𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁: The perfect holiday read that tugs at your heart strings from the very first pages. It’s full of the ups and downs of life, quirky animals, holiday vibes and hope. This is a little emotional as it deals with a 4yr old that is in kidney failure but I promise it’s worth the read! Plus look at these tropes Single Dad, Found Family and Small Town - yes please!

Sienna divorced was just finalized, her ex took it all but she got to keep her families ranch that has been in her family for generations. As a joke her besties put an add in the paper advertising a job for a husband to hire to help her out on the ranch.

Guy has a 4yr old daughter who is in late stage kidney failure, he’d do anything at a chance to save his little girl. That desperation is how he ended up approaching Sienna offering to fulfill her husband to hire add.

Sienna turns Guy down gently, letting him know it was a joke but then she saw the devastation of a single dad who is wearing himself into the ground trying to save his daughter life. Sienna not being able to stomach what’s happening with little Emma, she offers to marry Guy to help in the only way she can.

What starts as a marriage of convenience to save a little girl’s life turns into a lot more. As these strangers become friends as they tackle life together, full of ups and downs as they go through the holiday season their journey into becoming a family.

Happy Release Day @sarahmorgenthaler.author

𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅:

* Strangers to Friends to Lovers
* Marriage of Convenience
* Single Dad
* Newly Divorced FMC
* Child with Kidney Failure
* Found Family
* Holiday Vibes
* Slow Burn
* Small Town - Idaho Ranch
* Single POV

🎄❄️💙🎄❄️💙🎄❄️💙🎄❄️💙🎄❄️💙🎄

The Christmas You Found Me by Sarah Morganthaler
Heart of the Wilderness series #1. Contemporary romance. Chick lit. Single parent troupe.
Sienna Naples’s divorce is final. The painful marriage is finally over. It cost her more than she wanted to think about, but she was able to keep the ranch that’s been in her family for generations.
When a handsome man stands in front of Sienna and tells her he is applying for the job of her next husband, he is not joking. Funds are tight because his daughter Emma has stage-five chronic kidney disease and she won’t be able to stay on the transplant list if he can’t afford the medications and treatments she needs. She’s only four. Guy Maple is willing to do any job necessary to care for her. Sienna tells him the advertisement was an ill timed joke but seeing the sadness, the desperation and care he give his daughter, she wants to help. Sienna agrees to marry Guy so Emma can be covered on her insurance and they move to her ranch the very next day. Married. Sienna falls in love with both of them. They become a family. But Emma is a very sick little girl and no one knows if a miracle will occur in time.

🎧 I listened to an audiobook version of this story narrated by Haley Taylor. The performance is well done with distinct voices for Sienna and Guy and Emma. Tension came through clearly as well as the love they found. A lot of the dialog felt like it was being deliberately pitched low and soft to keep the sadness and worry front and center. It was a whisper at times though the volume was fine. Given the medical worry, and the practicality of a very restrictive diet for Emma and that she’s only four, there isn’t an abundance of joy in the book, so the tone fit. Of course there are tender moments and growing love so it’s not all sad either.
I listened at 1.5 to match my reading and speech standards.

Beautiful but on pins and needles the whole book. Knowing that kidney disease is a real condition and there simply aren’t replacement parts for everyone that needs them, this story is heartbreaking. Without spoiling it too much, read without the tension I had and know it’s romance at the core and yes, you can trust the author.
The story is sweet as the three grow close and become a loving family. The last ten percent is tense until the very end. I need some recovery time. My heart doesn’t like that level of stress.
Romance books. Because I need the happy.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and publisher Dreamscape Media.

Want a movie that feels like a TV cable channel Christmas movie? The Christmas You Found Me absolutely fits that bill.

The Christmas You Found Me is a cute, closed door romance centering around a marriage of convenience between Guy and Sienna right around Christmas time. The goal is health insurance for his sick four year old. The book is sweet and cozy while still sensitively touching on some tough topics like chronic illness and alcoholism.

I listened to the audio book version and enjoyed the narrator with the exception of the whining parts of the four year old character. That might just be a me issue. There are also moments that touch on a belief in God but it isn't a main focus in the book, just worth noting if that is something that bothers you as a reader.

I did feel like the ending was a little rushed, but that's often the case in similar Christmas stories so I guess it works in the context.

