The Perfect Christmas by Debbie Macomber

The Perfect Christmas Reviews

• 
  Mandy

  Such a lovely book! Just the right cozy novel I needed this time of year. A nice, little romance story with a happy ending. Can't wait to read more by this author. If you like a romance novel with laughs and happiness then you will love this book! Highly recommend for this time of the year. Great to read all snuggled up next to your loved one with a cup of cocoa.
• 
  Kat

  This was another sweet Christmas novella length story that was perfect for getting into the holiday spirit. Cassie works in a lab where she spends all day alone with her microscope, and her best friend Angie, and doesn’t get to meet… well, anyone new except plastics samples, let alone men. So when her friend recommends a matchmaker, she doesn’t dismiss the idea completely.
  
  Simon, the matchmaker, isn’t exactly a warm, fuzzy character. He’s pretty type-A, and tells Cassie she’ll have to complete three tasks before he’ll reveal her match (this is after paying $30K!) Cassie, being a good sport, agrees, and holiday antics ensure. This one had some funny scenarios for poor Cassie as she tried to get her tasks completed… I enjoyed that it had the perfect amount of holiday included in the tale. Simon took a little while to grow on me, but as with all Debbie Macomber sweet romances, he eventually comes around. This is a nice romance perfect for reading just before the holidays.
  
  
• 
  ꕥ AngeLivesToRead ꕥ

  Christmas 2022 - Nice
  
  This was a short, sweet love story with a ridiculous premise. A woman determined to finally get married signs up with a matchmaker who has demonstrated excellent results at pairing people up with their "most suitable match." He happens to be incredibly handsome. Can you guess what happens next?
• 
  MelissaB

  Oh my this book was NOT for me. It reads like a cheesy Hallmark movie without any of the good emotional part of a romance novel. There was also no sexual tension or love scenes - just lukewarm kisses. The characters were cardboardy and seemed fakely wholesome - I couldn't relate to any of them. Blah Blah Blah - that's what I was thinking as I read it. No more Debbie Macomber for me, this is the poor man's non-romancy romance.
• 
  Kay ☼

  So cheesy but fun holiday read. By the way, who pays thirty grand for matchmaking?
• 
  Sarah BT

  So I've never read a Debbie Macomber book and I really didn't think I would. Her books are cozy romances and grandma's read them. I even met Ms. Macomber at ALA and she was very sweet, but I didn't really think about picking up one of her books.
  
  But then I was in the mood for a cozy holiday read and this showed up when I started searching for Christmas books. I have to say, if you're in the mood for a light and fun fast read, read a Debbie Macomber book. I finished this one in two nights-which is unusual when I'm reading during the week-I usually take a week to finish a book unless I'm reading on the weekends.
  
  The story is predictable, but it's still cute. I liked Cassie and her tasks were pretty humorous. This is a book I could see easily being made into a holiday TV movie-it kind of read that way. (Debbie Macomber's other holiday offering this year, Mrs. Miracle, was made into a movie for Hallmark and it's currenly in my TBR pile and recorded on my Tivo.) I just wish the romance would have been a little better-there were some goofy parts at the end and I wasn't sure if Cassie's prince charming really was her best match. But there was plenty to smile about and there were some moments I really enjoyed. (Prince Charming had some shining moments too, so I can't say I didn't totally hate him).
  
  Since Ms. Macomber writes a yearly holiday book, I could easily see reading a Debbie Macomber book at Christmas becoming a tradition of mine. You know it will be light, sweet and fun and it'll be a good book to read with some hot cocoa.
  
  
• 
  Amy | Foxy Blogs

  Cassie is in search of finding her perfect Christmas. For her, that involves a husband and kids. But Cassie is a single 33 years old who hasn't had much luck finding the perfect guy.
  
  She hires a professional matchmaker for $30,000. That amount of money is what she had been saving for a wedding but without a partner that isn't going to happen. So, she invest that money in finding this guy with the help a professional matchmaker. Simon happens to be the matchmaker that she hires to help her. I have to say I was NOT a fan of his. And them getting together was BLAH to me.
  

