About this book:
“This Year, Christmas Comes Just in Time
As a first-year law associate, Sydney Batson knows she will be updating her resume by New Year’s if she loses her current court case. So when her grandmother gets inexplicably ill while she’s in court, Sydney arranges for a cab to get her to the clinic.
The last thing cab driver Finn Parrish wants is to be saddled with a wheelchair-bound old lady with dementia. But because Miss Callie reminds him of his own mother, whom he failed miserably in her last days, he can’t say no when she keeps calling him for rides. Once a successful gourmet chef, Finn’s biggest concern now is making his rent, but half the time Callie doesn’t remember to pay him. And as she starts to feel better, she leads him on wild goose chases to find a Christmas date for her granddaughter.
When Finn meets Sydney, he’s quite sure that she’s never needed help finding a date. Does Miss Callie have an ulterior motive, or is this just a mission driven by delusions? He’s willing to do whatever he can to help fulfill Callie’s Christmas wish. He just never expected to be a vital part of it.”
Series: No, a stand-alone.
Spiritual Content- At the end, in the author’s note there is a few pages about the Bible having the answers to happiness & references Scriptures (also a couple mentions of a study that mentions meditating, which the author says “We call that prayer in Christendom”); A few Scriptures are read & mentioned; Prayers & Thanking Jesus; Finn says he’s more of an “ambivalent believer in the events that Christmas celebrates” and that he mom used to take him to church before he “got too smart to believe in Jesus” (in reality, no one answered his questions as a child and that seems to have affected his interest in God); Finn wonders about the first Christmas and details about those involved (Jesus, Mary, Joseph); Finn starts to pray and realize that “Callie’s Jesus” is listening and hopes to trust Him like she does *Spoiler* When Sydney chooses to be with him, he thinks that “with certainty, I know Callie’s God is real” *End of Spoiler*; Sydney has rarely talked to God, but starts and can tell that God “takes notice” of her prayers; 'H's are not capital when referring to God or Jesus; Mentions of God, Jesus; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of a Bible & someone’s notes; Mentions of churches, church going, a pastor, services, & a hymn; Mentions of Heaven & someone wanting to ask Jesus a lot of questions; Mentions of a prayer room at a hospital, a nativity set there, & those in the Bible; A few mentions of a church’s choir, Sunday School, youth group, & mission project; A couple mentions of someone being older or as old as Methuselah; A mention of a Christian Christmas song; A mention of Christmas being a holy day;
*Note: Finn wonders if God is punishing him with some sort of “cosmic what-goes-around-comes-around”; The phrase “God forbid” is used once loosely; A mention of a godforsaken place (by Finn); A mention of someone going to “pitch a holy fit”; A mention of Finn wondering if Sydney would think it’s a mortal sin to be caught crying.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘freakin’’, an ‘oh my gosh’, a ‘sheesh’, a ‘ticked off’, a ‘shut up’, two ‘blasted’s, two ‘idiot’s, and twelve forms of ‘stupid’, Some eye rolling & sarcasm; *Major Spoilers but important content that could be Triggering* About half-way through the book, the main characters and reader finds out that Callie has a late-stage cancer that has spread (which the doctor tells Sydney to set up hospice as she won’t be getting better); A bit later, Callie passes away in her sleep and both Sydney and Finn find her, grieve the loss, and have to plan the funeral (up to semi-detailed) *End of Major Spoilers*; Sydney is representing a college-aged guy who got drunk, did drunk driving, & crashed into a restaurant (he and his rich father are suing the college and restaurant for allowing it to happen; Sydney isn’t thrilled about it but puts together a case saying that the guy is a victim of the college culture that teaches students to drink and party–which she doesn’t believe at all but had to take the case that was given to her); Finn lies a couple times & then tries to avoid lying again; Finn has a pretty bitter outlook on life because of past events; Finn has guilt from not seeing his mother before she passed away & has a nightmare about it (barely-above-not-detailed); Finn feels like he’s inadequate compared to other guys; Grieving (mothers, a grandmother, & friend); Many, many mentions of cancers, illnesses, injuries, deaths, grieving, & guilt (including mothers and a grandmother, barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of alcohol, drinking, hangovers, drunks, drunk