I thought the book was a nice, quick read (or listen in my case). It's a good one to add to a December book list if you like to keep things seasonal and I don't think anyone would regret the add.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for sending the book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Wow! Just absolutely stunning! Beautifully written, and utterly touching. I’m not emotional, not a crier when reading or watching anything, and she had me sobbing the last quarter (or so) of this really special story. I’m not saying happy or sad tears because you have to read to find out the outcome… but me, unemotional reader me, balled my eyes out!

Sarah Morgenthaler is an author I fell in love with 3 years ago after reading her Moose Springs, Alaska trilogy. It was absolutely hilarious and I couldn’t wait for more of her brilliance… but after some heartbreaking personal tragedies hit, she’s taken time to heal and get her muse back, and now this incredible Christmas story of a single father going through an horrific journey is what she’s penned. It’s heartbreaking and heartwarming, how a funny newspaper ad by Sienna’s “best” friend Jess brings Guy to her. It’s claiming she’s seeking a husband for hire, the day after her divorce is finalized, when he’s desperately seeking work and health insurance… because his daughter is dying and needs a kidney transplant, like, yesterday.

I found nothing but tender and loving moments throughout this entire story, loved Sienna and Guy feeling their way through the painfully slow burn romance (basically married roommates), and fell head over heels for little Emma. Everything about Emma made me emotional, in the best and worst ways.

It’s the most beautiful story I’ve read in basically forever, and even though it made me cry, the tears were necessary. Everyone needs a book that makes them cry like this to remember they are human, and goodness exists in the world, especially at Christmas. I cannot stress this enough, that I have never recommended a book more than this one - if I could rate a book 10-stars on the 5-star scale, this would be that book. Go - get it, now! And get the audio version, because Haley Taylor, who is a new voice to me, did an absolutely splendid job of both parts.

I received an advance read and listen copy from NetGalley, Sourcebooks Casablanca, and Dreamscape Media, and this is my honest feedback.

Do not listen to the last hour of this book at your desk at work… I had tears streaming down my face and someone came up to me to ask what was wrong. This story was filled with emotion. My heart swells and hurts at the same time. This was so much more than just a Christmas love story. This was a love story of a new family that happened to take place around Christmas time.

Sienna’s divorce is final, and her best friend puts an ad in the local paper for a husband to hire. Guy, a single father of a very sick daughter, Emma, shows up as a response to the ad because he needs health insurance for Emma who has stage five chronic kidney disease. He cannot afford the after-care medicine for a transplant, so this is his only way of securing her future. Sienna and Guy marry the next day at the courthouse and so begins their whirlwind friendship that blossoms into so much more.

I love the single parent troupe as well as the not fake/fake marriage. I fell in love with all of the characters. Even the not so nice ones had redeeming qualities. This is a must read, not just for a Christmas read, but if you are looking for a heart-wrenching story about love, hope and miracles.

This was a clean and sweet romance but it was also quite heavy with the bad illness of a child. The story takes place in a remote part of Idaho with snow covered mountains and lovable farm animals. Filled with honest moments, both beautiful and heartbreaking, this was a lovely holiday story.

I made the mistake of listening to a pivotal chapter while grocery shopping and straight up shed a few tears while picking out lemons. It was a really solid audio and honestly, if I was able to be less skeptical about a super speedy romance I probably would’ve given this five stars. Lol

Rating: 4/5⭐️
Pub day: September 24 - Tomorrow!

Thank you Dreamscape Media for the alc via Netgalley!

So I totally thought this was a Christmas book but I will say it is not a hallmark happy sweet Christmas book, this book wrecked me. This book is a sweet small town romance where Sienna who is just a sweetheart but is hurting opens her home and heart to a single father of a child who is in kidney failure and just truly needs a support system. I loved reading Sienna’s healing and how Guy and grow and lean on each other for strength. This book is such a heart warming while heart breaking story that’s worth a read just make sure you have some tissues handy.

Come for:
*single father
*small town
*marriage of convenience
*slow burn
*emotional read

CW:
*Child kidney failure
*father with Alzheimer’s

This is such a sweet story. It had some beautiful scenes and had me feeling multiple emotions. The narrator did a wonderful job.

