Book Review
The Christmas you Found Me by Sarah Morgenthaler

📖 you know this author form the Tourist Attraction series , read the end notes…. This book is soo much more than a simple holiday love story

Triggers Tropes and Thoughts
✅ Childhood illness, kidney failure
✅ Recently Divorced eoman needs a ranch hand aka husband
✅ Small mountain town complete with coffee shop, a bakery and a ranch full of horses and animals
✅ Forced proximity
✅ Protector and Cinnamon roll
✅ Christmas time- a time for miracles
✅ Strangers to lovers
✅ Whirlwind marriage
✅ Single dad needs wife ( and health insurance)
✅ Dementia, elderly parent
✅ Found family

Characters
FMC Sienna Naples- independent, stubborn, after her recent divorce she has become used to being and alone and fighting for everything she has
MMC Guy Maples- former architect now construction worker and handyman, he would do anything for his daughter
Emma- an adorable brave 4yr with kidney
Failure

Tag line- when Naples met Maples….

Overall
I cried…. And then I read the acknowledgments and cried more
A heart wrenching story that is filled with love, humility, friendship, courage, tears and hope❤️🥹
If you believe in Christmas miracles and happily ever afters then you will want to read this book.

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher @sourcebookscasa for my digital ARC in return for an honest review. Opinions expressed are my own.

So many emotions from one book! I've never had a book make me cry - but this one did just that!

The Christmas You Found Me is heartbreaking, heartwarming and emotionally heavy all in one. Sienna is newly divorced, Guy is a single father to a beautiful little girl Emma who is currently in kidney failure, needing to be on the kidney transplant list and being able to show they can afford her medication. Sienna meets guy (after her friend Jess decides to play a joke with an add in the local newspaper with a husband to hire ad), and eventually the come to an agreement on a marriage of convenience - they get married and Guy and Emma get to be added to Sienna's health care.

This story was beautifully written, and as I said definitely brought tears to the eyes. The character development throughout was top notch and I loved that the spice level was extremely low - showing off pure romance.

A beautiful Christmas story with a beautiful Christmas wish ending!

I’ve been waiting for a new Sarah Morgenthaler story and this was worth the wait. Readin the story of Sienna, Guy and Emma was a roller coaster ride of emotions. I found myself laughing and crying throughout the story. The characters were well developed and their banter felt natural and realistic given the circumstances. I love the definition of the marriage as one of purpose vs convenience, it made the story even more credible. I look forward to more from Sarah in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you're a big fan of Sarah Morgenthaler like I am, just know this one hits differently than her others. It's very emotionally heavy, but in the best possible way. My heart is still aching! The ending, along with the acknowledgments, brought me to literal tears. It's a truly special story, and I hope others will give it a try this holiday season.

It's a marriage-of-convenience romance following Sienna, a recently divorced rancher, and Guy, an exhausted single dad desperate to save his daughter, who is battling stage five kidney disease. Considering the timeline, this romance develops faster than I'd typically like, but the heightened emotions along with the cozy ranch setting at Christmas made me absolutely melt into their story.

I loved how open and honest Sienna and Guy were with each other. Married without truly knowing one another beforehand, they didn’t have the luxury of time for typical misunderstandings. So yes, it was fast paced—but with a life on the line, there was no choice but to be emotionally vulnerable from the start.

I found the ending a bit abrupt and perhaps too simplistic in its happiness, but it's a romance at heart. After such intense events and all the tears (seriously, have tissues handy), the blissful ending felt well deserved and deeply satisfying for these characters.

4.25 (points deducted for absurd geography)

I don’t think I’ve ever read such a sad story and, as a fan of the Moose Springs, Alaska series, I was in no way prepared for this book.

I dove in, reading the trigger warnings at the beginning, but really just frustrated with the absurd geography that is laid out (see below).

Putting that aside, this is a beautiful story, but it is full with layers upon layers of hardship and loss right up to the end. I’m not saying that there isn’t some good news or happiness along the way or at the end, but the struggle with Emma and her failing kidney is its own main character and it is layered with the man who is broken and trying to keep her alive, the woman who is also facing several kinds of loss, and the other animals and people they love who have been hit hard. I know I’m a cryer, but this was a new level of tears. If this book doesn’t make you cry, we might need to put you on the transparent list for a new heart.

