Violet Baumgartner works hard to create a perfect world for her family. She keeps the home, volunteers at the church, and "helps" her daughter make life decisions. The family saga beings as she plans the retirement party for her husband after his career as an elite scientist. We find out about family secrets, dreams and desires through the annual Evergreen Tidings letter, newspaper articles, church programs. Initial perceptions of the characters are peeled away as we learn about vulnerabilities and the power of love.

Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners by Gretchen Anthony. It took awhile to get into the book and the characters. As the book progressed, the humor in the situations the families found themselves in shone through and made for an really enjoyable read. The scene at the baby's baptism still has me chuckling. At the end everyone felt like family, dysfunctional, irrational, maddening as some were (Yes, that would be Violet), they all had love and heart for one another.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

This book is more of a 2.5 star rating for me. The cover and the title really had me excited about the book. I enjoyed the beginning. The situation between the two main families children was predictable right from the beginning. The main character, Violet, drove me absolutely insane. Over the course of the book, became irritated when it was her chapter. I suppose that is good writing when you have a true reaction to a character. But her story line just seemed miserable and I didn't enjoy it.
I never really understood why the story line went as it did. I felt like the book was trying to be too many types...mystery? new age? religious? chick lit? I found the parts about the best friend's husband to be completely irrelevant to the book.
Sadly, by the end of the book, I just wasn't into it. The point of the Christmas letters and the reveal of them at the end wasn't interesting. I didn't feel like there was any real closure because , what was the main point of the book? My expectations were let down unfortunately.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. Was it predictable? Sure. But I still enjoyed the process of the characters figuring things out. While sometimes I was frustrated with the daughter's failure to establish and maintain appropriate boundaries with her mother, they were also understandable. Likewise, the mother's push to remain a part of her daughter's life. I thought the characters were enjoyable and weren't shallow, and found this a light, easy read.