Fiction Review: The Christmas Cat

I have to confess. I only requested "The Christmas Cat" to annoy my dad, who hates cats and is very allergic to them. I never expected that my dad would have that in common with the main character of Melody Carlson's holiday book. Garrison Brown must find a home for each of his recently-deceased grandmother's cats, but his grandmother was very specific about the kind of home her cats can go to. And, of course, Garrison finds romance along the way.

While the book takes place during the holidays, I didn't feel a great holiday spirit about the story. The characters could use more development. There's certainly great potential for it with all the neighbors and, ultimately, cat owners Garrison meets. But the conversations and situations never go too deep. The majority of the book is spent on Garrison going from home to home for the cats, and the narrative is sweet, but formal and organized rather than natural and flowing.

It's a quick read that could easily turn into an endearing Hallmark film, but, like the Carlson book I recently finished (see my review on "Trading Secrets"), it was nothing special. Heart-warming, but not to its best ability.

*I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review.