Bright Lights, Big Christmas

Bright Lights, Big Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews was a fantastic Christmas story. Carrie was fired from her job and back living with her mother in the little western North Carolina town where she grew up. Her father had a heart attack and her divorced mother needed to move in and take care of him. However, someone had to go to New York City to help Carrie’s brother sell the family’s Christmas trees from the family’s farm. In typical May Kay Andrews fashion, she created a story full of romance, comedy, friendship, a closer sibling connection, community, and a journey of self discovery all within the backdrop of a ratty old camping trailer, a Christmas tree stand, and the cold winter weather in Manhattan at Christmastime. There were definitely times when I found myself laughing out loud, and I always love the happy ending. What a wonderful book to get the reader into the spirit for a Christmas romance! I definitely recommend this book, which I give 4.5 stars. Readers of romantic comedy will love this single dad romance. I am voluntarily writing this honest review after reading an advanced complementary copy of this book thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press.

Delving into Mary Kay Andrews' book for the first time, I was captivated by her ability to craft a timely Christmas love story centered on New York City's holiday season. Through the vivid portrayal of an avenue and a few shop names, she built a setting that resonated with the festive cheer.

Kerry Tolliver found herself uprooted from her North Carolina hometown, compelled to sell Christmas trees from a family stand in bustling New York City. Struggling after a layoff and her father recovering from an illness, Kerry faced a challenging three weeks enduring the icy winter in a dysfunctional camper with her older brother, Murphy.

Unexpectedly, as the days dwindled and Christmas Eve approached, she formed deep connections with the neighborhood folks, particularly Patrick, a single dad, and his son, Austin. The question loomed: should she return to her hometown, where she felt out of place, or take a bold leap toward a fresh start in the city that never sleeps?

The book's standout features were its ease of reading and the effortless flow of words, depicting classic Christmas elements—trees, wintry weather, and the joyous holiday spirit exuded by the characters.

Witnessing Kerry's bond grow stronger with her brother was heartwarming, considering they grew physically apart due to their parents' divorce. The character evolution of Kerry and Murphy was beautifully portrayed—from initially distant to openly expressing sibling affection after spending time together.

However, I found myself questioning if this was indeed a holiday romance. I was reading Chapter 9 when I noticed the limited interaction between Kerry and Patrick. A couple of chapters after, Patrick's spontaneous peck on Kerry's lips left me baffled. It felt abrupt and rushed, lacking the buildup their relationship deserved.

The secondary characters, particularly Mr. Heinz and Austin, brought a certain charm to the narrative. Mr. Heinz, like a grumpy yet endearing grandpa, rediscovered the joy of Christmas, while Austin's quirky demeanor added brightness to the story.

"Bright Lights, Big Christmas" is a decent holiday read. While it may not stand out as exceptional or make it to the top of my list of recommended holiday books, it's certainly not a book I'd dissuade others from picking up.

For the first 3/4 of the book She seems to totally miss the magic of NYC around the holidays. Never really grasps describing the exuberance of NYC personalities and while there seems to be a romance subplot in the story, you never really feel any kind of chemistry between the two. Everything fell flat for me.

Another thing that really threw me off is that the only person described by their race in the book was a Black woman. The person’s race wasn’t important enough in the story to justify this. Am I to assume everyone else is white? This makes no sense. And on the flip side, there were an unlikely amount of red heads described as well, only like 1% of the world has red hair. Another thing that bothered me was that one of the characters described the pizza as “authentic” and I’ve never known a NYer to call pizza authentic.

Idk maybe you’d like this book if you’re from the south and have never been to NY. But it lacked character depth and personality. It never left me needing to know what happened next or caring about any of the characters until the very end.

I almost didn’t finish it, but the ending was pretty cute so I guess if you can bear the soulless beginning it’s an okay Christmas story.