Holiday by Candlelight

Greer flubs the festive aesthetic of the holiday-themed third installment to her Sutter Creek, Montana series (after A Father for Her Child). Twenty months after a ski slope avalanche damaged Jewish doctor Caleb Matsuda’s hand and ended his surgical career, he’s found work in Sutter Creek’s family clinic. In an effort to forge community, Caleb joins relationship-averse masseuse Garnet James to plan a joint Christmas/Hanukkah party between his clinic and her holistic wellness center. Visiting a potential venue on the slopes triggers Caleb’s PTSD and Garnet helps him through it. Though Caleb is drawn to Garnet, he can’t reconcile his newfound fear of the ski slopes with her dangerous volunteer ski rescue work. Garnet’s abrupt shifts between insensitively pushing Caleb and accommodating his healing will leave readers with emotional whiplash. Series fans will appreciate the interactions between recurring characters in Garnet’s close-knit rescue group, but anyone with a history of trauma will find Greer’s treatment of Caleb’s PTSD facile. Readers excited for a holiday romance that doesn’t focus solely on Christmas will be disappointed by this lackluster novel. Agent: Elaine Spencer, Knight Agency. (Oct.)