Review - - A Heartfelt Christmas Promise

A Heartfelt Christmas Promise

by Nancy Naigle

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Release Date: September 29, 2020

Reviewed by PJ

 

Vanessa Larkin was supposed to be spending Christmas in Paris, France on a business trip she hoped to enjoy as a working vacation. Instead, she’s been assigned to Fraser Hills, North Carolina—home of the Best Fruitcake in the USA—to convert her company’s property into warehouse space and shut down Porter’s, the fruitcake factory. Offering retirement packages and selling locals on new job opportunities may not spread holiday cheer, but Vanessa believes she’s helping secure the town’s future.

Mike Marshall’s family founded Porter’s. For decades, the factory served as the lifeblood of the community until his grandfather sold the business to a Chicago corporation. The sale cost the town its independence—and the Marshalls their family ties. A horse farmer, Mike was never involved with his grandfather’s company, but still felt Fraser Hills lost part of its identity. And as a widower raising a teenage daughter, he’s suffered enough losses in one lifetime. News of the factory’s closing means losing another piece of the town’s legacy.

Far from the skyscrapers and rapid pace of the city, Vanessa finds herself enjoying the easygoing rhythms of rural living. With Mike as her guide, she learns to appreciate the simple pleasures found in shared holiday festivities among friends. Fraser Hills is a town she is growing to love—and Mike is someone she is falling in love with. Now all Vanessa needs is a Christmas miracle to give her newfound friends and home a gift they’ll cherish for many New Years to come.

PJ's Thoughts:

Much like the Hallmark Christmas Movies I fill my DVR with every winter, A Heartfelt Christmas Promise is a sweet, charming, small-town romance that had me dreaming of the scent of pine trees in the air and rich, sugary cookies in the oven. It's a story of life choices, starting over, forgiveness, slowing down enough to rediscover the joys that have been there waiting for you all along, and realizing it's never too late to give love a chance.  

Naigle has brought the town of Fraser Hills to life, along with her citizens. She has me wanting to drive into the mountains to try the banana pudding at the Blue Bicycle Bistro, pick up a bouquet of flowers at The Stalk Market, sing along at the Christmas Parade, hang out with an enterprising teen while sampling a piece of fruitcake at Porter's (and I don't even like fruitcake), snuggle an adorable, mischievous Lab puppy (with a very big best friend), share a cup of coffee with the goodhearted folks who call Fraser Hills home, talk Mike Marshall into a wagon ride pulled by his magnificent Percherons, and meet the woman who saved a town and discovered everything she didn't know she needed in the most unlikely of places.  

If you enjoy charming, heart-tugging, Christmas romances set in scenic mountain towns, with lively townspeople, adorable animals, a business in peril, more than one romance brewing, and, of course, happy endings all around, pick up a copy of Nancy Naigle's A Heartfelt Christmas Promise. 

Review - - Christmas Angels: A Novel

Christmas Angels: A Novel
by Nancy Naigle
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: October 15, 2019
Reviewed by PJ
    

Growing up, Liz Westmoreland dreamed of taking over her grandparents inn located in the small mountain town of Antler Creek only for it to be sold before she ever got the chance. While browsing the internet, she stumbles upon a listing for what looks to be the picturesque inn and it’s set to go to auction. Liz places a bid, and by a miracle, wins the auction. But when she gets there she finds the property in significant disrepair.

When Matt Hardy narrowly lost the inn and property that butted his land, he just hoped it wasn't another city slicker coming to make matters worse after the previous owners gutted the place for an art gallery. But the minute he recognized the sweet, freckle-faced girl from his childhood and heard her plans to reopen the inn, he jumps at the chance to help his childhood crush restore a place where he made so many fond memories.

While working on repairs, Liz and Matt discover her grandmother’s collection of angels in one of the cabins. When the angels start mysteriously showing up all over the inn, she begins to look at them as reassurance—that restoring the inn is what she's meant to do. But when an accident leaves Liz feeling like she made a mistake, will Matt—and the residents of Antler Creek—be able to show Liz that she's found a home? And possibly true love as well?

My thoughts:

Nancy Naigle is one of the authors I turn to time and again for sweet, feel-good romances set in small-town America. If you love Hallmark holiday movies - like I do - you've probably already watched a film, or two, based on her books. Christmas Angels is one more I'd love to see brought to the screen. 

