New York Times Bestselling Author Fern Michaels opens Spirit of the Season by introducing us to a 92-pound grandmother, who runs a B&B and absolutely adores Christmas! It’s quite lovely to see Heart & Soul B&B from the eyes of its proprietor. Anna Rose Huntley doesn’t just own the B&B, though. She’s instrumental in the day-to-day. With a small staff, Anna and her good friend Izzie give their guests an experience like no other, especially at Christmas.
Every guest room in Anna’s B&B is transformed each year with a different Christmas theme. Anna spends the entire year planning her three themed Christmas trees and outside décor. Each year more spectacular than the last, Anna prides herself on winning the annual Christmas Parade of Home competition. Winning the competition means being featured as one of the top B&Bs in the United States.
Unfortunately, Anna won’t get to see all of her plans and dreams for her Heart and Soul Christmas come to fruition this year.
Simply Joy
Joy Preston is pulling another late night at Simply Joy, her ultra-successful nail polish company, when she gets the call. Her grandmother – Nana – has died. Joy worries about her widowed mom. First her husband, now her mom. Joy desperately wants to be there for her mom, so she packs up her laptop and heads home to Spruce City.
Joy’s first encounter with attorney Will Drake was an absolute disaster. When she learns the terms of her grandmother’s Will, she finds herself practically shouting at the poor lawyer. Why would her Nana do this to her? Why would she draw up a will that forced Joy to stay in Spruce City, North Carolina for six months? Joy knew that Nana had always wanted her to come home. But she also knew that her Nana was proud of her success. Her life is in Colorado! Her business is in Colorado! She can’t just pick up and leave for six months. But, if she doesn’t, her family will lose Heart and Soul. The B&B will become the property of the state. Her mom’s lost enough. She can’t let her lose the family home and business too. Luckily, she can run Simply Joy from anywhere!
Instant Attraction
Despite practically throwing a tantrum in front of Will Drake, more than once, she can’t take her mind off the handsome lawyer. However, she can’t let herself go there. When her six month sentence is over, she fully intends to return to her life in Denver. Will Drake finds himself attracted to the beautiful CEO of Simply Joy; however, he knows that she has every intention of leaving Spruce City, as soon as she can. Flirting with Joy could be disastrous for his heart.
Will hearth, home, family, and the attentions of a dashing lawyer be enough to convince Joy that she would be happier in Spruce City?
Robin’s Recommendation
The setting of Spirit of the Season is the most captivating I’ve read in a long time. The descriptions of the guest rooms, especially the Scrooge Room, brings the B&B to life. Spruce City’s Christmas traditions are so heartwarming, in spite of the bickering and competition between the owners of the B&Bs. I’d love to book a room at Heart and Soul at Christmastime!
Lose Ends
In the Gingerbread House Competition, Will Drake is a judge. Joy invites him over, but then sneaks him out the back because she doesn’t want the “gossips” to stir up trouble. Everyone is afraid that if the other B&B owners find out that Will Drake is a judge and has a thing for Heart & Soul’s new proprietor, they would be disqualified. It created suspense, but then nothing ever happens.
Joy’s question, “Why did Nana do this to me?” goes completely unanswered. At one point, Joy wonders if she did it because of Will Drake, but she finds out that the will was made a few years ago, before Will moved back and took over his dad’s firm. Joy’s mother Elizabeth knows how to run the B&B, and she’ll be the one to run it after the six months is up, so this particular plot element is never satisfactorily explained.
Not A Christmas Carol
Joy is visited by the ghost of her grandmother in the Scrooge Room, but she didn’t get any answers. Even more disappointing is that Joy doesn’t change as a result of the visit in any fundamental way, which fans of Charles Dickens’ classic would expect. In A Christmas Carol, and in every adaptation of it, the protagonist becomes more joyful, generous, and kind as a result of the ghostly encounter. Despite the strong allusions to A Christmas Carol, Joy’s character is not fundamentally changed.
Even after the encounter, she continues to question why Nana did this to her, when her mom should be the one who runs the B&B. Joy’s generosity was apparent before the visit. Like Scrooge, Joy is beyond wealthy:
“… Not that she shopped very often, but when she did, she didn’t look at the price tags anymore. She had made that promise to herself when she started Simply Joy. As soon as she became financially successful, she was not going to look at prices in clothing stores. She now had enough money to last her a very long lifetime, and with her investments, she wouldn’t have to worry about retirement either. So now she wore a two-hundred-dollar sweatshirt that didn’t look or feel like a sweatshirt. The Paige-brand jeans that she’d become so fond of because of their comfort weren’t cheap either.”
Fern Michaels, Spirit of the Season (2019)
In the next paragraph, we learn that Joy “sometimes feels guilty,” but donates a lot of money to charities. Her plan to help women’s shelters is already in motion before the encounter with the ghost as well. And, she had already decided to move her business to Spruce City.
The tone behind her occasional outbursts is one of understanding throughout. She’s embarrassed about yelling at Will for being late and bringing a dog into her kitchen, but it was because of her low blood sugar issue. When she yells at Izzie for asking her about her feelings for Will, she responds, “…Dammit, I don’t like you prying into my personal life. I’ve asked you on more than one occasion to stop treating me like a thirteen-year-old! I know this is all fun and games for you, but find someone else’s life to nose into, okay! … I’m going to take to my bed. You really need to back off, Izz. I am beyond ticked.” When she tells her mother, Elizabeth responds, “Let her stew a bit; she needs to stop this.”
I felt that her righteous indignation was a little over the top, particularly because she was just mad at being questioned because she and Will had decided to keep the status of their relationship a secret until Christmas Eve. Izzie had walked in on them kissing. I think it would be natural for someone to ask questions, and I don’t think asking about what’s going to happen when she leaves is in any way treating her like a child. The righteous indignation and the excuses behind her outbursts indicates that this behavior will not change.
Worth the Read
Despite these few flaws, Spirit of the Season is worth the read. I found myself completely caught up in the small-town holiday traditions. You’ll be able to see yourself in the B&B, waiting in line for one of Nana’s over-the-top breakfasts: fruit, crepes, sausage-and-gravy, omelets, etc. I still get hungry just thinking about those meals! The description of the decorations are so vivid, you’ll want to ooh-and-ahh right along with the guests! I may have to decorate my tree this year like Joy’s favorite tree: the snowman themed tree.
Read more of Robin’s Reviews of Christmas-themed Novels
Reviewed by Robin Sneed at Keeping Christmas 365
Originally published: December 27, 2022
Last updated: January 31, 2023
