Madison McDowell returns, full of energy, to her family's tree farm in Oregon. This story covers the Thanksgiving and Christmas months, as we see that hard work isn’t easy. THE CHRISTMAS TREE FARM was seriously affected by a wildfire.
Some landowners have given up nearby, and sold or abandoned the idea of growing anything. Madison’s divorced sister Addie, who was here through their father’s passing, is quietly resentful. Madison was far away, contract teaching in Mongolia, through all the family troubles. Now she’s back, not ready to give up on the quaint tree farm. She’s looking at the standing inventory, and she’s willing to start replanting. Addie wants to call it a day.
The nearest neighbour, Gavin Thompson, has a kid who wants a dirt bike track, so they are adapting their destroyed Filbert farm, hoping to raise an income. The McDowell sisters aren’t keen on the prospect of noise and dust. Madison and Gavin used to be close, way back in high school. But he’s now a widower with two daughters, and elder sister Addie thinks he might suit her very nicely. Poor Madison is trapped in the middle.
This is a short novel, and I was delighted to see how much physical work our heroine puts into her day. If you think trees grow themselves, you’re mistaken. We don’t even get mentions of wildlife nibbling the young trees, which is likely to occur later during winter. Madison works hard and finds willing (paid) helpers, so she deserves success. But can she do enough to save the farm? Addie is a total wet blanket, and given the two women have equal shares, I would have been telling her to get off her armchair and help.
Gavin seems like a nice guy, doting on his girls, but their names Lily and Lucy are too similar, and I kept getting confused once Lucy arrived from school. Lily is a good helpmate and I’m just surprised she doesn’t want a pony instead of a dirt bike. The big problem I have, however, is with Madison’s never demanding to see the accounts, when it appears she has the bank log-in all along. At the very least, she would check the bottom line. Why leave everything to Addie and work in the figurative dark about suppliers and sales? That makes no sense. Melody Carlson provides a friendship-filled romance set on THE CHRISTMAS TREE FARM during the holidays. Nothing could feel nicer.
When Madison McDowell returns from several years teaching overseas, she has high hopes of picking up where she left off at her family's Christmas tree farm in Oregon. But between damage from a recent wildfire and the neglect due to her sister Addie's unwillingness to invest, the farm is in sad shape. In fact, Addie is intent on selling the property. And to top it off, her former high school flame, the now-widowed Gavin Thompson, has plans to break Madison's heart again by turning his neighboring property into a dusty, noisy dirt bike track for his daughter.
With the odds stacked against her, Madison decides there's only one thing to do: double down on her dreams. It will take a ton of hard work--and some help from an unlikely ally--to save the farm she so dearly loves. But it may take a miracle to restore her relationship with her sister.
Bestselling and award-winning author Melody Carlson charms and delights with this uplifting Christmas story full of old memories and new beginnings.
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