A charming Christmas story with heartbreak, uncertainty, love and friendship!
Jenny is a single 40 something year old living with her 2 dogs and a miniature pony. When her landlord tell her he is selling the land she is living on, she has no clue what she is going to do until a lawyer contacts her about her daddy passing away and leaving behind a house and cabins on land by the Heron lake NC.
Jenny has had her heart broken and her confidence crushed by her ex fiancé and is uncertain if she will ever find love.
I loved this book as it teaches you that there is always hope. When one door closes, another opens. When you think you will never love or trust again, there is always someone there that has loved and lost. And old and new friendship are the best gifts of all! ( )

This is a drama-free slow-burn romance set against the backdrop of Christmas and a major renovation project. Jenny Beckett is a little bit down on her luck recently because her fiance broke off their engagement just before their wedding, she is being evicted from a home she loves living in because her landlord sold it, and her father died and left her with the burden of a lot of property, which he gifted to her truly and honestly out of love. Jenny is at this huge crossroads in her life and she needs to figure out where she will go and what she will do now that basically everything is changing.

I've read Susan Schild's stories before and loved them for their slow-burn romance and their North Carolina settings, and their wonderful character development, and those are the things that I loved here as well. (Plus the Christmas that she threw in, which was a lot of fun.) Jenny hires a contractor team to help her renovate the cabins - a guy and his sister - and this ends up gaining her a love interest and what appears to be a lifelong friend. The three end up getting along very well together and the brother-sister team end up teaching Jenny so much about renovation at every step of the project. I truly enjoyed all of their interactions and loved the way Ms. Schild developed their characters enough that at the end of the book, I want to know more about them all.

About the romance: Jenny and Luke, the contractor, have this simmering attraction throughout the story that is very respectful of one another. Luke is aware that Jenny is just out of a relationship, and Jenny is aware of what happened with Luke's past relationship. The slow-burn is very slow, though, so readers that want a steamier or very quick development will not find that here. Additionally, Luke's sister Alice is actively involved with a guy that she is madly in love with, and her relationship gives almost a comic relief to the story that leads up to a really great scene at the end.

I always love renovation stories and stories featuring building projects, so this one was a lot of fun. Every single secondary character was great, and every single character was relatable to me in some way or another. I found Jenny very likable and relatable. I love the way that she weighed all of her decisions rationally and with a lot of smarts, but she still took a few risks hoping for happiness and success in her life.

Also, sidenote, but Jenny has these great pets that are heavily featured: two dogs and a mini-horse. She is so good to them and treats them so well and that stood out to me with her character. Like, if Jenny were a real life person, I feel like she would be one of the good ones. ( )

Christmas 2019 - NICE!

I absolutely loved this charming, heartwarming story - up to and including the cover art. It had lovable characters, sweet romance, a great location and an interesting plot.

I can't wait to read the next one in the series. I wish Lakeside Resort was a real place because I want to go there and stay in one of the cute cabins and hang out at a bonfire with Luke and Jenny and the dogs and Levi the miniature horse. ( )

Lindas Book Obsession Reviews "Christmas at the Lakeside Resort" by Susan Schild

Susan Schild , Author of "Christmas at the Lakeside Resort", has written an enjoyable, pleasant, entertaining, and heartwarming novel.The Genres for this story are Fiction and Women's Fiction. There is a slight feel of magic and hope in this Holiday story. The story takes place in the present and goes to the past only when it pertains to the characters or events in the story. The author describes the characters as each having their own set of problems.

The animals in the story enhance the mood and description. As an animal lover, I appreciate that the author brings up rescued animals, a miniature horse and 2 older large dogs that seem so lovable. I also appreciate that the author writes her story using more mature characters.

Jenny Beckett, dreads Christmas, especially since that was to be her Wedding Day. Her fiancé leaves her for a younger women, and Jenny is just about to find out that her small chicken coop cottage has been sold and will be torn down. Jenny does find out that her estranged father, who she had a complicated relationship with, has died. Surprisingly, he has left her some cabins on beautiful Heron Lake, and an older house. Seeking the help of her friend, who loves to redecorate, and Luke and his sister from the hardware store, Jenny is determined to have the guest cabins finished and ready to rent for the holidays.

I appreciate that the author describes, starting over, believing in friends, love and hope. I would recommend this book for those readers who enjoy an easy happily ever after read. ( )

Jenny is in her 40’s; her fiancé dumped her before their planned Christmas wedding and as she comes to grips with that loss, she is also grappling with feelings of dissatisfaction with her job. Then her landlord evicts her, and she has to find a place quickly that will take her large pets. At her lowest, she gets a call from an attorney telling her that her dad has died. Jenny has been estranged from her rambling, gambling father for years and she can’t even grieve about his death. When she finds out he has left her some lakeside property with a bunch of half finished cottages on it she doesn’t know if it is a good thing or some other mess he’s left behind for her to clean up. She only has a little money saved, and even a little less in the expertise she’ll need. But she might be able to turn the place around before Christmas if Luke, a man she just met who knows business and construction, can help her out.
Book 1 is a great feel good story that anyone who has experienced hard luck, or compulsively watches DIY shows will love. I couldn’t stop smiling when I finished the last chapter and at a little over 200 pages it’s a perfect weekend read. Beautiful setting, and delightful characters. 4 stars ( )