Sometimes the best gifts aren’t under the tree.

Everyone has a story to tell. And for Mallory Blue, her grandmother Nan’s community theater and annual Christmas play have been a beloved tradition for as long as she can remember. But this year is different. With Nan losing her memories to dementia, Mallory has taken on more than she can handle—including directing this year’s show.

Two things are keeping Mallory going: A journal that tells the story behind each handmade ornament on Nan’s tree. And Hollis, who volunteers to play Santa to spend time with Mallory and prove he’s no longer the rebellious boy she knew growing up.

As Mallory reads through Nan’s entries, she realizes there’s so much she never knew about her grandmother. And when Mallory has big decisions to make in both her personal and professional life, it’s Nan’s wise advice and Hollis’s steadfast support that will hold the key to this year’s holiday magic.

Titles in the Love in Bloom series include: The Finders Keepers Library ~ The Christmas Keepsake ~

This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

Title:  The Christmas Keepsake
Series:  Love in Bloom #2
Author:  Annie Rains
Published:  October 7, 2025
Publisher:  Forever
My Rating:  4.5 stars

The Christmas Keepsake is the second title in the Love in Bloom series, featuring Mallory and Hollis’s unexpected romance.  This Christmas is going to be both difficult and enlightening for Mallory; her beloved grandmother, Nan, is dealing with dementia, which means that Mallory is as well.  

The rage at the disease that is stealing her grandmother’s memories away is, almost, counterbalanced by reading her journal of all the stories behind the Christmas ornaments that bring their tree to life every year with memories and insights into their family.  Mallory has stretched herself thin by also taking on directing the annual Christmas play.  She’ll find some unexpected help in Santa Claus, well, Hollis, behind the white beard that just might lead to a most magical Christmas for them all… and a future she didn’t see coming.

I enjoyed The Christmas Keepsake by Annie Rains so very much.  Mallory and Hollis are so well matched, and their slow-burning relationship, which was built on friendship, was so realistic and relatable.  I loved returning to this small town and seeing familiar faces, adding to the enjoyment of this current couple’s journey.  On a personal note: I lost my own grandmother to Alzheimer’s long before she actually passed away.  My family spent the final five years of her life loving a woman who had no idea who all these strangers were around her.  It’s an insidious, cruel disease that steals something so precious, the memories that make us… Well, us.  I wish we had had a journal, like Mallory did, to have insight into my Gram’s life before (and while) she was a loving grandmother to us.

If you love a well-written Christmas romance that is full of a wide array of emotions, with a couple you’ll be cheering on to find their happy ending, and don’t forget the adorable dogs we’ll meet, then you’d adore The Christmas Keepsake by Annie Rains… I know I did.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley, and I sincerely thank the author or publishing house for their trust.  It is my choice to leave a review, giving my personal opinion about this book.*

This title is available at Amazon (affiliate link)