driving, parties, getting high, & smoking marijuana (in a state where it’s illegal); Mentions of jail, hitting an officer and judge, & a prisoner being putting on suicide watch; Mentions of lies & lying (including someone wanting Sydney to do something illegal/untruthful in court, which she won’t do); Mentions of someone wanting their body donated for science when they die; A few mentions of a possible carjacking; A few mentions of hatred; A couple mentions of Finn being robbed at gunpoint; A couple mentions of cigarettes & smoking; A couple mentions of a custody battle for Sydney after her mother passed away (between her grandmother and father); A mention of someone possibly being an ax murderer & going to decapitate someone; A mention of the mafia; A mention of someone cheating on an exam; A mention of relief flooding over someone like a drug; A mention of Callie saying that she thought her daughter didn’t have “the sense” to take care of her baby and that she made a lot of mistakes;
*Note: Many mentions of apps, social media, celebrities, TV shows, fictional characters, brand-names, stores, & restaurants (including Uber, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Michael Jackson, Gilmore Girls, Naked and Afraid, Dr. Phil, Forensic Files, Duck Dynasty, Tupperware, iPad, Spray Net, Kleenex, Sara Lee’s frozen pie, Walgreens, Macy’s, Jiffy Lube, Best Buy, Apple, Walmart, Home Depot, Kroger, Burger King, McDonald’s, Arby’s, & Starbucks); Mentions of Christmas songs (including “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”, “Santa Baby”, and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”); A couple mentions of Patty Hearst & Stockholm syndrome; A mention of Gloria Allred; A mention of a car brand; A mention of People magazine; A mention of a UFC fight; A mention of Boy Scouts; A mention of the elderly commercials about someone not being able to get up from falling on the floor.
Sexual Content- Two cheek kisses, two barely-above-not-detailed kisses, and a detailed kiss; Wanting to kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, & Nearness (barely-above-not-detailed); A bit of Noticing; Blushes; Mentions of flirting & Callie trying to set Sydney up on dates (Finn misunderstands and thinks that Callie is being a cougar to younger men); A few mentions of dating, dates, & boyfriends/girlfriends; A few mentions of Callie saying that a man will cheat on his wife because he’s a nice-looking man and she’s let herself go; A mention of kissing; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: Both Sydney and Finn think and talk about the dress code expected for female lawyers & how impractical it is as women are not men and shouldn’t have to dress in a similar fashion (ranting); A few mentions of Callie commenting on a woman’s large thighs; A few mentions of Callie not liking yoga pants or men having their pants hanging low (barely-above-not-detailed); A mention of a woman’s tight pants; A mention of a guy abusing his girlfriend (not implied one way or the other—physically, sexually, or verbally).
-Sydney Batson
-Finn Parrish, age 30
1st person P.O.V. switches between them
286 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
{Might not be an easy read for those sensitive to deaths of loved ones, seeing the death of a loved one, and/or cancer-related deaths.}
I’ve heard a lot of hype for this Christmas novella from book friends, and in all honesty, I’ve been pushing it off because of said hype. Oops. Sorry, y’all. I’m finally getting around to read it and while I can see why so many friends like this book, I have mixed feelings on it.
I thought that both Finn and Sydney were very bitter in the beginning half of the story and though they “wake up” if you will after an important event/news, they quickly did a 180. I think that’s because of the realization of what’s truly important in life, which makes sense and we need those reminders every now-and-then. The romance between the felt very rushed and out-of-the-blue in terms of their emotions towards the other and what was happening.
This was actually my first book by this author (despite having multiple books by her on my TBR) and overall it was fine. I liked the author’s note at the end about the Bible having the true answer for happiness.
I’ll give this book props that even though it dealt with a sad topic of an older woman dying, it wasn’t very depressing. I think I would have preferred more faith content from her, but there was more towards the end. Personally, I enjoyed “The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kips” by Sara Brunsvold better, but this one wasn’t bad either, I suppose.
See y’all on Friday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
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