At one point, I tried to explain a couple scenarios to my mother who thought I must have a really bad cold due to my sniffles, but she soon asked me to stop telling her any more about the book because it was just too sad. I hate to be such a downer because this is a sweet story with a sweet romance for two people who deserve it, but just be prepared. I gave it the rating I did because it’s a good story, just not the rom-com that the cover, title, and author might imply.

That’s all I can say without any spoilers. After the book, the authors note indicates that Sara Morganthaler lost her husband in a motorcycle accident soon after the Moose Springs books. That explains some of the change in the feel of this story, but I can’t imagine writing such a fraught story with that real tragedy weighing on me. You don’t have to have a history with any of the triggers mentioned to feel deeply for the struggles of the characters.

FYI: The story supposedly takes place in northern Idaho. Emma‘s doctors are “two hours away” in Idaho Falls, one of the furthest cities in actual geography, probably more like a ten hour drive to the southeast part of the state, depending on how far north you start. The location of the story takes place next to the Frank Church – River of No Return Wilderness, which is in the center of the state. You would think someone would take a look at a map and at least attempt something plausible. It makes me wonder how naïve I may have been with the Alaska stories and any book somewhere unfamiliar.


Thank you to Sarah Morgenthaler, NetGalley, and Berkeley Publishing Group for providing me with a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

I was kindly provided with the ARC of this book by NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca editors in exchange of an honest review, thank you!✨

10000000000/5⭐️

OH MY GOD 🥹🤍

This is THE best book I’ve read in my entire life, I literally got nothing else to say besides is just PURE PERFECTION 🥹🤍
I was sobbing, SOBBING!!! I knew it was a HEA but man, I was sooo terrified something bad would happened.

Thankfully that wasn’t the case because Siena, Guy and Emma (with Barley, Legs, Lulu and all the other animals) are perfect happy and my heart is full and I want to read their story again like yesterday because is so beautiful and is so real and is I just can’t stop thinking about them❤️‍🩹

This book is definitely my new and absolute favorite 🤍✨

It was a surprise when I got approved of this title, and I was very much looking forward to this reading.

I almost threw my Kindle out of the window, like twice. It was very book and horrific at the same time. This book made cry and smile and cry again. It almost ruined me, and I totally recommend it.

Some of the topics in the book hit home for me, so that was something extra I really did not count for, but I’m glad it was there.

I really don’t have many negatives about the novel other than it was a bit frustrating that, outside the main couple and the absolute angel of a kid, the rest of the characters were not flashed out, and we only got them as props to help the story going. I guess that is a very general issue, especially in contemporary romance.

However, that did not take away from my enjoyment (and suffering) of the book. The pacing was nice, things went fast, but it was on purpose and the whole atmosphere was lovely. A very December story.

Now, I truly adored the couple, but I loved them separately as well. All the hardships made them incredible people.

I don’t want to go in too deep with the details because this is a simply, yet beautiful story that it’s better to go into with little knowledge of it.
Just make sure to have the Kleenex ready.

I've been eagerly awaiting a new novel from Sarah Morgenthaler for ages it seems and this was a cozy, emotional roller coaster ride of a holiday marriage of convenience Christmas miracle type love story sure to delight Hallmark holiday movie lovers!!

Recently divorced and lonely Sienna Naples is the sole owner of her family ranch and isn't feeling very festive this Christmas season. When single father Guy Maple answers her joke of an ad, Sienna impulsively agrees to marry him in order for Guy to be able to prove he can afford the anti-rejection meds his daughter needs if she is able to get the kidney transplant she desperately needs to keep living.

Sienna can't falling in love with Guy's 4 year old daughter Emma and the feelings go both ways as these three quickly form a family over the holidays. While this story takes place over a few short weeks, which feels rather FAST, if you can suspend your belief on the odds of this ever actually happening in real life, the story is sure to make you swoon, cry and sigh in contentment!

Great on audio and my new favorite 2024 holiday read so far. Highly recommended for fans of high drama, closed door romance with tons of emotional depth. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

Between requesting a copy of this book and deciding to pick it up to read I forgot what the description was, so it was something of an emotional shock to discover The Christmas You Found Me is not just a sweet single-dad small town Christmas romance.

While it has a lot of delightful, warm and cosy Christmas vibes, the central story revolves around a small girl and her father desperating waiting for a kidney transplant. I cried a lot through this book.

