Review: Sorry Suzi, but I've gotta side with Scrooge on this one...
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 01 2, 2013
This is the story of Susan Carpenter ( aka "Suzi Christmas"), a 30 year old widow who, along with her six year old son, lives in the town of Holly Falls.  (I'm not sure where Holly Falls is supposed to be located, but it's somewhere in snow country).  Every Christmas Suzi pulls out all the stops when it comes to decorating.  Her house is lit up so bright it can be seen from space.  Every night she puts on a show, dressing as Mrs. Claus and handing candy out to the kiddies.When businessman Luke Potter loses a tenant due to Suzi's over-the-top Christmas display, he joins in a lawsuit seeking to pull the plug on Ms. Christmas.  But then Luke actually meets Suzi in person and he falls for her.  That's when things really get complicated.This book has `Lifetime Christmas Movie' written all over it.  The story is pretty silly, and nothing really adds up, but I can overlook much of that when reading a lighthearted Christmas romance.  After all, it's the spirit of the season that we're trying to evoke, and if you're going to indulge in some empty calories you might as well do it at Christmas.  And things started off OK, or at least not too bad.  But then something began to grate on my nerves.  Never, in any part of this book does anyone tell Suzi that maybe; just maybe, she's taking this too far.  Nope, everyone walks on eggshells around Suzi and she's never encouraged to see the other person's point of view. Compromise?  No way.  Suzi just knows that the "True Meaning" of Christmas can only be found in a blinding array of lights, blaring music and live actors staging a manger scene on your front lawn night after night.  Anyone who disagrees is labeled a Scrooge.  Suzi really does come off as a self-absorbed, immature girl/woman who is determined to have her own way.  By the end of the book (and she spends at least the last 50 pages in tears), I wanted to tie the annoying woman to a chair (with garland, of course!) and force her to listen to "Jingle Bell Rock" at full blast until she came to her senses.Whew, it feels good to get that off my chest!  I know this is supposed to be just a bit of "feel good" Christmas fluff, but I dislike narrow minded characters and I absolutely hate it when someone is vilified and forced to grovel for no good reason.  Poor Luke, humiliated and ostracized all for the terrible crime of not wanting someone else to force their idea of Christmas's "True Meaning" down his throat.  Hey Suzi, I know what you can do with that candy cane!Obviously, I'm not recommending this to anyone.  If you insist though...there is no strong language or sexual content.  According to a note the author wrote in the preface for the kindle version, this is a story she wrote "many years ago".  Believe me, it shows.  There are attempts to insert some modern things like cellphones and ipads, but overall it does feel like the story takes place in the late 1980's or early 1990's.  While some things improve with age (like wine), others are best left in the past (like polyester bell bottoms).  Give this one a pass.