Carmen Hogan, the bookshop's manager, is amused and a bit horrified by the goings-on, but the money the studio is paying is too good to pass up. She uses the little windfall from filming to create new displays and fend off a buyout offer from an obnoxious millionaire who wants to turn McCredie's into a souvenir shop selling kilts made in China and plastic Nessies. Still reeling slightly from a breakup, Carmen's not particularly looking forward to the holidays. But just as snow begins to fall and the lights of Christmas blink on, all sorts of lovely new possibilities present themselves...for McCredie's bookstore, and for Carmen herself.
Comment: I enjoyed reading the first book in this series in 2021 and now I've finally decided to read the sequel, even more so since it's a Christmas related story and it is Christmas season!
In this story Carmen has been doing her best working at mr McCredie's bookshop and she has spent lovely times with Oke, although they are taking things very, very slow. However, a huge misunderstanding makes them have an argument and Oke happens to have an offer for a project in his country, Brazil. As they spend time apart, neither wants to forget about the other, but does distance really play a bigger role than what anyone could imagine? At the same time, the shop is having problems, again, and Carmen's sister Sophia is ready to go back to work and will hire a nanny, who will need Carmen's basement area... will Carmen be able to find a new place, right on time for Christmas and will she save both the shop and her relationship with Oke?
I will confess right away that I barely remembered anything from the first book. I had a general idea and I knew the protagonist's name but in terms of secondary elements, I only remembered things as I read along. However, I will also say that my idea of the previous book was that it had been a much more positive one - or I had that impression - and this sequel felt a lot more depressing for what it is meant to be a Christmas themed story...
The first books I've read by this author truly impressed me and I still have a few on my TBR by her, which I'll get to at some point, but now I must wonder if her more recent work will always have this negative vibe, or this feel that something less sweet might be included. Of course this doesn't have to be an issue, but it's been noticeable and it does affect my easiness in appreciation the overall plot, even knowing there will be a happy end.
Carmen is once again worried about the bookshop and there's even a man who is buying all the local commerce establishments to turn them into gift shops. At least, it seems so after her friend Bobby goes through it. With her relationship with Oke going badly and her living situation at her sister's house in danger of ending, Carmen was a hard character to like in this book. To be honest, there were times I didn't like her that much and I can't remember if I already had this opinion about her in the other book before she started organizing her life, or if this is just a natural development in this second book.
Reading my comment on that other book, three years ago!, it seems I liked her as a heroine but here I didn't think the same. First, it's her apparent clueless attitude towards her sister's life and how she kept giving hints she was going to need Carmen's room for the nanny. Perhaps I'm being unfair and if it was with me I might not have seen it either, who knows, but the way this plays out, feels as if Carmen was being oblivious on purpose. It also added to the drama and there were times this didn't feel as if it would be a "delightful holiday" story as labeled.
Second, the whole misunderstanding with Oke was just... ridiculous. Again, it made things seem as if the previous story hand't already offered enough development in their relationship. It seemed more issues had to happen so this story could have filling and even made Carmen seem unfair towards Oke. I suppose I could say he wasn't honest with her either, but Carmen was made to seem the more aggressive one in the argument and, again, I wasn't too happy about her. I also kept thinking that, perhaps, my biggest issue is that, in fact, this book didn't have to exist! The author could have left things as they were in the first book and that would have been enough.
As the story progresses, of course we are supposed to see the change, the improvement, the "lessons" learned by talking to friends, by doing the right thing, by being part of a community while still having a business conscience... all realistic and mundane things, modern life related even, but the vibe was really a let down for me. When the end is close and everything starts to sound better and Carmen starts improving her social skills and starts trusting others and her instincts, it felt...a task was being fulfilled and the author was wrapping up things as expected.
The writing style is very recognizable Colgan's and that is why I still liked enough to consider this a positive experience but I was certainly not dazzled by the book. I liked several things I haven't mentioned, true, but the less good elements were more glaring to me to write about them, nevertheless.
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