This book has a feel of a Christmas Hallmark movie ... grumpy neighbor, overly-friendly heroine, using kindness to break Mr. Grump out of his bah-humbugs. And it was ... nice. It's pretty generic and formulaic, but that's pretty much the point with these sorts of books. I'm okay with it. Cain is all sorts of grumpy, and if I had one criticism to level at this book it is that Cain's grumpiness was a little over the top. I would have been okay if his grumpiness was solely focused on his overly enthusiastic neighbor. It might have made sense that someone wants to be left alone by their neighbors and isn't interested in exchanging pleasantries. I get that. But Cain's grumpiness extended to ordinary strangers at moments ... strangers like the guy manning the register at Starbucks. In my opinion, someone who cannot show common courtesy and friendliness to strangers is waving GIANT red flags about issues that are too big for a loving relationship to erase. It would have been nice if Debbie Macomber had written Cain as standoffish toward Julia, but generally kind towards others when he was out and about. Maybe he's just a guy who had been burned once too much by peppy girls, and he wasn't interested in traveling that road again. Instead, he seemed to just be a common grouch toward everyone. Still, I did like how kindness changed both Cain and Julia for the better. I liked the beginning of a HEA. I wouldn't call this an epic holiday romance, but it was a nice one. Four stars.