A Novel with Thoughts and Ponderings

1225 CHRISTMAS TREE LANE

Author: Debbie Macomber ISBN: 9780778312697 10/2011 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: MIRA

1225 Christmans Tree Lane by Debbie Macomber
The people of Cedar Cove know how to celebrate Christmas. Like Grace and Olivia and everyone else, Beth Morehouse expects this Christmas to be one of her best. Her small Christmas-tree farm is prospering, her daughters and her dogs are happy and well, and her new relationship with local vet Ted Reynolds is showing plenty of romantic promise.

But…someone recently left a basket filled with puppies on her doorstep, puppies she's determined to place in good homes. That's complication number one. And number two is that her daughters Bailey and Sophie have invited their dad, Beth's ex-husband, Kent, to Cedar Cove for Christmas. The girls have visions of a mom-and-dad reunion dancing in their heads.

As always in life—and in Cedar Cove—there are surprises, too. More than one family's going to have a puppy under the tree. More than one scheme will go awry. And more than one romance will have a happy ending!

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

1225 CHRISTMAS TREE LANE ends the long run of the Cedar Cove novels, which have been published once a year or so for more than a decade now. The previous (11th) book in the series pretty much exclusively was about ongoing stories and probably wouldn’t be enjoyed as a standalone. It did introduce Christmas tree farm owner Beth Morehouse, though, and she is the focus of this book.

Beth is a divorced animal rescuer at the start of a relationship with a local veterinarian, but her two college-aged daughters want her to get back with her ex-husband. The marriage broke up for no particular reason three years before, but when her ex shows up for Christmas with a “friend”, the daughters have a mess on their hands. Beth also has a ten-pack of puppies to find homes for, and this gives the author the opportunity to visit series characters as they choose puppies.

Much of this short book reads like a synopsis for the previous books of the series. Macomber writes fabulous Christmas stories, but this isn’t the type of holiday offering she has justly become known for. It’s more of a love letter to the Cedar Cove series with a simple reunion romance tacked on. Pleasant, easy reading, but not likely to be enjoyed by anyone who isn’t a serious fan of the series. Many of the Cedar Cove books, prototypes of warm, small town fiction, were wonderful reads and I’m sorry to say goodbye!

Heather Hiestand

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