Abandoned by Booklikes

The cover was cute. I don't know if it's because the book was a bit too short for development (263 pages) or if the author just had too much focus on Christmas with not enough time to set things up or what. Also there's a whole stupid plot point with the hero and money and I maybe rage screamed in a pillow. It made zero sense and I just hated it. I also think there was a bit too much going on (another couple, not the main one getting together) that could have been in a separate book if the author wanted to have a series. But trying to shoehorn them into a romance novel when you are supposed to be focused on the main heroine and hero just didn't work. The plot was okay, but execution totally fell down.

"Christmas at Silver Falls" has Scarlett Bailey and her family returning to her grandmother's inn, White Oaks Inn, for Christmas. The family gets together every Christmas and has a huge celebration with the rest of the town. This year though, things are somber. Scarlett and her family realize that her grandmother must sell her business since she's not making enough money to live on let alone run the inn anymore. Scarlett though hears that a rich businessman with ties to Silver Falls, Charlie Bryant, may be living near and she wonders if she can talk him into saving her grandmother's business.

So you may think this is about Scarlett appealing to a Scrooge like character and making him see that love and family are important. Nope, not even a little bit. Charlie is in hiding because of reasons (they are stupid) and at first he's wary of Scarlett, but quickly comes around to wanting to spend time with her and her family. Most of the obstacles are because Scarlett's grandmother doesn't trust him cause rich people, cause, he's a developer, etc. It gets old. 

I think the main issue I have is that Scarlett has very little personality. She wants to keep her grandmother's business running. Fine. But I honestly cannot remember what her job is and just passed on looking it up. We hear she picks charity cases as boyfriends, so her grandmother thinks that is what Charlie is (just go with it) and I just didn't care at all.

Charlie's story resonated a bit more with me until we find out why he is in hiding. I maybe went seriously and this is stupid a dozen times.

The secondary romance couple in this one, a long-time friend of Scarlett's and a singing banker were more interesting and I started to wish I was reading about them.

The writing was just okay, there are a lot of plot holes going on here and there and development is lacking for a lot of characters (Scarlett's father, her maiden aunt, etc.)

The setting of Silver Falls reads like a Hallmark Family movie small town. No complaints, it sounded very comfortable and Christmasy. 

The ending was a Happily Ever After (HEA) which was nice, but I found myself bored and glad to move on from this one. Do not expect steamy sex scenes or even love scenes period. This is not a Christian romance, but it may as well be.