Book Review: The Christmas Escape

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It's been a long while since I posted a book review on here but I had to share this one. I won't post the book's synopsis, just my review. ~~~~ I pick up a holiday read expecting a Christmas romance. And yes, there is romance, but also so much more - family, friendship, family reunited, dreams, Christmas and lots of snow. Christy and Seb plan to take their daughter Holly to Lapland for Christmas to meet Christy's aunt who had a falling out with Christy's mother when she was just a baby. She is going to meet her for the first time and is nervous. But something comes up at home so she asks her friend Alix to take Holly to Lapland and they will meet up with them in a few days. They also ask Seb's friend Zac to go as well because, well, does Alix really know how to look after a three year-old? Alix and Zac have a history. Christy and Alix have been best friends since childhood but something seems to have changed since Christy married Seb. Communication issues abound. And with Christmas only a couple of days away, will they be able to overcome the awkwardness? This story was a little longer than I would have liked, with chapters way longer than I would have liked and I was going to chop a quarter of a star off because of it. But as I got deeper into the story I learned some valuable, meaningful, and apt messages. Alix says to Christy, "Dreams can change."... "Let's say for a moment that it turns out the country isn't your dream after all. Are you really going to live in the country for the rest of your life because you're too afraid to admit that actually you prefer the city?"... "Dreams are never a mistake. Dreams are hope. Dreams give us a reason to get up in the morning. Dreams are optimism. They're what keep us going when things feel impossibly tough. And you can always change the dream." In a conversation between Alix and Zac on their new found romance, Alix says, "I don't know how this is going to end..." Zac responds, "It's okay. No one knows how anything is going to end. We start at the beginning and we take it from there..." Two powerful messages I had to share. Two powerful messages that sum up the whole story and changed my mind about knocking off one measly quarter of a star. I loved this story.