REVIEW: The Christmas You Found Me by Sarah Morgenthaler
Sienna Naples’s family has taken care of their wild Idaho land for generations and Sienna can’t imagine any other life. But at Christmastime, with her parents gone and her painful marriage finally over, it’s full of memories…and incredibly lonely. Until a tall, handsome stranger and a little girl walk into her life and suddenly the holidays are alive again.
When single father Guy Maple shows up as the result of an ad meant to be a joke, the handsome Montana construction worker isn’t joking. Money is tight this Christmas, and Guy’s four-year-old daughter Emma has stage-five chronic kidney disease. She needs a kidney transplant, but if Guy can’t prove that he can afford Emma’s anti-rejection medications, his daughter isn’t going to stay on the transplant list. Guy’s willing to do anything, including marrying a stranger, to keep her safe. It’s an impulsive marriage of convenience, and Sienna knows this isn’t real, no matter how much she adores Emma, how well Guy fits in to the ranching life—or how much light and laughter is coming into their lives as a result. But the more time she spends with her new family, the more she fears losing the fragile, feisty little girl and the kind, devoted, hard-working, incredibly attractive man who is her husband—but is it only in name?
Content warnings: hospital scenes, terminal child illness, elderly dementia, postpartum depression, emotional abuse, threat of physical violence, illness, divorce, and grief.
Dear Sarah Morgenthaler,
I am a sucker for a single dad romance and I trusted in the romance promise, that even though the subject matter might be (was in this case) scary and sometimes sad, it would all turn out right in the end. (I was right to do so. That’s a hint readers.)
The Christmas You Found Me has a whirlwind romance in all the ways. Sienna Naples has been separated for over a year but her divorce has only just been finalised after months of bitter wrangling with her former husband over the disposition of their assets. The Naples’ land has been in the family for generations. They’ve always regarded themselves are caretakers of the land rather than owners (the actual owners being the Nez-Perce/Nimiipuu) and Sienna’s ex wanted to parcel up the land and sell it off. Over Sienna’s cold, dead body that would happen. The land abuts the Frank Church Wilderness in Idaho. It’s beautiful, breathtaking and dangerous. Sienna has been left with only 60 head of cattle including 1 bull, an old cattle dog who should have retired already and the ranch. Just about everything else (and I gather there was a lot of it) went to her ex. The paper value of the ranch is a lot but it’s also moot because Sienna would never sell. So, on the day her divorce is finalised, her best friend, Jess, runs and ad in the paper as a joke:
Temp to full-time position, based on satisfactory job performance.
Eligibility requirements: Ability to lift, push, or pull 50 pounds. Willingness to perform ranch work in extreme weather without whining. Experience with livestock a plus. Broad shoulders preferred.
Benefits include Medical, Dental, 401(k) matching. Salary negotiable. Current husbands need not apply. (Previous husbands of Sienna Naples are ineligible for the position.)
Sienna’s ex is a (wealthy) local so it’s more to tweak him than anything else.
Only Guy Maple doesn’t know it’s a joke and he’s desperate. He’s the single dad of four-year-old Emma, who has a congenital kidney condition and is in renal failure. She’s on the transplant list but unless he can convince the powers that be he can afford the anti-rejection drugs should a donor kidney become available, Emma can’t stay on the list. (Aside: This is, objectively, nuts. The US healthcare system is bonkers. This set up would not be possible in Australia.)
Emma needs dialysis three times per week, a process that takes 3-4 hours. As a result of his parental responsibilities, it’s difficult for Guy to keep a job. He’s a good worker, a carpenter by trade but handy generally, and he most often works construction. He and Emma move around a lot and mostly stay in extended-stay motels. Guy is desperately hoping the ad is real. He’ll do anything for Emma.
Guy is thin, desperate and worn down. He’s also very good-looking and muscular (from all that work in construction and the “stress-ercise” he does – push-ups and pull-ups and such, after Emma goes to bed at night). Sienna immediately notices his attractiveness but also that Guy is underweight and her first impulse is to feed him.
