Mary Kay Ansrews, you have done it AGAIN! A little rivalry, a little love and a lot of holiday spirit made this like reading a Hallmark movie. Be sure to put this on your list for holiday reads this year!

Bright Lights, Big Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews is a quick read in the feel-good holiday fiction genre. Kerry Tolliver has been downsized from her firm then pressed into service by her mother to help save their Christmas tree farm. Kerry travels to NYC with her brother Murphy, living in a decrepit travel trailer on the streets of Manhattan while selling their Christmas trees. She’s welcomed by the local community and caught up in the holiday festivities.

The heartwarming connections were definitely there in this novel. However, Murphy was such a misogynist that this book missed the mark for me. I wasn’t sure how the locals loved him so much when he was such a jerk to his sister. The other characters definitely saved the story for me. (I reviewed an advance reader copy and all opinions are my own.).

Bright Lights, Big Christmas was a quick, easy read. It is meant to bring you into the holiday spirit but it has some woke culture in it that just does not appeal to me.

Bright Lights, Big Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews is a wonderful Christmas story. I found this a quick read. "Small town" feel in New York City when Murphy and Kerry Tolliver set up their tree stand on a block in NYC. They have a family tree farm in North Carolina. Murphy and their father Jock have been going to that neighborhood for years. They know most of the people who live in the neighborhood and are welcomed by everyone. I loved the Hallmark feel to this story. I could see the cute camper and all the Christmas lights strung up. If you like Hallmark movies and enjoy a sweet Christmas story, then Bright Lights, Big Christmas is for you.

"Bright Lights, Big Christmas" is a heartwarming and enchanting novel that captures the true essence of the holiday season. The author's writing style is engaging and descriptive, bringing the festive atmosphere to life on every page. The story revolves around themes of love, family, and the magic of Christmas, creating a perfect read for the holiday season. The characters are well-developed and relatable, making it easy to connect with their experiences and emotions. As the plot unfolds, the reader is taken on a delightful journey through the joys and challenges of the holiday season, leaving them with a warm and fuzzy feeling. "Bright Lights, Big Christmas" is a feel-good novel that reminds us of the importance of cherishing moments with loved ones and spreading kindness during this special time of year. It's a delightful read that will surely leave a lasting impression and become a holiday favorite for many readers. Highly recommended for anyone looking to embrace the magic of Christmas within the pages of a heartwarming story.

Mary Kay Andrews delivers excellent warm cozy Christmas tales. This one does not disappoint.
Did you ever wonder about those people who show up in the city in late November to sell Christmas trees? Well this is the tale of one tree lot in NYC. Every year the Tollivers of North Carolina show up with a load of trees and their cute little trailer to spend the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas selling their trees. This year they got a late start and Kerry, recently laid off from her marketing job, has to fill in for her father. She isn't thrilled and neither is her brother. But they have to sell the trees or risk their family farm. The neighborhood looks forward to their arrival every year and helps them out. This is a tale of connections, friendship, family and a little romance. Enjoy!
This is a review of an eGalley provided by NetGalley.

Such an enjoyable read! I wasn’t sure I could get into a Christmas themed read in July, but turns out it’s exactly what I needed. Warm hearted story with really likable characters. Makes me miss my growing up days when everyone in the neighborhood knew and watched out for each other. Kerry and her brother set up their annual family Christmas tree stand from NC in the village in NYC. Although they’re not close and can barely tolerate each other they are lovingly influenced by the colorful characters of this neighborhood. A nice feel good read I really enjoyed.

I absolutely adored this sweet book and could not put it down! Thank you to St. Martins Press and NetGallery for the ARC!

Kerry finds herself unemployed after a merge of companies leaves her as an excess employee. She goes home to NC to live with her mother. Her parents divorced when she was young and she lived across town with her mother while her brother lived on the family’s tree farm with her father. After her father suffers a heart attack, Kerry (reluctantly) joins her brother in NYC to run the family’s tree stand.
While in NYC, Kerry falls in love with the community, the tree stand and a local. The entire book will leave you smiling and ready for the holiday season!

The reference to the Santa Suit in the middle made me smile as well. Also, a wonderful read!

This was exactly the feel-good read I was hoping it would be. If you are also a lover of heartwarming Christmas season stories, you will want to grab this one.

One of my quirks is craving Christmas books in July. Even having read this in the heat of summer, I was transported to the holiday season charms of NYC. This was cozy and had great characters. I absolutely loved the storyline of the Christmas tree lot, the sense of community, the mystery of who one of the characters was, and the romance elements.

