Title: Christmas at the Vicarage
Series:
Author: Rebecca Boxall
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: November 17, 2015
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
My Rating: 3 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:
It’s been fifteen years since Rosamunde last lived at the vicarage in Potter’s Cove, the pretty coastal village where she grew up, experienced her first true love—and a heartbreak that changed her life forever. But now Potter’s Cove is calling her back: it’s time to make peace with the past and go home.
Rosamunde’s return to the vicarage in the days before Christmas is a whirlwind of festive cheer and heartwarming reunions with friends, family and her loving father, the vicar. And while seeing the old place after all this time stirs painful memories of long-ago grief, it also reminds her of all the love she left behind. Fifteen years ago she vowed never to let herself be vulnerable again—but now that she’s back she’s not so sure. Is it possible that real happiness could strike more than once?
Spanning three decades of family life, Christmas at the Vicarage is a warm, feel-good tale that examines what it means to love and to lose—and to be brave enough to try again.
Read on for my thoughts on Christmas at the Vicarage. No true spoilers, promise.
Christmas at the Vicarage is told in alternating chapters of the present with Rosamunde returning home after a 15 year absence and going back into her past when she met the man who would be the love of her life and how that relationship and her life changed. In many ways it is a story of sadness and the loss of the dreams of youth. As I was reading I couldn’t help but wonder just how many “Rosamundes” there are in the world, living a half life caught between the past and the present. I suspect far too many. In the end, Rosamunde did find love, perhaps surprising her at what was right under her nose all these years.
I had trouble connecting with the characters in this story. And because of that lack of truly caring what happened to them I found that while I didn’t hate this story, I also didn’t love it. I believe I fall somewhere in the middle of a tale of sadness and hope that fell short on the hope part for me and an ending that just wasn’t what I thought was coming. And that feeling is on me, not the author. Not every reader is going to connect to every story they’ve read.
*I received an e-ARC of Christmas at the Vicarage from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. That does not change what I think of this novel.*