The Lodge On Holly Road

I enjoy books filled with new beginnings, hope, love and family and The Lodge on Holly Road delivers it all. Sheila Roberts has a knack for drawing you into the lives of those in Icicle Falls, making you wish you lived there. Olivia has a lodge that is filled with guests for Christmas. A single mother with two children, a widowed man playing Santa with not much Christmas spirit and his two grown children, two older ladies, a couple celebrating by themselves and a young man hoping to plan the perfect holiday to pop the question to his girlfriend. The community is a perfect Christmas setting with Christmas lights, ice skating rink, horse drawn sleighs, plenty of snow and quaint little shops with any gift you could ever want to buy, but even in fiction, life can through you curves. There's plenty of curves in this novel. I can easily see this being made into a favorite Christmas movie, especially a couple of scenes with a rather large puppy/dog wrecking havoc in the picture perfect lodge. And I loved that James, who dressed as Santa to surprise the guests on Christmas Eve after dinner had the last name Claussen! Santa Claussen! Perfect!! Humor? You bet! Romance? Wouldn't be a true Sheila Roberts book without it! Really gets you in the Christmas spirit and an added bonus is some of Olivia's yummy recipes in the back! Would absolutely love another book with these fun characters included. They get to feeling like friends and you want to continue reading about what they are doing!

A delightful Christmas story! My new favorite Icicle Falls book. So heartwarming. So many great characters that come together for the Christmas season. A kidnapped Santa, a single mom scrapping by and trying to give her two kids an awesome Christmas, A young man planning a romantic get away for the girl he hopes to marry. The inn keeper Olivia and her two sons. So many stories going on at the same time but so connected with each other. It will show you that Christmas Dreams can come true. Make sure you have kleenex handy because you will need them. Looks like the makings of another awesome Christmas movie. Buy the book today it will put you in the Christmas spirit.

It’s a lazy Sunday morning, and I just finished Sheila Roberts The Lodge on Holly Road late last night. Of course with all of Ms. Roberts’s books, I loved this one. In case you do not already know, this book is the latest in the Life in Icicle Falls Series. As I sit here, I’m sipping a cup of coffee laced with Baileys, which is my preferred way to drink coffee. But of course I’m really longing to be at that lodge in Icicle Falls sipping Olivia’s homemade hot chocolate laced with Peppermint Schnapps.<br /><br />I thoroughly enjoy spending time with the characters that inhabit and visit Icicle Falls. This missive brings several new visitors together to the town, but of course once they visit, many do not want to leave. The Lodge is owned and run by widow, Olivia Wallace and her (single) son Eric. Visitors to the Lodge are the recently widowed James (retied, who has played Santa in the mall for years, but is now somewhat of a Grinch) along with his two grown children, Brooke and Dylan; another visitor is (single mother) Missy Monroe and her two children, Carlos and Lalla; and lastly, John Truman and his girlfriend Holland. Yes, there are several other colorful visitors to the Lodge. And of course there are appearances from additional inhabitants of the town. Put them all together and you can’t help but enjoy the ride.<br /><br />My husband, having been in retail for pretty near three decades, taught me to hate the hustle and bustle of shopping at Christmas time. I was almost forbidden from playing Christmas Carols. But of course, this book had me humming all the tunes at the beginning of each chapter. My hubby caught me singing “I saw mommy kissing Santa Clause...” and because it was the 25th, he asked if I was anxious for Christmas. Of course I pointed to the beginning of the chapter in the book I was reading. It’s my bet that you will be humming Christmas Carols in October, or whenever you read this, too. So, be sure to pick up this book as well as all of Ms. Roberts’s books. You are in for a treat!<br /><br /><a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="http://www.sheilasplace.com/the-lodge-on-holly-road.html">http://www.sheilasplace.com/the-lodge...</a><br /><br />In the interest of full disclosure, I'm part of Ms. Roberts's street team and got this book for free.

I can't say enough good things about this book. This is one of my all time favorite series. With each new installment in this series you get to go back to the great town of Icicle Falls and revisit your old friends and meet some new ones. This is a town I would love to live in. In this book we get to meet Missy who is a single mother trying to do the best she can and just needs a break. We also meet the Claussen family who lost their wife/mother just a year ago and are trying to have a happy Christmas. Next up is John who wants to propose to his girlfriend and have the perfect Christmas. There are also a couple of other families that play bit parts, two of them are a couple of friends Jane and Vera. You will find yourself laughing, crying and on the edge of your seat throughout this book. I can't wait for the next book in this series to see what happens next. This is one series that I recommend to everyone.