This was charming and the book equivalent of a mug of hot chocolate. I received an ARC from the publisher.

It was time for a little Christmas in July so I picked up Bright Lights, Big Christmas and absolutely fell in love with a neighborhood in New York City where Kerry and her brother Murphy sell their families North Carolina Christmas trees. The whole cast of characters is just plain ole fun and I couldn't get enough of little Austin, Queenie the pup and Heinz. Great story with a wonderful happy Christmas ending. I highly recommend!

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Publication date: 26 September 2023

Bright Lights, Big Christmas was a charming New York City at Christmas time story. On the shorter side (which I want in a holiday story) and read just like a cheesy movie that we all love for that time of year.

Kerry heads to NYC to help her brother with their family tree stand and falls in love with the neighborhood, learns more about herself and even finds some romance in the form of a cutie divorced dad.

If you're looking for a quick holiday read to enjoy while curled up by the fire this is a great choice!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved "Bright Lights, Big Christmas". It is one of the best Christmas novels that I have read in awhile. It had a little bit of everything. Family drama, budding relationship, grumpy old man, a dog, bad guys, a crisis to be solved. The characters were great; they were very relatable and you really felt like you knew them. You could picture where they were and everything that was going on. Definitely a keeper!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

This is a fun Christmas romcom to get lost in. It’s got the Hallmark-Christmas-movie-level of cheesiness and allows you to not think about real-world stress for a little while.

I didn’t connect to the characters all that strongly, which was a little bit disappointing. Because of that, I think this book will be rather forgettable. But it is a fun way to get in the Christmas spirit (which is 5 months from today YOURE WELCOME! Yes, I keep a countdown to Christmas on my phone year round—love me through it!)

This is a completely uplifting, feel good, Christmas Story. Loved the characters and all the different relationships within this small piece of the city. Loved it from start to finish. Highly recommend.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I am normally not one to enjoy reading Christmas books in the summer and I often am annoyed by the Hallmark Channel's big Christmas in July stories, but I was pleasantly surprised by Mary Kay Andrews' book Bright Lights, Big Christmas. This book was a delight, and I am glad that I was able to read it. Kerry moved back home to North Carolina with her mother, her career with advertising ended and she wanted to figure out something new and different in her hometown. Her parents are divorced, and she has a brother she hardly knows, she grew up with her mom, and her brother grew up with their dad. Her family are owners of the Tolliver Tree Farm and every year around Thanksgiving they trek to New York City to set up shop and sell their trees. This year, her father has a health issue, and she is thrown into the business to a city she has never been, with a brother she doesn't know and sharing an old airstream that has seen better days. Kerry is not looking forward to this family adventure, but knows she has to do her family duty. She does not expect to fall in love with the city, the neighborhood, the neighbors, or find a new romance. She actually gets along with her brother after a time and helps create a big success for the family business and their Christmas Season. As the season ends, she has to decide if she wants to stay or return to her hometown where no real prospects exist in her career or her personal life. I enjoyed the characters and have always loved New York at Christmas Time. Highly recommend this book to those who are looking for some magic and warm-hearted connections during the Holiday season. Thank you #NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the Advanced Reader's Copy in exchange for my fair and honest opinion.

MKA does it again!!! This book is everything you want in a Christmas book and more. I absolutely adored Kerry and Murphy (even though he is a little grumpy) and Austin and Patrick and Heinz. What a wonderful cast of characters!

What is this book really about as MKA and her F&F co-hosts ask authors each week? To me this book is about kindness and friendship and hardship and having people around you that help you through all the good and the bad.

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the chance to read and review this amazing book!!!

Tollivers had been growing this particular variety of Christmas tree, in this particular patch of farmland in the mountains of western North Carolina, for four generations.

Kerry has recently moved back home after her agency merged with another, her job as art director became redundant, and her relationship of two years just drifted to an end. When her mother has to take care of her father, even though they've been exes for years, after he has a heart-attack, Kerry suddenly has to help out with her family's tree farm. When her parents got divorced, Kerry went to live with her mom and her older brother Murphy went to live with their dad but now she's going to have live in a small trailer, affectionately named Spammy, for a month in New York City while they work their tree stand and try to keep the family farm afloat.

It dawned on her that in less than a month, these few crowded city blocks had become her home and these strangers now felt like neighbors.
And one of those neighbors was . . . something more.

