Catching Christmas by Terri Blackstock
Published by Thomas Nelson on October 9, 2018
Genres: Holidays, Literature & Fiction, Romance
Pages: 304
Format: ARC
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The first Christmas story from New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Terri Blackstock.
“The feel-good Christmas book of the year. Blackstock’s tale of love and redemption wrapped in a holiday bow will leave you smiling. Don’t miss Catching Christmas.” —New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hauck
This Year, Christmas Comes Just in Time
As a first-year law associate, Sydney Batson knows she will be updating her resume by New Year’s if she loses her current court case. So when her grandmother gets inexplicably ill while she’s in court, Sydney arranges for a cab to get her to the clinic.
The last thing cab driver Finn Parrish wants is to be saddled with a wheelchair-bound old lady with dementia. But because Miss Callie reminds him of his own mother, whom he failed miserably in her last days, he can’t say no when she keeps calling him for rides. Once a successful gourmet chef, Finn’s biggest concern now is making his rent, but half the time Callie doesn’t remember to pay him. And as she starts to feel better, she leads him on wild goose chases to find a Christmas date for her granddaughter.
When Finn meets Sydney, he’s quite sure that she’s never needed help finding a date. Does Miss Callie have an ulterior motive, or is this just a mission driven by delusions? He’s willing to do whatever he can to help fulfill Callie’s Christmas wish. He just never expected to be a vital part of it.
“Terri Blackstock’s latest offering touches tender places with its quirky characters and stirring plot. Catching Christmas explores what happens when the paths of a disenchanted Taxi driver collide with that of an overworked attorney. Blackstock weaves a compelling, romantic tale that is sure to get you into the Christmas spirit!” —Denise Hunter, bestselling author of Honeysuckle Dreams
“Blackstock’s Catching Christmas is not your average romance. Darling and laugh-out-loud cute, it makes the reader think about the important things in life. I read it in one gulp and wished there was more. Highly recommended!” —Colleen Coble, USA TODAY bestselling author of the Hope Beach series and the Lavender Tides series
I was so excited to see a Terri Blackstock Christmas book available through my book blogging relationship with NetGalley! I love this author AND I love Christmas books, so I knew this was going to be a good one! Today’s post is about Catching Christmas by Terri Blackstock. I understand that this is the author’s first Christmas book, and I’m hoping it won’t be her last!
This is the very sweet story of Callie, the eighty year old grandmother of first-year law associate, Sydney Batson. Callie is wheelchair-bound and has a bit of dementia. Sydney is in the middle of a court case that will make or break her career, so when Callie has to go to the clinic, Sydney hires cab driver, Finn Parrish to take her.
Finn is a burned out and jaded former successful chef turned cab driver who then somehow reluctantly becomes Callie’s “Christmas elf” by virtue of the fact that he feels a bit of guilt in the fact that he failed his own mother in her last days. When Callie calls Finn for a ride in the cab, despite the fact that she sometimes forgets to pay him, he just can’t say no. Callie knows she is old and not able to take care of holiday errands, so she is very happy to find Finn and keeps him at her beck and call despite his protests. During the time Finn is driving Callie around, he discovers that the only thing Callie really wants is to find someone special for her Sidney to spend Christmas day with.
I loved the good dose of dry humor in this story that was light but always present. Readers could feel the fact that time was short for Callie, as well as the pressure Sydney felt rushing to and from work and caring for her grandmother. Callie wants to find Sydney a Christmas date, and she uses Finn’s services to do so. Little do they both know that Callie sees both of them for who they are and knows they will make a great match. When Finn and Sydney finally get together, Callie finds her happy Christmas. It’s their getting together that is the heart of the story. I will admit that I really loved this Christmas story and especially from one of my favorite Christian authors!
Terri Blackstock is a New York Times best-seller, with over six million copies sold worldwide. She is the winner of two Carol Awards, a Christian Retailers Choice Award, and a Romantic Times Book Reviews Career Achievement Award, among others. She has had over twenty-five years of success as a novelist. Terri spent the first twelve years of her life traveling in a U.S. Air Force family. She lived in nine states and attended the first four years of school in The Netherlands. Because she was a perpetual “new kid,” her imagination became her closest friend. That, she believes, was the biggest factor in her becoming a novelist. She sold her first novel at the age of twenty-five, and has had a successful career ever since.
In 1994 Terri was writing for publishers such as HarperCollins, Harlequin, Dell and Silhouette, when a spiritual awakening drew her into the Christian market. As she was praying about her transition, she went on a cruise and noticed that almost everyone on the boat (including her) had a John Grisham novel. It occurred to her that some of Grisham’s readers were Christians, and that if she wrote a fast-paced thriller with an added faith element, she might just find her niche. As God would have it, Christian publishers were showing interest in the suspense genre, so she quickly sold a four-book series to Zondervan. Since that time, she’s written over thirty Christian titles, most of them suspense novels.
Besides entertaining her readers, Terri tackles issues that she hopes will change lives. Her recent book, Predator, was inspired by her experiences on Facebook and Twitter, and her concern that people posted too much personal information about themselves. The book deals with an online predator who uses social networks as his playground. She hopes the book will change readers’ online habits. Her New York Times best-seller, Intervention, was inspired by her own personal struggles with a daughter on drugs. In the book, a mother hires an interventionist for her drug-addicted daughter. But on the way to treatment, the interventionist is murdered, and the daughter disappears. Barbara, the mother, sets out to search for her daughter. Terri modeled Barbara after herself, and poured many of her own emotions and experiences into that character. As a result, many families experiencing drug addiction have written to thank her for telling their story and giving them hope.
Connect with Terri: Website // Facebook // Twitter
I was provided with a complimentary electronic advanced reader copy from Thomas Nelson through Net Galley in exchange for my post. I was not required to post a positive review, but have chosen to do so because this book was great! Thank you!
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