I LOVED this book. The sweetness of Christmas with people bumping heads until they can meet in the middle. ( )

Perfect romance book to read to get you in the holiday spirit! Story flows well, characters are likeable, story line is loosely reminiscent of You’ve Got Mail.

Angela inherits an old lighthouse Christmas shop from her Momma Grace (a little too much references to her IMHO). Geoff is the owner of a competing store. Love at first site, dislike at second. Angela writes a Dear Santa letter, Geoff answers it. A little far fetched, but it’s a Christmas story, so it’s expected and allowed!

Pick this book up around Thanksgiving and get in the Spirit of the season. Quick and Easy diversion during the hectic holiday season.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone! ( )

If you've seen You've Got Mail and loved it then you will like this book. It is almost scene for scene from the movie. For that reason alone I had to reduce my review by 1 star.
Otherwise, the characters are lovable and you want to see them get together. The ending is satisfying although I had come up with that solution about half way through the book.
I received a free advanced copy of this book .
( )

Dear Santa by Nancy Naigle has us traveling to Pleasant Sands, North Carolina. Angela Carson owns Heart of Christmas located in an old lighthouse in Pleasant Sands, North Carolina. She is the third generation to run the store, but Angela is unsure how much longer the store can survive. Business has not been as brisk this year and it has gotten worse since Christmas Galore opened. While Heart of Christmas sells one of a kind handcrafted items, Christmas Galore carries more affordable options. Angela’s niece suggests she write to Santa via the Dear Santa app (sponsored by Christmas Galore) for help. Angela takes the opportunity to vent and waits to see what type of response she receives. Geoff Paisley manages Christmas Galore with his mother, and they move every two years to open a new location. Dear Santa is Rebecca Paisley’s special project and answers certain letters personally. When Rebecca becomes ill, she asks Geoff to answer the letters for her. A letter from Anita C. Miracle intrigues Geoff and he soon begins writing to her on a regular basis. When Geoff learns that Anita C. Miracle is Angela he is surprised, since they clash whenever they run into each other. Is there a chance for these two to reconcile their differences? See if the magic of Christmas can work on Angela and Geoff in Dear Santa.

Dear Santa is the perfect book for those who love to watch the Hallmark Christmas movies. It is nicely written with a cute romance and the story progresses along at a steady pace. I enjoyed the Dear Santa letters are the beginning of the chapters along with the trivia for Pleasant Sands, North Carolina. I liked the Angela’s store, Heart of Christmas. The store is in a lighthouse that features handcrafted items in a cozy atmosphere which I think is a wonderful idea. It is a shame that Angela did not keep up with the times. She was still running the store the same way it had been since the beginning (no online presence). Pleasant Sands sounded like a charming coastal town with friendly residents. I admit that I was not a fan of the main characters (Geoff and Angela) and especially disliked Angela’s sister, Marie (not supportive of her sister’s store). My favorite character was Angela’s niece. I did appreciate that Angela grew from her experience and I liked the epilogue. I did find that Dear Santa was very similar to the popular movie You’ve Got Mail. There is a secondary storyline regarding Rebecca Paisley and how she met Geoff’s father along with Virgil, their operations director. Unfortunately, the storyline seems to peter out and readers are left with unanswered questions. I was curious how Geoff did not realize he was writing to Angela write away. It was extremely obvious (Angela’s niece would have figured this one out sooner). I kept hoping for a different solution for Angela’s store and was disappointed how this thread played out. I wanted to give Angela a good talking too and suggest ways to improve her business. I am giving Dear Santa 3 out of 5 stars. Dear Santa is a book for readers who love feel-good romance novels. ( )

Angela owns a Christmas store named The Heart of Christmas. It’s been with her family nearly a hundred years. When Geoff moves to town and opens Christmas Galore, Angela’s store is already struggling.

He doesn’t see his store as competing with hers. Her store sells high quality, expensive items. His store is like Walmart with a few Christmas items.

But because of the timing, it’s the final straw for poor Angela’s store.
At first she is inconsolable. But her sister and her coworkers encourage her to start thinking about what’s next for her.
And her niece encourages her to write an email to Santa.
She assumes it’s going to force an auto generated reply. But the Dear Santa emails are actually answered by employees of Christmas Galore. This time, it’s Geoff’s turn to answer.
When he answers Angela’s email, he doesn’t make the connection. And of course Angela doesn’t know Geoff is responding.

In day to day life, they keep clashing with each other. But Geoff doesn’t want to fight, he wants to make amends with Angela.

I think the book painted a very vivid picture of this town, Pleasant Sands. It also really gives off a Christmas vibe.

It definitely deserves to be compared to You’ve Got Mail. It’s a fair comparison. You might like that or might not. I love that movie. And there were times where I enjoyed the similarities but some parts of the book felt way too much like the movie. For instance, wasn’t the scene with the daisies almost exactly like You’ve Got Mail? She called them “happy flowers”, is it just deja vu? Or did Meg Ryan actually say that in the movie?

This is a nice happy holiday book. I would shop at Angela’s store if it were real. And the author must be a foodie because she made me want basically every food, cookie or beverage mentioned in this book.

I got to read an early edition e book from NetGalley. Thanks!