The Christmas Box
Toni Blake
Holiday Romance
She loves Christmas!
Opening a Christmas shop in her hometown of Winterberry, Kentucky is a dream come true for Lexi Hargrove. Lexi is no stranger to loss, but her holly, jolly approach to life has sustained her. She couldn’t have imagined the first person to walk through the door of the Christmas Box would be Travis Hutchins, her long lost high school crush who stood her up for a date a dozen years ago. He’s looking for coffee, not Christmas – and makes it clear he’s a holiday hater. But why does he still have to be so hot? And when did he become so Grinchy?
He hates Christmas!
Travis never planned to come back to Winterberry, but his estranged father is dying. He just wants to keep a low profile, do his duty, then head back to his life in Chicago. Things he never expected: running into Lexi Hargrove, and an endless explosion of all things Christmas directly in eyesight of where he’s staying. When did she get so pretty? And why does he keep going back?
Can one wish upon a Christmas star change everything?
Lexi isn’t sure why she’s wishing for Hottie McScrooge across the street to find the joy of Christmas, but soon a whole array of Christmas wishes begin to change both their lives. Can those wishes keep Lexi’s shop open even when the situation looks bleak? Can they help Travis make peace with his dad before it’s too late? And can Lexi and Travis look past all their fears and differences to fall in love?
Uncaged Review: Everyone needs to choose a few holiday books during the season, and this one was a real stand out for me. A second-chance small town romance, a self-named Grinch in Travis, and Lexi, the woman who wants nothing but for people to have the Christmas spirit all year round, and opens a shop in her small town called The Christmas Box trying to keep her family legacy alive of owning a business in the town. Travis, a very angsty, and only in town as his father is in a nursing home with a terminal illness, so he’s there to do his duty and leave back to Chicago where he fled to right after high school from a bad home life.
But the magic of Christmas puts Lexi and Travis in each other’s paths, and soon each will be finding out that the magic of Christmas is real in their small town. This book has all the feels, some heart wrenching, some endearing moments and a town that stays together, even during the rough patches. And a huge shout out to Marley, who also found her place in the world. Not often do I finish a story in a day, but this one pulled me in within the first chapter.
Reviewed by Cyrene
5 Stars
