Miramar Bay on the California coast is the setting for an unusual seasonal book with a compelling start. THE CHRISTMAS HUMMINGBIRD tells of forest fires affecting the drought-stricken landscape, with a community steadily becoming devastated and pulling ever closer to the town centre. Ethan Lange is literally dragged from his home by a team of emergency responders in yellow, shortly before Christmas. He’s been living alone for a few years, since his divorce, and now he loses his home too.  

Ryan Eames is the policewoman who found Ethan. What is most interesting is that Ryan has the dynamic job and Ethan the admin and art job. Ryan is actually a police officer but spends almost all her work days with firefighters right now, so again, her job was easy to confuse if I put the book down and returned the next day.

Liam is Ryan’s young son, who’s pretty quiet and lacks a male role model. When Ethan arrives with a baby hummingbird covered in soot that needs feeding at ten-minute intervals, the mother and son can’t help but pitch in to care for the fledgling. This sparks a notion in young Liam’s mind, and matters escalate throughout the town. When everyone is afraid of losing property and treasured articles, some people could forget that vulnerable wildlife and even domestic pets also face the fires. I appreciate the timely reminder that natural disaster harms nature too.

Davis Bunn has written in several genres including fantasy, and he invokes a fictional series of kids’ fantasy tales in THE CHRISTMAS HUMMINGBIRD, which may be too sweet for some readers, but it is, after all, a Christmas novel. This aspect is a counterpart to the peril and even malice faced by the fire crew. We could call the emotional tale general fiction, women’s fiction, or romantic fiction, but whichever, it’ll fit in a seasonal stocking and suit many readers.