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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
3.5 stars / B-
Annabeth Albert’s holiday gift to us all this year is Deck the Palms, a charming grumpy/sunshine romance set in Hawaii, so instead of snow and reindeer we’ve got surfing santas and light-wrapped palm trees. As is often the case with Christmassy books it skews towards the overly sweet, but the author’s excellent character work shines through, and while nothing gets too heavy in this story, I appreciated the nods to the realities of working in education, to the effects of deployment on military families, and the complexities surrounding the colonial history of Hawaii and the problems presented by modern day tourism.
Jobbing actor Nolan Bell is a New Yorker through and through. He’s worked hard to build a career and has made himself a decent one although he’s yet to see his name in lights or above the title. And like most actors, he has a fall-back option; he’s a qualified teacher, which comes in very handy when his brother, Craig, who is stationed at one of the military bases on Hawaii, asks for his help; he’s being deployed and has to leave his wife, their new baby and their daughters – could Nolan come to the island to help out for a few months? Of course Nolan can’t say no – and as it turns out, he’s able to secure a temporary job as drama teacher and choir director at the local middle school, and he’ll be in charge of mounting the school’s annual holiday production.
Merrick – Merry – Winters is the school shop teacher (I didn’t have a clear idea of what ‘shop’ is, but it sounds like what we on this side of the pond call DT (Design Technology) - woodwork, metalwork, product design, electronics and other stuff I can’t remember now!). He’s a single dad to two boisterous pre-teen twin terrors, Legend and Ryder, who attend the school; their mum left several years earlier because she was “too glam for the island” and her defection has caused Merry to be wary of outsiders. When he’s introduced to the new choir/drama teacher, Merry immediately pegs him as a rich city slicker who is way out of his comfort zone, and wastes no time in making his feelings known. But Nolan Bell proves to be surprisingly down-to-earth and easy to work with, taking Merry’s advice and suggestions in his stride and quickly coming up with a vision for the production that covers all the bases and that Merry can get behind wholeheartedly.
That Nolan is very easy on the eye is not something he should be noticing, but it’s difficult not to notice when they’re spending so much time together, and when Nolan is so effortlessly charming and upbeat and enthusiastic about practically everything. And Merry certainly shouldn’t be thinking about acting on the mutual attraction zinging between them – Nolan isn’t going to be sticking around and he’s been burned once by someone who wasn’t built for small island life. It’s been a long time since Merry has felt so drawn to someone, and between his job and being a dad, he doesn’t have much time for himself. So maybe it’s time to reach out for something he wants, even if it’s only temporary. Maybe a holiday fling with Nolan isn’t out of the question?
Deck the Palms is a fun and fluffy seasonal read with minimal conflict and angst. The initial antagonism between grumpy Merry and sunshiny Nolan isn’t particularly deep-rooted, and it isn’t too long before they’re revising their opinions of each other and admitting to their mutual atrraction. They’re likeable and engaging with realistic problems and insecurities that inform their personalities; Nolan’s parents are snobs who keep on at him about getting a ‘real’ job, so he has to learn to let go of his urge to please them and not to judge things by their standards, while Merry struggles to balance his role as a dad with his job as a teacher and with his fear of having his heart broken again. The only real area of conflict comes from the fact that Merry expects (is even counting on) Nolan to return to New York after the holidays, and Nolan, realising that what they have is worth pursuing, has decided he wants to stay on Hawaii and try to make things work between them. (And here, I have to say that I never really bought Nolan as a dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker; he seems pretty happy in Hawaii from the beginning.) But Merry quickly retreates into his prejudices about outsiders and - quite frankly - acts like a dick towards Nolan for months until he finally mans up, and I admit that I found this part of the story somewhat contrived.
But despite that, Deck the Palms is a delightful read featuring two strongly-written protagonists, a nicely rounded secondary cast and a well-realised setting. It’s definitely one to curl up with on a grey winter’s afternoon when you’re craving some warmth, sunshine and festive feels.
