I was given this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
I love books and I love dogs but I usually don't like books about dogs. Why? Because they are usually sad and painful, and I end up feeling really awful about life and people in general. So why did I pick this book to review?
Good question.
Greg Kincaid, the author of this book, has a delightful series going of Christmas dog books. Have you heard of them? He wrote A Dog Named Christmas, Christmas with Tucker and A Christmas Home, all books that I loved. The books are set in rural Kansas, too, not much different from rural Missouri, where I grew up. Christmas, home and dogs. Yep.
So in this fourth installment of the McCray family novels and their lovable dogs, the story centers around Mary Ann McCray, the matriarch of the family. When the traditional Santa is unable to fulfill his duties, Mary Ann finds herself with the challenge of reinventing Mrs. Claus, or Anna, as she is known in Kansas.
There are other normal type dramas occurring at the same time, close family friends decide to divorce due to the impact of alcoholism on the family, and the McCrays' son Todd has moved back into town. Todd brings Elle, and due to her contrary nature, "No, Elle!" becomes the mantra by which she lives. Emily, the daughter of the troubled family, thinks her name is Noelle, and the name begins to stick, especially when she begins to travel around with Mary Ann as Mrs. Claus.
The pieces of the story unfold well, the characters are lovable and worth knowing, and the setting is appropriate for this kind of family "interference." If you love great endings and good families working their way through life's experiences, you will find this a good read.
If you are interested in this book, you can buy it below. The link will take you to Amazon, where you can purchase it at the same price, but I will get a small commission. Thanks for your support of my blog!!
Here's the four book series:
A Dog Named Christmas (4 Book Series)
Here's just the book Noelle.
Noelle: A Novel (A Dog Named Christmas)
