Christmas at Sugar Plum Manor by Roseanna M. White is a delightfully sweet and endearing Christmas Romance. I very much enjoyed my time reading this very memorable story. I must admit that I am unfamiliar with The Nutcracker. I know there is a nutcracker, a mouse, and sugar-plum fairies, but that is all. I’ve never seen the ballet or read the story. It simply was never a part of my life. But that’s OK. Not knowing the original Nutcracker story didn’t negatively impact my reading of this lovely Christmas tale. My favorite aspect of this story is the sense of community this story effects. I appreciate how genuinely caring and compassionate Mariah and her stepfather are towards their tenants, and I love how the community reciprocates this care and compassion. This sense of community fosters such a lovely, cheerful sense of togetherness that I was drawn to from the very beginning of the story. It’s a large part of what kept me turning pages well into the night. The characters, as with all White stories, are brilliant. They are all just people with responsibilities, expectations, hurts, hopes, and happinesses upon their shoulders. I could easily relate to them all! Mariah, the heroine of this sweet story, is one of the happiest characters I’ve ever read, and I loved her! I love how things come at her — some good, some bad, some just life — but she never lets any of it dim her light. She’s the kind of character you wish were real because she would make such a good friend! And then there is Cyril. Cyril is a young man who still needs to mature a bit. He rushes into things before fully thinking things through and it causes a bit of turmoil. But being back with his best friend, Mariah, he is able to see the errors of some of his ways, he is able to mature a bit, and become the man he needs to be. I really appreciate how it’s the friendship between Mariah and Cyril that aids in his growing up process. That’s what I’m taking away the most from this delightful story: good friendships are everything and we need to cherish them. We need to recognize and acknowledge how special they are — a true gift from above, if you will.

There is so much more I could say about this wonderful Christmas Romance, but I don’t want to accidentally spoil any part. It’s one of those stories I could gush and gush over for days! Suffice to say, Christmas at Sugar Plum Manor is magical. I loved every minute of this story, and if you’re a fan of magically endearing Historical Romances, then this is definitely the story for you!