I wasn't planning on reading this one because there's no murder and I generally don't read the novellas but it was included in the edition of Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder that I was reading so I went ahead and read it. I finished the 100 page novella in less than a day. It was a quick, cute read. Pretty predictable, but that's okay with these stories. We'll probably never hear of this character again since they don't actually live in Lake Eden, but it was a nice little feel-good side story for Christmas time.

All in all, if you don't usually read novellas and don't have access to this one, it's okay, as nothing happens that correlates to the main ongoing story in the core series. That being said, if you enjoyed the first book, or are a Joanne Fluke fan in general, then by all means, yes please read this. If you're on the fence and don't really care about a side story, then it's okay to skip it, you won't miss anything. ( )