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A review by beate251
A Christmas Duet by Debbie Macomber
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for this ARC.
Hailey is a music teacher with song-writing aspirations who flees to a remote cabin in weirdly named Podunk for Christmas, to escape her boundary-free family and her ex Zach who can't take no for an answer. Of course they all find out where she is and descend anyway.
In the meantime, five minutes after arrival she meets hunky Jay and falls in love faster than one can say "Help, there are bats in the cabin!"
Gosh, where to start. I've obviously heard of Debbie Macomber, she's written books for decades and is very prolific. For me that seems to be the problem though.
It's a fast easy read but generic and predictable, with a lot of romantic drivel being spouted. Everything is rushed, we get no sense of Jay or anyone else. The cover is as old-fashioned as the clean story, there is barely a plot and there are no embellishments with quirky characters or cute pets.
Everything is traditional, with marriage proposals and fatherly blessings and as American as "apple pie, guns and the American flag" (direct quote).
People eat boxed mac and cheese, spaghetti with jar sauce and salad mix that comes with dressing, and salted popcorn. Urgh.
Hailey makes a very stupid career decision that really shouldn't fly these days, and when Charles pursues Hailey's sister Daisy, not taking no for an answer, it's suddenly fine because he's a good guy.
Seriously, this story was maybe acceptable 40 years ago. I prefer my stories a bit more modern so this fell flat for me.
Hailey is a music teacher with song-writing aspirations who flees to a remote cabin in weirdly named Podunk for Christmas, to escape her boundary-free family and her ex Zach who can't take no for an answer. Of course they all find out where she is and descend anyway.
In the meantime, five minutes after arrival she meets hunky Jay and falls in love faster than one can say "Help, there are bats in the cabin!"
Gosh, where to start. I've obviously heard of Debbie Macomber, she's written books for decades and is very prolific. For me that seems to be the problem though.
It's a fast easy read but generic and predictable, with a lot of romantic drivel being spouted. Everything is rushed, we get no sense of Jay or anyone else. The cover is as old-fashioned as the clean story, there is barely a plot and there are no embellishments with quirky characters or cute pets.
Everything is traditional, with marriage proposals and fatherly blessings and as American as "apple pie, guns and the American flag" (direct quote).
People eat boxed mac and cheese, spaghetti with jar sauce and salad mix that comes with dressing, and salted popcorn. Urgh.
Hailey makes a very stupid career decision that really shouldn't fly these days, and when Charles pursues Hailey's sister Daisy, not taking no for an answer, it's suddenly fine because he's a good guy.
Seriously, this story was maybe acceptable 40 years ago. I prefer my stories a bit more modern so this fell flat for me.