Lynn Spencer's Reviews > The Captain's Christmas Homecoming: A Holiday Romance Novel

This Christmas romance was just adorable. Set in Albany, New York, immediately after WWI, it tells a gentle, warm story of very nice people getting together.

As the book opens, Captain George Weston is coming home to Albany, where he will be working alongside his father and preparing to take over the family lumber company. While he was overseas fighting in the war, letters from the mysterious Beverly Buttons cheered him up and enveloped him with a feeling of warmth.

Emma, the writer behind the letters, has her reasons for keeping her identity a secret. However, now that George is back, he and Emma and the real Beverly Buttons all keep being thrown together. The attraction between George and Emma grows gradually, as they move through the fall and into Thanksgiving and then Christmas. This one is a kisses-only romance, but there is definite chemistry between the leads.

I liked how the author brought her characters together, but also showed them spending time with family and close friends important to them. George's family is especially close, and I enjoyed the scenes at his family home. I also appreciated how the author brought current events of the time into her story. There are frequent references to soldiers returning home and needing jobs, as well as mentions of the influenza epidemic. Emma is a school librarian, and one of the plot points covers efforts to put together gift baskets for children who lost parents to the disease.

There is some drama woven into the story, but overall, this is a warm and fuzzy sort of read. It definitely felt like a holiday comfort read. I got annoyed with some of Emma's choices toward the end because she definitely lets a scheming relative off the hook far too easily, but overall I enjoyed this.