The Christmas Wedding Guest

The Christmas Wedding Guest (Book 1 in a new series) by Susan Mallery 432 pages

I love a great cover, and this first book in a new series by Susan Mallery has one!  The white wedding dress is gorgeous, and it hanging in front of that red door really makes it pop. 

It’s Christmas all year in the tiny town of Wishing Tree, Washington. It’s a magical place most of the year, but during the Christmas season, it’s amazing. 

“The Christmas Wedding Guest” features two sisters and a dog named Belle---a 120-pound Great Dane with a nervous condition. 

The last time Reggie, short for Regina, had come home, she had the world’s shortest engagement. Jake proposed on Friday, the couple celebrated with a party on Saturday night, and on Sunday afternoon, he dumped her. Luckily he has moved away from Wishing Tree, and she won’t have to run into him while she helps plan her parent’s vow renewal.  

Reggie’s sister, Dena, is a pregnant single mom---by choice---who is tired of the dating scene and looking for Mr. Right.

 Things are about to change when Reggie’s high school sweetheart, Toby, moves back to Wishing Tree with his son. She wonders if the sparks are still there, but Toby is a much different person than he was back then. He has a lot of scars that he’s not willing to sacrifice anymore of his heart. Toby owns and operates Judy’s Hand Pies, a fleet of food trucks, that have made him a multi-millionaire.

Speaking of multi-millionaires, Dena is about to meet one too. She runs a local B&B and Micah checks in for the holidays. Micha’s a rock legend who has come to Wishing Tree to be inspired. He hasn’t written a song since his wife and unborn child were killed in an auto accident. Luckily, he goes mostly unnoticed by the people of Wishing Tree. 

What transpires is typical holiday romance, but the hilarity arises when Great Dane Belle has to maneuver around Reggie and Dena’s parent’s 22-pound dachshund, Burt. Burt is always trying to intimidate Belle, and most of the time, he succeeds. Until one day... 

I enjoyed this novel. I see it as two separate Hallmark Movies for the holiday season. They fit the mold. “The Christmas Wedding Guest” receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.