June 20, 2016
This contemporary romance novella tied to Hatfield’s Holiday Brides series is a sweetly unsophisticated love story that’s long on details and sadly short on substance. Fynlee chose a career in medical billing so that she could remain close to her highly eccentric and mischievous grandmother, Matilda, in the small Oregon town of Holiday. Carson has recently purchased his aunt and uncle’s ranch from his widowed aunt, Ruth—who just happens to be Matilda’s best friend. Predictably, the two senior citizens decide to do whatever it takes to get the young folks in their lives together, even though Carson has a girlfriend (albeit one who hates the idea of ranching life). Unfortunately, the antics of the geriatric duo don’t come close to salvaging the substandard characterization, an overreliance on narrative as opposed to interaction, and a skewed timeline that creates an artificial need for a wedding to be held on a certain holiday. There are some amusing moments, but the poor storytelling drags them down.