I absolutely loved Bright Lights, Big Christmas. I was sad when it ended and I truly hope for a sequel. The characters were wonderful, from the brother and sister selling Christmas trees from their North Carolina farm on a New York City corner, to the quirky artist who befriends them, to the hunk of a single dad and his cute son. Even the dog and the vintage trailer helped make the story. They are all so real and likeable and I couldn't get enough of their story. I haven't read a Mary Kay Andrews book I haven't liked but this one is one of the best so far. Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to read this wonderful book for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this book. The Tolliver family owns a Christmas tree farm and every year the father and son go to New York City to sell Christmas trees. This year due to their father’s heart attack Kerry is guilt tripped into going to help sell the trees. Little did she know that the trip would change things for her. She establishes many friendships including one with single father Patrick and his son Austin. The longer she is in the city the harder it is going to be to leave.
I loved all the different characters. I didn’t want the book to end. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This book is very heartwarming. Even though I found that the romance plot between the main characters were too sudden and a little bit off, their interactions were really sweet afterwards. I also really enjoy the found family trope here, I wanted to be a part of their friendship! If you are looking for a short and light read during the Holiday Season, I'd highly recommend you this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Kerry is working with her brother in New York during the holiday season. While their she meets a father and don who she has feelings for. This is a heartwarming book that will put you in the Christmas spirit.

I loved this story! NYC, Christmas, wonderful characters are my cat nip. I loved the sweetness, kindness, wit, banter of the characters! I loved the healing, kind way the story is told, all set in the most magical city in the world at the most magical time of year. Mary Kay Andrews, as always, writes an amazing, uplifting, fun story!

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

What a sweet and heart warming holiday book.

Kerry is recently unemployed and moved back to North Carolina with her mom. She is guilted into helping her older brother sell Christmas trees in New York City. The family has sold trees there for decades and it is tradition. While there, Kerry meets Patrick and his sone and soon they become fast friends. Kerry is falling for Patrick but knows she has to go back to North Carolina after the trees are sold out. What does Kerry do?

I loved how connected I felt with the characters and just wanted to give them all big hugs after the book was over.

Exactly what you'd expect out of a Mary Kay Andrews Christmas novella. Lovely and comforting, and loved the NYC setting.

You know how some people describe a book as a warm hug? This book was a warm cup of cocoa on a rainy day for me. All the warm fuzzies of a hallmark movie with classic Mary Kay Andrews quips and we’ll rounded characters. Andrews always brings life into characters, they feel like real people with real flaws without being overly dramatic or cliche. Kerry feels like a normal thirty something woman going through a bit of a mid life crisis and finding herself again after losing her job and fiancé in one fell swoop. The reader gets to see Kerry as she reconnects with her brother, along with some really beautiful found family, revamp her career, and of course finds love with cinnamon roll Patrick. Patrick is a single dad, newly divorced, and his son is actually here and present in the book, he’s also the sweetest little boy. I hate books where the main character or love interest is a single parent but the kid is always somehow MIA, you get to actually see Pat be a father and his little community helps too of course. The found family component to this book really pushed it over the edge for me, this little community is so cute. All around I loved getting to visit the warm Christmas feelings while I read this even though it’s May, Christmas spirit never dies, it just rest. It was nice to get to plunge into this book and have a classic Christmas love story that didn’t feel as cookie cutter as gingerbread men.

Another great Christmas story from Mary Kay Andrews. Loved the story between Kerry and Murphy - great sibling story. And seeing the relationship/friendship between all the people in the story is awesome. And I totally want another book to go with this one. Need to know where Kerry and Patrick end up.
This book will be perfect for Christmas.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the advanced digital copy. My thoughts are my own.

In this heartwarming story, Kerry, one of the main protagonists, unexpectedly finds romance with Patrick, a divorced man. However, the true essence lies in the nurturing power of friendship. Set on a North Carolina Christmas tree farm, Kerry's father, Jock, is recovering from a heart attack, while her mother, Birdie, selflessly supports him despite their divorce. Kerry, who recently lost her job, reluctantly agrees to help her brother Murphy sell their reduced Christmas tree crop in New York City.

The neighborhood they encounter in New York surprises them with its kindness and generosity. Likable characters rally together, offering help and support. Taryn, a mother of young toddlers, opens her home for Kerry's showers and laundry. The local Italian restaurant provides an extension cord for electricity. Amidst it all, an unexpected bond forms with a 90-year-old man who becomes dear to their hearts during a crisis. The genuine goodness of these characters is truly captivating. The book also delves into the value of the Christmas trees and the daily interactions of Kerry, Murphy, and the background characters.

While Kerry and Patrick's romance unfolds, the story explores Kerry's artistic background, which she shares with a 90-year-old man and Patrick's empathetic son, Austin. Throughout the narrative, the characters consistently exhibit empathy and kindness, especially during times of crisis. Ultimately, the book beautifully highlights the themes of family, deep friendships, and the unwavering support they provide, leaving a lasting impact and deserving of a four-star rating. This novel serves as an engaging escape from everyday worries, presenting a realistic and heartfelt experience without veering into sentimentality.

