Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

“When the holidays don’t go to plan, can love chart a new course?”

I felt all my stress melt away when I started reading this. I really wanted an easy, feel-good read with no murder (for a change 😆) and that’s exactly what I got with this, my first ever book from Debbie Macomber! It certainly wasn’t as Christmassy as the cover screams, but it was a nice light-hearted escape in under 200 pages. So happy to be sharing my review for A Ferry Merry Christmas!

About the book

Avery and Reed Bond might drive each other up the wall, but as siblings, they’ve always had each other’s backs – through every triumph, every heartache, and every ill-advised attempt at matchmaking.

This Christmas is their first without their beloved Gram, the woman who raised them and made the season magical. Determined to honour her memory, they plan a holiday escape together. But when their ferry breaks down mid-journey, the festive spirit is in short supply.

Then Avery strikes up an unexpected connection with a dashing sailor who reminds her what magic really feels like. And Reed finds himself seeing his workmate in a whole new – and very unexpected – way.

As the snow falls and the Christmas lights twinkle, the Bond siblings discover that life has a funny way of surprising you. So, could a holiday hiccup turn into the season that changes everything?

The beginning

I loved how much of an easy-to-read book this was and as soon as I started I knew I’d fly through it! We meet Avery who has caught the ferry over to Seattle to meet her brother for the festive season. Since their beautiful Gram passed away, the woman who had raised them and who had made their many Christmases so incredibly special, they wanted (and needed) to make this Christmas as special as possible in her memory. I really enjoyed how Avery and Reed are introduced to us, how their story and history is presented to us in that first chapter. It made them instantly come to life and had you rooting for them from the start! They’d had a tough start without their parents, but their grandparents had given them the most beautiful upbringing, something you can really feel through the author’s words. It was super special. There are multiple perspectives which worked really well, including Harrison, a sailor who only just makes the ferry, someone who can’t keep his eyes off Avery. When the ferry slows quite a way off from their destination, it’s clear something isn’t right..

“Avery ended the conversation with a huge smile. Although Grams was gone, at least they had each other and would make the best of things, as they always had.”

Engine trouble? On a ferry full of passengers?! It seemed this group of people wouldn’t get to their destination any time soon as the ferry stopped completely. Each of these passengers are inconvenienced by this in different ways, their reasons for travelling to Seattle on this specific journey so varied yet equally important. There was something about it that I really liked, something that made these characters feel more human. Some people were desperate to see family they hadn’t seen in months, others needed to get to their jobs. And one adorable little girl was super keen to make her visit to see Santa! Harrison approaches Avery and, to pass the time, they agree to spend a bit of time together. She’s been stung in the past by a Navy guy, and was determined not to go through a repeat of that. Harmless conversation couldn’t hurt, could it? Even though he was a charming, confident and good-looking guy… I got a really good feeling about these two characters, their chemistry was so strong and I found myself smiling whenever they had airtime. More please!

The middle

I always get nervous when there are a lot of characters introduced in a book, but I needn’t have worried. This author nails multiple character perspectives and seems to effortlessly make us enjoy each one of them. I loved how Avery’s brother and Harrison’s sister are connected and loved it even more when they decide to hang out to kill time while they wait for their siblings. How cute would it be when Avery and Harrison left the ferry and realised?! God, perfect. I could absolutely see this as a Hallmark film – I’m sure I’ve read somewhere that a couple of this author’s books have been made into films before! As time went on, it seemed the ferry breaking down mid trip wasn’t all bad. Yes, it was frustrating when people had places to be, not to mention unlucky, but I came to realise that this delay had forced these people to slow down a bit, to talk to one another, to think about what’s important, and who was important. And it was also a great chance to meet other people. I was eager to see what beautiful relationships developed and how lives would change because of this breakdown!

“Avery considered this news one of the many Christmas miracles she’d witnessed that day. A baby’s birth. A chance meeting. Hearts healed. She suspected there were more she knew nothing about.”

