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When newly-divorced Ivy Perkins buys an old farmhouse sight unseen, she is definitely looking for a change in her life. The Four Roses, as the farmhouse is called, is a labor of love―but Ivy didn’t bargain on just how much labor. The previous family left so much furniture and so much junk, that it’s a full-time job sorting through all of it.

At the top of a closet, Ivy finds an old Santa suit―beautifully made and decades old. In the pocket of a suit she finds a note written in a childish it’s from a little girl who has one Christmas wish, and that is for her father to return home from the war. This discovery sets Ivy off on a mission. Who wrote the note? Did the man ever come home? What mysteries did the Rose family hold?

Ivy’s quest brings her into the community, at a time when all she wanted to do was be left alone and nurse her wounds. But the magic of Christmas makes miracles happen, and Ivy just might find more than she ever thought a welcoming town, a family reunited, a mystery solved, and a second chance at love.

I borrowed this audiobook from the library because it was short and I needed something for a short drive. Mary Kay Andrews has become a safe author for me–her stories aren’t the deepest and some are more engaging than others, but I’m always entertained and I love her happily ever afters. She’s the southern Debbie Macomber.

This book lived up to my expectations: likeable characters, low angst, and a sweet, cinnamony romance. In a regular novel, some of the coincidences might be a little too much, but in a Christmas book, miracles happen, right? It was fun to see how Andrews wove together so many different story lines.

I won’t hesitate to pick up another book by Mary Kay Andrews.

Rated PG.

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For other Christmas books, check out:

The Cowboy’s Christmas Blessing by Jill Kemerer
I’ll Be Home for Christmas by Elizabeth Ludwig