Book Review - A Royal Christmas

There is a certain antihistamine brand that advertises with the song which proclaims it is the most wonderful time of the year. My husband can attest that this advertisement, regardless of my feelings about the product, chafes my soul like a swimsuit 2 sizes too small. They tease! I’m a fall fan through and through, but that phrase is reserved specifically for Christmas and to use it elsewhere is to deliver false hope. However, there is a silver tinsel light at the end of the tunnel, because fall means the release of the new Melody Carlson Christmas novella. It is the harbinger of Christmas carols to come, the first hopeful glimmer of the season in which I truly come alive! This year’s gift, A Royal Christmas, is a splendid addition to the Carlson Christmas chronicles I so crave. It is like jingling sleigh bells stop in front of my house on the sweltering fall day each year when my Carlson Christmas novella arrives. This one involves law student Adelaide Smith, still mourning the loss of her mother, and whose life is about to be shaken by the news that her father has found her by using a DNA match. And her father is the ailing king of a small Eastern European principality. And also, he hopes to stay alive long enough to meet the daughter he only recently learned he has, hopefully to find in her the heir to rule Montovia.

The relationships woven together through this story are intricate. It’s not your super cozy Christmas novella where someone misinterprets a hug between siblings as competition for romance. Adelaide quickly, but realistically, builds bonds with various members of the royal family and staff members. Some are worth keeping and others are a bit more in the spirit of Krampus than Father Christmas, when nefarious motives come into play. Carlson moves the book forward with a full novel’s character development and storyline in a novella length word count; a skill that left me feeling utterly satisfied and a wee bit bonded with certain characters. And if you know someone who delights in a Christmas novella, allow me to suggest this as a fantastic gift. I will surely reread A Royal Christmas at the height of my Thanksgiving through the new year Christmas novella marathon!

A Royal Christmas by Melody Carlson is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House        Christian Book            Barnes & Noble            Amazon

Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.