Stars: 2.5 / 5
Recommendation: There is magic and fantasy; romance and heartbreak; and above all a healing of all hearts involved while finding their way during the holidays. A whimsical romance mixed with emotional roller coaster in it, but not my choice of romance books I like normally.
A Berry Merry Christmas is the first novella in the book Silent Night that has four novellas by established authors such as J.D. Robb; Susan Plunkett; Dee Holmes; and ofcourse Claire Cross who wrote this novella. First published as Silent Night in November of 1998 this is a mere 91 pages of a story.
Claire Cross is the alter ego of Deborah Cooke, the famed author of paranormal and historical romance. The novella was originally published in September of 2017 before it became part of Silent Night, an anthology book, in 1998.
The story revolves around a mysterious nanny, Holly Berry, who is sent to the family of Drew Sinclair and his niece Natalie, who are struggling to get over a grief for a couple years. She helps them guide their way into enjoying Christmas again
The story reminded me of a few Hallmark movies – the 2009 TV film Mrs. Miracle; the 2010 TV movie Call Me Mrs. Miracle; the 2021 TV movie A Mrs. Miracle Christmas; and the 2017 TV movie Christmas in Angel Falls. The first two were based on Debbie McComber’s books; the third she co-wrote the screenplay.
It is interesting that Holly Berry doesn’t bother to look at the fax that Mr. C, her employer, receives on a key character and tries to muddle everything before knowing the entire story or truth. How can that make her a good nanny?
Also it reminded me so many Hallmark movies and other novels that it felt a mix of all those plots put together to make a decent attempt at creating a holiday romantic story.
It didn’t set the theme for the entire anthology correctly though. Since it reminded me of so many movies, I didn’t think there was originality. It’s a cute romantic love story though with lot of dialogues dipped in love and romance to suit the sentiment of Christmas It does give the emotional roller coaster of a normal life blended in. But not a book that fancies me.
Spoiler Alerts:
- Book Trivia and Plot Reveals:
- Drew Sinclair loses his brother Greg & SIL Winona in a house fire two years ago on Christmas Day leaving him with his niece, Natalie, the sole survivor. He becomes a dad to her to take care of her.
- Holly Berry is an elf working for Mr. Noel Claus and Mrs. Noelle Claus. She is clumsy and accident prone at Santa’s workshop. She is sent to Drew Sinclair and his niece to help them.
- Grammatical / Character / Plot / Geographical / Historical / Mythological Errors:
- On Pg. 87, Line 10 from bottom doesn’t make any sense at all. Something definitely is missing.
Galavant Reflections 