Bright Lights, Big Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews

 

Title:  Bright Lights, Big Christmas

Author:  Mary Kay Andrews

Narrated by:  Kathleen McInerney

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Length: Approximately 8 hours and 8 minutes

Source: Review Copy from NetGalley

Do you have a live Christmas tree or an artificial one?  In Bright Lights, Big Christmas, Kerry Tolliver is helping out her family after her father’s heart attack, by traveling from her family’s Christmas tree farm in North Carolina to New York City with her big brother Murphy and his dog Queen to sell their Christmas trees.  This is how the family makes their money for the year. Their family has been selling Christmas trees in the same location since Kerry was a child, but she hasn’t been a part of it since she was a kid.  She is now in her thirties and at a crossroads in life.  What does she want to do moving into the future?   

Kerry meets a handsome single dad, Patrick, who lives nearby with his son Austin.  She grows close to them both, but how can she start a relationship if she returns to North Carolina soon? 

Kerry also befriends an elderly man, Heinz, that stops by her Christmas tree stand daily.  She is an artist, and together with Austin and Heinz, they start to create a Christmas book.  When Heinz goes missing, Austin will not stop until they discover what has happened to him.  Will they find him before it is too late?

Bright Lights, Big Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews was the Brenda Novak Book Group pick for October, but I didn’t read it until December.  I greatly enjoyed this book.  It was a light tale filled with second chances, found family, and the spirit of Christmas.  I loved the characters in the community surrounding the Christmas tree lot including Spammy, the old camper Kerry and Murphy live in that does not have any heat or a functioning bathroom.  I felt very cold reading about this.  I enjoyed the mystery at the end and the romance.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Kathleen McInerney, and I greatly enjoyed it. This is a clean read and it felt like a Hallmark movie.  I would love to see this story as a movie.

Overall, Bright Lights, Big Christmas is a feel-good Christmas novel with great characters.

Ladies’ Night by Mary Kay Andrews

Title: Ladies’ Night

Author: Mary Kay Andrews

Read by: Kathleen Mcierney

Publisher: MacMillian Audio

Length: 14 CDs

Source: Kewaunee Public Library

Grace Stanton is a blogging mogul. She writes the popular blog, GraceNotes about interior design, and has done quite well for herself. So well that her husband, Ben has quit his job to help with the advertising and marketing of her blog. When Grace finds Ben in a compromising position with her assistant J ’Aimee, she flies into a rage and drives Ben’s car into their swimming pool. Leaving her former life behind, she moves in with her mother, Rochelle, who owns and operates the Sandbox, a beach dive bar. Sentenced to a Divorce Group by her woman-hating judge, Stackpole, she makes a whole new group of friends that are also going through a tough divorce. She also meets, Wyatt, the only man sentenced to the recovery group. The group also discovers that their therapist, Paula, is not all that she seems to be. They spend time after the session at the Sandbox having their own bit of therapy with lively discussions.

Kathleen Mcierney was an excellent narrator. I loved listening to this story and found myself wanting to drive to work on a Saturday so I could listen to more of the story. I liked all of the characters and hearing their stories. I will admit though that the stories did make me sad, especially when there were children involved in the divorce process. It brought back some painful memories for me from when my parents were getting divorced.

This book was the October pick for my FLICKS Book and Movie club. We met at a bar in October and only three of us could make it. Two of us read the book and enjoyed it. We thought it was a good pick.