I look forward to the holiday stories by Debbie Macomber each year and this was another great one. Just what I needed at this time with so much happening in the world. Grab a cup of tea or coffee and settle in with Merry and Bright; it will lighten your heart for sure!!

Merry and Bright
by Debbie Macomber (Goodreads Author)
I love reading Debbie Macomber’s books!  This book did put me in the Christmas mood although I am usually not thinking Christmas until the first of December, I don’t even get there the day after Thanksgiving This one was fun as Merry Knight is so busy working and doing all of the Christmas time things, she is too busy to think about dating or a man.  Her well-meaning Mother and brother decide to create an online dating profile for her, without a photo and emails start rolling in.  Merry can’t believe they have done that but in the end, she decides to give it a try.
Hey since I met my husband of 18 years through match.com I’m always a champion for finding love that way!!  You’ll have to read the book to see how Merry fares with the online dating thing.  I won’t spoil it. 
I received this book in kindle format from NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

Description of the book as found on Good Reads:
Christmas is the season of the heart, and #1 New York Timesbestselling author Debbie Macomber is here to warm yours with a delightful holiday novel of first impressions and second chances.

Merry Knight is pretty busy these days. She's taking care of her family, baking cookies, decorating for the holidays, and hoping to stay out of the crosshairs of her stressed and by-the-book boss at the consulting firm where she temps. Her own social life is the last thing she has in mind, much less a man. Without her knowledge, Merry’s well-meaning mom and brother create an online dating profile for her--minus her photo--and the matches start rolling in. Initially, Merry is incredulous, but she reluctantly decides to give it a whirl.

Soon Merry finds herself chatting with a charming stranger, a man with similar interests and an unmistakably kind soul. Their online exchanges become the brightest part of her day. But meeting face-to-face is altogether different, and her special friend is the last person Merry expects--or desires. Still, sometimes hearts can see what our eyes cannot. In this satisfying seasonal tale, unanticipated love is only a click away.

I received an ebook ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

Cute Christmas book. I love Debbie Macomber's Christmas books. The only thing I wish...they were longer. This one had cute characters, easy misunderstandings, good underlying moral story, fun, and Christmas. Only two things I wish would have happened. 1. a few parts were repeated a few times but not so obvious it was annoying. 2. LONGER! I wish it would have been longer, these books are so cute. Keep up the wonderful Christmas stories Debbie Macomber.

Thanks to Net Galley I have been able to read this book by Debbie Macomber before it is released! 

I was overjoyed to read it! Of course it is good! Debbie only writes good books!

Merry Knight is a twenty-four year old college student trying to earn enough money to finish her last year of college on her own, so she is hired by Jayson Bright's company, Matterson Electronics Company for a long term temp job that will end a few days before Christmas, December 23rd.  

Her Mother, Robin Knight and her "Special" Brother Patrick decide to give her a present for her Christmas Eve Birthday, a membership to an online dating service. She has been working so much overtime that she has not had any time to go out on dates, so they think that this is the best present they could give her.

The present was well received and Merry went online right away and got an answer from a man named Jay. After several weeks they decided to meet at a Starbucks. Jayson got there early and settled in a booth, Merry arrived after and saw that Jayson was her boss and decided not to go to meet him. 

She struggled with this for a while, and finally decided to meet him at the company Christmas party,
but when she tries to tell him, he does not listen to her. 

You must read the book to find out what happens to both of them. It is well worth the time to read the story. Debbie has created another wonderful Christmas Story!

A classic Debbie Macomber novel!  Everything a Christmas story should be... sweet, warm, and full of holiday cheer! This one left me with a big smile on my face!!! Highly recommend.

The best way to describe a Debbie Macomber Christmas book is hopeful. This one does not disappoint. It is so easy to become depressed around the holidays because no one can ever have that "perfect" Christmas. Here Debbie shows her reader the optimist and the pessimist, the believer and the grinch, the personal histories that have brought them to the present. The reader becomes involved and cannot help rooting for the characters to find that perfect spot under the mistletoe.

Yes, it's a Christmas book. Yes, I know it's not Christmas yet but I've had this book waiting for me for a while now. It doesn't release until October but the synopsis just kept calling to me and I couldn't wait any longer. And life is going to be crazy the first of October to read and write the review then, so I decided to grab it now and enjoy. And I did! It was fabulous! I've read the last several Christmas books that Debbie Macomber has written and have loved them. This one was no exception!

I had a big ol' grin on my face the whole time and kept thinking that this was just super cute and I couldn't wait for the big reveal to happen. Cute, cute, cute, cute!!!!

I loved Merry's relationships with her parents and teenage brother. Patrick, the brother, melted my heart. Patrick has Down Syndrome and loves his sister Merry very much. So in a moment of wanting to cheer her up, he and her mom create a dating profile for her online. They use the image of a their dog for her profile picture and surprise her with their news. What she doesn't expect is to find another user with the picture of their dog as their profile. A wink, a click and a short message lead to lots of fun conversations (via the internet of course) and the chance at a happy and Merry Christmas. 

