The beginning of this book sounded so familiar that I began to think I must have read it before, but then at about 20% the familiarity ended, which made me realize that I had given up on it. Again I feel like giving it the heave-ho because it is truly awful. It’s really short and I almost finished it this time, abandoning the last two pages, but following a great book by Sophie Kinsella, this was too much to bear. ( )

Every Christmas Season I get the urge to read cheesy romance novels based around the season. Think Hallmark movies in book form. However, after reading the description of this book I was a little confused. I was under the impression that the main characters, Dash and Ashley were just two strangers who were forced together due to lack of transportation getting them home for Christmas in Seattle. Besides facing the challenges of riding with a stranger, a case of mistaken identity interrupts a good portion of the story.

I understand that majority of these Christmas-type stories have that unrealistically speedy love storyline. However, I was disappointed with the lack of connection between Dash and Ashley even for that 'love at first fight' theme. There was little connection or depth between the two that would make it daydream-worthy. They bond over the fact they both have widowed parents and a love for Mexican wedding cookies. Though the author hints of failed relationships leaving them inhibited from forming a meaningful relationship, the story doesn't dig deep into it making the characters feel like the surface only.

Despite being disappointed by the lack of hot chocolate and sugar cookies during the tree lighting in the small town square, I did enjoy the antics between the couple as they traveled. I almost would rather have seen this story as more of a Stephanie Plum's (One for the Money- Janet Evanovich) style romance. It would be great to see the adventure that Dash and Ashley would encounter due to the mistaken identity. Now that would deserve more than 2 stars.

Overall, it wasn't what I expected. However, it was a good quick read between dealing with the kids today. I'd recommend it if you are looking for something that doesn't require a lot of commitment.

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This was one of my favorite Debbie Macomber Christmas rom coms. Ashley and Dashiel find themselves at the same airport ticket counter, trying to book a last-minute flight home to Seattle. When there are no more flights available, and they also find there is only one rental car left, they agree to share it for the drive. The romance was cute as always, but what made this one especially hilarious was the subplot where the FBI believed Ashley was a terrorist because of someone with the same name as her. So throughout the book, they are chasing her. It put a cute, fresh spin on a Christmas book. ( )

Digital audiobook read by Allison Ryan

Ashley Davison makes a last-minute decision to go home to Seattle and see her Mom over Christmas. Dashiell Sutherland has a job interview in Seattle and must arrive by December 23rd. Both are out of luck when trying to book a last-minute flight out of San Francisco; every flight is full and there’s only one rental car left. They reluctantly agree to share the car. They start out in silence but eventually begin to open up, learning they have more in common than they originally thought.

Of course, there are more than a few twists and turns on the road to HEA. An abandoned puppy, a couple of petty thieves, a threatening snowstorm, and a case of mistaken identity (that has the FBI on their trail) cause more than a few delays. But never fear, it’s a holiday rom com and the duo will find true love with one another! So, curl up in a comfy chair, with a warm blanket and the beverage of your choice and enjoy.

Allison Ryan reads the digital audiobook with charm and grace and an infectious enthusiasm that had me smiling throughout. ( )

I actually thought I was going to like this book. I REALLY did. It's a forced proximity enemies-to-lovers rom-com. Super tropey, but those my favorite tropes, so I'm good.
Here's the thing though....did anything about this cover or blurb indicate that this book would be a high-stakes terrorist chasedown by the FBI and Homeland Security? Okay, okay. Maybe I've trolled in the past a time or two, but if you think I'm trolling right now (that would be a hilarious troll to get you to pick this book up thinking it has a terrorist high-stakes chase plot and it doesn't) you're wrong. I am 100% serious. Debbie Macomber decided 30 pages in she wanted to be John Gisham and it's every bit as horrible as you'd imagine it would be.

Spoilers ahead. Go 'way if you don't want 'em.

There is a mix-up because the female protagonist has the same name as a terrorist. What kind of terrorist would be a white girl with a girl-next-door look be? IRA maybe? One of those dummies convinced to join ISIS over Twitter? Eco domestic terrorist? Who knows. They never explain it. Just terrorist. She blows stuff up. That's it. No other backstory. Cool.....not like I needed to know that for believability or anything.

Again, I freaking wish I was trolling right now. Pretending there's a terrorist-thriller-esque plot in a novelized Hallmark movie would be funny as fuck. but I'm not that creative. Maybe Macomber is the one trolling us.

I couldn't get into the rom-com aspect of this because I was so stressed out about the whole terrorist thing. All I'm thinking the whole book is: If the FBI is chasing THEM that means the actual terrorist is getting away! People could die! Many people!

What in the world is heartwarming or cozy about the potential deaths of hundreds or thousands of people? I thought this book would be heartwarming and cozy. My own city suffered a bombing a few years back. My husband was in the city when it happened (he was fine but it was a stressful day for all of us). So, excuse me if I can't get into the cozy Christmas rom-com feels with a freaking terrorist bomber on the loose. For real, what the hell, Macomber?

