Publishing September 26-St. Martin’s Press-288pp
Book Summary:
From Mary Kay Andrews, the New York Times bestselling author of The Santa Suit, comes a novella celebrating the magic of Christmas and second chances.
Newly single and unemployed Kerry Tolliver needs a second chance. When she moves back home to her family’s Christmas tree farm in North Carolina, she is guilt tripped into helping her brother, Murphy, sell trees in New York City. She begrudgingly agrees, but she isn’t happy about sharing a trailer with her brother in the East Village for two months. Plus, it’s been years, since before her parents’ divorce, that she’s been to the city to sell Christmas trees.
Then, Kerry meets Patrick, the annoying Mercedes owner who parked in her spot for the first two days. Patrick is recently divorced, a father to a six-year-old son, and lives in the neighborhood. Can Kerry’s first impressions about the recently divorced, single father, and–dare she say, handsome–neighbor be wrong?
Surrounded by warm childhood memories, sparkling possibility, and the magic of Christmas in the City, will Kerry finally get the second chance she needs to find herself… and maybe even find love?
Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab
Ignore the Halloween décor already crowding the store aisles and cozy up with MKA’s Christmas novella. The setting is a street corner in magical New York City where the Tolliver’s Christmas Tree lot is located each year. The tiny 1963 Shasta trailer that Kerry and Murphy squeeze into after driving 700 miles from North Carolina takes center stage as tough competition, social media miracles, and the scary search for a missing friend add to the frantic countdown to Christmas Eve. MKA tucks a quirky, wise old man, a generous, considerate group of neighbors, some nasty competition, and a handsome single dad and his adorable son, into a Christmas story fit for a snow globe scene. Bright Lights, Big Christmas unwraps the true gifts of the season; loyal friends, devoted family, and discovering love-all on a Christmas tree lot in the middle of New York City. (Cue the twinkle lights and hot chocolate!)
MKA and her family divide their time between Atlanta and Tybee Island, GA, where they cook up new recipes in three restored beach homes, The Breeze Inn, Ebbtide, and Coquina Cottage—all named after fictional places in Mary Kay’s novels, and all available to rent through Tybee Vacation Rentals. In between cooking, spoiling her grandkids, and plotting her next novel, Mary Kay is an intrepid treasure hunter whose favorite pastime is junking and fixing up old houses. The link to MKA’s website and all her wonderful books! https://marykayandrews.com/
The Grateful Reader 