Merry's personal life is stressful right now. Work is stressful. She just wants to enjoy nothing more than chatting online with her new friend Jay after a long day. Their friendship slowly starts to evolve and it's time to put it to the test of meeting. Will they be able to ever meet? Will their friendship be enough to keep them happy once they do meet?

Seriously this was a super cute story that I devoured last night. I think I say this every time I read one of her Christmas novels...I sure hope they make this into a Hallmark movie! Yep, the same sentiment rings true for this book. I want a Hallmark movie out of this one! It's just a sweet, feel good and happy novel. A cozy Christmas story that warms your heart and gets you in the mood for family and friends and just the magic of that time of year. I'd happily curl up on the couch with my hubby and family, popcorn and blankets, and laugh and giggle and smile and sigh all while watching this.

There are so many more things I want to say about this book but I really don't want to spoil it and if I start to say something about the characters or a scene, I just know I'll give something away, even if I were being vague. So let me leave it at that and say one last time that I highly recommend this for a cute, super sweet read. If you need a good pick me up, grab this one.

Content: Clean

I received a copy from the publisher, Ballantine Books, via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions in the review are my own.

Happy Reading!!!

I've never read a Debbie Macomber novel. By that fact alone I'm probably not the target audience for this book. However I was in the mood for a holiday story and I've enjoyed holiday romance fiction before so I thought this would be fun. Macomber writes in a foreword that her readers have come to expect a holiday story from her every year. With that admission, and the fact that she is a writing powerhouse, I was expecting something formulaic, and I was not disappointed. But it is a delightful book. I'd give it 3.5 stars. Macomber knows what she is doing and the plot moves along quickly and she hits all the marks you need for a holiday novel. I could see the story playing out just like a Hallmark movie. If this book was made into such a film, I would watch it. For those who like this type of book or like Macomber I would definitely recommend it. Having not read Macomber before, I appreciated the erotic reserve, as so many other new romance type novels seem to be heading toward. This is a book that can get my heard pumping a little bit, but I'm also able to recommend it to my mom.

Every year without fail I look forward to Debbie's Christmas book. She has yet to disappoint me. This book was FANTASTIC. I loved the premise, I loved the characters, I loved the Christmas vibes. I love love loved it! 
As I am and have struggled with online dating myself multiple times it was nice to read a story where there was still some struggles with online dating.  I can honestly say that had I not been reading this on public transportation while on vacation for my birthday, I would have cried like a baby at the happy ending. 

I enjoyed this book SO MUCH thank you to Debbie, the publishers and Net Galley for the E-ARC!

From the bestselling author of the Cedar Cove series, Debbie Macomber's Merry and Bright is a great short book to put you in the holiday mood. Available October 3, 2017. 

Merry is a twenty-something woman working long hours to help take care of her family and save for her last year of college. The last thing on her mind is dating. So when her mother and younger brother decide to sign her up for online dating, Merry is less than thrilled. 

Jayson Bright is an ambitious VP hoping to prove to his uncle that he should be next in line to run the consulting firm when his uncle retires. Finding time to date isn't on his to-do list as the deadline of a huge deal looms near. But one look at his best friend's lovestruck eyes has Jayson wondering if there's something to this online dating thing. 

Although only a short story under 200 pages, this is a really feel good holiday story. I totally could feel the growing chemistry between Merry and Jayson, loved the focus on the positive side of online dating, and even the conflict of Merry and Jayson's working relationship. I laughed out loud several times and really enjoyed the happy ending. My only complaint was how short the story was, thus not giving the reader enough time to really get to know the characters.  

All in all a nice quick read to get you in a holiday and romantic mood.

Merry and Bright was great story. Merry works for an up and coming man at a firm where she is temping. If she can just make it through the holidays. For her birthday her mother and brother buy her a subsceiption to an online dating service. Just what she doesn't need. Thwn she starts chatting with a wonderful man. Her mother and.brother like him too. She discovers who he is but can not wrap her head around how different the "real" person is from her online person. Her heart is broken. Can it really be true?

I was given an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and independent review. 
Over the years I have read loads of books by Debbie Macomber which I have really enjoyed and this was no exception. 
This was a heart warming, easy to read romance which whilst being predictable, made me smile.

“Someday, Merry? Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

Debbie Macomber’s 2017 Christmas tale, Merry and Bright, borrows a bit of the storyline from You’ve Got Mail with a few charming twists of its own. The story touches the reader in all the right emotional spots for a wonderful little Christmas read. 

Merry Knight is a bright, positive young woman temping for the Matterson Consulting Agency run by Jayson Bright, a slightly uptight proper young man. Merry is cheerful and loves the Christmas season. However, this year her season is filled with anxiety and worries. She is working massive amounts of overtime for her boss and trying to keep up with her life at home, which includes a mother who is not well and a brother with Downs Syndrome. 

