Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Advent Reads Day 16: Christmas Camp by Karen Schaler

    Welcome to Advent Reads!

This is an event I have had on my blog for several years running now.  Each evening I feature a different holiday themed book. Think of it as your Book Advent Calendar! I post a variety of holiday books including romance, children's, middle-grade, mystery, paranormal, and I try to find some that are other holiday celebrations than Christmas too. I hope you will stop by each evening to see what new book I have for you!


Read for: Recently Added

Synopsis: "From the screenwriter of the Netflix Original viral hit, A Christmas Prince, comes another heartwarming holiday story about a beautiful Grinch who’s determined to get her dream job even if it means spending a week at a Christmas Camp where she discovers an unexpected love.

Haley Hanson’s idea of the perfect Christmas is escaping to the Caribbean to work so she can avoid all the traditional Christmas distractions. Over the years, she’s sacrificed her personal life to climb the corporate ladder at a prestigious Boston advertising agency. Now she just needs to land a coveted Christmas toy company account to make partner. But first, her boss, Larry, thinks she needs a holiday attitude adjustment, so he ships her off to a Christmas Camp at Holly Peak Inn to help her find her Christmas spirit.

Arriving at the charming mountainside inn, Haley meets the owner’s handsome son, Jeff, and feels an instant spark, but resists the attraction, refusing to be distracted from her goal of doing all the required Christmas tasks as fast as possible so she can get back to work.

At first Haley struggles with all the traditional Christmas Camp activities. It’s not until she finally allows herself to slow down, live in the moment, and let Christmas back into her heart, that she begins to grow closer to Jeff. But when he finds out Haley’s come up with a plan to help his dad save the struggling inn while he’s been trying to convince his dad to sell it, their relationship takes a serious holiday hit.  Now it will take the magic of the season to bring these two hearts together."

My Review: This is a cute story, it would be great for someone who is struggling to get into the Christmas spirit or trying to find new traditions in a year where things are so different. I enjoyed the story but really had a hard time connecting with it or the characters (I am not one who is reserved at Christmas). I did however really enjoy the feel of the story, a small group of characters being brought together and growing together, a sort of found family element, along with the actual family element. I also did really enjoy the growth the characters went through as the story progressed. While it may not have been my favorite Christmas book, I still enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it for someone needing that extra push for the holidays.

My Rating: I love the idea of a Christmas Camp, and just want to go and be surrounded by all things Christmas.  I did struggle with this one a bit, maybe because I do love traditional Christmas things. I also was expecting a more scrooge like character but Haley turned out to be  just someone more untraditional and goal oriented, and I couldn't fault her for that.  I give it a rating of Two Paws and a Stump Wag.







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