“Parfumerie”. “The Shop Around the Corner”. “In the Good Old Summertime”. “She Loves Me.””You’ve Got Mail.” If you recognize any of those, you know the theme of Debbie Macomber’s latest Christmas novel, Merry and Bright. A man and a woman who don’t like each other are corresponding and fall in love through their notes. Then one of them finds out who the other one is.

Merry Knight is a temp at Matterson Consulting in Seattle. Her job is just for one year as the company works on a project for Boeing. But, Merry needs the job to pay for her final year of college. Her father is a salesman, and the family has medical expenses. Merry’s mother has multiple sclerosis, and her brother, Patrick, has Down’s Syndrome. Merry’s putting in all the overtime that’s needed, but her mother and Patrick think she needs a personal life. And, they sign her up for an online dating service, Mix & Mingle.

Jayson Bright is in line to take over his uncle’s business if the current project at Matterson goes right. He’s putting in long hours, thinking only of success. Then, his cousin, his best friend calls, and says he fell in love with a girl they both knew in camp, and he found her again on a site called Mix & Mingle. Cooper sounds so happy that Jayson takes the time to fill out the site’s questionnaire. And, when he finds a woman’s profile with the picture of a golden retriever, he posts the picture of his childhood dog.

I’m sure you see where this is heading, with a title called Merry and Bright. While Merry and her family love the Christmas season, her boss at Matterson is a curmudgeon, a stickler for all the rules, such as no eating at your desk, and no Christmas decorations. Thank heavens Merry has evenings to look forward to with her conversations with Jay.

It’s a simple formula. Man and woman hate each other in person, fall in love with their words, are shocked to discover who they really are, and, ultimately, realize they love each other. That’s not a spoiler if you’ve seen any of the films or plays mentioned earlier. But, Christmas stories often have that same formula. And, because Merry and Bright will probably end up on the Hallmark Channel, that formula works for the book and television. The formula has worked since 1937 and “Parfumerie”. Why not now?

Debbie Macomber’s website is www.debbiemacomber.com

Merry and Bright by Debbie Macomber. Ballantine Books. 2017. ISBN 9790399181221 (hardcover), 247p.

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