Christmas books just read differently to me. I love the season, and can appreciate almost anything that is written/takes place during this time. A Christmas Affair by Jodi Thomas was no exception. In her character series of Ransom Canyon, this novel is considered to be "6.5" in the series. It was heartfelt emotional romance, that felt like a Hallmark on pages. which is exactly what I enjoy about Christmas books :)

It's the perfect time of year when falls arriving, days are getting shorter, and Football fever has arrived. Nothing seems more perfect, except maybe traveling back to Crossroads, Texas with Jodi Thomas in her new Ransom Canyon book, A Christmas Affair. 
Jodi certainly entertains us with one of the sweetest romantic Christmas books this year. 
Travis is on his way to Crossroads to live with his three aging great-uncles, he's thinking he might stay for awhile, earn some money then hit the road for greener pastures. Saddled up with 3 great-uncles he figures there are close to 200 years between them. He's never had anyone care or love him, so he's not expecting much now. But what he discovers will feed his soul for a lifetime. 
Wes watches her as she displays her jellies and jams. He's smitten, but sees no future. Just a Fantasy he can day dream on, forever.
Maria dreams and sees everything, but not through eyesight, it's her heightened senses, tender touching, and her loving heart.
She only wants one Dream to come true, an affair by Christmas to cling to, forever.
"Forever just might be the perfect length of time for a wild affair."
Jodi Thomas delivers a heart-felt beautiful Christmas story. So let the Christmas spirit and forever dreams sweep you away, one Christmas Affair, at a time.

This book was short and sweet but that did not take away from it one bit.  This is the best series.  
Marie was blinded in an accident a couple years ago and sells her homemade jams to the local grocery.  Wes watches her from afar. Do they get together?  I love being able to visit old friends and meet new.  

This is a series you will want to read.

Thanks you Harlequin and Netgaley for allowing me to read this title for an honest review

A Christmas Affair by Jodi Thomas

I was really hoping that Maria would get her own story. Maria Davis appeared in Indigo Lake and is Dakota’s sister. Maria was blinded in an accident and has to re-make her life. She is unable to work as a chef but does cook at home for her sister and grandmother. She also prepares preserves and some other small items for the local store in Crossroads. It is here that she meets the man she wants to be with. The major problem is that Wes Waltham doesn’t seem to see her.

However, Maria is very mistaken. Wes is very conscious of Maria and wants to get to know her but he is very shy. Then Maria kisses him and he realises that she likes him too.

It is at this point that Maria and Wes have a difference of opinion. Maria wants an affair but Wes wants it to be open and known to all. It will take all of Wes’s resources, and skills, to get Maria to agree to have their relationship open knowledge.

Within the mix, we meet Travis Fuller. He is brought to Crossroads to be placed with his three uncles. He is a young man who hasn’t had a stable family life and is already planning to leave. He then finds that life with his elderly uncles, and life in the town, is not so bad and his plans to leave fall by the wayside. I suspect that Ms Thomas has plans for Travis in the future.

But back to Maria and Wes. This is a sweet story and I was really happy to be able to know that there was a good, strong woman for Wes who would bring out the best in him. His proposal is so not Wes but I will allow the reader to find out how he does it.

Reviewed by Heather

A Christmas tale for the ages.  This was quite the read.

