Hey everyone! Autumn may be starting soon, but the Christmas reading season is almost upon us! Today I have a review for Melody Carlson's latest release, The Christmas Swap.
BLURB
All Emma Daley wants this holiday season is a white Christmas. But the young teacher and struggling musician sure can't find that in sunny Arizona. Luckily, there's someone living in a perfect mountain home in the Colorado Rockies looking to make a vacation trade this year.
Tyler Prescott is an in-demand songwriter and talented musician who put his own singing career on hold to write songs for celebrity acts to perform. When his mother convinces him to do a vacation trade for Christmas, he never imagined one of the houseguests would be so sweet--or so strikingly pretty. Naturally, he decides to stick around, and, to get better acquainted, he poses as the house's caretaker. But when Emma's friend Gillian discovers his true identity and sets her sights on him, things
get . . . messy.
Fan favorite Melody Carlson is back with another delightful Christmas tale to warm your heart on those cold winter evenings.
Purchase from AMAZON
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Melody Carlson is the award-winning author of over two hundred books with sales of more than seven million, including many bestselling Christmas novellas, young adult titles, and contemporary romances. She received a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award in the inspirational market for her many books, including Finding Alice. She and her husband live in central Oregon. Learn more at www.melodycarlson.com.
MY REVIEW
Well, I was super excited to read this book - I'll never turn down a good Christmas story, and everyone can use a lil Christmas cheer and hope right now, I think. But this one...pretty much fell flat for me, honestly. I hate to leave bad reviews, but most of the characters were kind of flat and for a Christmas romance, there wasn't much Christmas or romance in this one. Most of the characters were Emma's frien Gillian's rich family, who were all snobbish and extremely selfish except for the sister's brother, Grant. For a character as kind as Emma, it's hard to believe that she is still close friends with Gillian, especially for fourteen years. I can imagine that Gil's family's snootiness and Emma and the main male character/love interest, West/TW Prescott, were so comparably flawless in order to make them more loveable, but in this case, it just didn't work well. Just made me eager to be done with the book. Most of the book was eaten up by Gillian's catty attempts to steal West from Emma, and the ending was completely rushed. While the story had good bones and the opportunity for potential, I have to give this one 2.8 stars, rounded up to 3. Maybe it's someone's cup of tea, but it wasn't for me.
Thanks for this review :)
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