I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Dear Santa by Nancy NaiglePublished by St. Martin's Griffin on October 16, 2018
Genres: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Holiday, Holidays
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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From USA Today bestselling author Nancy Naigle, Dear Santa is a heartwarming Christmas story about finding your passion for life and love.
Angela Carson wants nothing more than to be the third-generation to run her family’s holiday store, Heart of Christmas, successfully. They’ve weathered over sixty tourist seasons, major hurricanes, and urban sprawl, in their old decommissioned lighthouse. But the national chain that set up shop in their small North Carolina town of Pleasant Sands may be more than Heart of Christmas can survive.
Encouraged by her niece to ask Santa for help through the Dear Santa app, Angela gives in and lets the words fly in a way that, if Santa were real, would no doubt land her on the naughty list. What’s the harm when it’s just a computer-generated response?
Geoff Paisley has been at his mother’s side running the mega-chain Christmas Galore for the last ten years. When his mother falls ill, Geoff promises to answer the Dear Santa letters in her stead. Soon he realizes the woman he’s been corresponding with on Dear Santa is Angela. How could the woman that grates his every last nerve in person have intrigued him so deeply through those letters?
When Geoff reveals that he’s her Dear Santa, will Angela be able to set aside their very public feud to embrace the magic of the holiday and possibly find true love?
Dear Santa by Nancy Naigle is a book that I started kind of randomly. I somehow picked this book to read via my Kindle app out of all the other Christmas books on that app. It remained mostly a background book while I was in the process of reading it. By that I mean, a book that I sporadically pick up while being much more engrossed or focused on other books. Overall, it was a cute Christmas read.
The storyline of Dear Santa basically centers around this woman named Angela who lives in a beach town. She runs a specialty store out of a lighthouse called The Heart Of Christmas. She’s about to be put of business by the competition, Christmas Galore which comes across as being similar to Christmas Tree Shops. Anyways, The Heart Of Christmas is like for expensive heirloom things and Christmas Galore is for cheap things. Regardless, she locks eyes with this handsome guy at the coffee shop. They cross paths again and she finds out he’s Geoff and the enemy. There’s also an app called Dear Santa where people write letters to Santa and Santa writes back. It’s sponsored by Christmas Galore. That’s a part of this book too.
I liked Dear Santa okay. I mean, Angela is an alright character but comes across as someone who does not have a ton of business sense. She’s very sentimental. That is not what I think you need to succeed. Also, I had a hard time believing her romance with Geoff. There’s some chemistry but it is very light and very sort of boring.
On A Scale Of One To Buddy The Elf, How Much Christmas Spirit Does DEAR SANTA Have?
Dear Santa reminds me of You’ve Got Mail a little bit as it is independently owned shop owner against a chain shop owner and romance. I did like reading about the Christmas village pieces that were expensive that Angela sold. I also liked hearing about the history of the shop and Angela’s family. Clearly she comes from a line of strong women. There’s Black Friday in this book. Also, there’s a snow village which is sort of cool. On the whole this has got some low key Christmas spirit, not quite at Buddy level but also not at a Grinch level.
Other reviews of Dear Santa by Nancy Naigle:
- Harlequin Junkie – “plenty of charm to begin with“
- The Lit Bitch – “a sweet, quintessential holiday romance“
- Novel Gossip – “an ideal holiday read“
Purchase or Preview Dear Santa by Nancy Naigle:
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