Maria Davis is a true romantic, her choice of reading material is romance novels, so when Jodi Thomas decided to make Maria the star in A CHRISTMAS AFFAIR it was no real surprise. There is no obstacle too large or impossible that can come between two people that find themselves truly smitten. Wes Whitman, the quiet unassuming grocery store owner is no match for this spirited yet quiet lovely young lady. Her blindness is practically overlooked so unimportant in the scheme of things. 
We had met these two in prior Ransom Canyon books but never really thought about what Jodi Thomas had in store for them.
Maria has been stocking her homemade jams and jellies in Wes’ store for a while now. Wes it seems had it all down to a pretty perfect system so that Maria could do it her way by herself. All part of making her feel self-sufficient. 
In truth this lovely man made sure all and any obstacles were removed when Maria did her restocking. Wes just stayed out of reach and watched. With time Maris had become important to Wes – he just hadn’t figured that out yet. 
Maria was just too beautiful to be attracted to Wes. But Maria had come to a rather shocking decision. First she wanted a Christmas affair resplendent with scenes right out of her romance novels. And second she wanted Wes. We met Maria Davis, her sister Dakota and grandmother in Indigo River. Dakota is now engaged to Blade and their story was truly marvelous. 
Travis Fuller at fifteen is heading to Crossroads Texas to live with three bachelor great-uncles. Tough young guy with an attitude that is well earned. Travis is a rather strange teenager with a great appreciation for all the surrounding elements which gives him a special vision of this little town he has just moved to. And to be quite candid Travis has no idea how wonderful this little town and its inhabitants are. Travis’ three uncles have rearranged their home and lives to take care of their teenage charge. There is a lot of love in that household and albeit a slightly odd family. 
If nothing else we have come to expect a great deal of eclectic characters in most of Jodi Thomas’ works and so A CHRISTMAS AFFAIR is such a welcome addition. Crossroads is a town filled with good people. Travis has to take a long breath to get accustomed to the amount of generosity that went his way – a stranger in town. What better homage to the holiday season then watching a town work their own type of miracle for some very special people. Jodi Thomas packs in quite a lot of story in A CHRISTMAS AFFAIR which is a novella for this holiday season.

Reviewed by JoAnne

Review:  A Christmas Affair is a Christmas novella in the Ransom Canyon series and was a quick read at only ninety pages.  Although fast paced this book continues the series nicely and there is a depth to the story since characters we’ve met before are back.  Maria, Dakota and their grandmother are just a few of them but it gave reality to the story. There was good plot development and we learned more about the characters a little at a time as their layers were peeled back.  The addition of Travis, and his low self-esteem, as well as his uncles provide fodder for future stories.  There were a few stories going on at once but they intertwined seamlessly.

There are family and friends, loneliness, despair, anger, hurt, hope, romance and love.  Watching Wes and Maria get to know each other was unexpected and heartwarming  as was Travis putting himself out there for someone other than himself and his own agenda.  Seeing how kind words from others gave Travis the boost he needed was both satisfying and gratifying.  There was closure and a happily-ever-after  but I was left with wanting more.  I for one hope the series will continue with more full length novels.

Thomas is always a writer whose books I enjoy whether in this series, the Harmony series or her stand alone books.  But looking at her list of books that I haven’t read yet was eyeopening.  I have added many to my always growing TBR pile and can’t wait to dive into them.

Maria Davis once owned a small restaurant in Dallas where she was gaining a reputation as a talented chef. That changed on Christmas Eve five years ago when Maria and her mother were involved in an automobile accident that left her mother dead and Maria blind. Maria has adjusted to her new life with remarkable grace. She enjoys the slower-paced life she shares with her sister, Dakota, and her grandmother, and sales of her homemade jams and jellies are growing. But Maria wants more. She wants the love that the heroines of her beloved romance novels experience, and Maria decides that she will act rather than waiting for her knight in shining armor to appear. Wes Whitman is the man she has chosen.

Wes Whitman is no one’s idea of a knight on a white horse. He is a grocer who likes his quiet, orderly life and takes pride in the store he owns. He has no illusions about himself. At thirty-four, he “considered himself passable” but recognizes that in a few more years he will likely “get that buzzard look his father and grandfather had aged into. Too tall, too thin, hawk-nosed and big-eared.” For more than four years, Wednesdays have been the highlight of Wes’s week. Wednesday is that day that Maria Davis restocks Davis Jams and Jellies. Over the years, he and Maria have established their own ritual for these days. He watches her work, escorts her to his office where she sits in the same chair while they exchange a few sentences, then he writes her check and follows her to Dakota’s old pickup. One day, Wes changes the ritual by inviting Maria to have a cup of coffee, but Maria changes things more radically when she kisses him. Maria wants a “wild affair,” but Wes wants forever. Can he convince her that his dream is really her dream too?