This book left me without tears, I got to a point where I had to stop listening to be able to cry hard and it was an experience that I would repeat again because of how beautiful this story was.

Sienna's journey with Guy and Emma is one of those that makes your heart shrink, and I was lucky to be able to listen to this story because the feelings that the narrator reflected made this story unforgettable, each expression, each feeling that the narrator put into the different voices made me cry, laugh, and feel everything that the characters felt.

While it all starts with Guy answering a “husband wanted” ad that Sienna’s best friend put in the newspaper as a joke on the day of her divorce, his reason for answering that ad was noble, all to save his little girl and that strikes a chord with Sienna and she decides to help them and my goodness, that woman’s heart amazed me, the writer did a great job reflecting not only what it felt like to help Guy but how she had mixed thoughts about it, to me it was realistic and one of the best things in the story; They formed a small family and I loved it, the journey of these three people who were intertwined by destiny was the most beautiful and heartbreaking, let's see that I started to cry from the first moment and that's saying a lot, every scene, every action between them, you see how little by little that beautiful bond of love is formed, god I have no words for that, and let's see I didn't give it a full rating because of some little things that didn't quite fit me but it's just my obsessions when reading/listening and it doesn't take away from the beauty of the story.

📌I received an advanced listening copy through netgalley, and this is my honest opinion/review of it.

Gift if the Magi meets Hallmark meets Fave Fake to Real Rom Com Trope meets needing to invest in Kleenex. SHEW. #sarahmorgenthaler took me on an emotional ride with the story of Sienna, Guy, Emma, and of course Barley! #thechristmasyoufoundme is your wholesome holiday read which serves to remind you of the reason for the season while also giving you hope for true love in the middle of darkness. This story is truly a path to seeing that a new door opens with every closing. I definitely recommend but don't say I didn't warn you about the tears!

Thanks Netgalley for the ALC of the Christmas You found me. I loved this story, couldn't put it down. Load sobs may be a side effect of this book. So many moments when my heart was in my throat, it was heart achingly moving. A sweet marriage of convience with so many feels.

This was a different tone than the norm from Morganthaler. A story of grief, struggle, survival, love and hope, it will tug your heartstrings in all sorts of ways. Going into the story previously knowing it was going to be a heavy one prepared me for what was to come within the novel’s plot.

The found family aspect was lovely but there was too much of an instalove that I couldn’t buy into. There was also a serious occurrence involving Guy’s daughter that seemed to have been brushed aside a bit too breezily by the main character, Sienna, when in reality, most would be angry about it and take a bit of time to get over it. However, I loved how the supporting cast of character rallied for the Maple family when they needed it most.

Narration done by Hayley Taylor was great and she led me through the emotional rollercoaster swimmingly the way she was able to differentiate each character’s voice.

5 STARS 5 STARS 5 STARS!!!
I can't even explain how much I loved this story, it was so unique and heartwarming. I think this was a perfect take on the marriage of convenience trope and found family. I listened to this during fall, but I will be listening to it again closer to the holidays because it is such a perfect Christmas book. The book is emotional and v deep and I felt like sobbing at numerous points. Grief, illness, alcoholism are all mentioned in this book and for those who have experienced a love one battle with Alzheimers there might be some difficult and emotional chapters. Thank you Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the ALC of this book. The audiobook was perfect!

The Christmas You Found Me: Heart of the Wilderness #1
Sarah Morgenthaler
You must prepare yourself to read this Christmas book. Pull your favorite chair up close to the fireplace and the crackling warm fire. Set a warm cup of chocolate on the table next to the chair along with a box of tissues. Now you are ready to read The Christmas You Found Me.
Sienna Naples lived on the land of her ancestors. Generations have lived and tended the land; Sienna was determined to follow in their footsteps. She lived in a small cabin on the property. Each morning, she fed the livestock and checked the fences. Her father voluntarily moved to a nursing facility because he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He made Sienna promise not to come see him when he got worse. She promised but broke the promise time and again, her father will never know. Sienna was lonely. She and her husband had just divorced. Her best friend placed ads all over town as a joke. The ad was for a husband for Sienna.
In walked tall handsome Guy Maple applying for the position. The ad may have been a joke, but Guy wasn’t joking. He had a four-year-old daughter, Emma, in stage five chronic kidney disease; she needed a kidney transplant. To stay on the transplant list, he had to prove he had a way to pay for the anti-rejection medications. He needed insurance. After thinking about it Sienna asked him to marry her. She looked at it as a marriage of convenience. She never expected to fall in love with both Guy and Emma.
What a beautiful story. Sienna had lost all sense of self-confidence; her ex-husband stole it from her. He came out of the divorce looking good. Sienna gave up almost everything to keep him from taking the land that belonged to her family. The ex was a hot head and had the potential to get physically abusive. Emma was a sweet little girl that had gone through a lot in her short life. Sienna had a kind heart. Guy was the perfect mate for Sienna. Parts of the plot was predictable but that didn’t spoil it for me.

