Title: Alaskan Holiday

Author: Debbie Macomber

Publisher: Ballantine Books 2018

Genre: Romance

Pages: 256

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Christmas Spirit

Before beginning her dream job as sous chef in one of Seattle’s hottest new restaurants, Josie Avery takes a summer position cooking at a lakeside lodge in the remote Alaskan town of Ponder. Josie falls for the rustic charms of the local community—including Jack Corcoran, the crotchety keeper of Ponder’s famed sourdough starter, and, in particular, the quiet and intense Palmer Saxon, a famed master swordsmith.

Josie and Palmer become close during the long Alaskan summer days, but Josie knows that, come fall, she’ll be returning to reality and the career she’s worked so hard for. Palmer, on the other hand, would like nothing better than to make Josie his wife and to keep her in Ponder. But Josie can’t imagine abandoning her mother back in the Emerald City and sacrificing her career to stay in this isolated town—not even for a man she’s quickly coming to love.

I’m usually always up for a Christmas romance story (no matter how cheesy they can be), but this one just didn’t sit right with me. I was bored with the main characters. The side characters, specifically Jack, seemed very silly and one dimensional. You know how this is going to end, but it was just so repetitive. The constant internal questioning of each other’s motives instead of saying something really had me wanting to yell at all the characters. I finished it, but I just don’t think this book was for me…

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