Marriage of convienience is one of my all time favourite tropes, but it usually works better in historical romances. Marrying for health insurance is probably one of the only believable premises for a modern marriage of convienience and I thought she did a fantastic job of exploring what kind of complexities this could involve, in particular the dynamic of desperation and gratitude.

I really enjoyed Guy and Sienna navigating emotional honesty and vulnerability and the way it was a subversion of gender expections through the story.

I liked the town setting, and various characters in the story, particularly Seinna's friends. I would definitely read more books set there.

I did think it was a little weird that the book mentioned mulitple times her family were big on the idea of taking care of the land, not owning the land because it was stolen from the Indigneous people during colonisation. But they did keep the land. They didn't do anything to give it back, or pay rent or anything.

While not something I've personally experienced, the health and medical elements seemed well balanced between Emma's experiences of everyday life and the suffering and pain as her kidney failure progressed. While they did often tell her how brave she was (which can be a bit too inspiration porn in stories with chronic or terminal illness), on the page she was depicted as a typical four year old, who as grumpy and frustrated as often as she was sweet and thoughtful. The joy and sadness of being her parent was also richly explored.

I thought it was ultimately a sweet Christmas romance that was a beautiful home for an exploration of mulitple facets of grief, from watching a child suffer through a terminal illness, to Sienna's dad deterioriating from demintia to Sienna working through the emotions of her painful marriage being over. Just really thoughtful and poignant, and when I read the author's note afterwards about the author losing her husband it seemed heartbreaking obviously this was how she'd been able to write such a richly complex book about love and grief.

This is definitely not the average lighthearted rom com and when you read the acknowledgments, you understand why. It’s beautifully written from the heart and full of emotion. The author deftly balances the difficult issues of loss, illness and divorce with moments of whimsy and fun. It’s a slow burn romance, focusing on how Sienna and Guy support each other and Guy’s seriously ill daughter Emma whilst also dealing with the death of a parent. There is something so raw and poignant about this story, that I just know it’s going to stay with me a while.

Sarah Morgenthaler’s new novel is a tender and loving story of newly-divorced Sienna, single dad Guy, and Guy’s daughter Emma, who is chronically ill and needs to have a new kidney. Sienna’s family has lived on their Idaho ranch for generations and she fought with everything she had to keep the land after her divorce; Guy has been moving from town to town in need of a job to be able to afford Emma’s medical bills. When an ad in the local newspaper brings the two grown-ups together they decide to do everything they can for Emma. Even if that means they need to get married, for insurance purposes.

This book was unlike any other fake dating or fake marriage book I have ever read. The story is filled with sadness but also with laughter and so much love, and nothing feels rushed, as Sienna, Guy and Emma – and all the animals on Sienna’s ranch – take careful steps toward each other and start becoming a family. Sienna is still raw after a difficult divorce but Guy gives him all the time and space whenever she needs it, whereas Sienna gets to know quite soon what it means to be the single parent of a chronically ill child, something that has been Guy’s reality ever since his daughter was born.

I don’t have the words to say how good this book was, or to describe all the emotions that went through me while reading, except to say I read this book in a day because I just could not put it down. I cried my eyes out more than once but I was also filled with so much warmth and happiness while reading this beautiful book, and that feeling still lingers.

Welcome back Sarah Morgenthaler, and thank you so much for writing Sienna’s, Guy’s and Emma’s story. I received an advance copy, for which I am eternally grateful to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.

What a heart wrenching read with so many emotions! This was definitely not a typical rom-com but a very complex, multi-layered romance with many heavy topics. It is definitely one of my favorite reads.

Marriage of Convenience? Check!
Strangers to Lover? Check!
Full of fluff? Check!

Sienna, fresh from a divorce, gets married to Guy, a total handsome stranger, who just happens to have a 4-year-old, Emma.

Emma needs a kidney transplant; Sienna has medical insurance; and Guy is willing to sell himself for his daughter.

This story is their journey and it is so well written, kept me hooked from start to finish! 10/10 recommend!

Sarah Morgenthaler’s books are always heartfelt and engaging. Massive content warning for a seriously ill child.

Thank you so much to Sourcebooks Casablanca, Sarah Morgenthaler, and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this novel.

First and foremost, I am SO EXCITED that Morgenthaler has written a new novel! I was beyond excited to have an opportunity to read this early.

Emotionally, this novel was not an easy read. It packed in so many emotional scenarios (divorce, a sick parent, a sick child, financial issues, abandonment) but mostly grief and learning to find the happiness in life even when you are dealt blow after blow. This is not a romance, but it is a complex and emotional love story (and yes, you will ugly cry so do NOT read in a public space).