I absolutely loved this novel!!! Mary Kay Andrews + Christmas = Bliss! From the moment I started Brights Lights, Big Christmas it felt like a literary version of a warm hug! I was completely captivated from start to finish and throughly enjoyed the well crafted storyline. As per usual, Mary Kay Andrews has created characters that are so realistic, relatable, and so darn endearing! If you are looking for something to get you into the Christmas spirit, then I highly recommend this five-star gem!

This was such a fun story of Christmas in NYC, Such a change from rural North Carolina and a change that Kerri needs to get herself back on a track to new friends, a new job, and a new life and love she never expected

A perfect feel good Christmas story about taking chances, making friends and finding love! A must to read every year!

“Bright Lights, Big Christmas” is a touching story of new friendships, new beginnings and helping those in need. Kerry Tolliver is back in New York City where she had spent many fun holiday seasons with her family when she was a child. The magic of Christmas had been absent from her life for a long time but now that she was back, she jumped into the holiday season with child-like exuberance. She sold her family's Christmas trees, played joyful holiday music and created beautiful and sought after Christmas wreaths that soon would be gracing fashionable doors around the city. Kerry made many new friends and began dabbling in her artwork again which got her thinking about where her life was going. Kerry was at a loss of what to do until she met an old and wise man who needed her as much as she needed him.

Kerry had many decisions to make and among them was what to do about her “relationship” with Patrick and his adorable son, Austin. She wondered if the spirit of the season was making her fall in love with the idea of a life with Austin, or was she just being overly dramatic? Kerry is a kind person with a loving heart who brought everyone together as they shared in the joy of the season and I am sure she will find the perfect present waiting for her under the tree!

I absolutely loved this book! Christmas in the spring/summer? Yes please! This book makes me believe in the goodness of strangers and gives me hope for the future. I loved the character development and how they all tied in together. Another great read from one of my FAVORITE authors!!

I love me a feel good love story especially if it revolves around Christmas. This story had all that and then some. Mary Kay never seems to disappoint with lovely romance novels! 10/10 recommend!!

I enjoyed this sweet Christmas story set in New York City. At the heart of the story is the Tolliver family Christmas tree stand, a pop up shop that the Tolliver’s have been ‘popping up’ for decades. Their business in the neighborhood has helped them forge relationships over the years that allow for the story to give off a small-town feel. I loved the gruff, unpolished Murphy and liked how the forced circumstances between him and his sister, Kerry, improved their relationship. Through Kerry we get to know the surrounding characters, who turned out to be my favorites in the book. I even liked how Spammy got a happy ending, too. The Kerry-Patrick relationship helped make the story go, but it was the action and the people around them that I enjoyed most.

Thank you to Net Galley, Mary Kay Andrews and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Hallmark has its next Christmas movie! There is no way Mary Kay Andrews Bright Lights, Big Christmas cannot be made into a movie! All of the characters are there from the grumpy old man that no one likes to the cute little boy and the great big dog. And being set in New York City at Christmas time will make it irresistible. For me personally I can't see moving to New York from the being part of a Christmas tree farm in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina but it just goes to show what a person will do for love. This book is a little bit deeper than the other Mary Kay Christmas books I think. There's more than one subplot going on and even the possibility of next year's Christmas book with one of the characters in Bright Lights, Big Christmas. And there is a teaser about the Santa Suit from last year. If you haven't read that one yet go grab it and while you're at it make sure you get a copy of Bright Lights Big Christmas. You can thank me later!
I voluntarily received a copy of this book from Netgalley.

A wonderful feel-good holiday story. 5 twinkling ⭐️ for Bright Lights, Big Christmas.

This delightful story follows Kerry Tolliver, a newly unemployed girl from North Carolina, as she joins the family business and helps run a Christmas Tree stand in New York City, alongside her older brother. What started as a begrudging way to help out her father, who finds himself recovering from a medical emergency, slowly begins to open Kerry’s eyes to new possibilities. Along the way, she meets a cast of wonderfully quirky characters.

Another stellar holiday story from Mary Kay Andrews.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Kerry Tolliver is persuaded to leave the comforting warmth of her family’s tree farm and travels to New York with her brusque brother, Murphy, to sell Christmas trees. To add insult to injury, the siblings are staying in a relic holiday trailer they call Spammy.

Eating and washroom facilities are granted by a kindly restaurant owner while showering is offered in a stranger’s condo. Kerry learns the big city is not as cold and impersonal as she expected, and soon makes connections within the neighborhood, including a handsome single father and his adorable six-year-old son.

Childhood memories remind Kerry of Christmas’s past and the joy the season brings opens her heart to future possibilities.

“I voluntarily read an ARC of this book which was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.”