Meanwhile, three weeks before Christmas, there is a newcomer in town. Travis Fuller, not quite sixteen and harboring a secret dream of becoming an architect, has been placed in the custody of his three great-uncles—Cap, Dice, and Horace Fuller. Travis is convinced they are all crazy, old men, but with all their idiosyncrasies, they offer him more than his parents: “His mother was mean and his father was stupid. Their last fight ended with her in the hospital and him in jail.”  Travis has lost faith in adults. He arrives thinking only of getting enough money together to buy a bus ticket to somewhere else, but he may just find that his uncles can give him a home and a future.

Jodi Thomas takes her readers back to Crossroads, Texas, for a Christmas visit in this heartwarming novella that is part of her Ransom Canyon series. The story gives readers the quirky town and misfit characters which have earned her countless fans, and she adds a subtle, Christmas touch by showcasing characters who find there is indeed room for them in Crossroads and in the hearts of people who love them. 

One of the things that keeps me coming back for more of Thomas’s work is that in her fictional world, everyone deserves—and gets—love and the promise of happiness. You would be hard pushed to find a hero more antithetical to the ever-popular alpha hero than a “passable,” headed-toward-homely merchant who is the shyest person in town. And even Dakota, who loves her sister devotedly, never imagines that shy, pretty, blind Maria dreams of romance and a lover who will erase painful memories. Thomas reveals the romantic hearts Wes and Maria hide. By the time Wes admits to Maria, “I was about to give up on finding you. . . If whatever this is lasts a day or a lifetime, it’ll still be the peak in my life,” he has won the reader’s heart as surely as he wins Maria’s. And Maria is no less successful in tugging at heart strings when she tells him, “I’d like a Christmas Eve memory that would erase the night of the wreck. I’d like to dance with the smell of Evergreens around me and know that for just one moment I’m cherished.” Sigh!

Thomas weaves Travis’s story into the larger story. His edges may be rougher, but he is no less deserving of a family who cares for him and a place to belong than Wes and Maria are of romantic love. And the happy resolution to his story is no less satisfying. Thomas has a gift for creating lost, searching teens. Travis is the second one in this series.  I’d like to think readers will see more of him, but this may be the conclusion to the Ransom Canyon series. Thomas’s spring book, Home by Twilight, sounds like women’s fiction and appears to be a standalone.

If you read Indigo Lake and wished for Maria and Wes’s story, A Christmas Affair is perfect wish fulfilment. If you like Christmas romances but want something a bit different from the usual, A Christmas Affair may be just what you ordered. If you are a bit weary of stories about beautiful people and the love affairs of billionaires, you may fall in love with these blessedly ordinary, richly human characters. Jodi Thomas’s Christmas gift to her readers is a small gem. I highly recommend it.

A romance you will not want to end.  Great characters and plot keep this book fun and you wanting to turn the pages. This author knows how to write a great story.

Wes runs the local general store and has secretly admired Maria for a long time.  She's blind but an excellent cook and stocks Wes's shelves with jams and jellys.  She lives with her sister who is in love with a neighbor but is worried about an old family curse.  As Maria decides she wants an affair with shy handsome Wes he is eager to fulfill her her wishes but he wants more.  A nice Christmas tale with an unusual twist.

Lovely short Christmas story. I've never read anything by this author but I was intrigued by this Christmas story. Set in Crossroads, Texas, this sweet little holiday story is just what I wanted. The main characters Wes and Maria were introduced in an early book and finally got their story in this addition. I enjoyed it and I'm definitely curious to read the other books in this series. I would recommend.

Title:  A Christmas Affair
Author:  Jodi Thomas
Publisher:  HQN Books
Series:  Ransom Canyon #6.5) 
Reviewed By:  Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:

"A Christmas Affair" by Jodi Thomas

My Thoughts....

I loved this heartwarming 'Ransom Canyon #6.5 series'... Christmas novella that will keep you turning the pages till the end.  We find that Maria Davis who is blind from a accident would like something special this Christmas...an affair with a certain storekeeper Wes Whitman where she sells her jams and jellies in the local grocery.  Now what will come of this especially with both Maria and Wes being so shy? Also in this story will be about a 15 year old teenager [Travis] who arrives to stay with his great uncles.  What will come of this situation?   Be ready for a sweet romance that will definitely leave you with a heartwarming lighthearted story as this author does her magic at wrapping ones heart around her interesting characters and yes we get a happy ending!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The review will post tomorrow.

