Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Book Review- The Christmas Room by Catherine Anderson

A sweet tale of friendship, love and family set around a small town called Rustlers Gulch and delivers the perfect anytime read, not just for the holidays.

My Rating for The Christmas Room: 4.5 Stars

Buy the book at Amazon


For widow Maddie McLendon, life in Rustlers’ Gulch, Montana is so very different than California, but she can’t help but fall in love with the majestic scenery every time she opens her door. But when construction delays force her, her son and grandchild to find an alternative living arrangement, well things go bad to worse. For their new neighbor, Sam Conacher doesn’t like his new neighbors, thinks they are white trash is determined to run them out of town. Unfortunately for Sam, his daughter and Maddie’s Son are falling for one another and it will take a tragedy to get these two hard headed people to see eye to eye. As the holidays approach, Maddie and Sam will have to figure out how to navigate their new normal even as the biggest gift they can give to one another is an open heart.

THE CHRISTMAS ROOM is a sweet and my god, entertaining story about new adventures, romance and more all within the majestic land of Montana. Ms. Anderson delivers a story that had me at times giggling like mad, sighing as people fall in love and then flipping the pages to see what Sam and Maddie would do next in their war of words. I really enjoyed the new book from one of my favorite authors and you can see how much the author loves Montana in her sweeping and lush scenery. Ms. Anderson is a talented storyteller and one that you can’t help but fall in love with her characters even if you wanted to smack them silly in the beginning. The story flows swiftly and I found the setting to be equally important in this book as is the characters. The author does an amazing job in capturing the vastness that is Montana and how scenic it is. The characters fit within Rustlers’ Gulch and I loved meeting all of them. There is potential for spin-off books set in this sleepy town and I am really hoping the author delivers more stories set here.

It’s the characters that take center stage along side Montana in THE CHRISTMAS ROOM. They are diverse, strong yet vulnerable, intriguing and down right entertaining. I loved how the author keeps her readers entertained with the diverse cast of characters. You got cranky Sam and feisty Maddie butting heads at times for most of the book. Add in Sam’s daughter Kirstin and Maddie’s son, Cam and grandchild, Caleb, well let’s just say the fun goes up a notch and I couldn’t put the book down. I loved the family dynamics and the interactions between Sam and Maddie had me giggling even as I rooted for Maddie to give this crusty rancher a piece of her mind. Those scenes plus the ones where Cam and Kirstin were falling in love were the best parts of the book even though I have a soft spot for Caleb as he navigates living in a small town and feeling like a fish out of water. What I really enjoyed was the older people finding love even as they deal with issues with aging among others. I really loved how the author incorporated it within the story and made it a sub-story and tied it together with Cam and Kirstin’s romance. I really enjoyed meeting the residents of the small town and enjoyed finding out about them within the course of the book.

THE CHRISTMAS ROOM doesn’t have to be read around the holidays. Its perfect anytime to read-at the beach, rainy afternoon, etc. I love Ms. Anderson’s storytelling and look forward for more from her in the future. But really, can we get more books set in Rustlers’ Gulch in future books please?

This is an objective review and not an endorsement

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