"Catching Christmas" by Terri Blackstock

I liked this book so much more than I expected to!  I picked it up at a library book sale at some point because I read a couple of Blackstock's books a few years ago and liked them.  But then I read some reviews that said the book was disappointing or boring or something, and so I went into it with really low expectations.  That might be why I liked it so much, I suppose.

Finn is a cab driver who answers a call to pick up a little old lady at her house.  He takes her to a doctor's appointment and leaves her in the waiting room with his card so she can call him again when she's done.  And he makes some very grumpy assumptions about the kind of people who would leave this sweet old lady to the care of a cab driver to get to a doctor's appointment.

Callie, the old lady, doesn't call him, so Finn goes back hours later because he's worried about her.  He discovers she's fallen asleep and never been seen by the doctor at all.  Now he's really upset with her family, whoever they may be.

Callie's granddaughter Sydney is a first-year lawyer at a high-powered firm that's just laid off most of its junior associates.  She's hanging onto her job by the skin of her teeth, trying to salvage a horrible case defending a frat boy who is clearly guilty as charged.  She's spending ten or twelve hours a day at work on this case, and using the rest of her time to care for her grandmother the best she can.  Her parents have both passed away, she's Callie's only remaining relative, and she's doing the best she can to juggle work and caring for her grandmother.

Naturally, Finn and Sydney eventually meet up.  Naturally, Callie tries to play matchmaker for them.  It was never a hard-to-predict plot, but it was very sweet and lovely.  But not sugary!  Finn has a biting wit and no-nonsense attitude that keeps the story from feeling saccharine.  

I suppose if you expected this book to be a suspenseful thriller like the other series I read by Blackstock, you would find this cozy and heartwarming story disappointing.  But I liked it a LOT.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for themes about elder abuse, dying, and the court case that involved alcohol and drug abuse.

This is my sixth book read for the Literary Christmas reading challenge and my 62nd for #TheUnreadShelfChallenge2022.