Sienna Naple lives on her family's Idaho farm. As Christmas is approaching it is filled with pain as her family is no longer living there and she just got divorces. After she jokily put up an ad about looking for marriage, there is a new guy, Guy Maple, to thinks her offer is serious. Suddenly Guy is her new husband and his little girl, Emma is in her life. When Guy sees an ad he is desperate for the money to support his daughter who has stage 5 chronic kidney disease. An impulsive marriage of convenience turns into a slow burn romance for the books.

You can't help but enjoy these characters. The emotional conversations and maturity they have while navigating this new marriage and eventually feelings.

Thanks to DreamScape Media and NetGalley for the digital audiobook. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I was looking for Christmas books to read or listen to, and this one intrigued me. Normally I’m not a sucker for contemporary romance, especially a marriage of convenience, but I found myself pleasantly surprised. There’s a depth here that transcends this book from merely a Christmas romance, or strictly women’s fiction. Getting married because of health insurance coverage is something that happens all too frequently here in the United States, and without getting political, this book shares one look at what would lead a couple to marriage on paper only. It’s actually quite a solemn book full of heartache before there’s any relief. Normally I’d describe this type of book as trauma porn and not something I usually enjoy, but there’s enough other things going on to make this a book to recommend.

Narrated by Haley Taylor. I thought the narrator brought just the right amount of emotion to this heavily emotional book.

I instantly wanted to read this book right when I seen it was a Christmas book, therefor I had no clue what it was about(I do that a lot). Oh my goodness, all the emotions. I was laughing and crying in several parts of the book. It is an emotional roller coaster but in a very good way. I really enjoyed the story and I am not usually into fake marriage books. But this one tore at heart strings and I loved it.
it was my first book by Sarah Morgenthaler and she blew it out of the park, its wonderful. It was also my first book narrated by Haley Taylor and I think she did a wonderful job.
I 100% recommend but have a box of tissues handy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars all the way!!!! This book took me on a rollercoaster of emotions. I couldn’t put it down. I love the characters, the story line, all of it. The writing was sooo goood. And I hope to read more books from this incredible author!

4.75 out of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Author: Sarah Morgenthaler
Publish Date: September 24, 2024
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Narrator: Haley Taylor

Tropes:
Marriage of Convenience
Found Family
Closed Door
Sloooow Burn

I absolutely loved this book. Don't let this cute cover fool you, I cried 3 times. The premise felt like it came straight from a Hallmark movie. Sienna's friend Jess took out a fake ad in the paper the day after her divorce is finalized. Guy, desperate to save his daughter. takes the ad seriously. This becomes a marriage of convenience to save Guy's sick little girl. The relationship turns into something more in this small town for this rancher from Idaho and handyman from Montana. The author found a way to create some joy in an otherwise somber book. It was the appropriate tone and it was so entertaining. I thought the pacing for this book was actually great. Even though the relationship timeline isn't very long until feelings pop up it felt like it developed naturally. This is my first Sarah Morgenthaler book and it won't be my last.

Narrator: It was single person narration and she did an amazing job with both voices. She did a great job with both voices. She gave guy a tired and somber tone, which felt appropriate for his situation.

Content Warnings: Death of a Parent, Parent with Alzheimer's, Sick Child, Child in Renal Failure

I love this authors books. What’s not to love about a Christmas romcom and it’s going to be a series!! This is a heartfelt story of a woman starting over in a small town missing her parents and trying to survive another Christmas. Until a handsome man arrived with his child and stole her heart.