The Christmas House by Elizabeth Bromke

Odd Story; Didn’t Work For Me

I found this to be a very strange book that I couldn’t quite wrap my head around. I usually enjoy second-chance romances and romances where the couple is middle aged, as I don’t think that people north of thirty are given enough romance plot lines. I was at first intrigued by the heroine and the constrained life that she chose to lead. But it actually became a bit tiresome. I also liked the tease of the texts from years ago showing the budding relationship between the couple before that relationship fractured. The story seemed to focus more on the heroine pulling herself together rather than on the romance. But the way the author had her do so wasn’t really compelling reading. It felt like slice-of-life stuff rather than heightened drama like we hope for in novels. Honestly, it didn’t feel like there was much of a point to the whole thing. I thought the hero abandoned the relationship initially for poor reasons; who would want to get back with someone who just leaves when the going gets tough? The story does end up where a romance is supposed to, but I didn’t quite buy the ride as I didn’t get a sense of the couple taking proper advantage of their second chance to learn more about each other and come to a deeper appreciation of their relationship. The couple didn’t really have a lot of screen time. So this story just didn’t work for me. There are lots of Christmas novels out there; if you love the genre as I do, I suggest that you find a better one.