CHRISTMAS JOY BY NANCY NAIGLE

Christmas Joy

Nancy Naigle

(ISBN13: 9781250106070)

http://www.NancyNaigle.com

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer jermar

Synopsis: 

A heartwarming Christmas story about family, friendship and finding love in unexpected places.

Joy Holbrook might be all work and no play, but that changes when her Aunt Ruby takes a fall that lands her in a rehabilitation center before the holidays. Joy takes a leave of absence from her job as a market researcher to run the family farm, even though the timing may hinder her chance at garnering the promotion of her dreams.

Ben Andrews isn’t your average accountant. He also happens to be the handiest man in Crystal Falls. He’s helped his elderly neighbor, Ruby Johnson, decorate for the annual Christmas Home Tour—and win—the last several years. He’s not about to let some drop-in niece break their winning streak.

Ruby seems overly concerned about Joy being able to handle Molly. Under the impression she’s referring Molly the bunny that is one of the menagerie of animals, Joy’s not worried at all until the next morning when a little girl named Molly shows up. For the sake of her aunt, Joy is forced to partner with Ben while Ruby is on the mend to help with preparation for the Christmas tour and, in the process finds her career-focused heart dreaming of a family.

Will the magic of Christmas help her to open her heart and find her everlasting joy? (Goodreads)

Review:

Joy has her life all planned out, she knows what she wants.  She wants to be the best market researcher in her firm and she really wants that promotion.  She keeps telling herself that work is all she needs to be happy. She does not want to do relationships, they only bring pain.  And she has had enough pain to last her a lifetime. She lost her mom over twelve years ago but it feels like yesterday. But sometimes life gets in the way of our plans, and when her Aunt Ruby falls and breaks her ankle, Joy has to go help her aunt until she can return home.  Joy has not seen her aunt in a while but since she is her only family left, she knows she has to go and help her.

Ben is a hospital accountant who is good friends with Ruby.  He loves life and he loves Christmas and he loves helping people.   He could not be any more different than Joy. When Joy comes to help Ruby, he meets her and is intrigued by her.  But he has already had a bad experience with a “city girl” and that ended with divorce and he does not plan on making that mistake again.  But Joy and him are spending a lot of time together and, again, sometimes life gets in the way of plans.

The characters are well developed and well rounded.  I enjoyed getting to meet all of them and getting to spend time with them.  It was great to see how all of their relationships evolved. I really loved the Christmas theme in this book and it made me smile while I was reading it.  I felt like I was watching a Hallmark Christmas movie while reading this book, which was a good thing.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted women’s contemporary.  If you in the mood for a holiday read, this is the book for you. This book could also be read by a young adult, it is a clean read.  Grab a copy and enjoy.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*