  Audiobook source: Audible
  Narrator: Tavia Gilbert
  Length: 4 H 13 M
• 
  Mollie *scoutrmom*

  I'm surprised that such a skilled author as
  Debbie Macomber would put so little effort into making this a good book. The plot was lame, the hero's point of view was never shown, we are at a loss to understand his motivations. When Macomber tries to explain them at the end, it is poorly done, sounds like an essay.
  
  The heroine never gained any respect from me. Her motivations are shown, but the actions she takes based on them baffled me. I never figured out why she fell in love with the one she did.
  
  Sending it back to the public library to puzzle some other poor unfortunate soul.
• 
  Donna Craig

  A well-written story for those silly women who think they can change a man. Still, it was quite enjoyable.
• 
  Terri Wino

  Barely two stars for this story. I realize it was originally published in 2009 and I read it in 2021, so one might think some bits wouldn't hold up as well over time. But good Lord, this read like it was written in 1950 in some aspects. First of all, Cassie came across as a desperate woman who measures her own worth based in whether she can nab a husband. Don't even get me started on the character of Simon. There was absolutely nothing to like about the man. He was a rude asshole who treated Cassie like shit. He came across as an arrogant jerk, and I couldn't see any reason why Cassie would fall in love with him after a few brief meetings when the majority of their time together most of his comments were belittling and demeaning to Cassie. Which made her seem all the more pathetic as she mooned over what a swell guy he was.
  
  Characters aside, the entire plot was just ridiculous. The concept seemed like it would be a fun holiday story -- woman hires matchmaker, they end up falling in love (as expected). But how the hell can someone in Cassie's orbit afford to pay someone $30,000.00 to find them their "perfect" match? Because I can think of a ton of things to do with that money that would make me a whole lot happier than some guy I had to pass a series of tests to even be worthy to meet. Speaking of which, those three tasks Cassie had to complete for "Dr. Dominant" had no bearing whatsoever on establishing her match ability with another person. If they were supposed to be entertaining and humorous.. they weren't.
  
  This was honestly one of the worst books I've ever read. I don't mind suspending belief for the sake of a happy holiday story and that "Hallmark" moment, but a woman would have to have a lobotomy to find the character of Simon Dodson attractive in any way.
• 
  Kay

  I've been reading the Cedar Cove series by Debbie Macomber and she was starting to getting on my nerves and this book just did it to me. In her books, everybody falls in love with somebody, gets married to that person, and starts having kids. Of course there mighy be some bumps on the road here and there but the conclusion is always the same; falling in love, getting married, and having children!
  I'm not anty-family or anyuthing but this is just too much.
  This book is especially ridiculus:This supposedly brilliant woman goes to a professional matchmaker to find a perfect husband at the cost of $ 30,000 and guess what falls in love with the matchmaker.
  Too predictible and even condescending!
• 
  Janice

  I Read this on the kindle
  
  Enjoy this one must say that the fee the matchmaker asked was stupid maybe the very rich could afford it but other than that a nice story guessed the ending
• 
  Marian

  I found this book to be a great read at a great price. Here are some of my thoughts.
  
  Short Introduction: Cassie is a 30 something biologist who begins to grow discouraged about love as the holiday season approaches. Her best friend Angie offers her the number of a professional matchmaker named Simon Dodson.
  
  After a few meetings with Dr. Dodson, he believes that he has found a most suitable match for Cassie. But before he'll introduce her to her dream guy, he requests that she perform 3 holiday tasks. Not sure what she's getting herself into, Cassie agrees and learns a lot along the way.
  
  Plot: Although it was a little bit predictable, this plot was very intriguing. With Cassie being so sassy and upfront and Simon being so adamant about not getting into anything personal with her, it makes for some very interesting dialogue.
  
  Writing: This story was written in 3rd person but it's told through the eyes of Cassie. A cool factor is that there is a "Simon says" quote at the beginning of the chapter. I thought that was pretty clever.
  
  Bonus Factors: Christmas time! I'm very fond of Macomber's Christmas novels and this one is probably going to be one that I re-read every year.
  
