Simply Angela : Starry Night by Debbie Macomber

Carrie Slayton, a big-city society-page columnist, longs to write more serious news stories. So her editor hands her a challenge: She can cover any topic she wants, but only if she first scores the paper an interview with Finn Dalton, the notoriously reclusive author.

Living in the remote Alaskan wilderness, Finn has written a megabestselling memoir about surviving in the wild. But he stubbornly declines to speak to anyone in the press, and no one even knows exactly where he lives.

Digging deep into Finn’s past, Carrie develops a theory on his whereabouts. It is the holidays, but her career is at stake, so she forsakes her family celebrations and flies out to snowy Alaska. When she finally finds Finn, she discovers a man both more charismatic and more stubborn than she even expected. And soon she is torn between pursuing the story of a lifetime and following her heart.

Filled with all the comforts and joys of Christmastime, Starry Night is a delightful novel of finding happiness in the most surprising places.

Carrie Slayton is tired of being a columnist for the society-page. When her editor challenges her to find and write an article on Finn Dalton, the elusive author of the bestselling book, Alone, Carrie accepts the challenge knowing it’s the only way she’ll be able to write serious news stories.

While the deal is sweet, Carrie has one problem: No one knows where Finn is. After connecting with Finn’s mother, Carrie finds herself headed for the Alaskan wilderness.

Finn Dalton is man who likes his privacy. When he wrote Alone he never realized it would become a best-seller. Now that it has, everyone is dying to discover his identity.

When he discovers Carrie, he immediately knows she’s a reporter. And while he’s determined to not to tell her anything she could use in her article, Finn soon realizes that Carrie’s easy to talk to.

Although he’s been content living alone, Carrie has him rethinking his view on women.

I’ve seen a few of Debbie Macomber’s movies on Hallmark, although Starry Night is the first book that I’ve read by her and I have to say, I really enjoyed it.

I liked that Carrie was focused on what she wanted and determined to get it, but once she realized the price it would cost her, she decided it wasn’t as important as she once thought.

Finn Dalton was by far the most interesting hero that I’ve read this year. He’s a man’s man, can live off the land, survive in Antarctica, type of man. He also has mommy issues, which causes him not to trust women. Even more interesting, he gifts the oddest gifts (an antique toaster and an oosik, which happens to be…wait for it…a walrus penis bone. Yep. You’ve read that right…a walrus penis bone! It’s the gift that’s on every woman’s Christmas list.)

I loved the way Finn and Carrie interacted in the beginning of the book. She was invading his space, he was pushing back, and she gave just as well as got. The dialogue was amazing, although I could have done without Carrie starting off everything with “Oh Finn”.

The flow of the book was great. Before I realized it, I had half the book read. Although I will say, I thought the book was longer than it actually was. The page length of the book is 349 pages, but the length of Starry Night is only 231 pages. The rest of the book is filled with excerpts, interviews, and such. So I was a little disappointed with that.

While the book is indeed a Christmas romance, it’s not overly Christmassy and would make a perfect winter read.

Overall, Starry Night was a sweet little novel where the hero had to overcome his past. The romance was a little rushed, but I think it had to do with how short this was.

Double Cover Alert

Starry Night is also released with this cover. While I loved the cover I purchased, I feel the cabin and the lake set against the snowy landscape represent the book better.