Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: The Best Gift

AUTHOR: Eli Easton

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 153 pages

RELEASE DATE: November 16, 2021

BLURB:

With help from a Christmas miracle, two bruised hearts find joy again.

Greg Cabot is the third generation to run Cabot’s Christmas Wonderland and tree farm in rural Vermont. But this year will be his last. Since the death of his son, Sam, in Afghanistan, Greg no longer has the heart to run a business based on holiday cheer. When he picks up a hitchhiking soldier on a snowy night, he finds the help he needs to get his farm through the holidays—and maybe much more.

Sergeant Robbie Sparks doesn’t have much to be thankful for this holiday season. Badly wounded in Afghanistan, he’s spent most of the past year in recovery and was discharged after ten years of service. When fate lands him at Cabot’s tree farm, he feels like he’s fallen into a snow globe reality. Friendly people, gorgeous trees, lots of Christmas kitsch… and Greg Cabot.

Greg believes he’s too heartbroken for romance, but those we love never truly leave us. A little nudge from heaven may help build a bridge for these two men trying to heal. If only they are willing to take that first step.

This stand-alone, long novella is a small town, Christmas cornucopia, May-December, hurt/comfort , military romance stuffed full of family and holiday feels.

REVIEW:

I love Eli Easton’s yearly Christmas Novellas and I can honestly say I think this is one of her best yet!

Ms. Easton got me right in the feels! How could you not love a struggling disabled war vet, a grieving dad and all the nostalgic magic of an old time Christmas Tree Farm? Oh and a bit of Christmas Magic in the form of an angel popping into dreams! It’s all there. I loved Greg and Robbie and all the people that made Cabot’s Christmas Wonderland a special place to go each year for generations of people. It’s the kind of place that you take your kids and grandkids. Not just to buy a tree but to make Christmas memories. So many of the old time farms in Oregon are disappearing and with that magic with too The thrill of finding that perfect tree and taking it home to decorate. Knowing that your favorite Christmas treats will be there along with that special gift that you can’t find anywhere else. Yes, losing Sam seemed like the end of the line for Greg. Why bother anymore when there was no one any longer to pass the farm on to? But Robbie appearing was the bright light that Greg needed. And Sam knew deep down! You just knew he did.

The horrors that our brave men and women of our military suffer through if they are fortunate enough to return home is devastating. Even if they are lucky enough to avoid the serious trauma Robbie endured they return with night terrors and suffer from PTSD. Their sacrifices to keep people safe are so much. This book brings that home in vivid color. Not only the loss of a son or daughter to the parents (which is beyond horrific) but the toll on their comrades that do make it out is sorely overlooked by much of society.

This was such a touching story of love, loss and learning to live again. This was a very special story that needed to be told and needs to be read. I highly recommend this wonderful and thought provoking story.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Amazon