One look at this man and I’m hungry. Well…not like that. Mostly not like that. A little like that, but I’m not supposed to be thinking thoughts like this.
Sienna lets Guy down gently at that first meeting but by that night, she’s rethinking. Maybe a marriage of convenience – or rather, a marriage of purpose – will be a good thing? And so, the next day, they go down to the courthouse and get married.
Let’s review our timeline:
- Sienna’s divorce is final and she meets Guy on the same day.
- The next day she marries Guy and he and Emma move into the two storey cabin on the ranch.
Guy and Sienna don’t share a bed (yet) but that is super fast. And, the entire book (apart from the epilogue which takes place an unspecified amount of time later) covers the span of only two or three weeks. By then, Guy and Sienna are sharing a bed, have “taken annulment off the table” (the novel is closed door but it’s clear enough what that all means and what they’re doing) and have fallen in love.
“Emma thinks you look at me funny,” I joke.
“I do look at you funny.” Guy laughs and lowers the heat before turning and resting his arms on the island catty-corner from me. “A gorgeous woman sent me to work with snowman cutout sandwiches and Oreos, took care of my daughter all day, and made Emma laugh in a way I haven’t heard in forever. And when I came home, there was coffee waiting for me. If I’m looking at you funny, it’s because I’m trying to figure out if I’m hallucinating all this.”
And, Emma’s health gets a lot worse. Will she get a donor kidney before it’s too late? (Remember what I said above readers but also: have tissues handy is my advice.)
As far as Sienna and Guy is concerned, the conflict is entirely external. He is a gem. He’s kind, generous, patient, a devoted father and an immediately devoted husband (whether sex is included in the deal or not). He’s just about perfect. Sienna isn’t far from it either. I’d characterise the book itself as “kind”. There’s a sweetness to it that has nothing to do with the spice level and at the same time, wasn’t cloying. Still, I suspect the book won’t be for everyone. Some will choose to take care of themselves and note the trigger warnings and others are looking for more character development. There really isn’t a lot if it in The Christmas You Found Me (with the possible exception of Sienna’s ex-husband, Micah). Apart from anything else, there really isn’t time.
There is reference to God and both main characters being people of faith. They didn’t go to church though so far as I could tell and, I’m happy to report that they weren’t the bigoted kind of religious. (An example of this is that Jess, Sienna’s best friend, is non-binary and it’s clear that it’s just not an issue for either Sienna or Guy.)
Emma is more than a plot moppet. She has good days and bad days, she isn’t always happy, she doesn’t always cope, she isn’t always “nice”. But she’s mostly delightful and Sienna falls head over heels in love with her almost immediately. The feeling is mutual. Within a couple weeks, Emma is calling Sienna “mommy”.
The external conflict of the novel is emotional and ever-present. It would have needed to be a much longer book to deal with any significant internal conflict too. Sienna had emotional wounds from what ended up being a toxic (if not physically violent) relationship with Micah and Guy is like a healing balm to her soul.
“Sienna, you’re over there wondering why someone would be good to you, and I’m over here wondering how in the world that man wasn’t.”
I did have some questions by the end. What happens after a transplant? What happens if there is damage to other areas of the body as a flow-on effect of kidney failure once a transplant occurs? Does the damage reverse itself or is it permanent? What does that look like going forward? Would Emma need another kidney at some later stage in her life or is one enough? Does she still have to eat the strict diet or can she have ice-cream now?
I did enjoy the book. I did ugly cry, more than once. I was happy when the book ended. The set up is a bit unbelievable but I’ve gone along with others far more ridiculous. If a reader is up for an emotional and somehow low-conflict romance given the subject matter, they could certainly do worse. I really quite liked this one.
Grade: B
Regards,
Kaetrin
Great.
The Christmas You Found Me” by Sarah Morgenthaler is a heartwarming read that beautifully captures the spirit of the season. The charming characters and engaging storyline make it a perfect holiday escape. Morgenthaler’s storytelling prowess shines through, making this book a delightful addition to any festive reading list.