Naigle brings the North Carolina mountain town of Antler Creek to life through vivid descriptions, colorful characters, and one over-sized pup who captured my heart. Liz and Matt are both likeable, realistic characters who engaged my heart. I really enjoyed Liz's journey, her innate kindness, and her evolution as she finally discovers who - and where - she's meant to be. Matt is a wonderful hero. I adored him. I want him. But, alas, he's meant for Liz and they really are perfect together. Their relationship is a slow burn with a solid base of friendship, chemistry, and deep emotion that left me confident in their future together.

There's a strong thread of kindness and generosity running through this book along with an organic spirituality. Naigle knows her characters and the region in which she's placed them well. I live only a couple hours down the road from the (fictional) Antler Creek and by the time I finished reading, all I wanted to do was hop in my car and drive up there to eat at the diner, browse the candle shop, tour the barn quilts, and bask in the glow of the Christmas lights. And, maybe, catch a glimpse of Liz and Matt, happy and in love, walking together through this thing called life. 

If you're ready to kick off your holiday reading season with a book that brings all the feels, curl up with a cozy blanket, a cup of hot cocoa, and Nancy Naigle's Christmas Angels. 

A SMP Christmas: Part Two - - With This Christmas Ring / The Christmas Cowboy Hero / Hope at Christmas

With This Christmas Ring

By Manda Collins

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Swerve

Release Date: October 3, 2017

Reviewed by Janga

Merry Parks has a mission. The final request of her friend Charlotte Smithson, dead of childbirth fever, was that Merry deliver Charlotte’s infant daughter into the hands of the child’s father. Friendship and honor demand that Merry honor Charlotte’s request even if doing so requires Merry to visit Wrotham House, the London home of the man she jilted. Merry may have spent the past five years working with her scholar father and out of touch with the London social scene, but she has not forgotten Alex.

Alexander Ponsonby, Viscount Wrotham, has recently returned to England, summoned home from Paris by his paternal grandmother. But the man who returns is less trusting than the one who left a year earlier. A reunion with the mother he believed had abandoned him for a lover and her second family has given him a different view of her and of his grandmother, who contributed to his mother’s flight. His new relationship with his mother has set Alex thinking about the other woman who abandoned him, wondering about her reasons, and hoping for a second chance with her. But even that hope does not prepare him for Merry to arrive on his doorstep with a baby in her arms and a question concerning the whereabouts of his cousin William on her lips.

The probability of William’s having left London to spend the holiday at the family seat in Kent provides Alex with just the excuse he needs to maintain contact with Merry. He persuades her to bring baby Lottie and her entourage and accompany him to Wrotham Keep. Even the weather cooperates; heavy snow forces Merry to remain in Kent for Christmas, to her secret relief.  Being in the place where they once celebrated their betrothal and where Merry left Alex with a ring and a note that explained nothing makes it easy to remember all they once shared. Fate may have given them the time they need to claim their second chance, but they must overcome formidable opposition to reach their HEA.

Manda Collins excels at the novella form, packing her stories with enough character development and action to maintain reader interest but restricting the focus sufficiently to give the sense of a finished work.  In this case, the reunited lovers trope helps because Merry and Alex have a history on which to build. With This Christmas Ring is a small jewel of a Christmas tale with seasonal themes of forgiveness, restoration, and love, familial and romantic.  I loved it, and if you are a reader who appreciates a historical Christmas novella that has both sweetness and sizzle, I predict you will too. The novella is part of the Lords of Anarchy series, but it can easily be read as a standalone.




The Christmas Cowboy Hero
By Donna Grant
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: October 31, 2017
Reviewed by PJ

  

Driven by guilt, grief, and a different dream, Clayton East left his family ranch to join the Navy as soon as he was old enough. Years later, only his mother's desperate call brings the former Navy SEAL home to a father in medical distress and a ranch on the verge of bankruptcy thanks to cattle rustlers and an embezzling accountant. Clayton is ready to have the book thrown at the only rustler who was caught but meeting the boy's sister and guardian, Abby Harper, then the sixteen-year-old himself has him taking a different path, accepting Brice's offer to work off his debt at the ranch after school and weekends. His hope is to convince Brice to tell him the identities of the rustlers while at the same time giving him the chance to atone for his part in the thefts. The more time Clayton spends with the Harper family, the more entwined he becomes with all of them. Especially Abby.

