Christmas at Harrington's Book Review

I grabbed another book off the shelf to read and found another Christmas book so I decided to check it out.  Who doesn't love a good Christmas book?  Also, I had recently read another book by this author so I was interested in seeing what was going to happen in this book.  Christmas at Harrington's by Melody Carlson was a book that I didn't know what to expect but I was ready to check it out.

Christmas is approaching, and Lena Markham finds herself penniless, friendless, and nearly hopeless. She is trying to restart her life after false accusations landed her in prison, but job opportunities are practically nonexistent. When a secondhand red coat unexpectedly lands her a job as Mrs. Santa at a department store, Lena finally thinks her luck is changing. But can she keep her past a secret?

This tender story about fresh starts will charm readers as all of Melody Carlson's Christmas offerings do. Full of redemption and true holiday spirit, Christmas at Harrington's will be readers' newest Christmas tradition.

Lena starts the story getting on the bus to start her life over after serving jail time for a crime she didn't commit.  It seemed like it might be a really heavy book which isn't what I thought it was going to be after looking at the Christmas cover.  Although it quickly turned into a feel good story about the goodness that people show.  Lena is going to a new town and starting over and a person at the prison helped her get a job and a place to stay.  Lena is riding on a bus to get to her new home and ends up sitting next to a very nice lady who shares the food that she has because Lena didn't have any dinner with her.  Her new friend also volunteers to drive her to where she is staying but Lena says that she is going to get breakfast first at the dinner so she passes.  She finds out that the dinner is hiring but since she has a job and no waitressing experience, she passes.  She goes to the place to stay and really starts to feel lonely because it is very different then being in prison.  Although she meets her neighbor who is out of work and tells her to go to the dinner so Lena ends up watching her young daughter while she is at work.  The next morning, she goes to where she is supposed to report for work and they aren't hiring and she doesn't have a position.  Lena is starting to think that things are going to work out but you need to pick up the book and find out what happens next.  I thought this was a cute Christmas story which is exactly what I needed during this time because it shows the goodness in people.   I hope that you check out this book and others by this author and enjoy them as much as I have.