The Christmas Room by Catherine Anderson- Reshelved Books

Hello everyone!

Happy New Year!

I wanted to get this post up before Christmas was here. But that didn’t happen... Even though, I was a speed reading demon for a few days here, lol. Given that the title of this novel involves the word "Christmas" the majority of the book did not take place around Christmas. 

So it is totally okay for me to post this now... three weeks after Christmas. This a no judgement zone, folks! 

The good thing about this book is that it really doesn't take place during the holiday/Christmas season.  It takes place months *before* the holiday season and it ends on Christmas.

As some of you may or may not know, Jess and I both work in libraries.  Which means that we are *constantly* fighting temptation to check out every book that we come across.

I remember seeing the cover of The Christmas Room before it went out into circulation last month and I thought about how adorable the cover art was. Between the AirStream trailer decorated with holiday lights, the Adirondack chairs and the snow mountains that are the backdrop; I was instantly lured to the book. (I'm not ashamed to say that we do judge a book by it's cover! Sometimes, it's just about aesthetics, whether you want it to be or not!)

Since, it's best to hear from the author what their inspiration was behind a story... Harlequin Junkie conducted an interview with Catherine Anderson. You can find the interview in it's entirety here.  When approached by her publishing company to write a Christmas themed novel, Anderson took her own real life experiences (!!) to create a this story.

This is only book that I've read by Anderson... So my next comment might be jumping the gun a little here... But I felt like I was instantly transported to Bitterroot Valley.  I felt like Anderson was able to create such strong imagery using words. 

The Christmas Room tells the story of Maddie and Sam, two individuals in their 60s who have lost their spouses.  Maddie moves to Montana with her son and grandson, Cam and Caleb (respectively).  Cam buys a piece of land next to Sam Conacher and his daughter, Kirstin.  Sam is very much that cranky, mean and nasty man that people don't want to be bothered with.  He's not nice and it makes things harder than they have to be.

What these two neighbors don't know about each other is that they both have lost their spouses.  Sam and Maddie are both grieving and learning to move forward.  Maddie lost her husband two years prior and Sam lost his wife 6 years before. 

Sam is very overprotective of his daughter, Kirstin and this is a cause for most of the tension that occurs in the beginning of the story.  It was made known to Cam by Kirstin, that her father is not afraid to ruin the reputations of those who go and talk to his daughter. 

I think that's why the first interaction between Cam and Kirstin made me think of "I'd be Jealous too" by Dustin Lynch.  I thought it would have been quite appropriate for that first initial meeting.  Kirstin is sort of this anomaly; all of the men in Bitterroot won't speak to her.  (Could you blame them though?? )

The first 1/4 of the book focused on Cam and Kirstin.  Then there was a change to the focus of the story about the 1/2 way mark. 

Around the 1/2 way mark of the book is where Anderson started to lose me with the relationship between K and C... 

Cam went to help Kirsten wrangle in one of the bulls. Okay, easy enough to follow. Then, Kirstin's horse gets spooked and tackled (?) by the bull and Kirstin is pinned under said bull... Cam goes and saves her life by protecting her from this bull....

I kinda stopped rooting for Cam and Kirstin and I started to root for Maddie and Sam.  That was okay because right after Cam's accident, is when Anderson started to shift the reader's focus from the relationship between the young lovers to Maddie and Sam. 

There was something about them that was lovable.  Would I have liked it better if Maddie could have told Cam about her health concerns? Yes.  I would have liked her character to have done that but at the same time, I know why her character didn't. 

Sam was a difficult character to like but, I feel like he was the underdog that you were also hoping would come to the top.  I was hoping that he would be able to change ways and I was happy that he did!  I liked that Anderson gave him the abilities to grow as a character.

Now on to Caleb.. Caleb, Caleb, Caleb...I felt bad for Caleb... The further I got in the story, the more I became confused as to what his purpose in the story was.  He had lines, he had thoughts but there was no character development with him and I kinda felt that he was just dragging along...?

The book didn't leave any open endings, things weren't untied and as the reader, you weren't left wondering what could have happened or what should have happened. 

While the subject of the book wasn't for me, it wasn't a book that I disliked.  Anderson was able to tackle heavy topics in a manner that didn't make you as the reader feel sad.  She gave hope and comfort to her characters.  The best part was seeing that her characters were able to mend fences to trust and love one another.  

 I would recommend it to a friend (or even a patron!) if they were looking for a new release.   That being said, I am giving this book 4 out of 5 coffee beans. 

Hopefully you all will be seeing more posts from me this month.

See you all soon!

~JMB