This was a very sweet story. I enjoyed the emphasis on the true meaning of Christmas, and overall the Christmas atmosphere in this book was perfect. The added touches with the cute names of Merry, Peppermint, Eggnog, and Jack were adorable!
I'm only giving this book three stars because I found it very predictable. I saw all of the 'twists' coming, especially Hildy turning out to be Greta's grandmother. That was so obvious and it seemed odd to me that Merry didn't even bother to actually look into it before dismissing the idea.
Another issue I had with this book was the fact that most of the drama revolves around Merry and her multiple sort-of-boyfriends. Jeff, Zeke, Kip - these are all guys she's apparently gone out with before but never given them a firm 'no', even though she mentions multiple times throughout the book that she's not interested in anything serious with them. It was weird to me how even though she wasn't interested in a relationship with any of them, she accepted their flowers, kisses, and other tokens of affection, in essence leading them on and just adding fuel to the fire of Jack's jealousy for no reason.
My final comment is one more towards inspirational romance in general. Why is that in these books the main characters always have an instant attraction, but it takes them the entire book to admit that to each other? Someday I hope to read a book where the two characters meet at the beginning, realize they have feelings for each other, and then spend the book growing in a healthy, Christ-centered relationship instead of dodging their feelings at every turn.
Overall: a cute and fun story for the Christmas season. It's fast-paced and well-written. I'll probably look for more from this author!
I'm only giving this book three stars because I found it very predictable. I saw all of the 'twists' coming, especially Hildy turning out to be Greta's grandmother. That was so obvious and it seemed odd to me that Merry didn't even bother to actually look into it before dismissing the idea.
Another issue I had with this book was the fact that most of the drama revolves around Merry and her multiple sort-of-boyfriends. Jeff, Zeke, Kip - these are all guys she's apparently gone out with before but never given them a firm 'no', even though she mentions multiple times throughout the book that she's not interested in anything serious with them. It was weird to me how even though she wasn't interested in a relationship with any of them, she accepted their flowers, kisses, and other tokens of affection, in essence leading them on and just adding fuel to the fire of Jack's jealousy for no reason.
My final comment is one more towards inspirational romance in general. Why is that in these books the main characters always have an instant attraction, but it takes them the entire book to admit that to each other? Someday I hope to read a book where the two characters meet at the beginning, realize they have feelings for each other, and then spend the book growing in a healthy, Christ-centered relationship instead of dodging their feelings at every turn.
Overall: a cute and fun story for the Christmas season. It's fast-paced and well-written. I'll probably look for more from this author!
