The Christmas Tree Farm

176 pages Publisher Revell Publication date September 3, 2024

ABOUT THE BOOK

When Madison McDowell returns from several years teaching overseas, she has high hopes of picking up where she left off at her family’s Christmas tree farm in Oregon. But between damage from a recent wildfire and the neglect due to her sister Addie’s unwillingness to invest, the farm is in sad shape. In fact, Addie is intent on selling the property. And to top it off, her former high school flame, the now-widowed Gavin Thompson, has plans to break Madison’s heart again by turning his neighboring property into a dusty, noisy dirt bike track for his daughter.

With the odds stacked against her, Madison decides there’s only one thing to do: double down on her dreams. It will take a ton of hard work–and some help from an unlikely ally–to save the farm she so dearly loves. But it may take a miracle to restore her relationship with her sister.

Bestselling and award-winning author Melody Carlson charms and delights with this uplifting Christmas story full of old memories and new beginnings.

MY THOUGHTS

Every year I look forward to the author’s Christmas books, and I always love them as they are such feel-good reads. Unfortunately, this was one didn’t do it for me.
The sisters are not close and fight constantly with little regard to what the other thinks.
Also, the younger sister is a vegetarian, the older sister didn’t know this but rolls her eyes when she finds this out as she’s making a meat sauce spaghetti.
The vegetarian younger sister brings a bbq meat lunch for them when she goes out to grab lunch for them. She also argues with the mother about the best way to cook a turkey then the whole family gets sick on an undercooked Thanksgiving turkey. There are other instances as well.
The author chose to have a vegetarian character but then didn’t follow through with it as if the character wasn’t actually that way.
This is a second chance romance but it all just happened too fast this second time around.
Hopefully the next book I read by the author will be better.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Melody Carlson has written more than 200 books (with sales around 6.5 million) for teens, women and children. That’s a lot of books, but mostly she considers herself a “storyteller.” Her novels range from serious issues like schizophrenia (Finding Alice) to lighter topics like house-flipping (A Mile in My Flip-Flops) but most of the inspiration behind her fiction comes right out of real life. Her young adult novels (Diary of a Teenage Girl, TrueColors etc.) appeal to teenage girls around the world. Her annual Christmas novellas become more popular each year. She’s won a number of awards (including Romantic Time’s Career Achievement Award, the Rita and the Gold Medallion) and some of her books have been optioned for film/TV. Carlson has two grown sons and makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and yellow Lab dog. To find out more about Melody Carlson, visit her website at http://www.melodycarlson.com/

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