Bright Lights, Big Christmas was a chik-lit story that was great at showcasing how close knit neighborhoods in big cities can be. Small towns seem to get more of a spotlight in holiday books and I loved how this delivered on the good feels of neighbors helping neighbors and that holiday community feel. Growing up and not having much to do with the farm, Kerry was a little bit fish out of water with knowing how to help and how much hard work goes into the tree stand and her older grumpy brother Murphy seems to harbor a little resentment that she's just showing up now to help. As they get to know each other more, Kerry learning that the farm is in financial trouble and Murphy acknowledging how Kerry's new ideas can bring in money, they start to thaw toward to one another.

As Kerry works the tree stand, we get to know the people that live and work in the neighborhood, from Claudia that runs the restaurant where they can get occasional free food (and Murphy might have a crush on), to the new mother of twins that lets them shower and do laundry at her place, to the older gentleman named Heinz who wanders the neighborhood but no one seems to know much about, and to the newly single dad Patrick (who's allergic to pine!) that Kerry may have had a bad first impression with but now they both can't seem to keep their eyes off each other.

There's some of that quirky Andrews-ness, the trailer Spammy has a personality all it's own and rival tree sellers provide some hijinks but there's also some cuteness, Patrick's son Austin, Murphy's dog, and the couples and families that we get little glimpses into their lives as they purchase trees. The romance between Kerry and Patrick was very thin, don't expect any depth, just a sudden kiss on the lips from Patrick to alert that he was liking her and then invites to dinner. Kerry is only running the tree stand for a month and before that time is even up, Patrick is telling her she can move in with him because he wants her to stay in the city, I guess he was really feeling the Christmas spirit.

It was in the later second half when Heinz turns up missing and shifts to reveals about him. The reveals lead and provide for a happy ending for Kerry and Patrick, with this and another earlier happy happenstance involving an Instagram Influencer and the tree stand, it's a Merry Christmas for all. This was a little stark in the depth of emotion departments but if you want to read a cozy, bedroom door firmly shut, holiday story that was great at showcasing how big city neighborhoods care for each other, this would be one to pick up.

This book made me smile. It made me feel good. It made me want to hug the world. How much did I like this book? I made my dog wait outside longer than she'd like while I hurriedly finished the last few pages. To be honest, I didn't expect to be that taken with the book but found myself not just enjoying the back-and-forth between Kerry and her brother Murphy, but all the characters that we were formally introduced. Note, I said formally, hence leaving out the guys who tried to horn in on the Tolliver's Christmas tree sales.

In other words, expect to fall in love with these characters, from the hesitant but strong willed Kerry to adorable Austin (and his handsome, kind father, never mind he was known in Kerry's mind as the arrogant Mercedes guy initially) and all the rest. And, oh, don't put your dog out until you're done reading. Grin.

Bottom line, this is a Christmas story, with all the heartwarming feels you would imagine. Hey, there's even an adorable dog and cantankerous old guy who, well, I won't say more about him. He's an important part of the story, however. Reality tells me that NYC isn't quite as charming as depicted but, hey, as I said, this is a Christmas story. Think Hallmark. Think happily ever after. Think...well, whatever makes you smile when you think of Christmas. Christmas trees? Oh, boy, does it have Christmas trees. So, Christmas trees, romance, plural at that, an adorable kid and dog, snow, and all the starry eyed hope and wonder that the Christmas season can muster. Read the blurb for more detail. Family really are the friends you choose.

Thank you so much for this much needed dose of joy, #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress. My Daisy dog sends Queenie a doggie kiss, btw, even if her humans' story did mean she had to practice her patience waiting to come back inside.

Thank you netgalley and publishers for this arc in exchange for my review.

This is my second book by this author and I liked this one much better. Although I'm still not sure what category this would fall into, it's not a mystery and not really a romance. But nonetheless I enjoyed it.

It was a fun, whimsical Christmas themed story, that was fun to read in July. It is filled with family, friendships and life lessons to not hide from the past or possible future.

4 stars for me.

North Carolina siblings Murphy and Kerry Tolliver are in charge of selling their Christmas tree farm’s trees at their usual Greenwich Village corner. It’s been a tradition for decades but this is the first year their dad won’t be able to make the trip due to recovering from a heart attack.

Mary Kay Andrew’s story is warm and funny and tugged at my heartstrings. It features neighborhood residents including a handsome man and his young son. Murphy added a dose of grumpy brother comedy while Kerry was intent on helping the family business. She was also trying to figure out her next step in life. And then there was the mysterious older man who seemed drawn to the tree lot. He might just help Kerry with her decisions. I loved the setting, the people and got all the vibes of a Christmas movie.

You’ll want to put Bright Lights, Big Christmas on your list this year!

4.5 stars

#BrightLightsBigChristmas #MaryKayAndrews #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers