One Charmed Christmas

I really enjoyed this book. It held my interest and it was such a sweet story. We need more happy endings in todays world.

Everyone should read One Charmed Christmas. Floating down the Rhine River with all the different personalities. Funny at times & heart warming at others. Trevor was my favorite character. A gentleman after my own heart. Sheila brought to life each character. Some will make you happy & others sad due to life situations. I felt like I was on the river cruise. The stops along the way brought back memories of Germany at Christmas time. Once you pick up One Charmed Christmas you won’t put it down till you turn the last page. A must read Christmas story.

One Charmed Christmas by Sheila Roberts is a heartwarming Christmas story. Our main character is Catherine Pine who is a widow and has been diagnosed with cancer. She has already had extensive surgery to remove the cancer, but Catherine will be having chemotherapy and radiation treatments in the new year. The prior Christmas was dismal because it was the first one without her husband, so Catherine is looking forward to celebrating the holidays with her two children and their families. Unfortunately, the bleak holiday is still fresh in her children’s mind, and they have made other plans. Catherine’s best friend, Denise is taking a Rhine River Christmas Market cruise and she needs a bunkmate. It will be good for Catherine to get out of the house. Once the pair are on the cruise, they meet a diverse group of people. I liked the different characters in the story and the fact that they are varying ages. We get to experience the story from each person’s point-of-view (Catherine, Sophie, Athena, Rudy, Kurt, Trevor, etc.). I liked seeing how people’s perceptions of each character changed as the story progressed. It was hard to like Athena and Sophie in the beginning, but they grow on you. Trevor is one of my favorite characters. I loved that he was a chocolatier who went around handing out his yummy chocolate. One of my favorite lines was, “Chocolate cures everything.” The other line I liked was, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” I picked up One Charmed Christmas and was immediately drawn into the story. I was up quite late reading because I wanted to see how each person’s story ended. I did feel the ending was a little rushed, but it was delightful and left me smiling. I like how the story mixes romance, friendship, family situations, health concerns, and humor into one entertaining tale. I enjoyed the descriptions of the boat, the towns they visited, the Christmas markets, and the items they purchased. There is some mild foul language in the book. I enjoyed Sheila Roberts’ latest Christmas story. It is a great escape book. One Charmed Christmas is a charming Christmas tale with a romantic river cruise, scrumptious chocolate, present shopping, a stubborn student, spouse distress, cancer concerns, and marvelous memories.

ONE CHARMED CHRISTMAS by Sheila Roberts is a contemporary, adult story line focusing on several passengers who have embarked on a pre-Christmas holiday boat cruise through Europe (more specifically Germany).

Told from third person perspective ONE CHARMED CHRISTMAS follows sisters Sophie and Sierra, Dr. Rudy Nichols and his daughter Athena, brothers Trevor and Kurt March, and friends Catherine and Denise.

Breaking down the passenger agenda and backstory: Sophie Miles is a hypochondriac who reluctantly agreed to the European cruise when her sister Sierra’s husband bailed on his Christmas cruise tickets. Hoping to meet her future husband, Sophie will latch onto Dr. Rudy Nichols, a man several decades older but a man who has eyes for someone else. Meanwhile, Sophie’s sister Sierra struggles with the possible demise of her marriage, and begins to pull away from the other passengers, choosing to remain behind while the others play tourist.

Widower Dr. Rudy Nichols found himself attracted to widow Catherine Pine but Catherine is hiding a secret that will affect all relationships going forward. Catherine’s adult children wanted nothing to do with their mother in the face of her continued grief after the death of their father so Catherine’s friend Denise invited Catherine along for the cruise Meanwhile, Rudy’s daughter Athena is a little over protective of her father believing him to be naive. Playing guard dog to her father, forty-something Athena makes more enemies than friends, and struggles to leave her father alone.