  Protagonist: Cassie is awesome. What really made her stand out was the fact that she had flaws, but she was comfortable with them. Her sassy attitude made for very interesting scenes between her and Simon.
  
  Who Would I Recommend this Novel To? To anyone who enjoys Christmas and love/hate relationships.
• 
  Dawn

  This book was much better than A Cedar Cove Christmas in that it wasn't packed full of cringe-worthy puns. I enjoyed the story. Is it cheesy? Yes it is, but I still liked it.
  
  Spoiler:
  
  
  My only draw back is how quickly they fell in love. It wasn't a love at first type kind of love but I thought it was odd that she assumed he loved her because he was showing obvious attraction. Why wouldn't you assume that he liked you and wanted to be with you? Why assume that it must be love and he's already picking out baby names? The immediate talk about their love and children and some of the cheesy lines kept this from being a bigger hit for me. It felt a bit rushed and even more unrealistic than most romance novels.
  
  I must also say that although I knew the storyline was drawing to a close I figured the book would cover more of their relationship. I didn't realize that the story only took up 2/3rds of the book I purchased. The other 1/3 included recipes, interviews and excerpts from other books. I've never owned a book with this much space dedicated to something other than the story. I'm glad I bought this second hand.
• 
  Kimberly

  I snuck in one more book during this busy holiday week. It was an incredibly light, quick read which is just what I needed while we had family in town. The story was definitely predictable and I didn’t quite connect with the love interest, but it had a few sweet and entertaining moments. What I enjoyed most was the three Christmas themed tasks that the MC had to complete in order to find her perfect match. She had to volunteer for a four-hour shift as a bell ringer, be one of Santa’s elves at mall and cook a traditional Christmas dinner for her surly neighbors. Each provided some laugh out loud moments and a few things to reflect upon. 🎄 Sweet dreams, my friends. Hope you enjoy your own version of the perfect Christmas!
• 
  Stacey

  I'm going to stop picking random books from the new release shelf at the library. I've never read this author before. The book is predictable, poorly written, unconvincing and dull. I actually fell asleep when the main characters were finally professing their love.
  It only takes and hour or two to read and is very PG.
• 
  Christina/ The Blog for Teachers, Readers, & Life!

  The Perfect Christmas: An Anthology
  By: Debbie Macomber
  2 Books in one The Perfect Christmas and Can this be Christmas?
  Fiction, Humor, Romance, Holidays, Christmas
  
  The Perfect Christmas
  
  The Perfect Christmas Casssie is getting older and longs to settle down and have children. After a dismal dating spell, she turns to an expensive professional matchmaker named Simon. Unbeknownst to Cassie, Simon’s methods are extremely unorthodox.
  
  What will Cassie do when Simon’s assignments for love lead to mayhem and hijinks? Will she give up her dream? This is a humorous enchanting read! 5 Stars
  
  Can this be Christmas?
  
  Can this be Christmas is a bonus read. An assortment of weary holiday travelers are stranded at a train depot during Christmas time. Can they band together and make the best of a difficult situation? Find out in this light read. 4 &1/2 Stars
  
  https://www.teacher-librarian-forlife...
  Awards/Recognitions: Macomber has won numerous writing awards including being a New York Times Bestselling Author many times over. She is also involved in a number of charities.
• 
  Sheila Samuelson

  Rating: 5 Stars!! (Wish i could rate it 10 Stars!!)
  Review:
  Another great Christmas Book by Debbie Macomber!!
  
  At first the main character Cassie became a little annoying but thankfully she eased up and calmed down abit to become a likeable character.
  
  This book was about Cassie a 33-year-old who becomes jealous of her college friend who seems to have the "perfect" life so Angie, Cassie's co-worker sets her up with a Professional Matchmaker for the perfect date for Christmas.
  
  The characters were enjoyable to get to know and the storyline was easy to get into.
  
  Can't wait to read more by Debbie this month and in the near future!!
• 
  Gina

  Loads of spoilers ahead.
  
