Another perfect holiday book. This series of Noel books by Evans always helps me get in the holiday spirit.

I usually enjoy this author's work, but this novel was not my cup of tea. The two main characters did not feel realistic (male lead) or likeable (female lead). Although the descriptions of Cabo and the snowy town the female MC was from, both the lower-income and the well-to-do sides, were well-written and beautiful.

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I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. Richard Paul Evans knows how to write a story that we keep you interested from start to finish and make you feel like you have grown along the way. A lovely holiday read.

While you experience a short amount of time in the lives of the main characters, you will struggle through a lifetime of emotions as you find yourself flipping through the pages as fast as you can. The author has once again created a tale of love, unfaithfulness, fear, insecurity, need for companionship, lies, and discovery.

You will find your heart breaking as the tears trickle down your face. But then there are bursts of anger and excitement that takes you on a roller coaster ride of emotions. Richard Paul Evans manages to open up your heart as you experience the lives of the characters of whom he writes. You will be challenged to become a better person, to take a deep look at your beliefs and behaviors, and decide what you hope to accomplish in life.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Christmas is my favorite time of year and I always love a good Christmas story. Nice character development and even though predictable I loved it!

Another amazing read by Richard Paul Evans! I love every Christmas book he has written. This one was no exception.

Maggie Walter was not expecting her world to fall apart right before the holidays. But the morning she received a phone call from a reporter asking about her husband's arrest Maggie's world fell apart. Her husband, Clive, was a successful politician in Salt Lake City when he was arrested for bigamy. He has a whole other family in Colorado. Maggie is devastated and goes into hiding. After coffee with her best friend, Maggie decides to get a Christmas tree, where she meets Andrew. There is something about Andrew that immediately puts Maggie at ease. She feels safe and protected with him. He makes her forget all about her deceitful husband. So much so, that when Andrew asks her to go away with him to Cabo, she goes without a second thought. The trip is romantically perfect and everything she could ever imagine. But then she finds something that leads her to believe that Andrew has not been honest with her about some very important things. What else has he been lying to her about?

Richard Paul Evans is an author who has become synonymous with Christmas literature. I have really enjoyed his books in the past, but this time I found myself rolling my eyes. A lot. Two major things, Maggie went away to Cabo with Andrew after only knowing him a week or so. Seriously. AND when they went, Andrew asked Maggie if she wanted him to hold onto her passport for "safekeeping," AND SHE LET HIM. Girl, don't be stupid. And frankly, that kind of fiction is reckless. No woman should EVER travel to a foreign country with a man she just met and then let him KEEP her passport. UGH. Everything turned out okay, of course, because it is FICTION. #girlsdontbestupid. Like I said, I generally enjoy his Christmas novels, but this one didn't give me the warm fuzzies, instead, it made my finely tuned creeper-radar to go off.

Bottom line- I would avoid The Noel Stranger and maybe seek out another novel from Richard Paul Evans' backlist. One that doesn't come with a future #MeToo story.

Details:
The Noel Stranger by Richard Paul Evans
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Pages: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: 11/6/2018
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The Noel Stranger by Richard Paul Evans takes readers to Salt Lake City, Utah. Agnetha “Maggie” Walther is shocked when she learns that her husband, Clive is a bigamist. Maggie hides in her home for the next six months to avoid the people’s looks and reporters. Her friend, Carina convinces Maggie that she needs to get out and suggests she purchase a Christmas tree. Maggie goes to the local tree lot where she meets the owner, Andrew. Andrew delivers the tree later that evening and they chat over coffee. Maggie is taken with him and cannot stop thinking about the handsome Andrew. A few days later Maggie goes back to the lot to obtain Christmas lights, and he offers to help her decorate the tree. Their friendship begins and quickly blossoms into romance. Maggie’s heart is opening as she falls in love with Andrew. But then Maggie discovers that Andrew has been not been forthcoming on his past and doubts begin to surface. Can Maggie listen to Andrew with an open mind and heart?