On to the book's other (many MANY issues).

-Everybody in the book sounds like a boomer. No disrespect to boomers, I'm only stating the facts. The characters are supposed to be in their 20s. They are several years younger than me. And yet, they sound like my grandparents. No millenial is saying "Whatever for?" or "Odd duck."
There's also the issue of making jokes about mental illness. The man who talks about having an alien wife is poked fun at by many characters in the book. So, I really get the sense Macomber wants me to laugh at this. I don't think it's funny to laugh at the mentally ill. Millenials usually don't. So, when Ashley, a millenial half a decade younger than me, cracks a joke about him belonging "in the looney bin." Yeah, no. I don't buy it. Not only because a millenial, especially a grad student surrounded by liberal academia, wouldn't think it's funny to laugh at someone for mental illness, but "looney bin" is just such an outdated term and I don't for a second believe anyone under 50 would use it.
Another character, an FBI officer, says Stan-the-Man belongs in a padded cell. A member of law enforcement would know all about the deinstitutionalizion of the 1980s and know that even people with delusions (so long as they aren't a threat to themselves or others) would not be insitutionalized. Right or wrong, that just doesn't happen anymore. This ads to the workload of police officers across the country, and to be an FBI agent don't you have to undergo much of the same training as police officers? Aren't a lot of them police officers first? I feel like zero research was done for this book.

Then there was the chase itself. Totally unbelievable that two regular people who don't even know they are being chased wouldn't get caught, right-a-freaking-way. The sub-plot with the teenagers swapping the license plates was sooo forced. Come on? Two teens swap license plates because one can't afford to update his registration? That's ridiculous.

And then when Ashley and Dash realize what happened, they're like "But those kids were so clean-cut!"-What does that even mean? They aren't black kids in hoodies? Sorry, maybe my brain went to racist too quick. But again, what in the hell does "clean cut" mean? I think it's a term from the 60s to differentiate the good teens from hippies. This is another example of everybody sounding like a Boomer, even the 25-year-old characters. (and maybe racism. Not sure. The term "clean cut" is so unfamiliar to me that I can't tell and I am older than the characters who used the term).

On to my next complaint! (you still reading?): None of the scenes that were supposed to be funny actually were.
Okay, one was. The scene with the teenagers being chased by the FBI and there's a helicopter and a dude shouting through a blowhorn, and the kids think it's all because they swapped a license plate, so they're in this high-speed chase with Homeland Security in a snowstorm, because they stole a license plate. That was absurd and I loved it and it is the only compliment this book will get from me.
As for the other scenes: the puppy dragging her bra into the kareoke bar after she forgets to close her hotel room door (who forgets to do that?!) Stan-the-Man talking about his alien wife, none of it was funny. More cringe-inducing and forced than anything else.

Speaking of forced, Macomber definitely TOLD me enough times that there was chemistry between Ashley and Dahs, but I did not see it. At all. I would forgive every other book sin if the romance was good. But it wasn't. Dash was obnoxious and unlikeable and Ashley was bland and forgettable. They went from fighting to be like, "Do you like me?" "No, do you like me?" Gross.
And after knowing each other for one day, not being in any sort of relationship, Dash is getting jealous of Ashley flirting with the hotel clerk. Jealousy and scolding you for flirting before you're even in a relationship? Girl, run! This is how you end up chained to a radiator. That shit ain't normal. Emotional abuse red-flag parade. Not one red flag, a freaking parade of red flags. I wasn't feeling all the feels and saying "awww." I was wondering how long it would take for Ashley to end up on that Dateline show she loves so much. Dash was not good.

That's another thing. Ashley decides Dash is good because he likes the puppy she adopts. And then the vet who talks to the FBI agents says that Ashley must be a good person because she took a puppy off his hands, and the FBI agents are all confused as to how a terrorist could possibly be a dog-lover. There is a LOT of narrative dedicated to drawing a correlation between loving dogs and being a good person.
HITLER LOVED DOGS. This argument is illogical and stupid. Anybody can love dogs. You can commit genocide and still really love dogs. Evil people don't go around kicking puppies. This whole thing irritated the hell out of me. I guess people are automatically great people if they're nice to their secretaries too.

Am I done ranting? Yeah, I guess I'm done. This book was awful. But I'm the idiot because I kept reading it. That's some good trolling Debbie Macomber. You somehow kept me reading this ridiculous terrorist thriller full of millenials who speak like boomers and jokes about the mentally ill. I'm definitely the asshole here. I'm the one who kept choosing to put the contents of this book into my brain.

Holy crap, this book was a weird ride, and if the book wasn't next to me right now, I'd really be wondering if the whole thing was a fever dream.

*Peace*

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