A Christmas Read in One Sitting

I know, I know, Halloween isn't even here yet... and here I am sharing a Christmas book...

My apologies.

Christmas by Accident

Camron Wright

Story Overview 

It’s a cute little story following Carter- who is the Scrooge-type with a penchant for embellishing... and Abby who is a true Bibliophile running a cute small town bookstore. So of course I’m hoping it would be amazing... and cliche.

And it was cliche... Wright spends pages and pages poking fun at the Christmas story tropes- we all know about them... and at first I thought it would be cute, but then it was over done. There’s a thin line of getting a reader to laugh over their stereotypical reading patterns and then making fun of them. This book could seem to stay in the funny side and beat the idea to death... over and over. 

But then to top it of the action points of the plot were completely stereotypical... one character faces imminent death from a disease, another faces an uncertain future as far as career and money, add in a bit insta-love, and a whole lot of slow moving dialogue, and voila! You’ve got another super short Christmas-in-the-title read-one-time kind of Christmas story. 

Personal Likes

I appreciated Abby as a character - she felt like she belonged in a Christmas book. She loved the holiday, she was all about family and traditions.  Plus she just seemed like the kind of person who would want to spread joy.  So following her wasn't so bad.

I also want to point out that this is easily a one-sitting read.  A nice and short little story to fill some time during Christmas break maybe.

Personal Dislikes

The style of writing, specifically for Carter.  The snark and the despise for Christmas was annoying. Clearly he was written as the counter to Abby's love of the holiday, but his air and tone was grating more than helping to develop the anti-hero feel... Honestly I don't care if he ever decided the holiday was good, or if family time and traditions mattered.

And while I'm on the point of Carter "meeting the goddess" - that point in all of these stories where the main character realizes their weakness and sees that they need to change, or make themselves better - it fell flat.  He fizzled... along with the plot... into the stereotypical Christmas story-line... but hey Hallmark has a ready made story in the wings with this one if necessary.

Reading List Rating

I'm giving this book two and a half hearts... so the image is of three hearts because rounding up... Over all this story fell flat for me.  I was hoping for something more like The Afterlife of Holly Chase - very cliche, and expected, yet honestly made me laugh.  A fully developed plot that pulled me in... instead of a story that could be background noise. 

My Suggested Audience

If you enjoy Christmas stories, this could easily be enjoyable.  There are some very funny scenes.  If you are one to enjoy jokes that poke fun at over and over, then this could be a favorite even.

Clearly it's a holiday story, so trigger warnings for loss of family members over the holidays, illness, depression, job loss. Mostly this is a short story with very few issues in it. 

Do you like to pick up Christmas specific books? Do you have a favorite modern Christmas story? 

I'd love to hear from you, please leave me a little note!

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**** Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher, Shadow Mountain. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”





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