Genre: Contemporary holiday romanceAt the suggestion of her boss, widowed Christine takes her son to Vermont some R&R. She meets John, an ambitious college professor. A sweet (I do mean sweet - one kiss sweet) little novella follows. Given the constraint of length, the story was well-written. The characters were understandably a bit thin, but they fit the plot, which was a nice concept.Let me add this for your protection. Do NOT get the audio production. Best you keep the voices you imagine rather than deal with over-emoting I dealt with. SHORT AND SWEET - NOT THAT THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT!September 5, 2014 By Daniel Quentin Steele (Jacksonville, FL) FIRST THINGS FIRST I liked this book. I'm glad I downloaded it, glad I read it. And the three star rating may be a little bit unfair to the book and its author. BUT... The rating is a combination of personal and literary factors the author has no way to be aware of. (I know I ended with a preposition.) First, I have been on a romance/chick lit reading jag for awhile, which affected my reaction. The story follows the classic romance template. Two good looking people meet cute, there are a few - maybe - major obstacles to their acting on their attraction to each other. But they're lonely, and the two of them just click. She's a widow with a little boy. He's a college professor who's involved in pursuing his career and any serious relationship - especially one that comes with a kid and instant family - is something he just doesn't have time for. As I've written before, there is nothing wrong with writing to a formula. I've read hundreds - more actually - of mysteries that follow exactly the same plot line. Some famous series have written the same story with different locales and villains dozens of times and people still buy and read them. The same template applies to westerns. So, in westerns, mysteries and romance, plot doesn't really matter all that much. It's character and providing a reading experience that satisfies what the reader comes to the book looking for. (pesky preposition again). Ginny Baird gives romance readers what they're looking for. Likeable characters, meet cute, growing attraction and (not to give away any secrets) not one but TWO happy endings. Why, curmudgeon that I am, did it not meet all of my REQUIREMENTS? It's too short, it goes down too easy, it's too happy. As to the first, I like short stories. I used to read as lot of them. But I've found reading romance and chick lit (or women's fiction for the libbers out there) longer is better. The best writers, in almost any genre but romance and chick lit particularly need space. They need to develop characters and problems and show hurting characters. As to the second: You need problems and crises and hurt that seems impossible to ever heal, you need characters that either REALLY dislike each other or who face really serious difficulties in ever getting together. I guess I'm saying you need real pain to make a happy ending - or bittersweet ending - that you can root for. There was a very famous adventure writer named Alistair MacLean who epitomized this problem. He was a very accomplished writer, so good that as he continued writing, his novels got smoother and shorter and they could practically read themselves. I reviewed one of his later book, noting that reading it was like swallowing an oyster. It went down that smoothly. Sometimes you can be too good at writing. You need a little roughness, a little grit. AND FINALLY, "Catch" is just TOO DAMNED HAPPY! I know this is me. Lots of people love happy stories, funny stories, touching, sentimental stories. I do too. I am not a monster, after all.But I have my limits. I really like the movie "Polar Express" which is about as sweet a Christmas fable as you're ever going to find. And I like the way Dickens ended Scrooge's christmas tale. But I cannot take and have never been able to watch "ET" because I keep hoping he will be revealed as the advance scout for a race of monsters who suck the brains out of humans. Like I said, these are personal quibbles. If you don't share them, you will quite likely enjoy "The Christmas Catch."
What do You think about The Christmas Catch (2012)?
Very cute and fun read. Just the kind of story to lift your spirits and help you enjoy your holiday!
—taylor
ugh, it made me go "WHAT?!" at the very end. and not in a good way.
—Jenni
Pleasant book, well written and entertaining.
—elanasteyn
