The Trouble With Christmas Provides Lots of Trouble for Suzanne and Grady!
Credence, Colorado becomes the setting for The Trouble With Christmas by Amy Andrews. Although Andrews is from Australia, she has a knack for capturing the essence of Credence, CO.
Suzanne St. Michelle, New Yorker, artist, and beautiful woman, arrives at Grady’s ranch, planning to spend December listening to her music and painting in the quiet of the ranch. Suzanne is struck by the quiet the moment she exists her vehicle: “And it’s so quiet, no horns or traffic or blinking lights or sirens or crowds, or people for that matter. No background hum of chatter all around you. It’s so…serene.”
Right away, readers sense that despite all the quiet, Suzanne is a talker, rambling on and on while Grady, her landlord stands looking at her thinking there went “[my] serenity.” Since Grady does not respond, Suzanne starts up again. Then she makes another mistake besides her being too talkative: she calls Grady a cowboy.
Grady’s dignified response is “I’m a rancher.”
Suzanne then asks if Grady will show her to her cottage, a separate building from Grady’s living quarters. Grady is caring for the ranch for his uncle who has retired and has given the ranch to Grady. Burl, Grady’s uncle, has rented the cottage to Suzanne.
Suzanne discovered the cottage because her friend Winona had come to Credence “after the first single-women campaign had gone viral and decided to stay.” Winona currently lives in Credence; she is having a cabin built on the lake. Winona convinced Suzanne a complete change of scenery would be good for her artistic talents.
Suzanne, whose mother is a true artist, copies famous paintings, having given up trying to paint anything original. Then she arrives in Credence and meets Grady. She becomes obsessed with the need to paint him.
The tension between Suzanne and Grady continues to mount. Whenever they are together, they act like teenagers trying to figure out who has the upper hand, clearly not liking one another at all.
On the other hand, when they are apart, each thinks of the other. This constant contrast continues to grow even as the reader keeps hoping they will give in to their desires for one another.
Like another book I just finished, a lie becomes a prominent part of the story. Suzanne tells her high-powered, wealthy parents that she wishes to remain at the ranch for Christmas because she has fallen in love with Grady, the rancher. At the time of the lie, of course, this story is untrue. Her mother tells Suzanne that in two weeks, she cannot have fallen in love, so Suzanne compounds the lie by telling her mother she met Grady earlier through Winona and that they have been corresponding by phone and email.
Suzanne’s mother feels extremely disappointed and reminds Suzanne they have never spent a Christmas apart. Then, the unthinkable happens: Suzanne’s mother says, “That’s fine…we’ll come to you.” Suzanne searches desperately for reasons her parents should not come to Credence: lack of accommodation, chance of blizzards, distance to the town.
Then Suzanne’s mom drops a bombshell. She explains that “things aren’t so good between us and …I just want one last Christmas where we’re all together.”
Now, Suzanne must deal with the lie she has told because her parents are coming to Credence for Christmas. She must convince the prickly Grady to pretend to be her boyfriend/fiancé while her parents are in CO.
Grabbing a bottle of wine, Suzanne steels herself for her encounter with Grady. Knowing they have agreed to stay in their separate lodgings, Suzanne realizes it will take convincing to make Grady go along with the charade. Even though Suzanne says, “I come in peace,” Grady already has his guard up.
As Suzanne explains her problem and her solution, Grady responds, not surprisingly, “You told them what?” After a bit more explaining and cajoling, Grady reluctantly agrees to pretend to be Suzanne’s boyfriend while her parents are in CO.
Readers will look forward to how the story plays out. And there are surprises along the way.
Amy Andrews is a nurse and has always been a writer. Her mother wrote romances, so as a child, Amy thought of herself as a writer as well. She has written a large number of books, both stand alone titles and books in a series. She has also collaborated with other authors. Discover more on her Web site: http://amyandrews.com.au/.
