A VALLEY RIDGE CHRISTMAS ties in with the trilogy of Valley Ridge but you don't have to read the trilogy first. It can be read as a stand alone book if you're looking for a wonderful Holiday story. The new couple Boyd and Josie and their little boy, Carl, are traveling to North Dakota to look for work and a home when a blizzard strikes and they get side tracked to Valley Ridge NY. They have sold everything they had and bought the RV and are living in it. Josie is very pregnant and due in about another month. This is where they meet Maeve.

Maeve has always been a quiet and more reserved person who does a lot to help Valley Ridge. She does so much for the community and never asks for help in return, but the townspeople are waiting right there to step in if she would only ask. She had at one time, lost her home and even though she survived, it changed her life and way of thinking forever. When she meets Josie and her family, she instantly wants to help them. She allows them to park their RV in her driveway and hook up to her utilities. She feeds them and watches Carl when Josie needs a break. Then she comes up with this great plan to fix up the old Culpepper house that has stood abandoned for many years. All it needs is a new coat of paint and maybe new carpet. Boy is she wrong and realizes almost instantly that she is very naive. But the town comes together and everyone pitches in to help her as they know she would do for them if they ever needed her help.

Aaron Holder is in Valley Ridge running his uncle's store while his uncle is in Arizona enjoying the warm weather. Aaron hates the cold weather and wishes he was back home in Florida working on his laptop outside in the heat. As he gets to know the townspeople and tries to get to know Maeve better, he learns a few things about himself as well. Lots of changes happen to both Maeve and himself and if they will accept the changes, they just might be much happier. But like most people, change is sometimes hard to accept. Aaron is convinced that Maeve is too good to be true and he sets off to prove that to himself. Can they help each other grow and get over their pasts? Can they learn to let go and move on?

I like Maeve and Aaron's chemistry. It is very apparent at the beginning of A VALLEY RIDGE CHRISTMAS but most of the time, they are denying it and running from it. They're not-quite-friends who are not- quite-dating. They're allies. Most days they don't even like each other, but it is fun reading how they try to fight it. I fell in love with all the townspeople and wished I could live in their little small town and get all caught up in their lives. I sat on my couch and started reading first thing in the morning and was finished before dinner. I was like a mad woman turning the pages, wanting to know how Holly was going to end Aaron's and Maeve's story.

A VALLEY RIDGE CHRISTMAS is an awesome Christmas romance that I highly recommend to anyone that likes a happy ending book!!

Book Summary

The whole town's in on this Christmas secret!

Maeve Buchanan isn't the jealous type. But with another Valley Ridge wedding approaching, she's feeling a twinge of envy. Everyone seems to be finding "it"—except her. Not that romance is high on her priority list! Inspired by the arrival of a homeless family one snowy night, Maeve—Valley Ridge's own George Bailey—is determined to give them a permanent home by Christmas.

To make this surprise happen, fiercely independent Maeve is going to need a lot of help. Particularly from the irritating newcomer Aaron Holder, who thinks Maeve is just too good to be true and suspects her motives. Working together won't be easy. But it'll be worth it-in so many ways!