Author: Judy Duarte
Publication: 2011
Genre/Audience: Christmas fiction, adult
Source: Library
Summary: Small town Fairbrook, California is home to Carly, a single mother and her two boys, Josh and Mikey. She works hard as a hairdresser to stay afloat, but can barely make her rent payments on time and can hardly make ends meet. She wants to make Christmas special for her boys, but just doesn't have the money. Worse still are the incidents she keeps having with Max Tolliver, a new bachelor and aspiring novelist, who insists her boys keep letting his dog out of his yard, though they vehemently disagree. Fairbrook is also home to the Diamond Lils, a woman's social group that meets weekly for poker games and gossip. They've also decided to do a little matchmaking this Christmas, to find Carly a man, like Grant, the wealthy single businessman who lives across the street. Carly's not looking for romance, just a little hope to give her boys what they need this holiday season, but sometimes love takes you by surprise...
My Thoughts: Overall, this was an enjoyable, cute, and festive story. I especially like the cover. To me, that cover embodies Christmas, and I want to live on a street just like that someday! I liked the storyline with Carly, Max, and her boys the best (including the dog, Hemingway) and enjoyed reading about them a great deal. However, this book had a ton of other side stories going on as well that I didn't enjoy as much. To me, the focus should have been entirely on the Carly story, but it split time between Carly and each of the four Diamond Lils. I was really invested in Carly and her boys, and kept hoping they would have a wonderful Christmas and that Carly would find some way to get out of debt. I liked her hardworking nature and compassion. Buuut, each time I really started getting into it, it would shift to one of the other characters which was kind of frustrating. If you're looking for a heartwarming and hopeful story this holiday season, you may want to pick up Christmas on Nutcracker Court. I would recommend it but with some reservations, being that I wish there were less characters and side stories going on.
My Rating: 3/5
The cover is so pretty! Thanks for your honest review.
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