Thursday, August 1, 2024
The Christmas Tree Farm





The Christmas season was always the busiest time of year for Madison's grandparents. They ran a Christmas tree farm. She had so many fond memories of visiting and helping them with their business.

After being out of the country, Madison returns to find many homes and businesses destroyed by a wildfire. Her sister tells her that the farm is in trouble and they need to sell. Madison is determined to save the farm.

Her determination and grit is remarkable. With the help of a young girl, who happens to be the daughter of a childhood boyfriend, she does everything she can to hold onto the farm that she loves. A little romance with the girl's father might cause some diversion from the task at hand. He made my heart go pitter/patter.

Madison begins to understand herself better as well as her sister and their mother.

I enjoyed the book and had my fingers crossed that the beloved farm would survive for many years to come.

Reminiscent of a Hallmark movie, this is a sweet and cozy holiday story that will warm your heart! Madison and Addie are reeling from the loss of their grandmother, living in a town that is overcoming a huge fire that wiped out many businesses, and trying to find a new norm. Next door, Gavin and his daugher Lily are also overcoming loss and trying to write their future. There's an undercurrent of insipiration and faith, but also jealousy and a mean girls clique, as well as the obligatory autumn and Christmas cozy outdoor scenes that would be perfect in a movie...and of course a HEA at the end!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC!

I love holiday romances and this one hit the spot!! Such a good book. So cute! It was a page turner that u could not put down!

I always look forward to Melody Carlson's Christmas books! They're always so cozy and perfect for the holiday season. While I must admit that there are others that I enjoyed more than this one, this was no exception--- bringing holiday cheer and inspiration! As the story begins, we meet Madison as she's returning to her family's Christmas tree farm after spending several years teaching overseas. The area has a lot of fire damage and needs some help--- but her sister and co-owner Addie does not seem to want to put in the effort. I must admit, I wasn't Addie's biggest fan throughout most of the story and that probably impacted some of my enjoyment of the story. However, I feel like those complicated family dynamics can be very true to life (and even to the holiday season), so I didn't appreciate that aspect at least. I did enjoy the relationship between Madison and Gavin (and his spunky daughter), even with its additional complications as well. I would have loved to see more between them. Still, I enjoyed the story overall and found that it had all the Hallmark type vibes that I adore---especially at the holiday season!

**I received a complimentary copy via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

unfortunately this just didn’t hit for me. i found the plot rather “cringe” and didn’t connect to the characters

The Christmas Tree Farm was such a sweet read & it was a joy to jump right into the quaint, Christmas tree farm life that Melody Carlson pulls you into. Madison returns to her family’s Christmas tree farm (set in idyllic Pacific Northwest) hoping to help save it despite her sisters heavy objections. What holiday novella would be complete without a handsome neighbor (and old high school sweetheart) who’s set on building a dirt-bike track, which disrupts the peace Madison so desperately needs. The book is a clean, light Christian romance that melts your heart, leaves you craving hot cocoa, and has you jotting down plans to support your own local tree farm (or making your own custom wreaths like Madison). If you enjoy hallmark Christmas movies, I’m sure you’ll love this. Also, it was my first novella! I would have loved to read a full novel of this sweet tale.

Melody Carlson is an auto buy in my family, so getting to read The Christmas Tree Farm was so exciting. It's a sweet story about coming home, restoration and second chances. I love how the story flowed and can't wait to read. more by Melody!

Thank you netgalley for an arc of The Christmas Tree Farm by Melody Carlson

A very nice, feel-good, Christmas story. Romance, working on fixing strained family ties, starting anew, and keeping the faith are all hallmarks of Melody Carlson's books and this delightful story brings all of them to you tied up with a Christmas bow. Madison McDowell returns from teaching abroad to the Christmas tree farm her grandparents called home. Her younger sister, Addie, has been running the farm since their father and grandmother both passed away a couple of years earlier and Madison is determined to help with this year's planting, harvesting, and Christmas tree selling. Addie, however, has other ideas. The two sisters have a strained relationship in many ways and need to work through quite a bit of tension and hostility. Add to that the fact that Madison's first love lives right next door with his young daughter who is a bit of a wild child and you have all the makings of a great story. In typical Melody Carlson fashion, the characters are interesting and believable and the story is sweet without being sappy. You find yourself rooting for everyone in the story as it moves along and wishing you could visit the tree farm to get a nice warm cup of cider as you pick out your Christmas tree and a wreath for your door. This was a very nice, quick read.
* I received an advanced reader copy from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

One of my favorite authors of Christmas books is Melody Carlson, and once again she hits it out of the park with this one.

A sweet novella of family drama, forgiveness, second chances, and all things Christmas encompass all the feelings of this book. I highly recommend it to those who love reading Christmas books. You will not want to put it down until you have completed it.

The characters are well developed, so much to the point that there are a few you will find that you really do not like, others you will love.

Thanks to NetGalley and Revell for the advanced copy of this book. The opinions expressed are my own.

What an amazing Christmas story. Kept me turning pages to see how the author was going to get to the outcome suggested. A reminder of God's love and plans for our lives.

If you’re looking for a Christmas in July book to read or perhaps just browsing through Christmas books before the holiday this cute novella might be just what you’re looking for. Melody Carlson is one of my favorite authors and it’s become a favorite tradition for me to read her new Christmas novella each year. This story is an uplifting novella about a second chance romance. I thought it was romantic and Christmassy. It was an easy and quick read and it didn’t disappoint this reader.

