4.5 stars

Greg owns a Christmas tree farm that has been in his family for 3 generations. He also plans for this to be his last year running it, since he doesn’t see any point to it with his son being dead and no one else to carry on the legacy. Greg has dealt with the loss, but only in the surface. When he spies a soldier hitchhiking on his way to town, Greg gives him a lift, then a job and a place to stay. Robbie has been rehabbing from injuries for almost a year. He is kind of at loose ends, being discharged from the army and not really wanting to go to his childhood home to deal with his father’s effects. When Greg offers him a place to stay, he takes it. Although both men are grieving, they bring comfort to each other and might be moving forward, rather than staying in stasis.

I quite often find that this author’s books are hit or miss for me. It’s not that they’re bad, I just don’t connect to them like I think I should and like others obviously do. I’m quite happy to report that I really liked this one. It’s well written, and what both Greg and Robbie are going through is genuine. I don’t know that they necessarily helped each other through it, but they definitely had someone else to focus on, which was a very good thing for both of them. I liked the workers at the Christmas Emporium (my name for it). It felt very small town in all the best ways, with people being supportive and kind. A very nice book to end the challenge on. ( )