The Christmas Spirit
A Novel
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4.0 • 8 Ratings
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Two lifelong friends decide to trade places the week before Christmas and end up finding love along the way in this delightful novel from the queen of holiday stories, #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber.
Peter Armstrong and Hank Colfax are best friends, but their lives couldn’t be more different. Peter, the local pastor who is dedicated to his community, spending time visiting the flock, attending meetings, and, with the holiday season approaching, preparing for the Christmas service and live nativity. As a bartender, Hank serves a much different customer base at his family-owned tavern, including a handful of lonely regulars and the local biker gang.
When Peter scoffs that Hank has it easy compared to him, the two decide to switch jobs until Christmas Eve. To their surprise, the responsibilities of a bartender and a pastor are similar, but taking on the other’s work is more difficult than either Peter or Hank expected. As the two begin to see each other in a new light—and each discovers a new love to cherish—their lives are forever changed.
In The Christmas Spirit, Debbie Macomber celebrates the true meaning of the holidays and the inclusive community spirit that binds us all.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bestseller and Hallmark Channel stalwart Macomber (Dear Santa) does it again with a candy cane–sweet holiday romance about two friends who swap lives for a week before Christmas. Framed as a true story told by a grandmother to her two young grandchildren, the narrative toggles between the present day and 1977, when bar owner Hank Colfax and church pastor Pete Armstrong got into a debate about whose job was easier. Hank assumes Pete's job is a walk in the park without the hassle of taxes and paperwork, while Pete thinks Hank must be partying every night. The men hatch a plot to trade professions for the holiday season, and each quickly finds their assumptions proven wrong—while also finding love in the most unlikely of places. Pete's instantly taken by Millie, a waitress at a biker bar who comes to his rescue in a moment of peril, and Hank melts the icy heart of the judgmental church secretary, Grace Ann. An eclectic supporting cast—including cadres of strippers and bikers—and a comically disastrous climactic Christmas Eve church service make the narrative shine bright. It's exactly what readers want from a Macomber holiday outing.
