Will Scarlett be able to save her beloved building?
Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Claire McEwen is a lovely book. I enjoyed the banter between the two main characters, the lovable corgi Holly, and of course the fantastic Christmas Town. Ms. McEwen did an excellent job on taking this bridesmaid tale and weaving into a great story. Scarlett is the first main character, and I love the passion that she has for everything. Chase is the second main character, and I enjoyed getting to know his hidden depths.
Scarlett Ray
The main female character is Scarlett Ray; she is a bridesmaid and a shop owner. She is helping Lisa by being the decorator for Lisa’s wedding to John on Christmas Eve. Scarlett is feeling a bit overwhelmed, with the holiday, Lisa's wedding, the Christmas art auction, her mom's Christmas party and now looking for a place to relocate her business and home. There are a lot of things that we learn about Scarlett throughout this story and that Scarlett learns about herself. One thing that comes to my mind is she is very stubborn about the future of the building that she has her shop and lives in currently.
What I liked:
I like the way that Scarlett dresses and her fascination with the retro. However, she was so in love with the vintage things that she didn’t realize the bad condition of her home and shop. I like that Scarlett truly cares for her family and didn’t want to ruin the holidays with what has been happening to her. Okay, this next one isn’t about the character it's about her dog Holly. I love that little dog and the way she dresses. She has more sweaters than me!
What I didn’t like:
Scarlett wants to save her building, but she doesn't know how or try to come up with a solution. She just wants Chase to figure it out. The other thing is that she didn’t try to get to know Chase or even meet him before jumping to conclusions and labeling him as a bad guy.
Chase Bailey
The main male character is Chase Bailey, and he is Scarlett's love interest, landlord, and wealthy real estate Scrooge. Okay, the last bit about him being a Scrooge is from Scarlett Ray herself and isn't true. Chase is just a very multilayered person that you have to take the time to get to know the real him. There are some surprising twists to Chase that I didn’t expect to see.
What I liked:
Chase, underneath the façade that he has built is generally a nice guy. He loves his family especially his little brother and wants to make sure that his family is okay on the money front. Chase, also likes vintage things but not quite as much as Scarlett. He does lots of charitable things for Christmas Town and tries to be a good person. Chase loves animals, any species of animal which is good for Holly the corgi.
What I didn’t like:
The only thing that I dislike about Chase is that he doesn’t even try to see if he could fix the building, keeping the historical part of it intact. He goes right to the bottom line.
Five Star
I am giving Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Claire McEwen a five-star rating because it’s a terrific little Christmas read. I thought that Ms. McEwen did a fantastic job on this story and weaving these two great characters into it. I hope Chase, Scarlett, and Holly figure everything out.
Anyways until the next time enjoy this review brought to you by,
Happy Holidays!
This review was originally posted on Baroness' Book Trove