Review: The Christmas Project by Christi Barth

Mariana Vasquez has always adored the historic waterfront Brampton Mansion, but the beloved building has succumbed to years of neglect. When Baltimore City inherits it, there’s only one chance to keep it from being demolished. Mariana plans to earn the mansion a second chance and the money to pay for its upkeep with a designer Christmas showcase.

A mix-up on Scott Ashford’s last renovation job has shaken his confidence and harmed his business. He needs a fresh project and great publicity to caulk over his disgrace. Donating his expertise to save a historic property sounds perfect…except the opportunity is dangled by an old friend. Well, ex-friend, since he abandoned her ten years ago…

Mariana has too much pride to ask Scott to return to Baltimore for her, but she’s desperate enough to ask him to come back to save the mansion. There’s barely time to finish all the restorations, so Mariana’s sure she won’t have any time to fall for Scott again. But maybe the mansion isn’t the only thing that deserves a second chance this Christmas…

This is the type of story I love reading during the holidays. Easy to read and happily novella size. You don't always have a ton of downtime and the smaller page count helps to make sure you have time to read it and do all the things you need to do. 

I really enjoyed both Mariana and Scott. You could feel their attraction to each other. I think the only ones not seeing it was them. They are so busy with past hurts and walking on eggshells that they don't deal with those past hurts. At times I wanted to yell at them to talk about it. 

As a viewer of their romance, you could see what they couldn't. Happily, they did get with the program and talked things out. I can't tell you how happy I am for them. Throughout the book, you could see how well they worked together. Neither one had to fight hard to be with the other person. 

There are many great moments and I think you'll really enjoy this story. The only thing I wish is that the author offered more description about what was going on in Brampton Mansion. I never felt I really got a good picture of it. I know not everyone will care about that. It's a small thing that I feel could have made the story even better for me. 

If you are looking for a fun, sweet Christmas story this is perfect for you. Have any of you read her?

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