by Sheila Roberts
Publisher: MIRA
Pages: 320
Format: eARC
Buy the Book: Amazon
Goodreads: Single mom Lexie Bell hopes to make this first Christmas in their new home special for her six-year-old son, Brock. Festive lights and homemade fudge, check. Friendly neighbors? Uh, no. The reclusive widower next door is more grinchy than nice. But maybe he just needs a reminder of what matters most. At least sharing some holiday cheer with him will distract her from her own lack of romance…
Stanley Mann lost his Christmas spirit when he lost his wife and he sees no point in looking for it. Until she shows up in his dreams and informs him it’s time to ditch his scroogey attitude. Stanley digs in his heels, but she’s determined to haunt him until he wakes up and rediscovers the joys of the season. He can start by being a little more neighborly to the single mom next door. In spite of his protests, he’s soon making snowmen and decorating Christmas trees. How will it all end?
Merrily, of course. A certain Christmas ghost is going to make sure of that!
Kritters Thoughts: A sweet Christmas story perfect to get you into that holiday spirit. Lexie Bell is new in town, a teacher with her young son who is trying to put the pieces back together after life has sent her over some speedbumps. She is trying to do it all herself and it is not going well, and sometimes life sends you help and just the right help right when you need it. The other main character is her neighbor, Stanley, who is mourning the loss of his wife and not excited about another holiday season, but maybe this one will be different.
There are so many Christmas romance books and while this one may have some romance in it, the main focus was on Lexie and Stanley and how they entered each other's lives and gave what they could and it was exactly what the other needed. I adored watching their relationship grow and how much they really complimented each other in the most platonic of ways.
If you have read too many and watched too many Hallmark books and movies, then go for this one and you will still feel that Christmas glow, but less of the romance!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one copy of this book free of charge from HarperCollins. I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