After an accident left her blind, Maria's turned her skills as a chef into a thriving jam/jelly making business. She's decided she's had enough of waiting and makes her move. She wants Wes, the local shop owner, to treat her to a Christmas affair. No strings attached, just a sizzling holiday affair.

Wes is shocked and pleased when Maria confronts him. There's one problem. He's in love with her, and a holiday fling is not enough. He wants to make things between them last forever.

Young Travis is moving into town to be cared for by three elderly uncles he doesn't know. He's only sticking around long enough to get his license and then he plans to leave. Could life in this small community change his mind?

Strengths and Weaknesses


I'm not really familiar with the Ransom Canyon series. I've read three from the series, but none of the characters I really remember from those books appeared in A Christmas Affair. Yancy will always been my favorite in this series.

The romance between Wes and Maria seemed so rushed. She basically kisses him in the first few pages, announces her plan, and then you're rushed to the conclusion that bounces between Wes's plans and Travis's coming of age. It lacked the depth I like with tension building up the relationship.

I loved Travis's character and felt he stole the show. The romance between Maria and Wes was less important to me than seeing Travis turn his life around. He became the "Yancy" character for me.
RTR's Bottom Line


A Christmas Affair is very short at around 90 pages. The brevity made everything very short and sweet, and there were times I wished there had been more depth, especially where Travis is involved. It's enjoyable, but not a book I'd want to buy for my keeper shelf given how short it really was.

A cute and gentle novella with a beta hero turning a little alpha on the side..
I liked both character though I was slightly surprised and not sure that they would be the main couple till the first third of the book..
I also liked Travis’ story.
The novella is a little too short for me.

A magical and marvelous Christmas novella about making your dreams come true, finding your home, braving to open your heart for the love and opportunities already in front of you. 
With the author's beautiful, nearly poetic style of writing, the wintery scenes of our beloved Ransom Canyon open up and the magic of the season is palpable in the air. 
Maria Anne Davis is a character from the previous book in the series and deserving all the happiness in the world. She has spunk, courage, and determination beyond measure. The tragic accident the blinded her is not going to rule her life. She has a quirky sense of humor, she loves to read romance novels, and dreams about the kind of wild love affair she has read about. 
Wes Whitman is a kind soul, with a generous heart. He never dared to hope to find a soul mate or to have a love affair, yet he has been content with his life as it is until Maria walks into his office and kisses him.
Oh, how I loved these two shy, bashful people finding the courage to ask what they want in life and go for it without reservations. They share their dreams and deepest wishes with each other, holding on to each moment together like it is the last one. Yet sometimes life is superior to daydreams and wishes, sometimes the wildest hopes and deepest desires do come true. 
A beautiful and alluring story that had me smiling and sighing throughout with sheer joy and bliss for the characters. A delightful Christmas novella surely to entertain and make you feel all warm inside.
~ Four Spoons with a teaspoon on the side

A Christmas Affair by Jodi Thomas is a heartwarming Christmas story. Maria became blind after a car accident. She has moved to Ransom Canyon where she makes jams and jellies and sells them at the local grocer. She has a love for romance novels which made her dialogue with the store owner charming. She was also very self-sufficient which made her very likable to the reader. Wes is the store owner and is not your typical male hero. But he was perfect for Maria. He was adorable as he would try to sell her items faster so she would have to come into town to restock them sooner.

The side story with the young boy moving in with his uncles was hilarious and heartwarming. His descriptions of his uncles were entertaining.

This is a great book to get into the holiday spirit.

I've just finished reading the novella - A Christmas Affair, and I loved getting back into Ransom Canyon and watching Wes and Dakota have their time in the sun, or that would be snow and Christmas lights really.  Maria is a romantic and as it turns out Wes is not only romantic but wants to be a keeper as well.

When I read the first paragraph I relaxed into the story so easily. There is something about Jodi's writing that says " I'm a master writer". 

As well as Maria and Wes, we get an update on how her sister Dakota and her beau Blade are doing. Very satisfying.

