Christmas at Silver Falls: A heartwarming, feel good Christmas romance

Scarlett has always had a huge family (and community) Christmas celebration – full of fun, festivities and history at the White Oaks Inn, established by her grandparents and where the family meets every year. Despite the family’s love for the inn, it’s a huge financial burden with her grandmother’s refusal (and inability) to upgrade to a more modern facility able to compete with the all-inclusive resort at the other end of town. The family is gathering for the last holiday, planning to break the news that they want to sell to her grandmother on Boxing Day – allowing everyone one last ‘fling’ to fix memories. Scarlett is upset and worried about her grandmother, and while she can see ways to help save the inn, particularly with her degree in marketing, she knows that the task is more than the family can take on, and perhaps more than they can afford. But in an effort to reaffirm her connections to the town she spent her summers in, she’s stopped into the only bar in town to say hi and hopefully meet with the woman who was a touchstone in her life after her mother’s death. Discovering that the man who lived just down the mountain had a son, and that said son had left a business card with the bar owner after expressing an interest in buying property for an inn, Scarlett takes the card, determined to meet with this stranger and get him to consider the White Oaks Inn. Charlie has been staying at his father’s abandoned property after purchasing it from his aunt. Riddled with guilt about his estrangement from his father – he’s closed himself off from everything around him, and after dissolving his business, has been passing the profits from his work along to charities and people who ‘need it more’ than he. When Scarlett gets her father’s truck stuck in the deep snow, and is rescued from certain hypothermia by Charlie, she’s curious. He is familiar, but not – closed off but she can see the hurt. Known for rescuing and ‘caring for’ her boyfriends, it’s going to be a long shot to get Charlie to trust in her with his story, and even longer to get her grandmother on board. From the decidedly ‘Christmas” feel with family coming together and the community being quite tight knit and welcoming through the holiday, to the games, meals, moments of ‘cheer’ and goodwill, and the community’s coming together to ’adopt’ a single mum and her young son after what could have been a tragic accident, the holiday theme, the feeling and the love are clear to see and feel. What’s not as clear is the path to a relationship for Scarlett and Charlie – as much as she pushes, he often closes up or disappears entirely – and the concern expressed by her grandmother about Charlie’s past history and business dealings have her all mixed up. But it will be Charlie who has the keys to saving the inn – both with ideas and money, and the re-imagined business plan – focused on the history and the families that once inhabited the old buildings, along with a bit of magic of the season and his learning to ‘feel’ again rather than run from his emotions have the key to enlivening the inn and inspiriting the family and her grandmother for years to come. Hale has brought ALL the feelings of the perfect holiday to the page – from family and traditions, to a community that’s all in to the season, children’s joy in Santa and even some clever games and long-awaited romances for many. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.