REVIEW: Hope at Christmas by Nancy Naigle

Hope at Christmas by Nancy Naigle  is a wonderful Christmas story about learning to trust, friendship, following your heart and learning to fly. What a wonderful story just in time to kick off the holiday season. This is the story of Mac and Sydney.

Sydney Ragsdale is trying to get her life back together after a divorce from a man that all her friends knew was cheating on her. Needing to get away, she and her 10 year old daughter RayAnne move to Hopewell, NC and into the home that she loved so much as a child, the home of here grandparents. Waiting until January to start a new job, feeling at loose ends, she walks into the one place that made her happy, the place that holds so many wonderful memories for her, The Book Bea, and right into the wonderful old lady that she remembers from her youth. When Bea offers her a job for the holidays, Sydney jumps at the chance. The longer that she is in Hopewell, the more people that she meets, she begins to feel like she has finally come home. And that includes the handsome and helpful Kevin MacAlea.

Kevin MacAlea is a high school history teacher, raising his 12 year old son Seth on his own after his ex wife left them on Christmas Day. Trying to be all things to his son, Mac will do anything to make their lives as happy as possible. With the Christmas season approaching, Mac does what he has done for the last 13 years, he dresses up as Santa and listens to the dreams and wishes of the hopeful children in Hopewell. When little RayAnne shows up asking Santa to do something special to make her mom happy again, Mac begins to wonder if he might be able to work a little magic.

As Sydney and Mac spend time together, as friends of course, with the kids trying to make up for the fact that RayAnne’s father cancelled her visit with him, the more that Sydney and Mac realize that they share a lot in common. But Mac is hiding the fact that he is Santa from his son and from Sydney. When RayAnne is hurt and Sydney jumps to conclusions about how it happened, it will take a Christmas Miracle to get these two loney hearts back on the right path.

All I can really say about this amazing book is WOW! I mean, Bea is the true town matchmaker, and she has her sites set on Sydney and Mac. But she is also a confidant, she is a friend, she is a surrogate grandmother. She is exactly what Sydney needs when she feels like her life is falling apart. I love that Mac was patience with Sydney, giving her time and space to come around, taking it one day at a time, never pushing for more than either of them were willing to give.

This book shows the true meaning of Christmas, friends helping friends, finding your place in the world, and allowing hope to rise above it all.
 

Book Info:

Publication: Published October 10th 2017 | St. Martin’s Griffin |

A recently divorced woman and her daughter look for a fresh start by moving to a small town that embraces them in ways that only fate and the magic of Christmas can explain.

Sydney Ragsdale is divorced, but her husband is still calling the shots. In an attempt to shake free from his hold, she and her daughter, Ray Anne, head for tiny Hopewell, NC to the only asset her ex has no control over – a decaying farmhouse that once belonged to her grandparents. She finds solace at The Book Bea, the bookstore she’d loved as a child during her summer stays.

Kevin MacAlea, Mac to his friends, is the local high school history teacher and baseball coach. Father of a twelve-year-old son, he’s Hopewell, North Carolina’s most sought after bachelor. His young bride abandoned him and his son just before Christmas and has never come back. It has left his son bitter about Christmas which is hard for Mac who loves the magic of the season. He’s been the Santa here in Hopewell since the year Seth was born.
But when a catastrophe forces The Book Bea to close before the end of the year, everyone in the small town is feeling the loss. While Sydney is already off-balance by the bad news, her ex-husband breaks a promise to their daughter that sends Ray Anne running away. As Sydney tries to figure out what her next steps are she discovers all of the answers are right here in Hopewell.