Right off the bat, I definitely feel that I should preface this review by saying that despite The Christmas Tree Farm actually being the third book in Laurie Gilmore’s Dream Harbor series, I read The Christmas Tree Farm without having read any of the other books in the series, since each book in the series is written as a standalone book with a guaranteed happy ending. That being said, here are my thoughts on The Christmas Tree Farm.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Christmas Tree Farm for the most part. I felt like it had a very interesting premise, with Kira impulsively buying a Christmas tree farm, essentially sight unseen, even though she hates Christmas, using the money that she had received from her trust fund to buy it, and then struggling to make the whole idea work out for her in a new town where she initially struggled to fit in, when it came it to not only finding ways to bring in business for the Christmas tree farm, but to also cope with living in the incredibly rundown house that she had bought along with the Christmas tree farm; which interestingly enough seemed to come at least already somewhat furnished when she bought it. It was also interesting to see Kira dealing with all of this while also having a long-distance relationship with her twin, Chloe. These things made Kira a very nuanced, well-written, and likable character.
Bennett was also a very interesting and well-written character, especially when it came to his almost desperate need to help people in need. This quality really helped make Bennett a complex, well-written character, much like Kira was. He also had a complicated relationship with an ex-girlfriend of his that really kept me guessing how that might all factor into the plot of the book in the long run, but it ultimately was just used as another example of his desperate need to help people. I was honestly really relieved that not too much drama came out of his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, like I was expecting it would.
