RITA Reader Challenge Review

Snowfall on Haven Point by RaeAnne Thayne

This RITA® Reader Challenge 2017 review was written by scifigirl1986. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Long Contemporary category.

The summary:

There’s no place like Haven Point for the holidays, where the snow conspires to bring two wary hearts together for a Christmas to remember.

It’s been two rough years since Andrea Montgomery lost her husband, and all she wants is for her children to enjoy their first Christmas in Haven Point. But then Andie’s friend asks a favor—to keep an eye on her brother, Sheriff Marshall Bailey, who’s recovering from a hit and run. Andie will do anything for Wyn, even park her own misgivings to check on her grouchy, wounded bear of a brother.

Marshall hates feeling defenseless and resents the protective impulses that Andie brings out in him. But when a blizzard forces them together for the holidays, something in Marshall begins to thaw. Andie’s gentle nature is a salve, and her kids’ excitement for the holidays makes him forget why he never wanted a family. If only he and Andie can admit what they really want—each other—their Christmas wishes might come true after all.

Here is scifigirl1986's review:

TRIGGER WARNING for discussions of suicide and rape.

There are certain types of books that when I read them, I need mood music, which is why my dad eventually found me listening to Christmas music on the hottest day of the year. Seeing as he believes Christmas music is only appropriate from December 18th to the 25th, he was not amused. I, however, was too wrapped up in this book to care — and, honestly, that’s all that matters. Snowfall on Haven Point is probably the perfect Christmas story. If it isn’t turned into a Hallmark Channel movie at some point in the next few years, I will eat my computer.

The story follows Andie, a single mom, whose husband died trying to stop someone from committing suicide, and Marshall, the sheriff of a small neighboring town, with deep ties to Haven Point. After Marshall is badly injured by a hit and run driver, his sister (the heroine of the previous book) asks Andie to check in on him since she and their mother are out of town. Neither Andie nor Marsh are very happy about the situation, but acquiesce to his sister’s wishes as they don’t see any way out of the situation.

This is a slow-burn romance, and because of things in Andie’s past, I am glad that this was the approach that was taken. That said, the chemistry between both characters absolutely sparkled and when they did eventually start acting on their attraction to each other, it was hot. I was somewhat surprised that there was no sex on the page or even behind closed doors, but I think the absence of sex actually made the book better.

One of the things that really impressed me with this book was the way Andie’s children, Chloe and Will, are depicted. I am the exact opposite of a kid person and have been known to blast Metallica from the speaker in my window to make them go away. However, I really liked these two fictional kids. While they sometimes wandered into plot moppet territory, for the most part, they behaved like real children. Their presence in the story was not simply to move the plot along. This, it seems, is a rare ability in a writer.

Another rarity: Ms. Thayne avoided using the Magic of Christmasâ„¢ to get Andie and Marshall together. There was no forced kiss under the mistletoe or sudden realization that they were in love with each other in the middle of Christmas dinner– in fact, the story ends before the actual holiday! It was refreshing to read a Christmas book that didn’t rely on these things and used good old fashioned storytelling to get the characters together in the end.

There were, however, a few things that made me scratch my head in confusion. First is the fact that Haven Point appears to be a type of Island of Misfit Toys for people with sad/awful backstories. Both Andie (and her kids) and Marshall had horrible things happen to them in the past and from what we learn about many of the other people living in that town, they also dealt with some crappy things. Fortunately, these things, while present in the story, did not create an angst-ridden narrative, which could easily have been the case.

The other thing that bothered me was the way the other women in the town reacted to Andie’s past trauma, something that they were all aware of, but didn’t seem to think should be an issue for her.

Trigger Warning
Six months earlier, Andie was stalked and brutally raped by her late husband’s friend while her children were in the other room. The other women didn’t understand why Andie was not ready to start dating again.

I was very surprised that this was not addressed at all. It may not have appeared to these women as if Andie was affected by what was done to her, but they should have realized this was not something that someone just gets over. If it wasn’t for this, I would enthusiastically give this book an A, but I feel like this was something that should not have been a part of the story. There was no reason that Andie needed to start dating and no indication that she was unhappy being single.

In the end, I did love this book. It was a fun way to get through a miserably hot day and an excuse to listen to my Christmas playlist six months before it is acceptable to do so.

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Snowfall on Haven Point by RaeAnne Thayne

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  1. Rose says:

    Good review! But I, like you, am stunned by the incident in her past and the lack of apparent reaction. It sounds weirdly gratuitous and extremely out of place in a sweet Christmas story–given the layers of trauma inherent in that situation and the ridiculously short timeframe of recovery (a presumed recovery? If it’s not addressed, do we know she’s okay?), a romance doesn’t seem appropriate at all. I think I would’ve DNFed from there.

  2. Megan M. says:

    I agree with Rose! I am frankly stunned that that kind of incident needed to be part of the backstory. Was the tragic loss of her husband not enough?? So tired of seeing rape used as something for the heroine to “overcome,” and by a (I assume) female author! Yikes.

  3. The Other Kate says:

    Blasting Metallica from your window is how you sort the kids out. The good ones will start hanging around your house in hopes of hearing more. 😉

  4. Donna Marie says:

    Other Kate you are so right. I used to send my goddaughter cds when she was away at college. She told her mother she didn’t know which was more disturbing: that I knew she would like those bands or knowing that I liked those bands.

    Also cudos for the great review scifigirl. I’d have given it a much lower grade based on that spoiler issue and it’s lack of confrontation. If you ain’t been there, don’t judge the recovery period.

  5. Hi, everyone. I’m glad you enjoyed my review. While I agree the rape aspect was completely unnecessary to the plot, what I was referring to when I said it wasn’t addressed was that the women’s actions weren’t addressed. The fact that Andie was still recovering from it is alluded to by both Andie and Marsh. At one point the narration implies that she was seeing a therapist.

  6. BellaInAus says:

    You need to send your Dad to Australia for Christmas.

  7. @BellaInAus, I bet my dad would enjoy Christmas in a warm-weather climate. I think his issue with Christmas music isn’t that it needs to be cold to be listened to but that it needs to be December.

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