One part glory, two parts glow: BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CHRISTMAS.

Bright Lights, Big Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Be warned... this review may make me sound slightly like a Grinch. I love holiday movies and the whole season, but I think I need to acknowledge that holiday books are not my thing. Somehow the schmaltz works in film form for me but not in a literary format. Not that this is a bad book, at all, and most reviewers loved it, so take my review with a grain of salt.

When Kerry loses her job, she's forced to move back to her rural North Carolina hometown (the same town in which Andrews' story THE SANTA SUIT is set). When her dad falls ill, she's stuck accompanying her gruff older brother Murphy on the annual trip to New York City to sell the family's Christmas tree allotment, which, of course, makes up the main share of the income for their farm. Murphy and their dad Jock (whose name immediately makes me think of DALLAS, I'm so old, guys) typically sleep in a tiny trailer parked by the stand powered by an extension cord they run to a kind nearby business. Immediately I call foul--where in NYC can you a) park a trailer for a month? b) run extension cords across the sidewalks and c) find kindly people who feed you for free and let you use their showers? Because, oh yeah, the trailer has no running water and is powered by a space heater. I felt cold reading most of this book.

Kerry immediately makes friends with all the neighbors, including an elderly man, Heinz, and her brother's friend Patrick and his young son, Austin. Heinz and Austin are easily the best part of this book--they have far more depth than the other characters. I felt empathy and cared for them because of this. Kerry's "romance" with Patrick is utter instalove and makes no sense--there was no reason to root for them, as they had no chemistry, banter, or any sort of connection or backstory whatsoever.

The book was incredibly slow in the first half (it's cold, sell some trees, repeat) but picks up a bit in the second half. Honestly, I would have been fine cutting the romance story altogether and just focusing on Heinz' piece. That aspect was incredibly touching.

Overall, it's a sweet read but lacks much depth, like many of the movies I watch each year on Hallmark. Although there's a gay character in this read (yay!) so I guess we'll have to call this a Lifetime book instead, right? ;) 3 stars.

I received a copy of this book from St. Martin's Press and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review.

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