A Nantucket shopkeeper discovers that Christmas is the
perfect occasion to make unexpected friendships . . . to warm the coldest of
hearts -- and maybe even find love.
Christina Antonioni is preparing for the holidays at her
Nantucket toy shop, unpacking last-minute shipments and decorating for her
loyal Christmas shoppers. But when her Scrooge of a landlord, Oscar Bittlesman,
raises her rent, it seems nearly impossible for Christina to continue business
on the wharf.
Even so, Christina hopes there is a warm heart underneath
Oscar's steely exterior. When she bonds with Wink, his sweet, young
granddaughter who frequents the shop, it becomes clear that perhaps he isn't so
cold after all. And with the help of Wink's uncle, who happens to be a charming
and very handsome bachelor, this may be the best Christmas any of them could
have ever imagined.
Very sweet story that takes place in Nantucket at
Christmas. Christina is a native of the island and owns a small toy store on
the pier, one of several "shed shops." She loves her store and
usually looks forward to Christmas and its holiday cheer and busyness. It's a
little harder this year as she has lost her parents and her grandmother,
leaving her alone for the holidays. Fortunately, she has her shop and good
friends to ease the pain. One day, as she is unpacking merchandise, she catches
a young girl shoplifting a small sticker book. Rather than turn her in,
Christina offers nine-year-old Wink a job, giving the bored and lonely girl
something fun to focus on.
I liked the quick bonding between Wink and Christina.
Both were dealing with a tough holiday season, between Christina's losses and
Wink's upset over her parents' upcoming divorce. It was fun to see Wink blossom
under Christina's encouragement, as she went from sulky and bitter to outgoing
and helpful. There were some terrific scenes of their time in the shop
together.
A side effect of her friendship with Wink was getting to
know Wink's bachelor Uncle Andy. Christina and Andy were drawn together from
the moment they met. She was reluctant to get involved with him at first, as he
was the son of local billionaire and landlord Oscar Bittlesman. But Andy was
sweetly persistent and was soon spending as much time as he could with
Christina. I liked Andy a lot. He's a nice man who hasn't inherited his
father's ruthless streak. He's more interested in using his time and money on
things that benefit the area.
I enjoyed the development of the relationship between
Andy and Christina. They spend time together, with and without Wink, getting to
know each other. I liked seeing the little things that he did for her to make
her happy or her life a little easier. Christina gives Andy moral support as he
works to convince his father to let him leave the family business in New York
and move to Nantucket. It's easy to see the feelings growing between them.
Things become complicated when the "Shedders" all receive notice from
Oscar that he will raise their rents by ten percent after the first of the
year. This is a blow to all of them, as their profit margins aren't all that
high to begin with. Christina is faced with a dilemma - does she allow Andy to
help her with his father, or does she rely on her business sense and
intelligence to fight this battle? Decision made, she had to walk a fine line
between her struggle with Oscar and her growing feelings for Andy. I loved that
Andy respected her wishes and gave her support without taking over. I liked the
way things worked out at the end, with everyone remaining true to themselves.
I enjoyed Christina's fellow merchants. They had an
excellent friendship and support system going. Mimi was terrific with the way
she watched over them all and kept them on track when they needed it. Jacob was
the geeky guy with the kite and other sciency stuff. Sometimes he seemed like
the awkward little brother, and other times he was far ahead of the others.
Harriet grated on me through most of the book. She was catty and snobby and
came across as a gold-digger. I hated her snide comments. She had a few
redeeming moments, such as when she helped Christina at the hospital, but
mostly she was a pill. When they all found out about the rise in rent, they
looked to Christina to take advantage of her relationships with Wink and Andy to
fix the problem, which bugged me. I was happy when they realized that wasn't
fair to her, and enjoyed the idea they came up with to try to change his mind.
The results were not what they expected.
There were a couple of things that disappointed me about
the book. One was the lack of heat between Andy and Christina. Their romance was
sweet, and I had no doubt about their feelings, but I never felt any sparks
between them. The other problem I had was that there wasn't anything told from
Andy's point of view. There were places that I would have liked to know what he
was feeling or thinking. This would have given a little more depth to his
character. This was my first book by Nancy Thayer, so this may be her style.
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