer to Jeff. But when he finds out Haley’s come up with a plan to help his dad save the struggling inn while he’s been trying to convince his dad to sell it, their relationship takes a serious holiday hit. Now it will take the magic of the season to bring these two hearts together.

Haley works for an advertising agency in Boston.  She has no life because she spends all her time working, with the goal of becoming partner.  It's Christmastime and Tyler Toy is a prospective client.  Haley knows that if she wins it, she will be made partner.  But her colleague, Tom, is her competition and he is full of Christmas spirit.  In an attempt to help Haley discover Christmas, Larry, her boss, sends her to a week long Christmas camp in the country.

When Haley arrives at camp, she just wants to get the activities done as soon as possible so she can bring her certificate of completion back to Larry and start working the Tyler Toys account.  She's horrified to discover that it's not that easy ... she can't just do the activities and leave.  There is something to do every day.  And even worse is that all phones and laptops are taken away and can only be used in the evening after the day is over.  At the camp are Ben (the owner), Jeff (his adult son), a divorced man and his two teenagers, a newlywed couple and a woman who son is in the armed services overseas.  As the week passes, Haley chills out and starts to embrace Christmas.

This story is written in third person perspective from Haley and Jeff's point of view.  They are attracted to each other but fight it ... Haley because she wants to stay focused on her career and Jeff because he doesn't want to get attached to someone (his mother recently passed away and he doesn't want to go through that kind of pain again).

This was a light read with a happy ending for all.  It is the first in the Christmas Camp series.