"One Enchanted Christmas" by Melissa Tagg

[reviewsbyerin]

In a plot that may have been more than slightly influenced by real life, author Maren Grant has a crush on the model who portrayed her protagonist on the cover of her last book. When her agent arranges for her to meet Colin, he and Maren have one magical Christmas date and he invites her to visit his farm in rural Iowa sometime. A whole year passes without hearing from Colin, and now Maren has a serious case of writer's block with her next deadline fast approaching. At the urging of her best friend, Maren decides to take a leap into the unknown and make the trip to see if being with Colin again will help get the creative flow going.

When Maren arrives in Maple Valley she's met by several surprises. Colin isn't there, and in fact his family hasn't seen or heard from him in quite some time. Not since he and his brother Drew fought over the future of the farm. Their niece is a huge fan of her work and insists that Maren stay and write anyway, so she settles in for a couple weeks to see what happens.

Drew Renwycke can't believe that this author showed up looking for Colin after one date a year ago, but then Colin has always been smooth with the ladies. Drew wants to get back to his family roots, to carry on the tradition of farming that has been in his family for generations. He'd love to see Colin home for Christmas, but that isn't likely with the way they parted. However, for his sake as well as Maren's, he decides to reach out and see what happens.

This is a very sweet novella that includes a fun narrator who likes to pop up and give her opinion every now and then. It gives the story a fun, informal feel even as it deals with big issues like regret, family problems, and dreams for the future. There's also a nice toe-curling romance and enough twists in the plot to keep you guessing. I really enjoyed this little story and it goes well with Melissa Tagg's other Maple Valley stories. If you haven't started reading Melissa Tagg yet, you should - she's a delightful writer.