4.5 stars.
A lovely story with wonderful, realistic, likable characters and lots of humor, “Catering to Christmas”, by Roxie Clarke, shows how age difference doesn’t really matter when attraction and love happen.
This is such a delightful, pleasurable read. Alex and Tara feel like real, vibrant people, and their reactions seem so authentic. And the same happens with the secondary characters.
The chemistry/attraction is made of so many different things we appreciate: simple affection, kindness, respect, appreciation. The step into something deeper and more complex is almost organic.
The hero’s initial apparent indifference or antagonism is really well done, creating tension between him and Tara which will vanish later so smoothly.
I loved how different Alex’s and Tara point of views are and how the author so smartly wrote them with distinctive voices. The transition between POV was often very interesting.
There are some lovely scenes with lots of showing instead of telling, and phenomenal humor (loved the scene in the Camas Country Western Bar and Burgers).
The humor is also present in the dialogue, the leads’ thoughts and it’s so refreshing and makes for an easy, fluid read.
The supporting characters are great, too. Max is a realistic young man and I adored the father/son relationship and the closeness between Alex and Angus.
I appreciated the easy affection, the honesty and humbleness in the characters in general.
I also liked watching life in the vineyard, the cooking and eating.

Loved reading this book and series. New author for me. Will enjoy more books from this series. Hope you enjoy the bookd also

I have read so many fabulous holiday reads recently. Catering to Christmas was my most recent. Don’t miss this one.