CELEBRATION AT CHRISTMAS COVE (Berkley Trade Paperback Original; October 26, 2021) tells the heartwarming story of a grieving woman who can’t wait to leave a wintry New England island, and a widower who would do anything to stay.
Travel magazine writer Celeste Bell is in a terrible mood. Not only was her flight to the Caribbean diverted to a Massachusetts island, now it looks like she’ll have to spend Christmas there. Single and still mourning the loss her mother a year earlier, Celeste is desperate to avoid any emotional entanglements and all holiday festivities. She just doesn’t feel like celebrating.
But that’s exactly what community center executive director Nathan White and his young daughter, Abigail, want to do. Nathan is entirely focused on making sure that his daughter has a happy Christmas, especially with the knowledge that if he can’t raise money for the community center soon, it will close and they’ll have to leave the island. When he meets Celeste, Nathan begins to feel a connection and wonders if he’s brave enough to risk his heart once more.
Thawing their frozen hearts and saving the community center will require a Christmas miracle. But ’tis the season…
Review:
Debut novel Celebration at Christmas Cove is essentially a Hallmark movie in book form–a sweet holiday romance that is relatively low angst and uses misunderstandings/miscommunication as the main obstacles to HEA. The characters are likable though their choices are sometimes dubious (Nathan deciding not to tell anyone of the community center’s money woes, I’m looking at you) and the resolution to “Christmas Cove”‘s biggest problem comes a bit out of left field…still, it’s hard not to enjoy a small town’s month-long Christmas celebration, and the HEA is very sweet. Ms Jansen is an author I’ll definitely be keeping am eye on in the future.
Rating: 3 1/2 stars / B-
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
About the author:
Carrie Jansen earned an MFA in creative writing and published many poems and short stories before becoming a novelist. An avid bodyboarder and beach walker, she spends as much of the year as she can on Cape Cod, where she draws inspiration for her contemporary romances. She also writes Amish romance novels under her pseudonym, Carrie Lighte. Learn more online at carriejansen.com.