Good Morning Sweet Friends :)
I pray today finds you all doing well, and I'm so thankful you've decided to join me here on The Preppy Book Princess for another book review.
If you've been with me for awhile, then you probably would already know that Debbie Macomber is one of my all time favorite authors.
I've come to look forward to reading her new Christmas book release each and every holiday season, and this year was no exception.
Of course, I knew I wanted to share with you guys all about it once I finished it, so I hope you'll all keep on reading down below, and join me for today's full review.
A Christmas Duet by Debbie Macomber:
Source: Library
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: October 15th, 2024
Genre: Christmas Book/Contemporary Romance
Synopsis:
A solo holiday trip inspires one woman to rediscover her passion—and remember that, sometimes, duets are more fun—in this romantic Christmas novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber.
Hailey Morgan’s life has always revolved around music. She once had big dreams of becoming a professional songwriter, but the reality of life has led her to working as an assistant high school band teacher in Portland. As the holidays approach, Hailey dreads the annual tradition of spending Christmas with her family and dodging her mother’s meddling questions about her love life.
When Hailey’s close friend offers her the use of her family’s empty cabin for a rejuvenating solo holiday retreat, Hailey finally decides to do something to make herself happy. However, her arrival in the small town of Podunk, Oregon, is anything but peaceful when she discovers the cabin has been invaded by several wild animals. Luckily, Jay, the son of the town’s main store proprietor—and an incredibly handsome and charming former musician to boot—is more than willing to help.
Soon Hailey and Jay are nearly inseparable, chopping down and decorating a Christmas tree, sipping hot cocoa in front of a cozy fire, and best of all, playing music together. Jay’s positive feedback and encouragement inspire Hailey to believe she might succeed as a songwriter after all. But even in her snow-dusted oasis, family holiday drama still finds Hailey, interrupting and threatening her newfound peace and confidence. Meanwhile revelations from Jay present complications of their own. Suddenly her Christmas paradise has become a winter storm and Hailey must weather through the challenges to stand up for herself and embrace the holiday spirit.
(synopsis from goodreads)
My Review:
Every single Christmas season, I look forward to Debbie Macomber's new holiday release. She's written some pretty amazing festive stories over the years, with my two personal favorites being A Mrs. Miracle Christmas and Dear Santa. I was sure I'd end up loving this year's just as much, and couldn't wait to dive right into it.
Unfortunately, I have to say that this one didn't end up being quite the story I was hoping for, and while it was still heartwarming, clean and cheerful, it was missing a lot of the story elements I've come to expect whenever I pick up a new book by this author. While I enjoyed the setting, and especially loved the sister relationship that exists between Hailey and Daisy, a lot of the other character elements felt like they were lacking. Hailey's mother is extremely unlikeable, the ex boyfriend is a psycho, and Hailey herself was definitely not a favorite protagonist.
On top of those issues, I also felt that the way that Hailey's musical success was represented didn't seem very realistic, and I unfortunately felt that the romance was heavily insta lovey, which I'm never a big fan of.
Overall, it was cute and sweet, but not a new favorite by this author for me personally. I actually preferred the secondary romance over the primary one (which I won't say anything else about because I don't want to spoil it for anyone else), and would still recommend this one if you're looking for a cleanish, Christmas sweet romance. However, I'd recommend a lot of Debbie's other stories over this one personally.
Final Rating: 3/5.
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.
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