Abby would do anything for her brothers, including putting her dreams on hold since their mother abandoned them when she was only eighteen. Since then, Abby has devoted herself to them, doing her best to keep them clothed, fed, loved, and on the right path. When Brice's actions bring them to the East's ranch, Abby is grateful for her brother's second chance but has no idea of the impact it will have on her entire family. She is not prepared for the kindness shown them by Clayton and his parents, the heartfelt welcome into their family Christmas celebrations, nor for the spark between Clayton and herself that threatens to ignite into an inferno. As she and Clayton grow closer, the possibility of a forever love and a loving family for all of them looms on the horizon, but only if they can uncover the identities of the cattle rustlers and catch them before someone gets hurt...or worse. 

Donna Grant brings readers a feel-good story about family, love, sacrifice, and forgiveness. I fell in love with these characters and wholeheartedly embraced their journey. The story is well-paced, with plenty of action, a bit of suspense, heartwarming romance, a strong family dynamic, and a well-deserved happy ending. The mystery of the cattle rustlers is solved but there's a significant loose thread pertaining to the embezzlement of the ranch's funds which makes me wonder if this book will be part of a series. If it is, I'll happily return for any future stories.

Hope at Christmas

By Nancy Naigle

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Griffin

Release Date: October 10, 2017
Reviewed by Janga

Still reeling from her husband’s infidelity and their pending divorce, Sydney Ragsdale and her daughter RayAnne move from Atlanta to Hopewell, NC, where Sydney has inherited her grandparents’ house. RayAnne is ten, but hurt and anger over the changes in her life have given her a head start on a stormy adolescence. Volunteering at the Book Bea, a book store that still possesses the magic it held when Sydney visited it as a child, fosters needed mother-daughter bonding. It also restores Sydney’s self-confidence, helps her and RayAnne become part of the community, and instills the Christmas spirit in them.

Single father Kevin MacAlea, history teacher and baseball coach at the local high school, has an abundance of the Christmas spirit. He has found joy in being the local Santa for thirteen years. If only his twelve-year-old son, Seth, who associates the holiday with the mother who left him and his father on Christmas Eve, could share in his joy. Even amid decorations galore, Santa’s Village, and a caroling tradition that includes hot chocolate, disappointments and misunderstandings abound. But if these four people believe in themselves and each other, they may find that Hopewell holds all their hearts desire for a season--and forever.

Nancy Naigle returns readers to the charming small town where last year’s Christmas Joy was set for another sweet holiday romance. If you like your Christmas reading treats steamy and heavy on the spice, you will want to give this one a miss. But if your preference is for heartwarming with a dash of seasonal schmaltz or if Hallmark’s Christmas movies are one of your feel-good delights, you will likely enjoy this one as much as I did.

Have you read any Christmas themed romances yet?

Are there any in particular you're looking forward to?

Do you have any titles to recommend?

Review - - Christmas Joy

Christmas Joy

By Nancy Naigle

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

Release Date: October 18, 2016  

Joy Holbrook is a market research executive in charge of “all things Christmas” at a Washington, D. C. company. Ambitious and single-minded, her focus is on her career. She hasn’t even been back to visit her Aunt Ruby, her closest living relative, in two years. That changes when Joy gets a call from her aunt’s best friend with the news that Ruby is in the hospital after a fall and is about to undergo surgery. Joy leaves immediately for Crystal Falls, North Carolina, the small town where Ruby lives and where Joy spent part of her high school years.

Joy associates the town with her mother’s death, and she avoids it and the memories—especially Christmas memories--it evokes as much as possible. However, when it becomes clear that Aunt Ruby has a long rehabilitation period, one that requires her to so stay in a rehabilitative facility. Joy promises that she will remain in Crystal Falls and take on Ruby’s responsibilities until the septuagenarian is able to assume them again. Prepared to feed a variety of farm animals, Joy is unprepared for duties that include caring for eight-year-old Molly part time, preparing for the Crystal Christmas Cookie Crawl, an over-the-top decorating/cookie baking contest that is the town’s most cherished tradition, and accepting help from “Handy Andy.”