The Noel Stranger is the second book in The Noel Collection, but each book in the series is meant to stand on its own. While I have enjoyed other stories by Richard Paul Evans (The Christmas Box being my favorite), The Noel Stranger was a letdown. Maggie is supposed to have trust issues, but she meets Andrew and seems to instantly fall in love. Within two weeks, they are jetting off to Mexico for a vacation. I would have expected the romance to progress at a slower pace as she slowly gets to know Andrew. The Noel Stranger felt unrealistic and predictable. The story lacked depth and I was not able to connect with the characters. Maggie is a contradiction as well as selfish. Maggie has been neglecting her business for the last six months while she has been wallowing at home in self-pity (I would have been angry). She has been relying on her business assistant to run the business and she has little training (I am shocked she still has a business). The story felt contrived and flat. I rolled my eyes so often they hurt the next day. The Noel Stranger features forgiveness, love, redemption, hope, compassion, important of communication and second changes. I am giving The Noel Stranger 3 out of 5 stars. The Noel Stranger is a light, clean romance novel that is an easy and quick story to read (just not the right fit for me).

If Christmas is coming there must be a Richard Paul Evans book as well. Having loved The Christmas Box, I couldn’t pass up the offer of an advance reading copy by Net Galley of The Noel Stranger.

The first few lines let me know there would not be disappointment. “I once heard someone describe her life as a car with four flat tires. I would be happy with that. If my life were a metaphorical car, it would be in much worse shape – wheels stolen, windshield smashed, and dirt poured into the gas tank.”

Maggie’s life exploded when she learned about her councilman husband Clive’s arrest for bigamy. Her friend Carina who runs Maggie’s catering business enables her to hide out from the publicity and nurse her wounds until the friend decides this has gone on too long and encourages her to reenter the world, even if in baby steps.

Maggie tentatively takes her advice and goes out to get a Christmas tree. Andrew, the kind lot owner, delivers her tree and so the story begins. Questions arise for the reader immediately. Is Maggie on the rebound and using good judgement as she falls so quickly for this man? Is Andrew as good as he appears? What about those weekend trips back to Denver – are they a repeat of Clive’s trips? Hints of a previous marriage and some kind of past trouble make the reader uneasy even while Maggie pays little attention.

Not to spoil the ending, but the whole truth when it does come out leaves Maggie with some decisions to make about how much she can forgive. I haven’t yet found a book by the author that I love as much as The Christmas Box, but this is a good Christmastime read.

Apparently, this is a second book in The Noel Collection. I've never read any book by Richard Paul Evans. Imagine my suprise this Christmas novel is written by a gentleman. Thought I'd give it a try. The synopsis read reasonable and interesting.

As I read along, I was having a hard time believing how they connected. The heroine was only thinking about herself. I'm also having a hard time how she could just up and leave her restaurant running smoothly without her for several weeks or so. I'm also having a hard time how the divorce came about and how her husband can just show up asking her to show up for his court hearing. Or just hop on the plane to go to an island for Christmas. I saw her very insecured, understandably due to the divorce. She basically questions everything in her new relationship which was almost destroyed. The hero was an idiot for not answering her questions and leaving her in the dark. He expected her to know him well after learning about each other for a week? Come one! Give me a break. Very unrealistic and contrived.

The story was easy to read. It'll do for a light reading. Some of you guys may like it and some of you guys may not like it.

I was having difficulting connecting with the characters. I wanted to, honest! I just couldn't. The emotions just weren't there.



I'll have to read other books by Richard Paul Evans to understand why he's dubbed as the King of Christmas.



I love the cover of this book. It's beautiful.



I'll give this book a low 3 stars.



I received this ARC from Simon & Schuster through Net Galley in exchange for my unbiased and honest review. Thank you

Maggie is still recovering from her divorce. She was married for nine years until she found out her husband had a second wife. She’s depressed, she’s barely leaving her house. She hasn’t been to work in six months. Finally her friend encourages her to start small and get into Christmas celebrations at least. So, she decides to go buy a Christmas tree.

At the Christmas tree lot she meets a very handsome, funny man named Andrew. She is immediately drawn to him, despite not knowing him well.

