The Road to Christmas by Sheila Roberts Review

 Hello Friends :)

I pray today finds you all doing well, and I'm so thankful you decided to take some time out of your day to stop by The Preppy Book Princess.

I'm Kirby, and I'm happy you're here.

I've been an avid reader my entire life, and I started my book blog back in September of 2015. I've grown a lot fussier in the last couple of years about the type of content I allow myself to read, watch and listen to, and that's meant I read a lot less secular fiction than I used to.

Honestly, Christian fiction is the best genre anyways, so it hasn't been a hardship whatsoever to give up more of the non Christian titles.

However, there are a few secular authors whose books I've still enjoyed in the past that I have continued to read, and today I'd like to share a newer release by one of those authors with you all.

I'm going to preface this one by saying that after two disappointing experiences in a row with this author, I'm not sure I'll be picking up any of her books again, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's dive right into today's review so I can share with you all why that is.

The Road to Christmas by Sheila Roberts:

Source: Library

Publisher: Mira

Publication Date: September 20th, 2022

Genre: Contemporary/Women's Fiction/Chick Lit

Synopsis:

Three generations of travelers embark on a Christmas road trip filled with humor and heart, set against the snowy mountains of Washington State.

Michelle and Max are not planning on a happy holiday. Their marriage is in shambles and the D word has entered their vocabulary. But now their youngest daughter, Julia, wants everyone to come to her new house in Idaho for Christmas, and she’s got the guest room all ready for Mom and Dad. Oh, joy.

Their other daughters, Audrey and Shyla, are driving up from California and hoping to meet a sexy rancher for Audrey along the way. What they don’t plan on is getting stranded on a ranch when the car breaks down.

The ones with the shortest drive are Grandma and Grandpa—also known as Hazel and Warren. It’s still a bit of a trek, and Hazel doesn’t like the idea of driving all that way in snow, but Warren knows they’ll have no problem. They have a reliable car—and snow tires and chains if they need them. They’ll be fine.

Surprises lie in store for all three sets of intrepid travelers as they set out on three very different adventures, all leading to one memorable family Christmas.

(synopsis from goodreads)

My Review:

Sheila Roberts used to be one of my favorites, but this is now the second Christmas release of hers in a row that I didn't end up enjoying. I'm not sure if my reading preferences have changed, or if her books just aren't as good as they used to be, but I ended up finding this one disappointing.

I loved the premise. After all, a Christmas story about three generations of travelers setting off on road trips to spend the holiday with a loved one sounded wonderful and the perfect premise for lots of hi jinks and warm fuzzies. However, I quickly ended up realizing that this one wasn't what I was expecting, and the only characters I ended up enjoying reading about were the grandparents. The parents were kind of hard to stomach, as the bitterness and animosity they show towards one another was hard to read about it. Even though I definitely sympathized with what they were going through, neither of them behaved maturely, and I didn't think their story wrapped up in a way that was satisfactory. 

The sisters were both kind of shallow and obnoxious, and while I felt for them on some of the things they'd both been through, their story just felt implausible, and honestly slightly ridiculous. 

I kept on reading cause I wanted to see the big finale, and honestly, the ending was quite a letdown. It was rushed, and didn't seem to resolve quite a few of the issues that had risen over the course of the story.

Overall, I've enjoyed many of Sheila Roberts' books in the past, but this one didn't end up working for me. The story felt rushed, the characters weren't very likeable, and I could have done without the many innuendos that I wasn't expecting when I picked up a Christmas book.

Final Rating: 2/5.

Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day :)

This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.