A rising star, a down-to-earth teacher, and a Christmas
touched by wonder…
Country music star Kris Trabeau heads to Charming,
Mississippi, to convince his aging aunt to sell her farm and move into a nice
retirement community. She’s not having it, and she enlists her neighbor Tory
Hudson to help her remind Kris why the farm means so much…especially at
Christmas.
After being dumped by her longtime boyfriend, Tory’s not
feeling the holiday spirit. Still, she agrees to co-chair a children’s concert
and silent auction to benefit the after-school center where she volunteers. As
Kris helps her with the concert and spends time with the kids, the attraction
between them becomes harder and harder to ignore. Can he trade spotlights and
city lights for the place where the music began?
Very good, heartwarming book. I laughed and cried and
cheered for everyone to have the Christmas that brought them joy. Kris is
headed home to Mississippi with several issues snapping at his heels. First is
his need to make amends with his Aunt Tansy, who raised him after his parents
died when he was ten. They had a falling out when she didn't approve of his
desire to go to Nashville and pursue a singing career. He's finally on the road
to success, with a bestselling album and the title of Country Music Newcomer of
the Year. He worries about his aunt, alone on the farm, especially since she
recently broke her leg. He is determined to get her to sell the farm and move
to a retirement community near Nashville. Second, he has been having problems
trying to write some new songs. Nothing he has tried will make the words come,
so as soon as he deals with Aunt Tansy, he's headed for some peace and quiet in
Texas to try to get his mojo back. This is a problem because, third, he has a
contract for a new album, and the record label has definite ideas of what they
want. Unfortunately, those ideas don't mesh well with what Kris sees as his
strengths.
The book started with a hilarious scene involving a
sweater-wearing hen being chased by a large dog, who is being chased by a young
woman. I loved the first encounter between Kris and Tory, who captivated him
with her somewhat nerdy self. Tory is the head of the high school science
department, a volunteer tutor at the local community center, and a woman who
looks at life in a very practical way. She is also avoiding as much Christmas
celebration as she can, as a recent breakup with her fiancé has killed her
Christmas spirit.
Aunt Tansy is thrilled to have Kris home. She has missed
him dreadfully and regrets the argument that they had. Though he only plans to
stay a few days, she hopes to convince him to stay through Christmas. When she
stumbles on his plan to move her off the farm, Tansy is first heartbroken, then
angry. She can see that Kris has lost his connection to his roots and is
determined to show him where he has gone wrong. Tansy is a pretty devious old
lady, and I loved watching her efforts. When she notices the sparks between
Kris and Tory, that gives her more ammunition to break through Kris's defenses.
It was great fun to see her find ways to throw Kris and Tory together, while at
the same time reminding Kris of the importance of family.
I liked Kris, in spite of his blindness when it came to
Tansy. He has a good heart and hasn't let fame go to his head. I liked how he
did the work around the house and farm himself instead of paying someone else
to do it. I ached for him with the problems he had with his music as it left
him feeling somewhat lost. He is so focused on getting to Texas for his
self-imposed isolation that he has trouble seeing that what he needs is to
remember where his love of music started. He is unexpectedly drawn to Tory,
something he tries to resist because he isn't going to be there for long.
Tory is equally attracted to Kris but has her own reasons
to resist. She knows he isn't going to stay around, so getting involved is not
a good idea. She's still recovering from the end of her engagement, and a new
relationship is not in her plans. Plus, why would a good-looking, talented guy
like Kris be interested in a nerdy girl like her? It just wouldn't make sense.
Besides, she has her hands full with the Christmas fundraiser for the community
center.
I loved seeing Kris get more deeply involved with life in
Charming every day. He keeps telling himself that he'll be gone in a few days,
but can't stop himself from volunteering to help Tory. I especially enjoyed
seeing him work with the girl Bria, whose home life is a mess. She has the most
beautiful voice, but no confidence in herself. It was sweet to see how both
Kris and Tansy worked with her to give her the confidence to perform at the
show. There were a couple of exciting twists that had me on the edge of my seat
as I waited to see how it was going to turn out.
The hardest thing was watching Kris try to force himself
into the role he thinks he has to fill, even though he knows it's a bad fit. I
disliked his manager and the way that he blew off Kris's concerns over the new
album. I was especially disgusted at the way he ignored Kris's wishes for his
return to Charming after his television interview. I was pleasantly surprised
by the talk show host and his candid conversation with Kris after the
interview. It made a big impression on Kris and got him thinking about what was
really important. I loved Kris's meeting with the record label people the next
day and seeing him finally stand up for himself. I held my breath, hoping that
he would make it back in time.
It warmed my heart to see the changes that Kris
experienced during his stay in Charming. I liked seeing his eyes opened to the
importance of family and roots and having someplace to go when you're hurting. I
loved his big moment at the end, especially showing Tory that not everything
has to make sense, especially love.
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