Forced (Yet Needed) Christmas Break. Another year, another Sarah Morgan Christmas tale. And yet again, if you like Hallmark Christmas movies - and so very many people very clearly do - you're going to like this one. Perhaps more drama than many of those movies here, Imogen is truly broken - and with good reason, when we get her full backstory. She's coping - she thinks - but even then, she *barely* has her ducks in a row. They're more like cats than ducks, and they *really* don't like walking in rows. Of course, much of this - she admits - she brought on herself.

Let's face it, this is 2024, and it almost doesn't matter your generation, from Boomer all the way down to Zoomer, far too many of us can identify *all too well* with Imogen.

But really, it is the *rest* of the tale - where Imogen is forced into exile and ultimately comes face to face with her past and all of its traumas that created the version of herself she now knows - that is where the true heart of this story is, the true magic - yes, with a bit of Christmas "magic" thrown in to boot. It is this part of the tale that gives it both its gravitas and its wonder, even as it also makes its characters ever more *real*.

Christmas has few Santas, but also few Scrooges. Few Grinches. Just a lot of Whos living their who-lives in their little who-world, doing the best they can.

And here, Morgan hits that particular message out of the ballpark. Kudos to Morgan, and, since I'm writing this review on the day my beloved Atlanta Braves begin their extremely unlikely 7th straight Major League Baseball postseason run, let me just toss in a "Go Braves" and a #ChopOn as well - even though it has *nothing* to do with the book at all. :D May they get a bit of the magic of this book and make a *truly* unexpected season.

Very much recommended.

Event planner Imogen is living her best life with her big, loving family and her golden retriever Midas. Too bad that best life is all in her head. She has made up this life to fit in with her coworkers and to hide her reality--that she is the only child of an alcoholic single mother who only contacts her when she needs something. When she receives a call from the hospital that causes her to drop the ball on an important work event, her boss insists that she take a month off work to spend with her non-existent family,. Luckily a favorite client offers Imogen a cottage on her estate in the Cotswolds for the holiday.

The book moved fairly slowly through the first half and then kicked into a higher gear. The family drama was resolved unrealistically quickly with very little drama. The insta-love romance started later in the story and took a back seat to the family story. Morgan's writing was reliably good, though, and the setting was lovely. All in all, an enjoyable holiday read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | Canary Street Press for an eARC. Opinions are my own.