Release Day Review: Alaksan Holiday by Debbie Macomber

02 October of 2018 by ButtonsMom2003

Reviewer's Rating: 4

4.0Overall score

Classic Debbie Macomber, sweet with an HEA.

Alaksan Holiday By Debbie Macomber

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Released: October 2, 2018

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Synopsis

Debbie Macomber brings us to the Alaskan wilderness for a magical Christmas tale about finding love where it’s least expected.

Before beginning her dream job as sous chef in one of Seattle’s hottest new restaurants, Josie Avery takes a summer position cooking at a lakeside lodge in the remote Alaskan town of Ponder. Josie falls for the rustic charms of the local community—including Jack Corcoran, the crotchety keeper of Ponder’s famed sourdough starter, and, in particular, the quiet and intense Palmer Saxon, a famed master swordsmith.

Josie and Palmer become close during the long Alaskan summer days, but Josie knows that, come fall, she’ll be returning to reality and the career she’s worked so hard for. Palmer, on the other hand, would like nothing better than to make Josie his wife and to keep her in Ponder. But Josie can’t imagine abandoning her mother back in the Emerald City and sacrificing her career to stay in this isolated town—not even for a man she’s quickly coming to love.

Fate has other plans. Josie misses the last boat out of town before winter sets in, stranding her in Ponder and putting her dream job at risk. As the holidays approach, Josie and Palmer must grapple with the complications that arise when dreams confront reality, and the Christmas magic that can happen when they put their faith in love.

Review

Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003

Classic Debbie Macomber, sweet with an HEA.

Fans of Debbie Macomber’s sweet Christmas stories will not be disappointed by Alaskan Holiday. I’ve read many of her books over the years and her recent stories seem to be bucking the trend towards more and more explicit sex and language. In my opinion her earlier works were at lot more on the spicy side. While my tastes these days lend towards the spicier reads I don’t mind a sweeter one now and then.

Don’t look for any on-page, or even off-page, sexy time in this book – there is none – at all, not even a hint of it. It is still a pretty good story, though. The blurb really tells you everything about the story, I don’t think I can add one thing. It was a pretty quick read for me, especially for it being 256 pages long.The characters in the story are nice and I especially liked Jack, who is a friend of Palmer’s. I also enjoyed reading about Alaska and the Seattle areas as I had the pleasure of visiting those two places last May.

One thing that caught my attention is that the scenes from Seattle do nothing to convey how large that city it. The references to the hotel where Jack and Palmer stay, and the tourist areas they visit, make it sound like everything is very close together. There is also no mention of the sky-high price of hotel rooms in the city or the incredible hills in the downtown area that must be navigated to get from place to place. A quick mention of either thing would have increased the realism factor for me a bit.

While this isn’t a book that I ever see myself reading again, I’m still giving it 4 stars because the writing was good and flowed a lot more smoothly than the last book I read of hers, Cottage by the Sea.