Review: Christmas at Corgi Cove: A Novel

Christmas at Corgi Cove: A Novel by Annie England Noblin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

“What if I could save it?” Rosie asked, her voice just above a whisper. “What if I could save the Cove?” 

When Rosie was a troubled teen, her mother brought her to her half-sister's place in a small town outside of Austin, TX to live. Rosie hated it at first but then grew to love her aunt, uncle, and the town. Now, twelve years later, Corgi Cove Inn is barely keeping it's head above water. When a representative for Lake Queen company, a resort built a town over that has taken their business, shows up, Rosie can't help but see him as the enemy. 

Everett knows it's a punishment from an argument with his boss when he gets sent down from New York to small town Texas to close a deal with a property they are trying to buy. He wants to be in and out but when he meets the niece of the people he's trying to buy from, spending more time down south is starting to change his views on a lot of things.

Even if making friends, or anything more than that with her, was out of his reach, the least he could do was enjoy what was right in front of him in the moment. It was just one night. There was no harm in that. 

Christmas at Corgi Cove started with a highly emotional scene where Everett comes to talk to the family about selling and then Rosie's uncle has a heart attack. This sets-up Everett having to stay longer in TX and gives Rosie time to try and come up with a way to save the Inn. This was a blend of women's fiction, contemporary, and romance, with the first half focusing more on Rosie as she relays to the reader issues she's had/has with her mother, sad and anxious about not wanting to sell the Inn, her place in the small town community, and a little bit of beginning attraction to Everett. It wasn't until the second half that she finds an answer to trying to save the Inn with entering a contest and then it plays a fairly quick but important part. 

She'd nearly kissed Everett. Rather, he'd nearly kissed her, but it was hard to see it that way when she just stood there, wanting him to kiss her. 

This was told in alternating povs from Rosie and Everett and we do get some background on Everett. He moved around a lot as his dad was in the military and therefore is not used to making long lasting connections with anyone, making him a workaholic. So, while being in TX gives him time to slow down and he's attracted to Rosie, the conflicting interest and his fear of actual connection with someone, keeps them a little apart. Rosie has the conflicting interest too and her not being able to fully trust Everett's motives keeps her from wanting to dive into their attraction with both feet, even when he does a couple things that works against his own company's interest and helps her and the Inn out. 

He was caught somewhere between wanting what he knew he shouldn't and wanting to do his job. 

Since this was TX, you're not going to get a snowy wonderland but there was still some holiday atmosphere goodies, a Christmas carnival, play, and decorations. The adorable Corgis on the front cover (Bonnie and Clyde) get a good amount of page time and definitely brought the cute factor and livened up a story that at times dragged in pace. There was also Rosie being a sort of amateur beekeeper who gets a windfall when an influencer highlights her products, but then oddly felt like she was brushing off the great money she was going to make from the ordeal, so not sure why that whole segment was added. The ending gave a Christmas miracle for the Inn and our third act break-up didn't last long as Everett shows back up towards the very end. The romance in this wasn't as strong as I usually like, the focus seemed more on women's fiction for a lot of the page count but there was a, shorter, open door scene. Rosie and Everett didn't spend a huge amount of time together and when they did, the relationship development depth wasn't there. The ending resolving went a bit more to Rosie and her mother's relationship but an epilogue showed a HEA for Rosie and Everett. I do highly recommend this if you have corgi dogs because this would be a treat read!

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