He helps her get her tree home and they share a cup of coffee and a chat.
Soon she is inventing excuses to see him.
It doesn’t take long before the two are falling for each other.

She realizes that Andrew is a lot more than he seemed at first. He’s not an employee of the Christmas tree lot, he’s the owner, and it’s a side job for him. He’s also smarter and kinder than she imagined.

Their whirlwind romance leads them to Cabo where he charms her with fancy meals. He also shows her a softer side.

But she still doesn’t know him all that well. It’s only been a few weeks and he comes off as secretive. And he definitely comes off as too good to be true.

When the other shoe drops and the truth is out, it is the ultimate test of their love.

I enjoyed the story but found the big secret pretty hard to buy.

I got to read an early edition of this ebook through NetGalley. Thanks!

I have historically been a pretty solid RPE fan, but this year was a challenge, and it really makes me sad. On a personal and non-book related level, I really struggle with the nonsense that came out a few months back around the harassment accusations and his response to those accusations. I requested the ARC because his books are a holiday tradition that started when I was a teen, hoping that I could separate the man from the book and still enjoy it. And I did enjoy the vast majority of the book, don’t get me wrong. It’s everything one could ask for in a RPE holiday book, until the very end - there was definitely not enough research done on how things work for convicted felons on parole. The ending was completely unrealistic from a purely practical standard of the legal system.

I’m really bummed that this ended up falling flat for me, but I will say that the first 85% or so of the book was perfection.

Reading Richard Paul Evan's latest Christmas story has become a Christmas tradition for me. This is a sweet, lovely read. I never regret the time spent with Mr Evan's and his characters. This book met all my expectations. I am very happy that netgalley chose me to receive an arc in exchange for this review!

This book is the perfect feel good holiday read. You know how the story is going to end up, but enjoy the ride! I enjoy these heartfelt books during the holidays and this one was extremely well written.

I really enjoyed The Noel Stranger, as I have a dozen other Richard Paul Evans books.

Although it begins at Christmas with a search for a tree, there is so much more to this book as it covers more than just one season in the lives of its characters. In some ways it was a classic Evans read, but in other ways the twists and turns were an unexpected and wonderful surprise. I loved the epilogue so much and the wonderful quote found there,

"That's what love and life require of us-to walk on in spite of the 'slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,' to walk on and hold on to love. If we do that, we may suffer for a time, but we will not fail. In the end, love wins."

The Noel Stranger deals with issues of betrayal, forgiveness and love as only master storyteller Richard Paul Evans can. He is an extraordinary author with so much insight into human nature and the redeeming power of love. It is such a good story I'm already looking forward to another Richard Paul Evans book!
I appreciate Simon and Schuster making a copy of The Noel Stranger available for review.

Maggie's trying to heal herself and then she meets Andrew, who becomes her friend and then something more. He's got a secret, however, and - no spoilers- things get tough for them. You'll be rooting for this pair who both deserve happiness. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is a fast, positive, well written read.

I have enjoyed this author's work for a long time. He writes convincingly with lots of human emotions thrown in. However, this time I didn't like it as much. The main protagonist seemed a bit whiny to me. I tried to like her more, but just couldn't manage to do so.

*My thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book via Net Galley.

Maggie Walther gets the shock of her life when a newspaper reporter calls her to ask if she has a comment on her husband getting arrested for bigamy. Maggie quickly goes into a downward spiral of depression that she seems to be incapable of breaking. free from. When her employee and best friend challenges her to get a Christmas tree, Maggie reluctantly goes to buy one. She gets the tree, but she also got a lot more than she bargained for.

This was an emotionally charged, enjoyable Christmas story. I love this author's books and this one did not disappoint!

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to review The Noel Stranger. I enjoyed this book as I am a fan of Richard Paul Evans, but not one of my favorites. It was a very quick read, I knew that something that seems to be good true usually isn't. I kept waiting for something bad to happen...and it did.. However it did have a good ending..

In the tradition of the Christmas Box, Richard Paul Evan's The Noel Stranger is a heartwarming Christmas tale that pulls at the core of your heart. Highly recomended this one is sure to become the next Christmas classic.