Andrews now lives in the “pretty little coastal town of Yeppoon where she gets to stare at the ocean all day.” I would like to read one of her books set in Yeppoon if such a one exists, so I will be checking.
Suzanne St. Michelle, New Yorker, artist, and beautiful woman, arrives at Grady’s ranch, planning to spend December listening to her music and painting in the quiet of the ranch. Suzanne is struck by the quiet the moment she exists her vehicle: “And it’s so quiet, no horns or traffic or blinking lights or sirens or crowds, or people for that matter. No background hum of chatter all around you. It’s so…serene.”
Right away, readers sense that despite all the quiet, Suzanne is a talker, rambling on and on while Grady, her landlord stands looking at her thinking there went “[my] serenity.” Since Grady does not respond, Suzanne starts up again. Then she makes another mistake besides her being too talkative: she calls Grady a cowboy.
Grady’s dignified response is “I’m a rancher.”
Suzanne then asks if Grady will show her to her cottage, a separate building from Grady’s living quarters. Grady is caring for the ranch for his uncle who has retired and has given the ranch to Grady. Burl, Grady’s uncle, has rented the cottage to Suzanne.
Suzanne discovered the cottage because her friend Winona had come to Credence “after the first single-women campaign had gone viral and decided to stay.” Winona currently lives in Credence; she is having a cabin built on the lake. Winona convinced Suzanne a complete change of scenery would be good for her artistic talents.
Suzanne, whose mother is a true artist, copies famous paintings, having given up trying to paint anything original. Then she arrives in Credence and meets Grady. She becomes obsessed with the need to paint him.
The tension between Suzanne and Grady continues to mount. Whenever they are together, they act like teenagers trying to figure out who has the upper hand, clearly not liking one another at all.
On the other hand, when they are apart, each thinks of the other. This constant contrast continues to grow even as the reader keeps hoping they will give in to their desires for one another.
Like another book I just finished, a lie becomes a prominent part of the story. Suzanne tells her high-powered, wealthy parents that she wishes to remain at the ranch for Christmas because she has fallen in love with Grady, the rancher. At the time of the lie, of course, this story is untrue. Her mother tells Suzanne that in two weeks, she cannot have fallen in love, so Suzanne compounds the lie by telling her mother she met Grady earlier through Winona and that they have been corresponding by phone and email.
Suzanne’s mother feels extremely disappointed and reminds Suzanne they have never spent a Christmas apart. Then, the unthinkable happens: Suzanne’s mother says, “That’s fine…we’ll come to you.” Suzanne searches desperately for reasons her parents should not come to Credence: lack of accommodation, chance of blizzards, distance to the town.
Then Suzanne’s mom drops a bombshell. She explains that “things aren’t so good between us and …I just want one last Christmas where we’re all together.”
Now, Suzanne must deal with the lie she has told because her parents are coming to Credence for Christmas. She must convince the prickly Grady to pretend to be her boyfriend/fiancé while her parents are in CO.
Grabbing a bottle of wine, Suzanne steels herself for her encounter with Grady. Knowing they have agreed to stay in their separate lodgings, Suzanne realizes it will take convincing to make Grady go along with the charade. Even though Suzanne says, “I come in peace,” Grady already has his guard up.
As Suzanne explains her problem and her solution, Grady responds, not surprisingly, “You told them what?” After a bit more explaining and cajoling, Grady reluctantly agrees to pretend to be Suzanne’s boyfriend while her parents are in CO.
Readers will look forward to how the story plays out. And there are surprises along the way.
Amy Andrews is a nurse and has always been a writer. Her mother wrote romances, so as a child, Amy thought of herself as a writer as well. She has written a large number of books, both stand alone titles and books in a series. She has also collaborated with other authors. Discover more on her Web site: http://amyandrews.com.au/.
Andrews now lives in the “pretty little coastal town of Yeppoon where she gets to stare at the ocean all day.” I would like to read one of her books set in Yeppoon if such a one exists, so I will be checking.