Another great book from Sheila Roberts. This time she has just outdone herself. Icicle Falls is my favorite place to be and I simply can not wait for the next book from there. I just love how Sheila lets you be a part of such a wonderful small town and make you feel like you know everyone. I feel like I could walk in to the Tea Shop and just say hello to Bailey or visit Dot at the Pancake Haus. And of course I want to go and visit Olivia at the Lodge on Holly Rd. Sheila takes us to a small fairytale town where dreams really do come true. <br />This time it's love for several couples over Christmas, including Santa Claus. Well, James Claussen, but he is close enough to Santa. After losing his wife on Christmas Eve the year before, James' family wants to make this Christmas special for him. After a little kidnapping from his daughter, he has just that, a very special Christmas. Maybe not the way his daughter had planned, but special indeed. <br />And Merry days are also ahead for a down and out hairdresser who just wants to give her two kids a great Christmas and who just may end up having her own Merry Christmas. For John and Holland, the "perfect couple" may not be all that it's it cut out to be, but you have to read the book to find out more about them! <br />So happy reading and enjoy this book, and enjoy this series. These books can all be read on their own without reading them in order, but it's fun to run into the same characters as you read Sheila's stories. And don't forget to check out the Christmas romances by Debbie Macomber, Sheila Roberts, Brenda Novak and Raeanne Thayne in a combined book called Together For Christmas. I get to visit my four favorite places in one book.

It was wonderful to head back to Icicle Falls for Christmas! Christmas is such a magical time of the year and so many prayers and wishes go with it. Before you ever make it to the Lodge that Olivia owns with her son Eric you meet John and Missy. I found myself wanting them together only to find out he had a girl. Her kids help to take you back to maybe a Christmas or two of your own growing up. <br /><br />This romance makes you believe in Santa and all that he can do if enough prayers and wishes are made. A little girl getting a Grandma, a little boy needing his very own dog and Santa himself needing a Mrs. Claus! Grown children learning that their Dad can miss their Mom and still love again! There is a lot of wishes and prayers full filled this Christmas season at The Lodge on Holly Road. Sit back with some hot chocolate and another wonderful book from Sheila Roberts! This book will be a movie some day soon!

Another superb book by Sheila Roberts, we are reminded prayers really still get answered and miracles really still do happen.<br /> We see familiar names and some new ones coming to the lodge in quaint Icicle Falls. We feel empathy for Missy and her kids as well as the doldrums James is feeling as he wears the "santa suit" but has lost his joy playing santa.<br /> We rejoice to see Missy enjoying herself at the lodge. Christmas turns out to be a truly caring, sharing time of year and Missy's family gets blessings beyond measure.<br /> We thank God John doesn't end up with Holland but finds a better "fit" as do the widow, who runs the lodge, and the widower, who finds his Christmas joy, love, and his enjoyment in playing Santa.<br /> By the end I was chuckling aloud because I was so joyful seeing happy endings and glory being given to God.

What a wonderful book! I enjoyed every minute of it!! In this book we are introduced to James Claussen, he is a widower and he played Santa at the local mall. His daughter Missy kidnaps him and takes him on a journey to Icicle Falls where he meets and falls in love with Olivia. Her son Eric falls in love with James daughter, Missy, and so our story begins. Poor John Truman tries to surprise his girlfriend with a ring on Christmas only it backfires in his face. She turns him down and he is falling for Missy instead. He is already falling for her children Lalla and Carlos. Lalla wants a grandma for Christmas and Carlos wants a dog. Everyone's wishes are granted on Christmas with a few twists and turns. If you love Christmas stories you must read this book. YOU will love it. I think this is my new favorite Sheila Robert's book. Don't miss this great book!!

