The Noel Stranger

September 10, 2018
Evans adds another installment to his large Christmas collection with this sweet second tale in the Noel Collection series (following The Noel Diary). Maggie Walther has just discovered that her husband, Clive, has been arrested for bigamy. Clive was on a shortlist of Salt Lake City mayoral candidates, making the news of his two families even more devastating and drawing Maggie deeper into the public eye. Maggie leaves her catering company in the hands of her friend and employee, Carina, as she attempts to deal with the emotional fallout of this discovery. When Christmas comes around, the fetching Andrew delivers the family’s Christmas tree. Maggie is intrigued by him, and the two strike up a friendship in which he shows her a different, more rustic side of Salt Lake City and rescues her from her depression by encouraging her to live in the moment. But as their friendship begins to blossom into romance, Maggie realizes how little she knows about Andrew. When a secret from his past threatens to unravel their relationship, Maggie turns to her faith to decide if she can forgive a person for past mistakes. Evans’s fans will appreciate this tale of finding the good in everyone and loving people for who they are.

September 15, 2018
Barely recovering from her now ex-husband's arrest for bigamy, Maggie decides to buy a Christmas tree to cheer herself up and winds up meeting the sweet, sexy lot owner who sweeps her off her feet. Until she discovers he has a few dark secrets of his own.Maggie is a Salt Lake City caterer who retreated from life after her husband was arrested for bigamy. Her friend Carina, who has taken over day-to-day operations for the company, encourages her to get out more or at least bring some life into her home. For instance, through a Christmas tree. When Maggie visits a local tree lot, she is immediately attracted to the owner, Andrew. The two become an item very quickly; he invites her to Mexico, they have an amazing time, they come back. Carina has Googled him. There are Things. To. Be. Concerned. About. Maggie abandons him. She reconsiders. He tells her the truth, then decides she's too good for him and abandons her. People who love them intervene and try to save their romance. An aside: Maggie's real name is Agnetha--after the woman in ABBA. Growing up in Oregon, her friends called her Aggie, but in Utah, she changed it to Maggie, since the Utah state university teams are called the Aggies and the name became tiresome. Does this aside sound random? Does the review sound a little choppy and simplistic? There's a reason. While the book has witty and interesting moments, it reads at times like an encyclopedia of interesting facts (who knew a squid was so terrifying?) and at times like a travel site (readers will want to jump a flight to Cabo), and while we root for Andrew and Maggie, in the end, readers might also wonder lots of things, such as how Maggie wouldn't have Googled Andrew herself, given all the mysterious clues he drops and her own vulnerabilities; or why Andrew never tells her the truth until he's decided to abandon her; etc.Oddly interesting but unsatisfying, especially if one thinks about it too much.

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September 15, 2018
Evans continues the Noel Collection with this holiday romance. When caterer Maggie's politician husband, Clive, is arrested for bigamy, all the clamoring reactions make her want to never again leave her home. But the kindness of neighbors and a friend finally lure her out to a Christmas tree lot, where she meets Andrew. When he delivers the tree, they begin a relationship that helps heal them both, for each has suffered loss and upheaval. An idyllic Thanksgiving trip hints at secrets in Andrew's life, and Maggie reacts harshly, afraid of being hurt again. After learning more, she realizes that Andrew is different from Clive and that she can trust herself and her feelings. Andrew's secrets are, at times, confusing, but their romance and the scenes in Mexico make for especially enjoyable reading. Minor characters also shine here, including the neighbors going through their own tragedy and the families Maggie and Andrew encounter in Cabo San Lucas. Fans of Debbie Macomber will enjoy Evans' latest.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)