The Gift Counselor by Sheila M. Cronin

Summary

Do all gifts have strings attached? Yes, believes pert, inquisitive Jonquil Bloom as she sets out to counsel gift givers at a local department store. A single mom and UCLA graduate student in psychology, gifts fascinate Jonquil. When are they sincere? When are they not? She is skilled at helping customers choose the perfect gift for any occasion, but she soon discovers that her elegant theory doesn’t apply to every situation, leaving her to wonder: what are true gifts?

Ten-year-old Billy Bloom is the center of her life. Billy yearns to have a dog but his mom has told him repeatedly that she is allergic to them. Instead, his bedroom is crammed full of toy animals, each of them demonstrating her misguided attempts to distract him. Billy, a generous and hopeful boy, refuses to give up.

Into both their lives enters Claude Chappel, a native French Canadian and general contractor working on a construction site across from where they live. Claude, is instantly captivated by Jonquil. After a bumpy start they begin seeing each other. Yet, Claude cannot help but notice that the gift counselor has denied her own son what he most wants, a troubling paradox that spurs him to action.

The Gift Counselor is suitable for young adults. Book club recommended.


My Thoughts

I Love Christmas Books!!!!  As soon as Thanksgiving is over I get my Christmas TBR all set.  I love it when I get new Christmas books so when I received the review request for this book I was naturally excited.

The Gift Counselor started out really good.  It wasn't a slow start at all.  It jumped right in!  I love books like that!  This book stayed at a really good pace throughout, which is another really good thing.

So, Jonquil was the kind of character that you love and then don't really like, back and forth through the book.  As a mom, I felt bad for her situation but I also felt so bad for her son!  Maybe that's because I am a major dog lover! Haha!

I really enjoyed this book.  I will say, the ending seemed a bit crunched.  The pace was pretty steady throughout the story up until the end, where a ton of things seemed to happen all at once.  It didn't really make the book less enjoyable, it just wasn't my favorite thing.

All in all, it was a good book to read during the Christmas season!  Thanks for sending it my way!

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.