MIRA, November 2004

When her 21-year-old daughter announces she's too busy to come home for Christmas, mother Emily Springer decides to travel across the country to spend it with her. After all, the two have always spent Christmas together. She arranges to swap houses with a Harvard professor (Charles) who wants to escape the Christmas bustle and heads for Boston. But when she gets there, her daughter has other plans--plans that definitely don't involve having a mother tagging along. Abandoned in Boston, with no way to get home, Emily looks forward to the worst Christmas of her life. But Charles's mother, learning that a woman is staying in Charles's apartment, sends her other son, Ray, to investigate.

Knowing that she hurt her best friend Emily's feelings, teacher Faith Kerrigan flies to Emily's house for the holidays. But Emily is in Boston and Grinch-like Charles Brewster has replaced her. Only her stellar cooking keeps Charles from tossing her out into the cold.

Faith, Emily, Charles, and Ray all have bad experiences with Christmas--and have learned to expect to be alone. But this Christmas is different--a second chance for them to experience the magic of the season--and of love. Or will they simply go back to their ordinary lives, once the extraordinary events of Christmas have passed?

Author Debbie Macomber (see more BooksForABuck.com reviews of novels by Macomber) tells a dependably well-written and emotionally satisfying story and WHEN CHRISTMAS COMES is no exception. It's a fast read, without the complexity of some of Macomber's recent 'big' novels, but just the thing to cosy up to around a fire as the Christmas season unfolds around us. Whether you're a grinch yourself, or a Christmas adict, there's a lot to like in this charming, if predictable, tale.

Three Stars

Reviewed 12/10/04

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