Before I ever read the book blurb on the back, I was immediately drawn to this adorably charming cover that inspires Hallmark Christmas movie vibes.
Award-winning author Melody Carlson has penned over 250 books (yes, you read that right!) and I figure she knows a thing or two about transporting her readers with engaging small-town romances.
After 5 years of teaching overseas and traveling, Madison McDowell returns to her grandparents beloved Christmas tree farm in Oregon. Her dream is to restore it to its former glory after a devastating wildfire. Since their grandmother's passing, she and her younger sister Addie are co-owners of the farm. Addie has no intention of keeping her half. Unfortunately, the sisters have a very fractured relationship.
Add in the additional complication of her former high school crush Gavin Thompson now widowed and wanting to build a noisy, dusty dirt bike track on the neighboring property and Madison needs more than hard work to make her dreams a reality.
To be honest, I disliked the complicated relationship with her sister. It was a turn off to me as a reader. The author really portrayed the sister as prickly and unlikeable every time she was on the pages of the story, I found myself wondering if I could make it through the short 163 pages of the book to see how it ended.
The one aspect of The Christmas Tree Farm I did appreciate was the author's clever use of dialogue to set the tone of the story and give you insights into the characters, but also revealing their personalities. While I liked Madison's passion and drive to see her vision come to life, this didn't outweigh the issues I had with this story. This novella didn't end up on my DNF pile, but I think it should have. My star rating is a generous 2 1/2 stars out of 5.
I think the author was trying to create a heartwarming holiday story of second chances and pursuing your dreams and you might run into some roadblocks along the way, but in my opinion she fell short. That being said if you like a lot of conflict in your stories then The Christmas Tree Farm might be for you.
However, if you like well written, inspiring stories, that transport you out of your everyday conflicts, then I would recommend skipping this one and instead check-out these Christmas book reviews here.
Reading is an adventure,
Emilee
~~The Christmas Tree Farm was provided to me by the publisher in return for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. All viewpoints expressed are my own. ~
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