Review of An Irish Christmas by Melody Carlson

Book: An Irish Christmas
Author:  Melody Carlson
Published by:  Revell
Pages:  192

From Goodreads:  For Colleen, life is spinning out of control. She just lost her husband, and her relationship with her young adult son Jamie is crumbling. Should she confess to him the secret that has been haunting her for twenty years? Jamie has a few secrets of his own. When he announces his plans to join the military, Colleen decides it's time for the two of them to take a trip together--to Ireland. The truth they discover there could fulfill both their dreams in a way neither ever thought possible. An Irish Christmas is a captivating story of love, deception, and secret passions, from popular and prolific author Melody Carlson. 

This was another book for my Holiday Reading Challenge hosted by All About {n}.  Once again I want to tell you how much I love Holiday novels.  They usually make me feel warm and fuzzy and get me in the holiday spirit.  Apparently, this season just hasn't been my best season for picking great holiday reads. 

An Irish Christmas was a very short read.  The writing tended to be simplistic and predictable.  It didn't really capture my attention and pull me into the story.  I did, however, enjoy the descriptions of Ireland in December.  The country sounds beautiful and makes me want to take a vacation there soon. 

For me, the characters themselves were believable but their expectations of each other were not.  Both the mother and son have MAJOR secrets they are keeping from each other and they expect the other person to not to be horribly upset when they reveal them.  I don't think this is believable at all.  If I was as deceptive as either of these characters I would expect monumental explosions once I revealed my secret.  I was talking to my mother about this book (she read it for her bookclub) and she agreed with me that if I ever kept a secret like that I'd be disowned and disinherited...not really...but she did say she'd be disappointed in me and we all know how catastrophic that is coming from a parent.   

Another thing about this novel that I didn't enjoy was the ending.  Without giving away too much, it was too unrealistic and extremely unlikely.