Katherine O’Connor loves Christmas.  So much so that she has turned her ability to write charming Christmas letters into a second job.  Understandably, she gets upset when she hears her sister is forgoing severing holiday traditions based on a book by Dr. Wynn Jeffries about child rearing.  Katherine thinks the book and the doctor’s theories are laughable.  However, when she comes face to face with the man, she finds him to be much different than she expected.  He’s irresistible, and he thinks she is, too.  Can these two find enough middle ground, or are they too different for love to triumph?

As always, Debbie Macomber writes vivid and heartwarming characters.  Katherine is smart and spirited.  Wynn has a sense of humor and a strong sense of self.  Most wonderful, perhaps, are the secondary characters.  The eccentric LaVonne and the aging hippie Max are funny and charming.  All together, they create a fabulous world for this story to unfold.

The love story between Katherine and Wynn is quite engaging.  Debbie Macomber fans will love the romantic settings and witty dialogue.  However, due to the shortened length of this book, the resolution of the conflict is abbreviated and a bit unrealistic.  Also due to the length, the entertaining secondary characters are lost in the final chapters.  Because Ms. Macomber created such compelling characters, it is understandable the reader would feel cheated not seeing the resolution to their storylines.  Still, fans of romance and Ms. Macomber’s stories will love this book and will cheer for Katherine and Wynn to overcome the odds and find their happy ending. 

Reviewed by Joelle Charbonneau-Blanco
9/28/2006

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