Annabeth Albert’s holiday gift to us all this year is Deck the Palms, a charming grumpy/sunshine romance set in Hawaii, so instead of snow and reindeer we’ve got surfing santas and light-wrapped palm trees. As is often the case with Christmassy books it skews towards the overly sweet, but the author’s excellent character work shines through, and while nothing gets too heavy in this story, I appreciated the nods to the realities of working in education, to the effects of deployment on military families, and the complexities surrounding the colonial history of Hawaii and the problems presented by modern day tourism.
Jobbing actor Nolan Bell is a New Yorker through and through. He’s worked hard to build a career and has made himself a decent one although he’s yet to see his name in lights or above the title. And like most actors, he has a fall-back option; he’s a qualified teacher, which comes in very handy when his brother, Craig, who is stationed at one of the military bases on Hawaii, asks for his help; he’s being deployed and has to leave his wife, their new baby and their daughters – could Nolan come to the island to help out for a few months? Of course Nolan can’t say no – and as it turns out, he’s able to secure a temporary job as drama teacher and choir director at the local middle school, and he’ll be in charge of mounting the school’s annual holiday production.
Merrick – Merry – Winters is the school shop teacher (I didn’t have a clear idea of what ‘shop’ is, but it sounds like what we on this side of the pond call DT (Design Technology) - woodwork, metalwork, product design, electronics and other stuff I can’t remember now!). He’s a single dad to two boisterous pre-teen twin terrors, Legend and Ryder, who attend the school; their mum left several years earlier because she was “too glam for the island” and her defection has caused Merry to be wary of outsiders. When he’s introduced to the new choir/drama teacher, Merry immediately pegs him as a rich city slicker who is way out of his comfort zone, and wastes no time in making his feelings known. But Nolan Bell proves to be surprisingly down-to-earth and easy to work with, taking Merry’s advice and suggestions in his stride and quickly coming up with a vision for the production that covers all the bases and that Merry can get behind wholeheartedly.
That Nolan is very easy on the eye is not something he should be noticing, but it’s difficult not to notice when they’re spending so much time together, and when Nolan is so effortlessly charming and upbeat and enthusiastic about practically everything. And Merry certainly shouldn’t be thinking about acting on the mutual attraction zinging between them – Nolan isn’t going to be sticking around and he’s been burned once by someone who wasn’t built for small island life. It’s been a long time since Merry has felt so drawn to someone, and between his job and being a dad, he doesn’t have much time for himself. So maybe it’s time to reach out for something he wants, even if it’s only temporary. Maybe a holiday fling with Nolan isn’t out of the question?
Deck the Palms is a fun and fluffy seasonal read with minimal conflict and angst. The initial antagonism between grumpy Merry and sunshiny Nolan isn’t particularly deep-rooted, and it isn’t too long before they’re revising their opinions of each other and admitting to their mutual atrraction. They’re likeable and engaging with realistic problems and insecurities that inform their personalities; Nolan’s parents are snobs who keep on at him about getting a ‘real’ job, so he has to learn to let go of his urge to please them and not to judge things by their standards, while Merry struggles to balance his role as a dad with his job as a teacher and with his fear of having his heart broken again. The only real area of conflict comes from the fact that Merry expects (is even counting on) Nolan to return to New York after the holidays, and Nolan, realising that what they have is worth pursuing, has decided he wants to stay on Hawaii and try to make things work between them. (And here, I have to say that I never really bought Nolan as a dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker; he seems pretty happy in Hawaii from the beginning.) But Merry quickly retreates into his prejudices about outsiders and - quite frankly - acts like a dick towards Nolan for months until he finally mans up, and I admit that I found this part of the story somewhat contrived.
But despite that, Deck the Palms is a delightful read featuring two strongly-written protagonists, a nicely rounded secondary cast and a well-realised setting. It’s definitely one to curl up with on a grey winter’s afternoon when you’re craving some warmth, sunshine and festive feels.
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was a fun holiday read. I really liked the setting. It was the first holiday romance that I have read that was set in Hawaii. I really enjoyed the twin boys in this book. I am a sucker for a single parent romances where the love interest is great with the kid(s). I highly recommend this book.
