The Christmas Shop: A Novel

Definitely a retelling of a favorite movie starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks this story is set in a small tourist town in North Carolina. In this version we have Angela Carson running a family business that has been in business for nearly a century when along comes Christmas Galore to compete with her. Sure, her business wasn’t doing as well as it had in the past but the competition of Geoff Paisley’s store down the block didn’t help her out at all. Geoff and Angela soon become enemies with tense encounters that sometimes made them seem more like high school students than adults. Add into the story good friends, a supportive family, holiday scenes and a wonderful small town community and you have the makings of a sweet romance that could easily be made into a Hallmark movie. I enjoyed the story and believe someone looking for a clean holiday romance who also liked You’ve Got Mail will enjoy this book, too. That said, it wasn’t new or different but more comfortable, sweet and predictable. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.

This story was a fun, updated version of the movie, You've Got Mail. All of Angela Carson's life has been spent helping run the family Christmas store, Heart of Christmas. Even as a little girl, raised by her Grandma , Angela would be there helping. Now the store is completely hers and ever since the mega-chain box store Christmas Galore opened up, her business has been steadily declining. If business don't pick soon, Angela will have to close Heart of Christmas. One day while picking up a coffee order for her sister, Angela notices a good looking guy, Geoff Paisley. Too bad he ends up being the owner of Christmas Galore, the company helping to put her company out of business. Geoff is immediately smitten with Angela. He doesn't realize that she is the owner of Heart of Christmas at first. The more he gets to know her, the more he realizes that he wants her in his life. That has never happened to him before. When Angela's niece, Chrissy, convinces her to send a letter to Dear Santa, she reluctantly agrees hoping he could help her keep her business open. When Geoff's mom, whom he owns the business with, has a heart attack, she makes Geoff promise that he will keep up in answering their Dear Santa letters. Imagine his surprise when he starts enjoying it and even starts communicating with someone outside of Dear Santa. Through some luck and Christmas magic, Geoff and Angela actually find themselves a happy ending. This was a delightful story and a perfect read during the holiday season. I really liked Geoff and Angela. They both were work-a-holics in a way and together they were able to find a nice balance. Highly recommend this one!

Very enjoyable story in the style of the film 'You've Got Mail', set around a coastal town called Pleasant Sands and Christmas shops, one an old fashioned one in a lighthouse that has been there for generations, and one a new big business/sells everything sort of 'Christmas' store. Angela owns and runs her lighthouse Christmas shop, Heart of Christmas, and the house next door, which has been in her family for a couple of generations. She loves her shop but has only known this life so when the shop starts having financial troubles, which she blames on the new Christmas shop, she feels like she is letting her family down. Then her young niece writes to Santa via an app, and she persuades Angela to send a message too, which she does as a laugh and to keep her niece happy, but then one of the owners of the new shop, Geoff, gets roped into answering the Santa letters when his Mum gets ill and can't keep up with answering them and Santa (aka Geoff) and Angela end up emailing back and forth, whilst she laments the loss of her shop and business, which she has decided to shut forever on Christmas Eve. Via mail both 'Santa' and Angela get on really well. Geoff and Angela have also met in real-life on more than one occasion and are initially antagonistic towards one another, mainly Angela because of her shop, so very much like 'You've Got Mail'. Then when Geoff's Mum has a few health issues and he finds out he actually has ties to Pleasant Sands that he wasn't aware of he is forced to reevaluate his life a bit and slowly Angela and Geoff start to get to know each other and find they actually like each other - quite a lot in fact! A very enjoyable, light-hearted story, with - of course - a really, lovely happy ending.