Merry and Bright
A Novel
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4.3 • 207 Ratings
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Christmas is the season of the heart, and #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber is here to warm yours with a delightful holiday novel of first impressions and second chances.
Merry Knight is pretty busy these days. She’s taking care of her family, baking cookies, decorating for the holidays, and hoping to stay out of the crosshairs of her stressed and by-the-book boss at the consulting firm where she temps. Her own social life is the last thing she has in mind, much less a man. Without her knowledge, Merry’s well-meaning mom and brother create an online dating profile for her—minus her photo—and the matches start rolling in. Initially, Merry is incredulous, but she reluctantly decides to give it a whirl.
Soon Merry finds herself chatting with a charming stranger, a man with similar interests and an unmistakably kind soul. Their online exchanges become the brightest part of her day. But meeting face-to-face is altogether different, and her special friend is the last person Merry expects—or desires. Still, sometimes hearts can see what our eyes cannot. In this satisfying seasonal tale, unanticipated love is only a click away.
Praise for Merry and Bright
“Warm and sweet as Christmas cookies, this new Debbie Macomber romance is sure to be a hit this holiday season.”—Bookreporter
“Heartfelt, cheerful . . . Readers looking for a light and sweet holiday treat will find it here.”—Publishers Weekly
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Macomber's heartfelt, cheerful, and almost entirely predictable holiday contemporary finds a bit of freshness in shopworn romance tropes. Merry Knight is finishing up a year of temp work at the Matterson Consulting Firm as the holidays approach. She repeatedly butts heads with her boss, Jayson Bright, but she can't afford to make too much trouble her family depends on her income to help make ends meet. As a surprise, her mother and brother build Merry a profile on dating website Mix & Mingle. Meanwhile, ambitious but lonely Jayson sets up his own Mix & Mingle profile. Both profiles use altered names, so when Merry and Jayson begin chatting over the site, neither realizes the person they're quickly becoming attached to is actually their work nemesis. Merry's perky innocence and Jayson's maladjusted elitism grow tiresome quickly, and awkward prose ("Merry hugged her brother and, wrapping her arms around his torso, she gave him a gentle squeeze") distracts, but Macomber engages through endearing details, such as Merry's delight in roasted chestnuts. Readers looking for a light and sweet holiday treat will find it here.
Customer Reviews
Love this
This was such an adorable little Christmas story! I loved both Merry and Jason. And I loved that Jason cares so much about Merry and her family. I wanted this to be a little longer to make the ending a bit more justified. I've been loving all of the Debbie Macomber books I've read the past month or so!
Cute story!
Merry and Bright by Debbie Macomber is set in Seattle, Washington. Merry Knight is a temp at Matterson Consulting. Her contract will be up on December 23 and Merry will be glad for the break. Her by-the-book boss has been pushing the workers and the mandatory overtime has put a kink in her social life. Merry’s mother (Robin) and brother (Patrick) set up a profile for her on Mix and Mingle with a photo of their dog. They want to find someone for Merry who will be interested in her as a person (not her outward appearance). Merry is stunned, but, to her surprise, one man stands out to her. He did use a photo of himself either (his childhood dog). The pair start chatting online at night while Merry deals with her difficult boss during the day. After getting to know each other, they agree to meet in person and Merry is astonished by the man’s identity. It is the last person she expected to see or wanted to. To find out what happens between Merry and her online suitor, pick up a copy of Merry and Bright.
Merry and Bright is a fun, entertaining story (Debbie Macomber never disappoints). It has good characters, a lovely city (I want to live there), a cute premise, and a set during a magical time of year--Christmas. I liked the themes presented in the story—Christmas is a condition of the heart (isn’t that just beautiful), kindness, generosity, openness, showing love to those we cherish, bad things about assumptions, misconceptions and judgements can be harmful/detrimental. I found Merry and Bright to be well-written with a nice ease to the writing (it flowed nicely). My rating for Merry and Bright is 4 out of 5 stars (I liked it). My one critique is the story is predictable. Once I started reading, I accurately predicted the rest of the story. Merry and Bright is a lovely, heartwarming Christmas tale that will delight fans of Debbie Macomber.
Feel-good story
‘‘Tis the season for hope! This story is well written and leaps off of the pages and into the reader’s heart like a Hallmark movie. Life is so stressful these days and can be disheartening. Books like this take away from that and bring a smile to the face and warmth in the heart.