Customer Reviews

The Perfect Christmas

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is only the 2nd Debbie Macomber book I have read and I liked it a lot. I also bought her Christmas book from last year. This book tells the story of Cassie, a single woman in her 30s who only wants the perfect Christmas. She has tried everything, blind dates, the internet, and still no luck. One day she recieved a Christmas card from her old college friends, and it's not even Thanksgiving yet! All she wants is the perfect husband and perfect kids like her friend. When you've tried everything what else can you do. How about spend $30,000 on a professional mathcmaker. Between the matchmaker himself, her tasks to complete before meeting her match, and the "kind" old lady next door who keeps stealing her paper to clip out coupons, what else could possibly happen. There's plenty of comic relief and it proves to be a quick, yet worthwhile, read. I reccommend it anyone who needs an escape or just a quick pick me up in the hectic time that comes before, and includes, the holiday season.

Thirty-something Cassie Beaumont has her heart set on finding the perfect husband so she can have the perfect family and celebrate the perfect Christmas. With her biological clock ticking away, this professional woman is anxious to find her mate and get on with life. With urging from her best friend, she decides to get professional help and writes a check for thirty thousand dollars (the money she'd been saving for her dream wedding) to hire professional matchmaker Simon Dodson.

The story is sweet and sentimental though at times slightly silly. Fans of Debbie Macomber will most likely find it satisfying as a light-hearted story for the Christmas season, despite its highly predictable main plot and sub plot.

Debbie Macomber's books are like potato chips, you can't read just one, no matter how much you realize you will know what happens in the end - girl gets boy. They are happy and sweet light reading novels that you know you will be able to enjoy.

`The Perfect Christmas' tells the story of 2 romances, one with Cassie Beaumont and one with her best friend Angie Barber; both find their true love in the end. The setting is Christmastime and Cassie and Angie are desperate to find husbands; so desperate that Cassie uses the $30,000 she has saved for her wedding to pay a professional matchmaker. Both Angie and Cassie feel their biological clock ticking and want true love and a husband and babies; the problem as Macomber so astutely points out is that men do not have a deadline for fatherhood so they do not feel that push to get married before a certain age.

Cassie is given 3 three tasks by the matchmaker to prove her worth before she meets her perfect match - all are appropriate Christmas related activities. She has her mishaps, which make her more real to a reader and she does find her true love in a twist and turn in the plot (which I will refrain from spoiling for a future reader). Angie as well finds her true love and all ends happily.

I did find in this day and economic time $30,000 for a wedding and especially to hand over to a matchmaker an enormous sum of money - it really disturbed me to think of that amount, but overlook that and you can have a pleasant Christmas read.

Debbie Macomber is almost always a nice quiet read. The Perfect Christmas is no exception. It was an easy, restful, nice read for a busy, hectic time.

I had a newsletter from Debbie Macomber assuring me that I would love this book, that she laughed and cried when writing it. I didn't crack a smile thru the whole book, and certainly didn't tear up. I found the entire book to be silly and disappointing.

I like a lot of what Macomber writes- her house number series is interesting and I like the continuing characters in it. I liked the Dakota series also. But the Christmas books never do it for me.

I read a whole lot of books every year, and Macomber's Christmas books just don't seem like she puts the effort into them. I'm so glad I got the book out of the library, rather than investing in it.

Holly in south jersey

The Perfect Christmas by Debbie Macomber

This season's offering from the Queen of Christmas cheer hands up a knockout punch, not just in story, but with the absolutely wonderful front and back cover. A cover, especially with a Christmas novel, is what captivates me into reading a book, and then the author has to really sell her story to capture me totally and this one did in spades.

Cassie Beaumont, a very successful chemist, is looking for a husband for Christmas, but he needs to be perfect. Her best friend Angie, who suggests she go see this matchmaker, Simon Dodson, who is demanding, stodgy, know-it-all, who says he has the perfect match for her. He gives her three tasks to do during the Christmas season, the first giving her the assignment of being a Bell Ringer at a mall. What she learns there surprises her. Her second task is to be an elf helping Santa at another mall and the comedic results prove to be startling, if not embarrasing. Her third and final task are to fix the perfect Christmas dinner with all the trimmings singlehandedly. She has to invite her neighbors, who she dislikes and the end results surprise her. If you're looking for The perfect Christmas novel to cozy up in a chair with, this is it!!!!

Forever Friends Rating 5 Stars by Teri

Until Next Time, See You Around The Book Nook.

Mira Books

Pub. Date: September 2009

240pp

Available in eBook$9.99

More Formats Online Price

Hardcover - Large Print - Large Print $34.95

Other Format $54.99

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I know, I know - I should never have picked this book up - especially after barely getting through one of the Blossom Street books. But, I thought Macomber's cheesy style might actually work for a Christmas story... I mean, who doesn't love a corny holiday tale, right? WRONG. This book is pretty crappy..... the characters are so underdeveloped, the dialogue is laughable (and not in a good way) and the story is completely unrealistic. I couldn't keep from wondering what planet this author is living on. I made it thorugh this book just because of the short length. If it had been any longer, I would have chucked it after the 2nd chapter. I understand that some people look for a happy, heartwarming book to escape from reality for a period of time - and that's fine, but the story should at least be realistic and believable. So far, none of this author's books that I've read have fit that bill.

A friend loaned me this book, and I was very pleased with it. It was an easy, delightful read. This is the kind of romance book I like - nothing offensive or explicit. Has a good story line, with plenty of humor.

(Originally posted at That Artsy Reader Girl)

I knew that, ultimately, the entire book would be pure, predictable, fluff. But it was extremely sweet, and I did really enjoy it! I got pretty tired of listening to Cassie complain for the first 30 or so pages, but it got so much better once she was done introducing her predicament and venting about it. I adored Simon's character. He was the scrooge of the book, who did not believe in love even though his profession was to help others find it. I love the banter he and Cassie share back and forth. As Cassie goes through the process of completing her three tasks, she experiences some funny things and also some heartwarming things. You grow to like her, and her totally awesome brother (I'd date him!). It does have a very sweet ending, and everyone is overflowing with happiness and the spirit of Christmas.

It was a cute, fast, fluffy read but I love that at Christmastime! Now, it's not a piece of genius literature, nor does it have a very original plot. It's very predictable, and I knew from the very beginning what was going to happen. If you're looking for a challenge, or looking to be captivated, this is probably not the book for you. If you're looking for a quick dose of cute Christmas sappiness, then perhaps you'd take from this book the same things I did.

Cassie wanted to find her perfect match. She wants it all: the perfect husband, the perfect kids, and most of all the perfect Christmas. In talking with her best friend, Angie mentions a matchmaker. He costs an absolute fortune and he's rude, but he's worth his weight in gold because he guarantees the outcome.

Cassie bits the bullet and contacts him for an appointment, Right away she finds him abrasive, arrogant, and annoying. Yet, she complies with his wishes to complete three tasks before Christmas. Each task will show him insight into her character.

As Cassie completes each task, she comes to realize love might already be in her heart...

My Thoughts: Another sweet holiday romance tale. I do love Debbie Macomber's way of storytelling. It doesn't matter that I knew the ending of the story, because the pleasure was reading it unfold. It was amusing, sweet, annoying, and wonderful in all the right places.