New Yorker and off-Broadway not-quite-a-star Nolan is a substitute teacher in a Hawaii middle school, for reasons. Another teacher there is Merry. After a short initial bristle, together they plan the school's holiday festival and romance ensues.
It's an opposites-attract, fish-out-of-water, not-very-grumpy-vs-sunshine story. Very much by the numbers, and nothing wrong with that. Missing a spark, though, for me.
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It was fun to read a Christmas based story in April. The characters were sweet and enjoyable, the setting was appreciated and the story was simple but satisfying.
Merry and Nolan both were both interesting characters who differed quite a lot but brought out the best in each other and saw each other who they were. They had some really sweet moments between them and I liked how their relationship panned out. It moved pretty quickly and was never really as casual as they liked to pretend. Typically there had to be some conflict but I didn't mind it this time, it helped the characters to grow.
The relationships between the other characters and Nolan and Merry was sweet. Particularly Nolan's relationship with Ryder and Legend, there were some nice moments and he really didn't try to change them at all but lent into who they were.
An odd pet peeve but I really didn't love the names of the characters in this book, they all felt oddly unnatural. Merry Winters was very on the nose for a Christmas book. Legend and Ryder felt like an odd combination of names for a pair of twins. Noah Craig as one single name for a baby, no thank you.
Overall, a fun but simple Christmas story.
Merry and Nolan both were both interesting characters who differed quite a lot but brought out the best in each other and saw each other who they were. They had some really sweet moments between them and I liked how their relationship panned out. It moved pretty quickly and was never really as casual as they liked to pretend. Typically there had to be some conflict but I didn't mind it this time, it helped the characters to grow.
The relationships between the other characters and Nolan and Merry was sweet. Particularly Nolan's relationship with Ryder and Legend, there were some nice moments and he really didn't try to change them at all but lent into who they were.
An odd pet peeve but I really didn't love the names of the characters in this book, they all felt oddly unnatural. Merry Winters was very on the nose for a Christmas book. Legend and Ryder felt like an odd combination of names for a pair of twins. Noah Craig as one single name for a baby, no thank you.
Overall, a fun but simple Christmas story.
Content Warnings
Minor: Mental illness
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Deck the Palms, a December holiday romance by Annabeth Albert, is a sweet story about Nolan, a New Yorker to the core, and an actor to boot, who heads to Oahu to support his sister in law, and while substituting for the local middle school music teacher meets Merry, the grumbling shop teacher and solo dad of twins. As others have said, the author thoughtfully contextualizes the book and acknowledges the complexities of Hawaii’s history, in the past and today. This is halfway between slow burn and insta love, although it’s got a bit of enemies to lovers, and hurt comfort mixed in. Albert always does a great job weaving her stories and pulling readers in, and does so again here. This a perfect weekend read, one that will put you in the mood for good food, time with family of all kinds, and hopeful about love.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I first read Deck the Palms at a time when I needed something to uplift my spirits and Annabeth Albert sure did deliver!
While this small-town romance is set over the Christmas holidays, it does not need to be saved for a Christmas read - I have read it again since, as Nolan and Merry butt heads while trying to prevent disaster from happening.
I can't recommend Deck the Palms enough.
While this small-town romance is set over the Christmas holidays, it does not need to be saved for a Christmas read - I have read it again since, as Nolan and Merry butt heads while trying to prevent disaster from happening.
I can't recommend Deck the Palms enough.
this was cute! I enjoyed Nolan's optimism and charm, Merry's competence and welcoming family, and, of course, the setting! sweet, festive, and fun
I loved Deck The Palms by Annabeth Albert! I appreciated the unique reason for Nolan to be in Hawaii and to thus meet Merry. I liked how close Merry was with his family. Cara and the twins were my favorite secondary characters. I appreciated how Nolan and Merry both had real reservations about being in a relationship with each other. This was a wonderful holiday read and I can't wait to read more Annabeth Albert!