A Carol for Christmas Book

The blurb for this book really intrigued me, but I'm afraid I wasn't terribly impressed with it. I know that novellas are shorter and often have less space for development, but I've read some wonderful Christmas novellas with great character development and this one just didn't match up. It felt like something was lacking all the way through. I never really got to know Carol or Jonathan enough to care about whether their conflict got sorted out, and I spent a lot of the book just being frustrated with them not talking about their problems.

I guess their storyline is pretty standard for a lot of families--newlyweds struggling to get by on one salary, having difficulty getting through the Christmas season, etc. I kept feeling like I should relate to them, since I'm in exactly the same situation, but a lot of the conflict in this book felt forced and blown out of proportion. I will freely admit that my frustration stems from my dislike of plots that revolve around the hero and heroine just not communicating properly, so if you don't mind this, it probably won't bother you.

Potential spoilers below:

I understood the message of surrendering your desires to God and letting him lead your life. I really do get that, especially as I'm an artist, like Carol. I know that I've been called to write, but I'm trying not to push too many of my own opinions of what that means on to my calling. Right now I'm writing romance novels and pursuing publication, but if God leads me down another road with my writing, I'll embrace that. I wouldn't have minded if this book had ended with Carol giving up her dream of going to Nashville to be a country western singer for something better, but still related to her singing. But it kind of felt like she abandoned her gift altogether. I completely understand the need to put a dream aside temporarily to have a family, but it felt like Carol was giving up her singing altogether to have a family, and I wasn't sure what kind of message that gave. Why would God give Carol an amazing musical gift but not ask her to pursue it? It's possible to raise a family and pursue a career or artistic dream.

I feel really conflicted about this book, especially since I was sure I was going to enjoy it. The story never really captivated me, and I didn't care all that much about the characters. I really thought I would relate more to Carol, and while I appreciated the message of surrendering your dreams to God and letting him guide you, I kind of ended the book thinking, "Wait, that's it? Shouldn't there be more?" I'm kind of imagining my own ending where Carol does get to use her musical gift while enjoying her family. Maybe my personal situation is just too close to this storyline for me to objectively enjoy this story. 2*