Aw, Christmas in Darling VT, visions of sugar plums, fairies, decorated homes and of course the kissing bridge. One mention of that and all sorts of memories assault your brain and great ones of past books featuring characters that conquer up smiles. So its holiday time in DECK THE HALLS and Donna Award is ready to tackle the awesome task of spreading the seasonal joy. This time to George Reilly.

Laurel and Aiden Gallagher had befriended this lost soul. George, a veteran of the Iraq war, battled all sorts of mental and emotional trauma. And he needed help, deserved help, but of course, he wasn't actively searching for any. George was well practiced in the art of running. It's an issue of guilt and being deserving of any kind of assistance or friendship.

In the past six months George's life had begun to develop a shape coarsely resembling normalcy. He had a job, a place to live, no longer on the streets or shelters, and some limited VA counseling to help him face the nightmares that still had the ability to haunt him. Albeit less and less now but ever present in his mind. Guilt and lack of resources stymied George's access to any real help. But after picking himself out of the gutter George was on the right track even though he fully realized the lack of potential.

And now those floodgates are in danger of reopening by the totally unexpected and uninvited visit by Amy Merck, Ian's twin sister. To this day George carries around the guilt of failing to keep his promises to Ian's wonderful family to have their son's back and most important bring him home safe and sound. But the war in Iraq cut short Ian's life and broke the Merck family's heart. George never went back to their home in Brooklyn, he couldn't face them. He had failed miserably and there would never again be a place in that family for him.

George Reilly was a product of the foster child system. It didn't work out well for him and joining the service was his best and perhaps only option. It gave him a sense of belonging, perhaps a unique family of men, and most important was his friendship with Ian. Ian introduced him to the Merck family and they treated him like family. The loss of this connection was life altering to the man who had so very little during his life. Feeling like he didn't deserve any better was his personal indictment and led to the nomadic existence that plagued George once he left the service.

Somehow George wound up in Darling VT where some very special people took note. And with the help and caring of those people the George that Amy found in Darling had already begun this voyage to recovery. But he needed so much more. Amy was surprised that she still felt such a connection to this man after all these years. Life had some disappointments for Amy along the way. In many ways she felt alone even with a good career, friends, busy life and of course her parents. There was something 'real' missing. Amy could immediately see what had kept George in Darling. The streets practically hummed with good spirits and caring.

With only two weeks to get tidbits of Ian's life in the service, facts surrounding his death and perhaps a measure of closure for her family Amy knew she had to get through the armor George had stealthily constructed around his life, his heart. Just two weeks. Such a short amount of time and yet Amy could see that George responded to her in much the same way she did him. They still liked each other, cared about each other. There just might be a pathway to friendship and dare she hope perhaps more.

Ever read the authors notes at the back of a book, I always do. And it came as no surprise that Donna Award and I have very similar tastes. Like me, Donna Award cut her romance novel teeth on authors like LaVyrle Spencer, Judith McNaught, and Nora Roberts. Like these three authors Donna Award concentrates on character development, more flawed the better. DECK THE HALLS is part of the Darling series and is about second chances. Each book in this series has been a delight and DECK THE HALLS is just carrying on a wondrous tradition.

Book Summary

With shades of It’s a Wonderful Life, one man must face his past to find his future this Christmas.

In the last year, George's life has drastically changed. The formerly homeless veteran now has a job he likes, a family in the residents of Darling, VT, and for the first time in years, a home. But while his present is good, he's still haunted by the past, a past that appears shortly before Christmas when the older sister of his brother-in-arms hunts him down and finds him in Darling, working at the Ladybug Garden Center.

Amy’s looking for closure for her family after her brother's death in the Middle East, but the serious man she finds working in Vermont doesn’t resemble the soldier she remembers from years before. This man is hardened and yet somehow fragile, too, and in her desire to find out what really happened to her brother, she learns more about George than she ever expected.

With a little Christmas magic and the whole town supporting them, can these two bruised hearts make a future together?