Ben Andrews, a hospital accountant with mad handyman skills and a love of all things Christmas, is “Handy Andy,” a nickname Ruby assigns him and that he tolerates only from her. Ben is Joy’s opposite in more ways than his enthusiasm for Christmas. He is part of a tightly knit family, linked to a large circle of friends, and deeply involved in his community. He has helped Ruby win the coveted golden trophy for seven Crystal Christmas Cookie Crawls, but he fears that this year will be the year they lose since Joy is determined to do it all without any help from him.

However, as they spend time together, Ben discovers the vulnerable woman behind Joy’s city girl façade, and Joy discovers that the ties of community, family, and romantic love she has avoided may be just what her heart truly desires.

This is a sweet, small-town Christmas story. It is predictable, but that is not a bad thing in a Christmas novel. Most readers of holiday romances are looking for comfort and sentiment, both of which Naigle provides along with humor and enough holiday trimmings to please the most Christmas-obsessed reader. Joy and Ben are likeable, and the secondary characters from Joy’s assistant to Molly and Aunt Ruby add to the appeal. The conclusion did seem abrupt and truncated to me. I suspect that other romance readers, fond as many of us are of rich HEA scenes and confirming epilogues, may also find the ending disappointing.

~Janga

Review - - Life After Perfect

Life After Perfect

By Nancy Naigle

Publisher: Montlake

Release Date: May 19, 2015

Katherine Barclift can’t help contrasting her life with the lives of her friends. One friend has just buried her husband and doesn’t yet know the financial secrets he was keeping from her, and another has just kicked her cheating husband out of their house. Katherine feels fortunate to be married to a man who still makes her heart beat faster and to have a challenging job as a project manager for a national bank, work at which she excels. But a lonely lunch at her favorite bistro is all it takes to show her that her perfect life is an illusion. A phone call to her husband who was too busy to meet her for lunch makes her aware that he is already having lunch a few booths over—a very affectionate lunch with another woman.

After making sure that her cheating husband knows that his sins have found him out, Katherine arranges a leave from her job, withdraws half of the money in their savings account, leaves word with a lawyer friend that she wants “the fastest divorce you can serve up,” and heads north. What she intended to be a brief stop in Boot Creek, a small North Carolina town, turns into an extended stay when Katherine falls for the town’s charms. First, she meets a local citizen who recommends the town’s blackberry festival which boasts the world’s largest patchwork blackberry cobbler. The cobbler is delicious, and so is the guy who recommended it, volunteer firefighter Derek Hansen whose flirtatious ways give Katherine a much needed ego boost. Then she finds the comforts of the local B & B, Lonesome Pines, surprising: “What a lucky day to land in a spot like this for just fifty dollars a night. Comfort equal to the Ritz-Carlton, and a therapist/ grandma here to comfort her. It was like a recovery clinic for the rich and famous.”

Finding peace and purpose in Book Creek, Katherine becomes Katy again, the curly-haired girl she used to be before she made herself into an “improved,” polished edition with sleek hair and a serious career to please her husband. She finds new friends in Naomi, the owner of the B & B; Naomi’s niece, Kelly Jo, who is dying of cancer; and Angie, single mother and waitress at the Blue Skies Café. And she may have found far more than a rebound romance in Derek, who is not only a volunteer firefighter but also a doctor. But Katy has to deal with all the baggage from her old life before she can commit to a new one, and Derek needs to come to terms with losses in his past if he is to be part of that new life.

Life After Perfect is a hybrid of women’s fiction and small-town romance. Katy’s journey is the center of the novel, and readers will find rewarding Katy’s growth as she redefines herself after the revelation of her husband’s unfaithfulness discloses the imperfections in her perfect life. Her developing relationship with Derek is also an important part of the story, and he is definitely a sigh-worthy hero—sensitive, intelligent, and wounded. The secondary characters, including the indomitable Naomi, the courageous Kelly Jo and her broken-hearted husband, and the spirited Angie, are vividly drawn and add dimension to the story.

Some readers may be bothered by Katy and Derek’s becoming lovers before she is divorced, and others may dislike the evidence that Katy is a believing Christian. I found that the contradictions and complications added to the novel’s credibility and interest. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Boot Creek and hope that it is the first of many.  If you like women’s fiction tales with a strong romantic element or small-town romance with an emphasis on the heroine’s journey, I recommend this book.

 ~Janga