  You know which trope I hate the most in romance books? The trope where the guy is really insistent that he knows what's best for the woman, and she just doesn't understand how good he would be for her and how he knows she's actually in love with him and if she had any brains at all she'd understand they are 100% meant to be together and he's not going to give up or go away until she realizes this for herself, blah blah blah. It's annoying, it flies in the face of consent, and it's just... gross.
  
  In this book Macomber does this exact thing, except this time the woman is the asshole. Simon very, VERY clearly tells Cassie he is not interested in a romance. He tells her not to fall in love with him because he is physically and emotionally unavailable, and then he goes on to prove over and over and over again this is absolutely true. There's no reason given in the text for why Cassie should fall in love with him, and a million different reasons why should run screaming for the hills, but of course, she falls in love with him anyway. And the climactic scene in the book is her explaining why he's wrong when he says he doesn't love her or doesn't want to get married and definitely doesn't want to have kids. And of course, he acquieses and they get their HAE ending. And I guarantee you they split up by June of the following year because they are a disaster waiting to happen and no good can come of it, and all because Cassie thinks just because she says it's so, it's so.
  
  Don't get me wrong, Simon does his share of asshole stuff, too. Specifically, telling John NOT to take no for an answer and to keep pressing Cassie until she agrees to go out with him was so not cool. A true asshole move. If nothing else should have convinced Cassie that Simon was a true jerk, that should have been it. But at least she was smart enough not to give in.
  
  Also, my second least favorite trope in romance books is "I'm a woman with wonderful friends and family and a fulfilling career and I'm good at lots of different things, but my life will never be complete without a man." Please. And it was 1000 times worse in this book, because Cassie is so desperate she's willing to cough up $30K to a matchmaker, which was just revolting to me.
  
  This is my first venture into Macomber's work. The writing itself was okay, so it might be worth a look at another of her works. But I will be not be afraid to break the sound barrier setting the book aside if one of these lousy tropes shows up again.
• 
  Jackie Lane

  This was a laugh out loud, funny Christmas Story.
  
  33 year old Cassie Beaumont received a Christmas photo before Thanksgiving and seeks to find the "perfect Christmas". When she was younger her father left her family during the holiday season and now she is looking to find love, marriage and a family, which, to date, have alluded both her andher brother. She employes the services of a matchmaker, recommended by her friend Angie.
  
  The matchmaker tells her she needs to complete 3 task before he will introduce her to her "suitable" match, John.
  
  This was a fun, quick read and I enjoyed it.
• 
  Tereza

  Well, I was looking forward to reading something light and fluffy and warm, but if this hadn't been chosen for book club, I'm not sure I would have finished it. I realize this book isn't meant to represent serious literature, but I think that rainbows-and-unicorns books can be happy and light without being so completely bland. Like boiled chicken and white rice with no salt. The writing was incredibly threadbare, and the connections strained, even more so due to the utter lack of character development. Even in the genre of flimsy chicklit, this is definitely scraping the botom of the barrel. But at least it was a quick read... :S
• 
  FlibBityFLooB

  This book was a boilerplate for predictable and blah romance. I wanted to like it, but I was left very unimpressed.
  
  Plus, it aggrevated me that someone would pay $30,000 !?!?!?!?! for a matchmaker who was about as exciting as paint drying on the wall. On top of everything, I didn't even buy the romance at the end of the story. It was one of those -- yeah, you're in love... surreeee.
  
  Serves me right for picking up a random audiobook from the library. :P
• 
  Kristen

  I don't know what I find more disturbing: the complete wretched craptacularity of this book or the amount of people who gave it more than a 2 star rating.
• 
  Becky

  Ugh. That's pretty much all I really need to say about this book.
  
  I read my first Debbie Macomber more than a decade ago and thought it was rather cute. I don't know if my standards have risen or Macomber's style has sunk, but whatever happened, it hasn't been good. This story was beyond lame, even for a sappy silly fluffy Christmas romance novel. The thing is--despite sounding like it's supposed to be exactly that, it absolutely isn't. There's nothing sappy, silly, or fluffy about this book; it is in fact a Christmas story, so that's one out of four, but 25% is a failing grade, no question.
  
