Christmas With a Crank by Courtney Walsh is a super sweet, incredibly fun Contemporary Romance that totally got this reader into the festive, holiday mood! There is so much to love about this story. The characters are excellently crafted (but of course they are…Walsh always creates the BEST characters). Of the many characters, Olive is my favorite. She is absolute sunshine, but she is not saccharine or fake. Olive has faced some adversity in her very recent past and it’s holding her back, unbeknownst to her. At the very start of the story, Olive is a failed business owner who now finds herself juggling several part-time jobs trying to make ends meet. She is thrilled when a job opens up at her most favorite place ever — the local Christmas-tree farm. I love how the transformation of the beloved Christmas-tree farm mimics Olive’s own transformation over the course of the story. Olive is gifted with the ability to breathe new life and love and sunshine into a place or into people, and this is what she does, overtime, to the Christmas-tree farm. I think I love Olive because she reminds me of my best friend. Lara was uber-capable, super smart, brought ALL the fun, was incredibly loyal and genuine, and was massively creative. This is Olive in a nutshell. In addition to her personality, I also love Olive’s mental-health growth. Walsh has created a sunshine character who has to work through depression, but doesn’t even realize she’s depressed because her dominant personality is sunshine. Olive’s default is happy even when she is sad. I appreciate Olive’s journey from realizing her many nuanced feelings that reside underneath all her sunshine, to being OK with all those many feelings and sitting in them for a minute or two, to forgiving herself (read the story, you’ll understand what she needs to forgive), and then becoming the even awesomer (it’s a word, I promise) woman she was always meant to be. Olive is wonderful, and my absolute favorite aspect to this lovely story. As far as everything else in this story goes, I totally loved the storyline. I was hooked from page one and didn’t want to put the book down. I cheered for Olive and Lacey, Liam’s sister, the whole time. I so wanted their entrepreneurial dreams to come true. I also cheered for Olive and Liam to get their happily ever after. There’s is a slow-burn romance for sure, but the chemistry between the two is electric. And when they finally do admit their feelings, it’s the best. I sighed happy sighs and smiled big! See, I told you there’s so much to love about this story.

All in all, Christmas With a Crank is another home run by Walsh. I loved every minute of this delightfully sweet Contemporary Romance, and cannot recommend it enough. If you’re a fan of fun, swoony Contemporary Romances with depth and heart, then this is definitely the story for you.