A Baxter Family Christmas by Karen Kingsbury

When I saw that there was a new Baxter novel coming out for the Christmas season 2016 I thought people were going to have to read the previous 24 novels she wrote about the Baxter/ Flanigan family to know what was going on. Guess what? You don't have too. Before the story even begins there is a two page summary of what has happened to each of the family members followed by a family tree. You could read and enjoy this book without even reading the previous 24 books which really should be read in order but not this one. 

To be honest I did not like Karen Kingsbury killing off one of the daughters and most of her immediate family in the last novel which was "Coming Home". I told myself I was not going to read another Baxter family novel again but I changed my mind and I'm glad I did. The aftermaths of that tragedy is handled by nicely in this book. It has been two years now and the family still has pain. Some of the family members are not handling too well when John Baxter, the patriarch of the Baxters wants to invite the recipient of Erin's heart to the Christmas Eve gathering. He has a couple of good reasons to invite her but I won't spoil it by revealing. You will have to read for yourself. There was also a sideline story that I also enjoyed and involved Brooke Baxter West's daughter Maddie. It has been 13 years since her sister nearly died from drowning in a pool and she feels responsible. She meets a Flanigan boy but does not feel worthy of a relationship with a boy. I think I enjoyed Maddie's story best.

Thanks to Howard Books and Netgalley for providing me an Ebook to review. A Baxter Family Christmas is due to be released October 25, 2016 and is surely going to be a bestseller!