The Christmas Room

by Catherine Anderson

The beloved author of the Mystic Creek series gifts readers with a novel of homespun holiday cheer, as two families discover the joy of hope and redemption....
 
Widow Maddie McLendon has uprooted her life to move to Rustlers Gulch with her son and grandson. But as a brutal Montana winter looms on the horizon, contractors have yet to break ground on their new house, leaving them to live in a makeshift camp of trailers, tents, and sheds....

Since his wife died six years ago, millionaire rancher Sam Conacher has been content to wallow in his grief alone while keeping a tight rein on his twenty-six-year-old daughter. But now the girl has gone and fallen in love with his foolish new neighbor’s no-good son....

Maddie and Sam will never see eye to eye on anything, until a near-tragedy gives them a true glimpse into each other’s souls. And as the first snowflakes begin to fall, they’ll discover that an open heart is the biggest gift of all....

• ISBN10: 0399586326
• ISBN13: 9780399586323
• Publish Date: 25 September 2018 (first published 26 September 2017)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780399586323

Reviews

[kimbacaffeinate]

Coffee Dates with the Christmas Room

• First Date: Widow Maddie McLendon,  a famous writer, has relocated with her family, as her son makes his dreams of owning a ranch under the open skies of Montana come true. Her son, now thirty-five is divorced and the father of a tall, lanky sixteen-year-old boy named Caleb. They've set up makeshift quarters on the land they own. His mother in a trailer and Cameron and his son in raised tents. Our story begins when Cameron meets Kirstin and the two connect. Only she is the daughter of millionaire rancher Sam Conacher. After his wife died, Sam has become quite cantankerous and will ruin any man who looks at his daughter.  Oh boy, things are about to get interesting. Cameron's first instinct is to run, but he and Kirstin strike up a friendship and before you know it they are sneaking off for picnic lunches.


• Second Date: I love the enemies to lovers trope and we discover it within the pages of The Christmas Room. Sam Conacher soon learns about Kirstin and Cameron and sets about giving that hillbilly a piece of his mind and maybe a fist, but when he arrives at their campsite he comes "horse to face" with Maddie. I loved the back and forth bickering and snark between them. Maddie is a woman who speaks her mind, and Sam might just have met his match. We get to know Maddie, Caleb, Cameron, and Kirstin, who is at her wits end when it comes to her father. I loved the simple conversations, the building of friendships and acclimating to life in Montana. Hilarious moments ensue involving flashlights, and no trespassing signs. I adored Maddie, despite her flaws, and have to admit Sam grew on me. Cameron was adorkable and honorable.


• Third Date: A mishap has the McLendon's and the Conacher's getting cozy, and poor Sam had some adjustments to make. I was completely swept up in the developing friendships, romances and daily life of living on a cattle farm. Anderson weaved healing, faith and the power of family into this tale reminding all of us of the true meaning of the season. Flawed characters and a special young man restore our faith and left me grinning.

This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer