It all started with finding a dog….

Keti Whitechapel likes to make money. In fact, even the love of her life, Martin Collins, refers to her as a Scrooge. Keti has had very few regrets in her life but the loss of anything other than an increasingly distant friendship with Martin is one of them. All of that changes the night she finds a dog. Marley, the dog, gets beneath that layer of ice encasing Keti’s heart. It’s Christmas Eve and a dream about the ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Future will work on melting more of that ice. Will Keti have a change of heart?  Martin has always been waiting on her….

A SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS pays homage to Charles Dickens’ A CHRISTMAS CAROL as Margot Early puts her own spin on the ghostly visitors of Christmases Past, Present and Future. There is even a Tiny Tim! However, Ms. Early’s tale is pure romance as she takes readers on a quest where the love between Keti and Martin shines through, even as the years have passed.

Margot Early does a magnificent job at setting the appropriate tone throughout A SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS. In the beginning introduction to Keti, the tone is rather distant, as if observing someone from afar. The tone begins to warm when Marley appears, and continues to draw the reader deeper and deeper into the heart of this story as the tale unfolds.

Told through flashbacks to Christmases past, A SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS never seems disjointed. Margot Early is to be commended for linking the joy of Christmas to such momentous occasions in Keti’s life, as readers see beneath the outward hardening of her heart over the years to the woman hiding deep within. The character development is superb, as Keti and Martin seem very believable in their love. The path is not easy for either of them, as Margot Early writes more of a realistic happily-ever-after tale. And isn’t it nice to read about a mature couple in their 50s rather than the usual stereotypes?

Reviewed by Debbie

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Posted December 2007