Madison McDowell has spent the last five years on a teaching mission in Mongolia. She returns to the Christmas tree Farm where she had spent her summers with her grandparents and Dad when she was growing up. Now Madison is a co-owner of the tree farm with her younger sister Addie. Madison hopes to surprise her sister with her unannounced arrival but Addie is not happy to see her. Addie wants to sell the Christmas tree farm but Madison wishes to fix up the neglected farm and build the business back up to what it was when her grandparents ran it. The two don’t see eye to eye and things become stressful at times. To make matters worse Madison’s old high school flame lives next to the tree farm. Addie has her eyes on Gavin Thompson for herself but Gavin has his eyes on Madison. Can anything good come out of this unhappy reunion between the McDowell sisters?

I recommend this novella to readers of Christian Fiction, contemporary romance and Christmassy books.This is a standalone Novella . It is scheduled for release on 9/3/24.

I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed here in this review are solely my own.

🎄The Christmas Tree Farm 🎄

Christmas in July finale! 🎅🏻

How in the world is it the last week of July?!

3⭐️

Out 9/3

Thank you for my early copy, Revell!

This was my first book my Melody Carlson and it felt like a Christmas hug!

It was a cute little Novella about a teacher going home to try to save her family’s Christmas Tree Farm. 🎄

The Christmas Tree Farm was the latest Christmas read that I’ve read. It was a very heartwarming romance perfect for the holiday season.

The story was just "OK." The writing is capable and the characters are well developed, but there were too many unlikable characters. Having so many really hurt the story and cast a negative pallor over the entire plot.

The Christmas Tree Farm by Melody Carlson is one of my favorite Christmas books this season. Can a Christmas Tree Farms owner and a dirt racing farm owner fall in love? I loved the story. Read it you will fall in love with them too.

When I see Melody Carlson’s name on a book, I know immediately, without reading the description of the story that I’ll love it. Her stories tug at my heart, bring a smile to my face, and the well-developed, loveable characters become real.
This book fits all of that and more since it is a delightful, heartwarming story that takes place on a Christmas tree farm, leading up to Christmas.
Upon the death of their grandmother, sisters, Madison and Addie inherit the families’ Christmas tree farm. Madison has been away for several years in Mongolia teaching school, and has come home, hoping to surprise her sister. Addie, however, was surprised but also not so happy to see Madison. The sisters are very different, Madison more of a risk-taker and fun-loving and Addie responsible and dependable. Addie isn’t interested in the farm at all, and wants to sell it, and Madison is anxious to restore it, planting 6,000 new trees, at her own expense. With the Christmas season upon them, Madison wants to re-open the farm, selling the trees they have, and make wreaths like their grandma once did. Addie is opposed to it all.
To complicate matters, it is obvious Addie has set her sight on their neighbor Gavin, who as a widower has moved back home with his 11-year-old daughter Lily. Gavin had been Madison’s teenage boyfriend. Lily becomes Madison’s helper in planting the 6,000 new trees. As the holiday draws near, the tree farm is opened once again to the public. However, when a startling fact is discovered about the financial state of the farm, it has the potential to change the direction of many lives.
This is a delightful, fun story of family, acceptance, and starting over.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. All comments and opinions are my own.

“As soon as McDowell’s Family Christmas Tree Farm runs out of Christmas spirit, we’ll be out of business.”

With Madison in Mongolia teaching, her sister Addie was left managing the family’s farm in Oregon for the past five years. Weary at dealing with wildfire damage and resentful at Madison’s globetrotting, Addie has failed to do what it takes to keep the Christmas tree farm viable. She wants to sell and move on with her life. When Madison returns and makes changes to the way it’s run, hoping to resuscitate the business, the sisters find themselves at a standoff. It doesn’t help that Madison’s first love, Gavin Thompson, has moved in next door and has plans for his property that Madison finds irksome. Can they put their past behind them to move forward? Can they coexist? What about Addie?

I loved this immersive story full of the true meaning of Christmas highlighting peace, forgiveness, unity, and second chances. I appreciated learning about the tree planting business (plugs, etc) as I read and found the delicate balance between sibling drama and percolating romance enjoyable. It was refreshing to read about a character who was willing to take a risk to keep her heritage and one who realized the value of community spirit and working together.

I was gifted this copy by Revell and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this awesome book

i love a good christmas tree storyline and this book hit it in spades....

madison was finally home after spending the last 5 years teaching in mongolia. she was ready to help bring the christmas tree farm back from the brink after the raging fire took out several places around them... lucking the christmas tree farm had minimal damage

though her sister addie wasnt that pleased to see her.....

so maddie did what she did best and ordered 6000 plug christmas tree plants and set about planting them.... and though she needed help she didnt really get it from her sister but from her neighbours who happened to be her long lost love from her teenage years...

this is a charming storyline filled with all the things that make a good christmas tree farm enjoyable and it makes me want to go order some christmas tree plug plants now....

will be keeping an eye out for more by this author

This is my fist Melody Carlson book and I have to say, I had just a great time. Reading a book in July like Christmas in July. Only thing I forgot was to put a Hallmark Christmas movie on in the background.

Madison has spent the past five years in Mongolia teaching English but with a change in her relationship she has finally moved back to the place she grew up on. A Christmas tree farm that her grandparents had built.

When she gets home to her sister, who has been handling the farm, he gets a bit of resistance and the sister wants to sell. Madison is determined to prove that the Christmas Tree farm is in fact profitable and worth keeping. Plus, her old crush from when she was a teenager is back living on the neighboring land.

I really did have fund with it. It was like a cozy, comfortable and down home story. I also loved that it wasn't just Christmas. We got to experience Autumn and Thanksgiving as well and Madison did a lot of things that remind you of small town events in a Hallmark movie.

This is a novella so it's super quick to read and just wholesome! Start your Holiday reading now! You won't regret it!

*Copy provided by Netgalley for an honest review*

A cosy Christmas read. Characters were for the most part easygoing, willing to help each other to make Christmas special. Worth reading.