cover image A Magical New York Christmas

A Magical New York Christmas

Anita Hughes. Griffin, $16.99 trade paper (304p) ISBN 978-1-250-77452-1

Assumptions cause mayhem for two guests at New York’s Plaza Hotel in this cute holiday romp from Hughes (Christmas in Vermont). Ghostwriter Sabrina Post is staying at the Plaza at the expense of her client, Grayson Prescott, former butler to Kay Thompson, author of Sabrina’s favorite children’s book, Eloise. When Sabrina’s neighbor, Ian Wentworth, assumes she’s wealthy in her own right, she does nothing to correct him. Sabrina, in turn, mistakes Ian for his employer and good friend, the Earl of Braxton, for whom he serves as a personal secretary. Ian’s shocked, but, afraid she’ll discontinue their association if she learns the truth, he goes along with the mistake. As they grow closer, they both pull off the charade by suggesting less-expensive outings that they frame as trying something new. Meanwhile, Ian spends a lot of time reigning in the romantically impulsive earl while Sabrina takes life lessons from Grayson’s stories as they work on his memoir, a subplot that delivers a bonus love story from Grayson’s past and allows Hughes to include plenty of trivia about Eloise, the Plaza, and its many famous guests. There’s plenty to love in this sparkling Christmas rom-com. (Sept.)