Play Book Tag discussion

Merry and Bright by Debbie Macomber
2 stars

Debbie Macomber books just scream Christmas to me. And I read them each year without fail, even though I prefer my Christmas romances less sweet and more steamy.

And this one was pretty par for the course. Merry meets J on an online dating site right before Christmas and they hit it off, but she puts off meeting him in person because she is so busy at work dealing with her absurd boss, Jason Bright (we all see where this is going, right?!)

It probably would have been a 3 star read except that Merry's mother with MS and her brother with Down's Syndrome sign her up for the dating site without Merry's permission because they think she is so sad and pathetic that she needs a dating life. I hate this premise. I hate that she is a working, 20-something but her family thinks her life is pointless without a man and that they freaking disrespect her by signing her up without her knowledge.

Sorry, I can only hold my inner feminist at bay so much during these cheesy Christmas novels and this was just too much.

I am sure I will read Macomber's next Christmas novel regardless, but, Debbie, let's get a little more fire in the next leading lady.

I liked this despite the Mom and brother moment. I think Debbie might have stretched that moment because she needed something that would connect to my favorite movies - Shop Around the Corner and You’ve Got Mail. Debbie needed the two to somehow connect online and communicate without meeting like those movies... that’s probably why I liked it.

Hmm... thinking about the movie for You’ve Got Mail.. it’s been a while but didn’t they communicate on AOL message through a chat site or something. I agree the whole a woman can’t have just a career without the relationship is bad. Singletons are not pahriahs. So maybe Debbie should have had the characters meet on a chat form or something instead of online dating websites.

I was okay with the online dating thing, that doesn’t bother me at all. It was just the fact that her mom and brother signed her up for it!

I actually liked the online dating part. I think it was very accurate for how young professionals meet these days!

I met my husband through a "single's life" magazine (before the internet). A friend met her husband through Match.com.

Of course ... we each signed ourselves up for the experience.

I can't wait to read this!! I'm going to grab it today after work!! So excited!! I already read the first page online lol #christmasinjuly