Saturday, January 04, 2014

The Perfect Christmas by Debbie Macomber (2011)



I was looking for something light and Christmassy to balance out a heavier book I have started to read. This was a bit too light for me, and it looks like I have read only one other Macomber book, so it is hard to say if I need to stay away from this author.

Cassie has a good job, friends, but not the perfect husband and family she imagined she would have to make Christmas perfect, even though she has even tried online dating. So she lets her friend talk her into going to a matchmaker for an exhorbitant fee (money she has saved for the „perfect” wedding.) The matchmaker is a gruff, critical man named Simon. For some unexplicable reason there is chemistry between them, though of course it takes a while for both to realize that.

I remember as a kid fantasizing about getting married – as in having a dreamy guy and beautiful wedding, but somehow the difficulty of working out a relationship never entered those dreams. Cassie too seems to have an unrealistic view of what family life would be like and thinks a friends photo of her family is „perfect.” Who knows how they really get along.

I can’t say I didn’t like the book at all, as it had some colorful characters. The part that I really enjoyed was that Simon gave Cassie three tasks to do, to see her mettle – ringing Salvation Army bells in freezing weather, helping a Santa with kids, and giving a dinner for her neighbors, with whom she does not really get along. That was the most touching and Christmassy moment for me, when lonely people get together and start warming up to each other. So, I will give it that – I did get some Christmas spirit out of the book.

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