“Can I help you?” A male voice behind her made her jump.
“Oh.” She turned quickly to see a man with dark hair, slightly tinged with gray, and a neatly trimmed beard strolling toward her. He stopped in his tracks at the sight of her, his dark eyes widening in surprise.
“Madison?” He peered curiously at her. “Madison McDowell?”
The Christmas Tree Farm is a sweet and heartfelt Christmas romance and the perfect way to get into the holiday spirit.
When Madison McDowell returns from several years teaching overseas, she has high hopes of picking up where she left off at her family’s Christmas tree farm in Oregon. But between damage from a recent wildfire and the neglect due to her sister Addie’s unwillingness to invest, the farm is in sad shape. In fact, Addie is intent on selling the property. And to top it off, her former high school flame, the now-widowed Gavin Thompson, has plans to break Madison’s heart again by turning his neighboring property into a dusty, noisy dirt bike track for his daughter.
With the odds stacked against her, Madison decides there’s only one thing to do: double down on her dreams. It will take a ton of hard work–and some help from an unlikely ally–to save the farm she so dearly loves. But it may take a miracle to restore her relationship with her sister.
If you are like me and are not so patiently waiting to start diving into Christmas books, you will be happy to hear that some pretty fabulous Christmas books are coming out in the next couple of months. The Christmas Tree Farm is the first holiday book I have read this season, and I am happy to report that I thoroughly enjoyed this short novella. This is a charming, clean romance, so if you like your romances on the spicier side, this book might not be for you. I love a story that centers around the heroine having to save a failing business. In this case, Madison has returned home only to find out that her family’s Christmas tree farm is on its last leg. Between her sister letting the business run to the ground and a forest fire that whipped out a good portion of their trees, Madison realizes that she has her work cut out for herself. She is determined to prove to her sister that their family farm is worth fighting for.
There is plenty of drama and tension between Madison and Addie. Addie definitely comes across as petty and cold-hearted. There is miscommunication, past hurts, and resentment between these two sisters. To add more tension to the situation, Addie has a crush on Gavin (their neighbour) and doesn’t like the fact that Gavin and Madison have been hanging out a lot. It was interesting watching Addie and Madison interact with each other and I was curious to see how Melody was going to bridge that rift between these two sisters. Now, there are definitely some Hallmark vibes in this story, so the mending of this broken sister relationship happens pretty quietly and neatly.
I think my favourite part of this book was the developing relationship between Madison and Lily (Gavin’s youngest daughter). At first these two clash over Lily’s desire to build a dirt bike park on their property, an idea Madison isn’t too keen on. But as Lily helps Madison plant seedlings and get the tree farm back on its feet, they develop this sweet and fun friendship.
The romance is a sweet, heartwarming, slow burn. It’s clear right from the moment that Madison and Gavin meet that there is some unresolved history and misunderstandings between them. But as a reader we have no idea what happened. This not knowing is a great way to hook readers in because the desire to figure out what happened was strong, and I had to keep on reading. There are some hurdles that these two have to overcome before any sort of romantic relationship can happen between them. The first hurdle is Gavin deciding whether he is ready to start dating again after losing his wife. He is a single dad who is trying to raise his two daughters and start up a new business on his farm. Another hurdle between these two is that Addie has a crush on Gavin and has told Madison that she needs to stay away from Gavin. And finally, the last hurdle, whatever happened between these two when they were teenagers, had left Madison hurt and angry at Gavin. For such a short book, there is a lot going on. I enjoyed the chemistry between these two characters. Things sometimes felt rushed, but that happens when you read a novella romance.
The Christmas Tree Farm is a short and quick holiday read, perfect for bookworms who want to get lost in a romance for a few hours.
Thank you, Revell, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