  Simon is somewhat of a modern Mr. Darcy--aloof, serious, brooding, terse, disagreeable--and Cassie is a modern woman who just wants a good man to enter her life and sweep her off her feet. I like that Cassie actually wantsa husband, because so many modern books make marriage seem useless or overrated. I liked that the protagonist was interested in an official on-paper commitment. Aside from that I have nothing positive to say about this story.
  
  Unlike Darcy, Simon never comes to realize his horrible manners, and simply remains a miserable sod for the entire book. Nothing at all about who he is or how he behaves feels real or even vaguely believable. And why Cassie sees anything in him at all is beyond me. Sure, he's handsome. But he's such a dick that it's difficult to understand why she's at all interested; he treats her like nothing but an inconvenience at best and a drudgery at worst. And in the end, when she insists he loves her too (and absolutely not taking "no" for an answer, which would have feminists everywhere picketing the publishing house if the genders were swapped), he concedes with an eye-roll and a sigh, as though he'll tolerate the idea because he has nothing better to do.
  
  The whole story is absurd, from the flying elf with a wardrobe malfunction to the hired serviceman taking his client to his house for something completely innocent just so she can know where he lives and show up later in the book. Cassie's neighbors had potential for being a very fun side-plot to offer depth to a very flat story, but they ended up being uninteresting and left abandoned at the Christmas dinner Cassie made them, their moment to shine usurped by a "Merry Christmas Mr. Bean!"-esque disappearance of Cassie's ring. Why Simon couldn't just hold it up from across the table or show it to her is beyond me, or even just bloody say something to her like, "Oh by the way, Cassie, I found your ring earlier, it's on the kitchen counter," and then they could move on with the dinner. We could've gotten to know her neighbors, had some fun with them wondering who Simon was and how he'd met Cassie (imagine Judy and John in "Love Actually" trying to explain their story), find out what's going on between Phyllis and Harry, or more about the middle-aged dude who loves rap...the list is endless of what could have made that scene amusing and fun and cute. But no. Macomber drops the ball and we're left irritated at Simon for his idiocy and annoyed at Cassie for her obsessiveness and forgetfulness in equal measure.
  
  Every page of this book made me cringe for some reason--usually because of some completely inept dialogue or poorly considered plot development (which Macomber and her editor likely thought was a "clever twist" or "romantic element")--and in the end I couldn't finish the dang book fast enough so I could hurl it on the floor in frustration.
  
  Do yourself a favor and simply hurl the book on the floor (or in the garbage) and walk away without reading it. Your life will be better for it, and so will that of any other poor soul who happens upon this book on the library shelf.
• 
  Leah

  1 star:
  The Perfect Christmas (Washington)
  
  2 stars:
  Can This Be Christmas (Maine)
  
  These stories are about Christmas and finding love. The second story focuses on family too. It's also a lot shorter. The first story has two jerks fall in love with each other. Although, I'm not convinced that one of them actually loved the other one. The second story is about trying to get home for Christmas. These characters were more likeable. This one I thought had a more realistic ending.
• 
  Margaret Mullis Preston

  This story touched my heart deeply. Without giving to much of the story away - I will leave it as a "must read" this Holiday Season. If you want a good, clean romance to knock your socks off this is it. Really fell in love with most of the characters in this book - pretty much all of them (minus the flirty hippie neighbor). Their quirkiness and interwoven friendships made for an interesting read. Highly recommend this one!
• 
  Mariia Manko

  Christmas is the time when everybody waits for miracle. And some of them will happen! Expectations always come true, if they become goals in Christmas time and in the right time.
  My perfect Christmas is in the place where I feel that I am on the right place and I live my happy life. And for sure I just love Christmas decoration. I feel like on the pages of the fairy-tale. Sooooo.... what is YOUR PERFECT CHRISTMAS?
  
  And never enough reading!
• 
  Sara Emme

  Un po’ strano. Non ho capito a cosa è dovuto il comportamento del protagonista...l’autrice non da nessuna spiegazione a riguardo. L’idea è carina ma non è sviluppata proprio bene! Peccato!