Because this book is relatively short compared to others, relationships developed really quickly and although I did enjoy it all, I was very aware of it. As much as I enjoyed these characters and was absorbed in their stories, I felt like I wanted more of a slow-burn at times, but everything is very fast paced. Tensions rise further on the ferry as hours and hours pass by, and even I was pretty fed up for all of these characters! One particular character is desperate to get back to his wife who has gone into labour, and I could really feel his panic as he knows there isn’t anything he can do to get to her quicker. I could really sympathise with him! It was really moving how other people on this ferry work together to help this man, and to also help his wife as her contractions happen. It was so lovely seeing this sense of community! Off the ferry, Kellie and Reed were getting on so well and I warmed to these characters too. The adventures they’d had in the time the ferry was stuck, the laughs they’d shared, the things they’d experienced together warmed my heart.

The end

There’s rekindled love, new love, forgiveness and hope, and the ending was utterly lovely. There were certain word choices and phrasing here which threw me off a little at times though, such as unnatural things people would do in a specific situation. I found myself imagining this in a real life setting and thinking no, people just would not do this. Why would you dance in a circle and stamp your feet with your hands in the air after your wife had just given birth?! Surprised he didn’t give a thumbs up for good measure 😅 A little bit too cheesy for me at times, but it’s a light-hearted Christmas romance, I guess! There were multiple bittersweet moments as these passengers finally go their separate ways after spending so much time together, and it was nice seeing how so much positive had come out of a pretty crappy situation. I enjoyed how we’re always learning about these characters, right to the end, but there was still something about the majority of them that felt two-dimensional. I think I needed more personality or something to make these characters stand out further.

“I wish I’d known your Grams. Having met the two of you, I suspect she must have been a special woman.”

“She was,“ Avery agreed. Looking towards the heavens, she raised her glass to Grams, her heart filled with love.

The ending chapters were light-hearted and filled with feel-good moments, giving us an idea of how the future would look for all these characters. I especially enjoyed the epilogue where we see all the characters from the ferry come together again – it was so lovely and heartwarming to see how things had changed for the better! Again, I would have liked certain parts to be explored more and I’d love to visit a time further into the future, but it was still a decent ending that tied everything together nicely. It was also a shame the last few sentences made me eye roll 😂 This wasn’t one of my favourite Christmas books ever, and it definitely needed more of a Christmas feel. I didn’t feel very Christmassy after reading it! But it was an easy read, something that lifted my spirits and had me eager to read another happy, feel-good book. If you’re a fan of short books with sweet romance as well as multiple well-written character perspectives, it might be worth a shot! Let me know if you pick this one up and tell me what you think!

Overall thoughts

A Ferry Merry Christmas is a cosy read that goes perfectly with a mug of hot chocolate and a massive blanket. It’s a quick, easy book to get through at just under 200 pages, so if you’re looking for something that will take little effort to enjoy and is truly heartwarming, this one is perf, as they say. When Avery’s ferry breaks down mid-journey, it doesn’t seem as though the special Christmas she’d planned with her brother was going to happen. But when she meets Harrison, another stranded passenger, they hit it off. And in the time it takes to repair this ferry and get back to land, they create a pretty special bond. There’s romance, there is hope and there is forgiveness, all told through multiple character perspectives which worked really well. I do have a few gripes, though. It was no where near Christmassy enough for me (and I NEED it!) and because it was so short, I didn’t feel like I loved the characters as much as I could have. The pacing was fast and I felt like it was over in a flash! But it really was a lovely shorter read to fit in, and I would recommend it if you need a filler book to whizz through! Still keen to read more from Debbie though and, surprise surprise, I have another of her books in my Christmas stack!

Huge thanks to Little Brown Book Group for sending a copy my way! You can grab your own copy of A Ferry Merry Christmas right now on Amazon or wherever you buy your books. Make sure you’re following the author on Instagram for more updates!

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