Sandy M’s review of The Christmas Room by Catherine Anderson
Contemporary Romance published by Berkley 27 Sep 17

I wanted to read a few Christmas books this year, once the season was upon us. So it was a no-brainer to pick up Catherine Anderson’s holiday story. She’s an author who can pull my heartstrings nearly every time I read one of her books.

Unfortunately, this time around I was left more confused and out of the holiday spirit than I’d expected to be. I didn’t really read the blurb when I started the book – it’s Catherine Anderson after all. Then it took until the last quarter of the book to even hit anything about Christmas. My heartstrings were pulled during the first half of the book, and then they pinged back on me when there was a shift in the story to different characters, as is indicated in the blurb I didn’t read until after I’d closed the book.

The story starts out with Cam and Kirstin. Cam has moved his family, which includes his son Caleb and his mother Maddie, to Montana. It’s been a dream of his to live in such a wild and beautiful place. So after his father’s passing, it’s like they’re all ready for new memories, so off they go. While waiting to break ground for their new home, they’re basically campers on their land. Cam has done their trailer and tents up in style to get them through, hopefully before the first snow hits. He meets his nearest neighbor, Kirstin Conacher, and though he’s attracted, he’s heard about the woman’s father – a man who will ruin anyone who looks at his daughter cross-eyed, let alone show any interest in her. Cam is trying to get his ranch-selling business off the ground, so he doesn’t need that kind of trouble in his life.

Kirsten has taken care of her father since her mother passed away. The man shut down, drank like a fish, and has become one mean and ornery cuss since losing his wife. Kirstin’s lived in Rustlers Gulch all her life, so meeting a man of her own is pretty slim. So you can imagine her excitement when meeting her handsome new neighbor and then her disappointment when he makes his decision not to pursue a relationship with her – all because of her father. Finally she makes some decisions of her own that bring happiness and wonder to both her and Cam’s lives as they get to know one another, even though it’s basically sneaking around behind everyone’s backs.

I really like Cam and Kirstin a lot. They have great chemistry and you can feel the enjoyment they share being together and finding new feelings for the other. I didn’t even mind the sneaking around bit. They’re older characters letting an old man dictate their lives, but for the most part it’s fun with plenty of laughter and romance. Sam Conacher is a piece of work. You can almost understand why he’s ended up like he is due to his loss, but it’s been long enough he should have been the adult he is and moved on. He gives Cam total grief over seeing his daughter when Cam and Kirstin finally decide to let everyone know about their growing relationship.

That’s pretty much how and why Sam meets Maddie. He pays a visit to their campsite and is his usual bastard self, leaving Maddie in a dangerous lurch. So the bad feelings between the two grow with every meeting that comes along. It’s when Cam is injured in a horrible set of circumstances and Sam begins to see how he’s been living for so many years and how wrong he’s been all that time. He wants to change now and he knows he has a lot of groveling to do. So this second half of the book is about the relationship that blossoms between Sam and Maddie. An about-face from the story we’ve gotten so far. And a story that, I’m sorry to say, isn’t nearly as satisfying as Cam’s and Kirstin’s. Which does puzzle me, because I usually like stories with older characters. I’m thinking, however, it’s because of the sudden shift in focus that I had a hard time liking Sam’s and Maddie’s part in this book.

In between all of this, we do get some nice family dynamics on both sides of the fence. Cam’s relationship with his son is a highlight. He’s raised Caleb with only his parents to help out, and the boy is a good kid with a good heart. Cam is a wonderful hero who takes care of his family with no questions asked. Kirstin, on the other hand, has had a difference experience than Cam after the loss of her mother. Her father has called the shots and she’s let him. It takes meeting Cam for her to stiffen up and confront her father.

I also was left a bit disappointed in the fact that Christmas doesn’t appear in the story until very late. I wanted a story that had that holiday cheer and spirit throughout. So if you’re looking for that too – be warned, you won’t get it here. Once we do get to the Christmas room, it’s a nice sentiment and all, but it’s just too little too late.

So while there’s a lot of the usual Catherine Anderson trademark emotionalism in this book, that does go by the wayside for me when Maddie and Sam become the main focus of the story. Unfortunate for me, but it may work just fine for you. It’s worth giving it a shot to find out anyway.

Grade: C

Summary:

Widow Maddie McLendon has uprooted her life to move to Rustlers Gulch with her son and grandson. But as a brutal Montana winter looms on the horizon, contractors have yet to break ground on their new house, leaving them to live in a makeshift camp of trailers, tents, and sheds….

Since his wife died six years ago, millionaire rancher Sam Conacher has been content to wallow in his grief alone while keeping a tight rein on his twenty-six-year-old daughter. But now the girl has gone and fallen in love with his foolish new neighbor’s no-good son….

Maddie and Sam will never see eye to eye on anything, until a near-tragedy gives them a true glimpse into each other’s souls. And as the first snowflakes begin to fall, they’ll discover that an open heart is the biggest gift of all….

No excerpt available.