Bright Lights, Big Christmas
My Rating:
When fall rolls around, it’s time for Kerry Tolliver to leave her family’s Christmas tree farm in the mountains of North Carolina for the wilds of New York City to help her gruff older brother & his dog, Queenie, sell the trees at the family stand on a corner in Greenwich Village. Sharing a tiny vintage camper and experiencing Manhattan for the first time, Kerry’s ready to try to carve out a new corner for herself.
In the weeks leading into Christmas, Kerry quickly becomes close with the charming neighbors who live near their stand. When an elderly neighbor goes missing, Kerry will need to combine her country know-how with her newly acquired New York knowledge to protect the new friends she’s come to think of as family,
And complicating everything is Patrick, a single dad raising his adorable, dragon-loving son Austin on this quirky block. Kerry and Patrick’s chemistry is undeniable, but what chance does this holiday romance really have?
Filled with family ties, both rekindled and new, and sparkling with Christmas magic, Bright Lights, Big Christmas delivers everything Mary Kay Andrews fans adore, all tied up in a hilarious, romantic gem of a novel.
Trigger Warnings:
Major (large part of the plot): divorce
Minor (small mentions): sudden death of a loved one
Characters
- Kerry – graphic designer, was let go and dumped and moved back home with her mom, helping out Murphy to sell Christmas trees this year since their father had a heart attack
- Murphy – Kerrie’s brother, in his 40s; picture him as a big, burly mountaineer
- Heinz – old man in the neighborhood
- Queenie – Murphy’s dog
- Austin – 10 year old boy in the neighborhood
- Patrick – Austin’s dad
- Gretchen – Austin’s mom, divorced from Patrick
- Claudia – owns a local restaurant, Murphy’s love interest
My Review
This was a great Christmas romancey novel. Picture a small town family Christmas Tree stand in romantic New York City – fluffy snow, twinkle lights and a well behaved puppy. Throw in a cute little trailer that the family is living in named Spammy, and you have the perfect setting for a Christmas love story.
I adored how the community around the tree stand looked out for one another and welcomed the Tolliver’s back every year. The surrounding area and the people who lived there didn’t flinch at the prices of the Christmas trees or wreaths and seemed to treat Kerry and Murphy with respect. Even when you throw in the ‘bad guys’ that set up a stand across the street, it’s still an enchanting read. All of the characters alongside the Tollingers were well developed and I became very invested in Heinz’s health!
I loved the nod to The Santa Suit, her previous Christmas book that I had read! This book probably was 50 pages too long, I blame The Santa Suit for this since that book was so short so my exceptions were a little off.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.
Spoilers/Summary
A social media infuencer with millions of followers tweeted about the tree stand and they end up getting super busy and selling out.. twice.
Heinz, the man that comes across as being homeless, gets very sick and develops pneumonia. He isn’t seen for days, so Kerry and Austin go on a hunt for him. They find him by asking around the neighborhood.
Heinz’s partner, George, passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage, so he decided to move down to the basement and live miserable, assuming all the joy was gone from his life. He is a famous painter, some of his paintings going for millions..
Heinz and Kerry finish the Christmas book for Austin, Patrick buys Spammy to refurbish and fix up. Kerry decides to move into the Heinz’s building into a tiny room that needs cleaning up. She agrees to help sort through all of his paintings and help set up an exhibit. Patrick and Kerry get together.