Publication Oct. 17, 2023
Oh, rats! Holly has her work cut out for her this time. With her wedding fast approaching, as is a major winter storm, she's also dealing with an inn full-up with a ballet company, holiday games to play and officiate, and the troubling behavior of soon-to-be-husband Evan's sister, Libby. Then Tiffany, the lead ballerina for the town's presentation of The Nutcracker, is killed. Who did it? One of the other ballerinas, or maybe the company's ballet master, George? Tiffany's online fan, or, wait, was she even the intended victim? Holly doesn't have time to think, to be honest, but she still can't help getting involved in the case, even after receiving threats.
Overall, I found it a fun read but wasn't quite as taken with it as I'd expected to be. Seemed to get bogged down with excessive descriptions of, say, clothing or hair styles, at times. Now, true, I loved every tiny detail at the end but, well, took me awhile to get to that point. Holly is likable although, quite frankly, I question, one, her common sense of darting out alone to confront a potential murderer, and, two, that she blew off parts of her mother's big moment being filmed to chase after said suspect. That left me annoyed at her for quite awhile. She also seemed to continually be distracted by thoughts of the murder. Never mind she'd barely spoken to the victim. She was fully invested in investigating. Investigating against Evan's attempts to detour her, btw.
The secondary plot involving Evan's sister was interesting. It did showcase Libby's ultimate maturity, however, and the bond between Evan and her. As for the involvement of Holly in that situation, she seemed largely sidelined and a bit overly dramatic as she thought about the case although, in her favor, her pestering Libby may have ultimately been the key to guiding Libby to share the situation with the already worried Evan. Mind you, all this is going on for Holly at the same time as the holiday festivities, wedding planning, addressing and signing cards, officiating at a snowman hat throwing contest, and watching the advance of the impending winter storm as her wedding day approached. Then there's the quirky friend who becomes an ordained minister to perform, no lie, a wedding for her pet goat. And, oh, the repeated comments about the toy drive coordinator looking like Santa and being able to seemingly make things happen. That said, the final scene is wonderfully described and reminds us all of the magic of people coming together to make the impossible happen.
Thanks #NetGalley and #CrookedLaneBooks for the dose of Christmas. It was a fun story and I loved how it incorporated The Nutcracker into the plot.
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