THE CLAUSE IN CHRISTMAS Book Review

The Clause in Christmas¹ (book 1 in a Poppy Creek series) by Rachael Bloome, eBook, 292 pages

Synopsis from GoodReads: Sometimes home is where you least expect it...Cassie Hayward hates Christmas. Especially this year. No job. Flat broke. And an ex most definitely on the naughty list. But the unexpected inheritance of a Victorian cottage in the idyllic town of Poppy Creek may be the miracle Cassie needs. Except for one problem: a clause in the will. Cassie must complete a series of festive tasks for each day in December leading up to Christmas. Overseen by the disarmingly handsome, Christmas-loving lawyer, Luke Davis.

Luke is as strong and steady as the bespoke furniture he crafts as a hobby. He has to be. Stepping into his late father's shoes as the town lawyer comes with a sleigh full of responsibilities. Which means the alluring stranger collecting her inheritance is a distraction he can't afford. As the unlikely pair work together to complete the daily tasks, fighting their attraction becomes more futile than putting good ol' St. Nick on a diet. But when Cassie's ex reappears with the offer of a lifetime, she'll have to choose between love and the life she always wanted.

Curl up with a cup of hot chocolate and visit a town that feels like home. This endearing, sweet romance will warm your heart and fill you will hope. A "must-read" year after year.

BOOK REVIEW: I started this book sometime last year I think and I thought it would be a fun read for book club. I had already selected our reads for the end of the year last year so putting this down was hard but I hadn't gotten very far at all and really I don't think I got much past the first chapter because other than Cassie learning about the Christmas Calendar I couldn't remember anything else. I'm so glad that I waited. This is such a cute Hallmark-style read. I mean any small town romance read that centers around Christmas is automatically compared to Hallmark right? This filled me with so much joy reading PLUS y'all know I love a book that comes with recipes and this one has a fudge recipe! Side note...if you join the author's newsletter you get access to a whole Poppy Creek cookbook which I have downloaded but not looked through yet! Definitely need to and make something from that for our discussion tomorrow night! Another cool thing about this series is that it is a series of stand alone novels. Book two, for example, isn't focused on Cassie and Luke (but I'm 100% certain they will be in the story) but on Eliza. I like that. I'll definitely update this post to include in the related posts any other books I read in this series!

In case you couldn't tell from the start of my review, I loved this book! It was just what I needed at that epic fantasy that almost broke my brain (review for Sundered Heavens is out the same day as this one) but narrowing down my favorite part or thing about this story was so hard! The only thing I highlighted is what I wanted to share with y'all and it doesn't give anything away. Promise!

Cassie really needed to be hydrated to hear any more of her mother's 'great news.' Usually it had something to do with her latest flavor of the week. And the flavor of men Donna typically chose was a mixture of sardines and antifreeze.

I mean...if you read that with a straight face and didn't at least chuckle to yourself then I don't think we can be friends. Sardines and antifreeze...come on...that's a combo right there. Plus we all know someone who fits or fitted that bill right?! Also someone gets called a "twitterpated traitor" and while I don't think I meant to highlight it, I'm glad I did because I don't recall ever reading something like that before and feeling like it was so accurate! And twitterpated is just funny to say.

If you hadn't seen or guessed already, this is a 5 star read for me. It's a small town holiday romance and ugh I loved it so much! The story was cute, the characters were fun, there's a recipe in the back (I mentioned that already) along with your own copy of the Christmas Calendar, and book club questions (which is awesome that I didn't have search for those). If silly romance isn't your thing then don't read this but if it is...you'll love it! I mean if you need anymore of a selling point, there is even a town Grinch! I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

5/5 Stars

2025 Reading Challenge: 68/50 complete

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