Originally published at <a href="http://www.readingreality.net/2015/10/review-the-lodge-on-holly-road-by-sheila-roberts/" rel="nofollow noopener">Reading Reality</a><br /><br />I pulled The Lodge on Holly Road out of the virtually towering TBR pile because I’m scheduled to review the 8th book in this series, <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/24944829.Christmas_on_Candy_Cane_Lane__Life_in_Icicle_Falls___8_" title="Christmas on Candy Cane Lane (Life in Icicle Falls, #8) by Sheila Roberts" rel="noopener">Christmas on Candy Cane Lane</a>, early in November. I totally forgot that Holly Road was last year’s Christmas book in the Life in Icicle Falls series. So I get two heaping helpings of Christmas spirit in time for the upcoming holidays.<br /><br />While <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/17738182.Merry_Ex_Mas__Life_in_Icicle_Falls___2_" title="Merry Ex-Mas (Life in Icicle Falls, #2) by Sheila Roberts" rel="noopener">Merry Ex-Mas</a> is still my favorite Christmas book in this series, at least so far, The Lodge on Holly Road was definitely a tasty treat.<br /><br />The first thing readers need to know about this series is that Icicle Falls is really Leavenworth, Washington, a small tourist town that really did change its look to make it seem like something out of an idealized Bavarian Forest. It is just this cute, and in the location relative to Seattle described in the book.<br /><br />The Lodge on Holly Road is a bed and breakfast in Icicle Falls. In this story, the Lodge is open for its regular Christmas package, but the guests that arrive for this particular Christmas make the holiday a special treat for everyone involved.<br /><br />Olivia Wallace owns the Lodge, and she and her oldest son Eric run the place. Her younger son Brandon drops in every once in awhile, especially at the holidays. Brandon is still making a way for himself, which currently involves traveling around the U.S. searching out the best ski resorts. He’s a teacher and trainer, but it does seem like a bit of an excuse to be a “ski bum”.<br /><br />Olivia has been a widow for 14 years, and Eric, as much as he’d like to settle down and get married, hasn’t found the right woman in the small town he loves. And as he and his friends lament at the beginning of the story, most women who visit Icicle Falls from Seattle or wherever live in those other places because they don’t want to actually live in a small and sometimes remote place like Icicle Falls.<br /><br />Brooke Claussen just wants her dad to recapture not just his Christmas spirit, but a little bit of his spirit in general. As James Claussen often spends the holidays as a department store Santa, he really needs a little Christmas, but has lost his heart. His wife (and Brooke’s mother) died last Christmas Eve after a long struggle with cancer. In his grief, James has turned inward and is shutting himself off from the world.<br /><br />One of the really sweet things in this story is that Olivia and James are pretty much perfect for each other, and it is especially lovely to see their burgeoning romance take a chunk of the center stage in this multi-romance holiday treat. It’s also good that Brooke and Eric both have their own experiences with caretaking and jealousy, and need to figure out what their places are in their parents’ lives, and what place they might find in each other’s life as well.<br /><br />But the heart of the story revolves around poor deluded John Truman, and Missy Monroe, the single mother he rescues on the way to Icicle Falls a couple of nights before Christmas.<br /><br />John believes that his big city girlfriend, Holland, will just love Icicle Falls, the vacation he has meticulously planned, and the engagement ring he plans to present to her on Christmas Eve. It is pretty obvious to the reader and most of the other guests at Holly Lodge that John is seriously deluding himself, but as is so often said, “love is blind”. In Truman’s case, it’s even blind that what he feels is love.<br /><br />Missy Monroe is a single mother with two young children by different fathers. She’s the first to admit that her choices in men have not been stellar, but her children are the light of her life and she is doing her best to raise them with much more love and care than she received from her alcoholic mother. Missy’s problem is money. It’s pretty clear that she isn’t collecting any child support, and her wages and tips at the low-end beauty salon where she does hair isn’t enough to make ends even wave at each other, let alone meet.<br /><br />Missy has saved all year long to give her kids a beautiful Christmas someplace nice. But the presents that Carlos and Lalla want are beyond her budget and control. Carlos wants a dog that she’s not allowed to have in their apartment. And Lalla wants a grandma, which is even harder to magic up.<br /><br />As John Truman finds himself more and more alone on what should have been a romantic holiday, he spends more and more time with Missy and her kids. Missy sees instantly that John is just the kind of man that she would love to be with – he’s caring, sincere, funny, willing to try new things and most of all, loyal. That he’s a stable accountant and not a flake doesn’t hurt either. But all the things that Missy likes about John, including his steadiness and his desire to settle down in a small town just like Icicle Falls, are all the things that his erstwhile fiance finds boring, if not downright low-class.<br /><br />The Christmas miracle in this story is that everyone who comes to the Lodge on Holly Road this Christmas finds their happily ever after, no matter how remote a prospect it seemed at the beginning. There’s even a puppy and a grandma for Missy’s kids.<br /><br />Escape Rating B+: Everyone gets what they need for this Christmas, even if (or especially because) it wasn’t what they thought they wanted. I also liked the way that Olivia and James’ romance was treated. We so seldom see romances that feature, frankly, anyone over 40, let alone anyone around 60. While both of their children have issues seeing their living parents with someone other than their dead parents, the fact is that 60 isn’t dead and they both have plenty to give a new partner that doesn’t take anything away from each of their happy first marriages or their relationships with their kids.<br /><br />It was icing on the cake that when Eric and Brooke stopped squabbling over their parents getting together, they discovered that their parents had the right idea. The two families do belong together, and Eric has as much in common with Brooke as his mother does with her dad.<br /><br />Icicle Falls is always lovely, and when John Truman’s would-be fiance Holland finally gets there and acts like the whole place is beneath her, we all know she’s evil and he needs to find someone who will love him as he is. Not wanting to go out clubbing every weekend is not a character flaw. And when he finally figures out that he was just Holland’s “starter boyfriend” in a new city and that now that she knows her way around she’s ready to trade him up for someone flashier, we know he’s WAY better off without her, whether he gets the clue to start a relationship with Missy or not.<br /><br />While it is not necessary to have read the previous books in the series to enjoy The Lodge on Holly Road, the ambiance of Icicle Falls provides a nice backdrop for this story. We get to catch up with a few people that we’ve already met, but those old favorites are a side note to a story that is all about the newbies in town and in the story.<br /><br />For a tasty bite of Christmas cheer, The Lodge on Holly Road is a lovely story. And Olivia’s mouth watering recipes for her Lodge will make you hungry for a holiday getaway of your own.

This book is a wonderful holiday treat. All the characters bring this story to life. There are several romances at work here which totally fit. Grab some hot chocolate and settle in with this special story that will warm your heart.