I needed something light and fluffy, and it doesn’t get much fluffier than Debbie Macomber’s annual Christmas romance. This year’s is A Date with Santa.
Sage Madison’s sister, Saffron, always was the more impulsive one of the two. There she was, a widow with a young son, and she enlisted in the Army Reserve. Now, her son, Ricky, is five and Saffron is being deployed to Florida for the month of December. Guess who is the only responsible adult who can take Ricky in?
Sage is reluctant. Her life at Park Marketing in Seattle is her entire life, and she’s working on an important project while competing for the position of manager. She knows nothing about parenting a five-year-old. She doesn’t cook. She doesn’t know what a five-year-old eats, and she works long hours. Fortunately, her assistant’s sister has an opeing in her daycare. And, when Ethan Cornwell who runs the accounting department hears about Ricky, he offers to help.
Sage needs more help than she knows. Cookies for Santa? Check. Who knew Ricky would insist they were homemade? That disaster hangs over the whole book, but it is funny. Food? Something other than pizza and Uber Eats? Breakfast? Other than coffee? Sage does enjoy her trip to the mall with Ricky to see Santa, until he insists the mall Santa isn’t the real one, and he only can talk to the real one. That’s when Ethan steps in. He agrees to be Ricky’s Santa as he does for his own niece and nephews, but he also insists he needs to get to know Ricky first. Suddenly, Ethan is making dinner for Sage and Ricky, inviting them to his parents’ house for dinner, and going ice skating with them. But, Sage was burned by her last boyfriend, and she’s leery about getting too close to a man from her office who is up for the same promotion as she is.
As I said, A Date with Santa is cute and fluffy. Ethan’s father, Walt, is funny, and the baking story secret is a good one. There’s nothing deep and meaningful to search for in this book. It’s just a story of a woman learning to trust. Nowadays, that’s a story worth reading.
Debbie Macomber’s website is https://debbiemacomber.com/
A Date with Santa by Debbie Macomber. Ballantine Books, 2026. 256p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I received a galley from the publisher, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive review.