Chocolatier Trevor March agreed to the cruise when his brother’s girlfriend was unable to attend. Kurt March is chaperoning a history class of students on the holiday cruise but nineteen year old Harriett, one of the students takes a liking to Kurt’s brother Trevor, and won’t leave him alone. Trying to distance himself from his brother’s class, Trevor finds himself attracted to Sophie Miles, a woman whose penchant for over reacting and believing she is going to die of any number of diseases pushes Sophie to follow Dr. Rudy like a love-sick puppy, in the hopes of marrying a doctor to cure whatever ails her.

In short: Harriett wants Trevor: Trevor wants Sophie: Sophie wants Dr. Rudy: Dr. Rudy wants Catherine: Catherine wants to survive another year: Athena doesn’t want anyone seducing her father: Sierra wants to save her marriage: and Denise is having the time of her life-got it? Good. It’s like high school all over again !

ONE CHARMED CHRISTMAS follows several intersecting pathways where love will blossom for some but not for others but saying that ONE CHARMED CHRISTMAS has all of the ingredients of a YA (young adult ) novel, and in this I was disappointed with the attitudes and theatrics of most of the storyline’s unlikable characters. There are the jealous rivalries, mean girl comments, pouting and whining, secrets, lies, rejection and love. Poor Dr. Rudy was oblivious to his daughter’s attempts to keep Catherine and Sophie away from her father; and Sophie’s obsessive behavior regarding germs, illness and disease may have been funnier if not for the reality of COVID19 and the numerous deaths reported at sea. ONE CHARMED CHRISTMAS is a well-written story line but missed the mark with annoying and unpleasant characters that detracted from a potentially sweet plot.

What a delightful and light-hearted Christmas romance! WIth the holidays approaching, Catherine’s friend Denise convinces her to go on a European cruise with her. After all, Catherine’s two children are busy leading their own lives, Catherine has a serious health issue to deal with after the holidays, and Denise really is a god friend. Also on the cruise are sisters Sophie and Sierra. Sierra is married but her husband reneged on the cruise at the last minute, so hypochondriac Sophie decides to travel with her sister. The cruise is all that they dreamed of, and all that I could dream of, too, if I had been along. Sumptuous meals, beautiful port cities with Christmas shopping all along the way. Plus, Trevor is on the cruise, the chocolate king of Cupid’s Chocolates. Of course, there is lots of matching up in couples, lots of drama, lots of romance and plenty of Christmas. My favorite part was the slide show presented by Sophie and Sierra’s brother at their family celebration. Seriously, this was like watching a Hallmark movie or living right in the scenes with the characters. The whole book was that realistically portrayed! The characters were three-dimensional and the plot was extremely well-written with no loose strings left at the end. (Or should I say missing Christmas tree bulbs?). Anyway, this was one of the best Christmas books that I have read and I highly recommend it for those who love the holiday and the romance that it brings. And if you don’t love the holiday, you will enjoy this book because it’s that good, even for Scrooges!
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

I just got home from a very fun river cruise on the Rhine in Germany. I made lots of new friends and explored different Christmas Markets on daily port stops. Many characters in this story were explored at home before embarking on this once in a lifetime excursion. You get to know them and their connections before they come together on this boat. I identified the most with Caroline, a lady older in age, with an empty nest and time on her hands. Her best friend talks her into going. Sophie was a fun character too. She’s a hypochondriac that is looking for a mate in the form of a doctor, even if he’s old enough to be her father. The doctor has a daughter that goes with him to make sure no gold digging dame gets their claws in him. Two brothers are also on board with twelve giggling teenagers that are part of a German language class. The cruise director is there to make sure that all have a fun time each day and evening.
This was a wonderful way to spend the Christmas season.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author but was not required to write a review.

I love Christmas stories and was hoping this would be a fun kick off to my Christmas reads. However, I was disappointed. While the story is cute and at times heart-warming,I had a hard time connecting and/or liking the characters (outside of Denise – loved her).

It was highly repetitive throughout…how many times does one need to convey how lucky they are to be on this cruise, to have such a good friend, etc. I understand the sentiment but I don’t feel it was necessary to overly repeat it.

Overall, just an ok read for me. Not great, not terrible. I appreciate NetGalley gifting me this E-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone.