Review: 'Tis the Season

'Tis the Season by Lorna Landvik
3.5 stars

Reasons for reading: I love Lorna Landvik; it's Christmas!

Description: "Heiress Caroline Dixon has managed to alienate nearly everyone with her alcohol-fueled antics, which have also provided near-constant fodder for the poison-pen tabloids and their gossip-hungry readers. But like so many girls-behaving-badly, the twenty-six-year-old socialite gets her comeuppance, followed by a newfound attempt to live a saner existence, or at least one more firmly rooted in the real world. As Caro tentatively begins atoning for past misdeeds, she reaches out to two wonderful people who years ago brought meaning to her life: her former nanny, Astrid Brevald, now living in Norway and Arizona dude ranch owner, Cyril Dale. While Astrid fondly remembers Caro as a special, sweet little girl left in her charge, Cyril recalls how he and his late wife were quite taken with the quick-witted teenager Caro had become when she spent a difficult period in her life at the ranch as her father was dying.
In a series of e-mail exchanges, Caro reveals the depth of her pain and the lengths she went to hide it. In turn, Astrid and Cyril share their own stories of challenging times and offer the unconditional support this young woman has never known. The correspondence leads to the promise of a reunion, just in time for Christmas. But the holiday brings unexpected revelations that change the way everyone sees themselves and one another."

My thoughts: I like letter/e-mail books and I like books where the characters end up being connected in ways they weren't aware of (although I'm often confused at first, while trying to figure out the connections). Caro could be any one of today's celebutantes, but she manages to get herself together with the help of Astrid and Cyril, which shows how important it is to have even one or two people who really care about your well-being. The beginning, with Caro's antics and the hate she generates in those around her, is pretty funny and the rest moves between funny and sweet, with a bit of sadness thrown in.

A very quick read and perfect for the holiday season. Perfect for the holiday season - I read it in about 2 hours, between 11:30 and 1:30, when I was supposed to have visions of sugarplums dancing in my head. That's my fave thing about being on vacation, being able to stay up reading! Add this one to your holiday reading list (although, at this late date, maybe for next year!).