The first few chapters were a bit hard to get through. The overall pacing sometimes felt slow (even though most of the story spans about two/three weeks). There was a lot of exposition and details that sometimes made it tough to get through (but I know the author did her research!). The MC's felt a little flat in the beginning but the characters did develop as the novel progressed and the chemistry eventually caught up. It was worth the wait.

Excited for future novels by Morgenthaler.

***I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review***

When Sienna gets divorced, her best friend puts an ad in the local paper for a husband-for-hire to help her with her ranch. Sienna is shocked when an actual man answers the ad. Meeting over coffee, Guy explains that his 4-year-old daughter, Emma, is in desperate need of a kidney. But if he can't prove he has the money to afford her anti-rejection medications, Emma will never be approved. Guy proposes a marriage of convenience, promising to do whatever Sienna needs in exchange. And Sienna, wanting desperately to give that little girl a shot, agrees.

This book has sadness and grief, and there were a couple times I openly cried in public while reading it, but there's also hope, laughter, and love in these pages. ❤️🎄☃️

I received this book as an arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. And honestly, this book was incredible. It follows our main characters, Sienna and Guy. Sienna is recently divorced and not looking for a relationship, and Guy's top priority is helping, providing for, and caring for his adorable four-year-old daughter, Emma, who has kidney disease. Sienna's best friend Jess puts a personal add for sienna searching for a husband for hire as a joke. Guy shows interest in this position and when they meet she has to tell him it wasn't real. They get to talking and she feels sorry for him and his daughter so later that night she decides "Why not? Let's get married". They get married and Guy and Emma recieve the benefit plan that Sienna has through her ex husband. Her ex is an emotionally abusive man who she was never happy with and of course he thinks only of himself. When the news of her new marriage gets to him he automatically thinks she's just trying to get back at him. Over time Sienna and Guy's relationship becomes more than just purposeful. This book was so heartfelt and tugged at my heartstrings.
Thank you Netgalley!

Oh wow did I love this. This might rank up there with my all time favorite Christmas romances.

This is a marriage of convenience romance between Sienna, a recent divorcee who’s friend places a joke Husband Wanted ad to find her a new man, and Guy, a single dad with a chronically ill daughter who responds to the ad in hopes securing work will help him afford his daughter’s life-saving medications.

Sienna was a great character, she’s clinging to her family’s ranch by her fingertips post-divorce and she still has it in her heart to help out this stranger and possibly help save his daughter’s life. She was kind and loving and I want to be as nice as her when I grow up.

Guy was also great, a devoted dad willing to do anything to save his daughter in the hellscape that is the US healthcare system. Their romance was a slow burn and a very sweet one at that. I loved the forced proximity of them living together in her little cabin. There’s a pervasive sadness to both of their life due to what they’re going through and I loved that they could bring a little light to each other. I also loved both their relationships with Guy’s daughter.

The tone in this is definitely different from that of the Moose Springs series, which is not a complaint. Those weird delightfully weird romcoms, while this is a straight up contemporary romance with some angst and serious tones. I feel like both have hit at the right time to be exactly what I want at that time.

Overall I thought this was just a really great romance. It made me cry so I’m giving it five stars!

Oh my goodness. This book. It had me all up in my feels. The first chapter had me hooked and heartbroken at the same time. I loved everything about this story. The characters, the animals, the setting, everything. It dealt with some pretty heavy topics in such a beautiful way. I don’t usually reread books, but I could definitely see myself reading this more than once.

Thank you Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All opinions expressed above are my own.

Whelp. My heart has been ripped out, wrung out, and covered in a blanket of my own tears. And I'm glad for it because it means I got to experience this wonderful story. The Christmas You Found Me is not your typical Christmas romance, and it is a far cry from the lightness of Sarah Morganthaler's previous books, but it is SO good. Though the trigger warnings are plentiful (divorce, abandonment, dying parent with Alzheimer's, child with renal failure), and parts are downright heartbreaking, the ultimate feeling I walked away with was one of hope and fortitude. And omg, the scene with Emma and Sienna's father - it wrecked me, healed me, and made me cry ugly tears. The author poured her grief into these pages, and the result is a tender, heart-expanding novel that will stick with me. Highly recommend.

Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca for gifting me with an ARC to review! All opinions are my own.