Making an appearance for the first time is fifteen year old Travis who comes into town, to be cared for by his three uncles. Although before long it looks like he is caring for them. I loved him and chuckled at his comments. 

It is so wonderful to know there are other characters knocking on the door wanting their story told in Ransom Canyon. Jodi Thomas does small town stories like no other, I find none more readable or satisfying than hers.  Already watching out for Mornings on Main.

This book was too fluffy for me.  Way to predictable and felt worse than eating a bowl of sugar - didn’t finish it .  No review

This novella picks up a short time after book 6 Indigo Lake ends. In that book we met Maria  Davis who had come out of a tragic car crash being completely blind. Before the crash she had a promising career as a chef in her future. Now she lives at home with her sister and grandmother in Crossroads, Texas. She makes jams and jellies and sells them at the local market which is owned by Wes. He fell for her the first time they met but was too shy or scared to act on his feelings. Only when Maria decides she wants more than a working relationship with him does anything happen. Wes can’t believe his life has changed in such a wonderful way. He keeps waiting to wake up from his dream. It was hard not to chuckle as these two figured things out.  Another storyline is about Travis, a 15 year-old boy who comes to live with his three bachelor great-uncles when his home situation is deemed unsuitable. Once again, Crossroads is a place that welcomes all and saves most. I hope Travis’s story will continue in a future book. Jodi Thomas inserted her usual charm and humor in all of her characters and settings. Grab a cozy blanket and settle into your favorite comfy chair to spend an hour or two with the folks of Crossroads. Recommended to fans of Jodi Thomas, the Ransom Canyon series, and novellas with a Christmas theme.

Maria Anne Davis was on her way to an exciting career as a chef in Dallas, until a terrible car accident left her blind.  Ever resilient, Maria has reinvented her life on her own terms, starting a business out of her home kitchen, selling her jams and jellies to the local grocery.

Maria loves romance novels, and despite her bold spirit, she fears she’ll never have a big love affair like ones her heroines experience.  That is, until she realizes how much she cares about the quiet Wes Whitman, the owner of the grocery.

Wes can’t keep Maria’s wildly popular jam on his shelves – just like he can’t keep the fierce, beautiful Maria out of his thoughts.  But how could a firecracker like Maria come to love a shy, nervous man like him?  Maybe all they need is a grand affair.  Wes needs to convince Maria that some affairs last forever, though – just in time for Christmas.

Wes and Maria don’t talk or really interact when she brings her stock in.  He pays her the money owed her and then she leaves.  Wes would like nothing more than to talk to her – and more – but he’s just too shy.  Maria ends up making the first move on Wes, which shocks and thrills him.  Maria proposes an affair – something she wants as her Christmas present.  Wes is happy to oblige but it seems like every time they turn around there are unintentional road blocks being thrown up.  The more Wes thinks about the affair with Maria the more he realizes that he doesn’t want just an affair – he wants it all.

In this novella not only do we get the sweet but whirlwind romance of Wes and Maria but we also get a bit of a story about a 15-year-old boy, Travis Fuller.  His parents are neglectful and social services has now put him into the care of his three great uncles in Crossroads, Texas.  Travis doesn’t plan on being with his uncles any longer than he planned on being with his parents. As soon as he hits age 16 he plans on running away and plots constantly as to how he can do that.

By staying with his uncles Travis gets to see that people may be screwed up in different ways but they can still love each other.   When Wes Whitman hires Travis as a stock boy in his grocery, Travis starts to see that life can be different from what he planned.  Not only is Travis then making money instead having to steal things, but he starts to have a sense of worth.  He starts to see life in a different way and I loved that.  Thomas has such a way of wrapping my heart around her characters that I couldn’t help but start pulling for Travis from the first sentence of the book.  I was so happy that by the end that he found a small sense of peace.  He was a good kid and I liked his character a lot.

Maria and Wes were definitely not your typical couple but they were good together.  I do wish they had talked more throughout the story but as it was a novella it still worked.  Sometimes two people just know they’re meant to be together and that’s all there is to it. :)

Overall a lovely novella and one I recommend, even if you haven’t read all of the Ransom Canyon books.

Rating: 4 out of 5

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