Highland Christmas by Amy Quick Parrish 3 stars

 

 

 

I was looking for something easy to read, having just read a couple of long, serious, books. It was time for a bit of brain candy. It’s also November and time to turn thoughts toward the Holidays. So, when I found Highland Christmas on my NetGalley shelf, I was delighted. Even though the book has been out for a year (Published October 25,2022) and has a sequel coming out next year (October 12,2024), it seemed to be just what I needed.

It was fine. The story of Melissa Mackenzie, whose philandering husband Dave (no last name…which is a detail I wanted) had thrown her out of her home after Thanksgiving dinner, so he can snuggle in with her brother’s ex, Samantha, after a quick Christmas trip to Barbados. Melissa is blindsided, but there doesn’t seem to be any grief, especially when the Prince of Nairobi…oh wait, it’s a long-lost uncle in Scotland who has left her a house in Inverness.

So, our Melissa drops everything, packs a bag, and books a flight.

The story goes on with Melissa makes the flight meets all sorts of wonderful, picturesque Scottish, people, finds the house she’s inherited, and not only moves in, renovates it, adopts a dog, and attends all the lovely celebrations of the village. All before Christmas.

While it is a sweet story, almost a fairy tale, the complete lack of detail about characters and complications frustrated me. I almost put it down, but realized there wasn’t that much left to read, as the book is only 128 pages long. I wish she’d had an editor to tell her that people want to know more about the characters … I originally thought Melissa was in her fifties or better, but later it seems she may be in her twenties. And while we got lots of local color, with descriptions of everything from the highland games to the taste of Haggis, we don’t really know much about how our characters feel. Shouldn’t Melissa be angry?  Or sad? 

I got what I was looking for though, a bit of literary candy. Just remember that candy isn’t very nourishing.

This was a NetGalley advanced reader copy. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Flying Cactus Publishing, for allowing me to read in exchange for this review.