To brighten Merry’s holiday season, her mother and brother decide to help her out by gifting her with a membership to an online dating service. They do all the work for  her because she perpetually tells them she will start dating someday when she has time. To weed out unsuitable responses to the dating service, her mother and brother use a picture of their golden retriever. Jayson’s best friend and cousin, Cooper, meets his fiancé on the same dating service. Out of curiosity, Jayson decides to check out the web site and runs across a picture of a golden retriever mixed among the many pictures of women. The photo catches his eye since he can’t quite figure why someone would use a picture of a dog and the golden retriever appeals to his sense of nostalgia since he had one when he was younger. 

Read this delightful story to find out what happens when Jayson sets up his own profile with a  picture of his old golden retriever. This story will appeal to dog lovers, romance lovers, and anyone who just loves a good hearted Christmas story! A light, quick feel-good holiday read! 

I received this book free from Ballantine Books and Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The above thoughts and opinions I have expressed are wholly my own.

When I first found my love of reading Debbie Macomber was one of the first authors I ever became obsessed with their writing. She creates these magical, yet real, world scenarios and it captivates you until the last page. There is so much love, family, values, magic written within the pages of her new Christmas novel Merry and Bright. A tale of a meddling family who knows when to step in when you may have your priorities misaligned a bit. What the heroine Merry finds is that family, the heart and fate might have in store may just set those priorities straight. I loved this novel and can't wait for the new book by Debbie!

Merry and Bright is a light, entertaining Christmas story that is the book equivalent of a fluffy blanket on a cool fall night.  Merry is a single, family-oriented woman who is signed up for an online dating service by her mom and special-needs brother.  She is matched with a sweet guy who seems to be just perfect....until she realizes she already knows him in real life.  I won't give any plot details away, but she ends up learning that what you see isn't always what you get -- And what you think you want, may not be what you really need.  Like all books I've read by this author, the book is g-rated and completely appropriate, without being boring or childish.  Highly recommended for a positive and entertaining holiday read!

It’s that time of year again, Debbie Macomber comes out with her Christmas book. This year it is Merry and Bright. I really enjoyed it. Merry & Jayson were real people with everyday problems in the real world. Merry had a family that was loving and stood behind her. I loved her younger brother Patrick, he was always there to help her out whether she wanted it or not. It was the perfect story for Christmas, it was heartwarming, loving and family abounded.

Merry Knight was so busy with her job and her family she never had time to live her life. She was working as a temp for a year so she could save up enough money to go back to school for her last year and get her teaching degree. The company she was working for had mandatory overtime and her boss never smiled and was way too serious for her liking. Everything was by the book.

Jayson Bright was stressed, Vice President of Matterson Consulting he needed all the data entered on this latest project done before Christmas. This was a very important deal for him and the company. Jayson is arrogant and uptight. He hasn't come from a very loving family, and is self-made. 

Both Merry & Jayson get involved with Mix & Mingle, an online match making site. Her mom and brother sign her up for her birthday feeling she doesn't enjoy life or date enough and Jayson signs up after hearing his cousin has found the love of his life on there. Merry & Jayson use dogs as their profile pictures since they feel it’s the best way to meet someone and get to know them without looks being involved, that leads to them talking to each other online without knowing who the other is.

The relationship evolves from there, of course there are bumps in the road and I loved the family interaction from Merry's family. Her brother in particular. They do decide to meet at one point and when Merry finds out who he is she can't go through with it, she feels that they are from two very different places and it wouldn't work. But with a bit of help from her little brother and Jay's persistence they continue to talk. 
This book is a feel-good book for Christmas and I encourage all to read it. You just can't go wrong with a cup of tea or hot cocoa and Debbie Macomber's holiday books.

"I received an arc copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review."

You can't go wrong with a Debbie Macomber book! She writes a lovely story with lovely people set in lovely places that most anyone would want to be. She writes emotional, thoughtful, crowd pleasing stories that make for a very pleasant afternoon or weekend read.

Merry and Bright is a classic Debbie Macomber book. It’s a Christmas story filled with an engaging plot, likable characters, both the main ones as well as the secondary characters,  a clean romance, and above all, a story about the spirit of Christmas.
Merry is temping at a company whose CEO is Jayson. The few times they have interacted, they have clashed.
Patrick, Merry’s brother, and Robin , her Mom decide she needs to date and sign her up at an online dating site.
Needless to say, the plot thickens and when you think there will be no happy ending, you know that if it’s A Ms Macomber story, you will not only find it, but it will make you smile.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
I was gifted this book by Netgalley and Random House. The opinions expressed are solely my own.

It is Christmas time and Merry Knight who spends all her time at her temporary job and taking care of her mother with MS and her brother with Down's syndrome has no time for herself, never mind a love life.
For her birthday her mother and brother sign her up for a dating site. She corresponds with someone every night on line but also starts to have feelings for her boss even though he is boorish.
What happens next makes you feel good. The heart knows what it wants.
The book was perfect to cheer you up and smile. Love always wins. A perfect holiday read.