𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑾𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑵𝒐𝒘! 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑱𝒐𝒏 𝑻𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆.
Good for Goodness’ Sake by Heidi Tattrie. $2.78.
If Christmas Tree Farm by Taylor Swift was a novel, it would be Good for Goodness’ Sake by Heidi Tattrie. I absolutely ripped through this wonderful romance set in the fictitious Maritime Bay and could not believe it was her first novel for adults.
The writing is masterful, weaving a heart-fluttering romance with deeper themes about authenticity in our digital age. Maritime Bay has all the warmth, characters and good food of Louise Penny’s Three Pines, only with much less murder (so far).
It tells the story of a marketer named Allison Waverley who returns to her hometown with a contract to carry out Twelve Days of Kindness to drive up food-bank donations. Only, it can be tricky to capture the real thing, so they bring in actors and stage some lovely moments.
Gabe LeBlanc runs the food bank and at first is onboard to bring in enough donations to help people who would otherwise go hungry this Christmas. But as the social media views go through the roof, hardly any money comes in through the door. Do they double down and show people a manufactured perfect Christmas to get them to give – or trust the small-town hearts to do good … for goodness’ sake?
I think Heidi has created a new sub-genre of romance. Romantasy – a blend of romance and fantasy – is super popular. By introducing the true star of the book, an adorable dog named Mistletoe, she has created … Puppy Love Romance? Missy, as she is known, always seems to be wearing a Christmas sweater that matches Gabe, her owner.
“The fifteen-pound white dog blinked up at me with huge brown eyes and a tiny underbite that made her look permanently hopeful,” she writes.
If you check out the dog on the cover, you will see exactly what she’s talking about. If you happen to be Heidi’s brother (like me), you will have had the pleasure of knowing the REAL Missy, which was our parents beloved dog. As Heidi explains in the author’s note, Missy died on Nov. 7 this year. Twelve days later, Heidi sat down and wrote this novel over two weeks. And she published it just in time to offer it as the sweetest of gifts for our parents. (She did this while breaking her friggin’ arm and didn’t let that delay her!)
It’s the first time Heidi has published her adult fiction (Pet Tales, her middle grade novel, came out last year). You can treat yourself to some Christmas cheer, and encourage her to publish more from Maritime Bay, for just $2.78, for goodness’ sake. That’s half a large French Vanilla at Tim Hortons. Buy it on your phone and read it in five-minute chunks instead of doomscrolling.
And at a brisk 30,000 words, you will finish it in about the time it takes to watch a fun movie. Heck, buy ten copies and send nine to friends as a tiny Christmas present that will give you something lovely to talk about.