Book Review of 'A Christmas in Shady Springs' by Sarah Anne Crouch

Happy Wednesday Bookworms!

The Christmas reading season is in full swing, and I am loving all of the holiday literary goodness. I hope you enjoy my thoughts on today's pick and let me know in the comments what your current holiday read is.

Welcome to the Blog Tour for A Christmas in Shady Springs by Sarah Anne Crouch, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About the Books

Title: A Christmas in Shady Springs
Series: Shady Springs #3
Author: Sarah Anne Crouch
Publisher: Scrivenings Press, LLC
Release Date: November 25, 2025
Genre: Contemporary Christian Romance

Madeleine Mullins has always pictured a Christmas wedding wrapped in twinkling lights and small-town warmth. But when family disagreements, church politics, and a sudden ice storm turn her plans upside down, she begins to wonder if love alone can hold everything together.

A.J. Young wants nothing more than to marry Madeleine, yet balancing tradition, faith, and expectations may cost them the joy of the day they’ve both dreamed of.

Set in the heart of Arkansas, A Christmas in Shady Springs is a sweet, heartfelt holiday romance about imperfect plans, enduring faith, and a love strong enough to weather every storm.

Perfect for fans of Denise Hunter, Rachel Hauck, and Melody Carlson. Come discover a holiday love story that will remind you why imperfect weddings often make the most beautiful memories.

PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

My Review

Everything that can go wrong does go wrong as engaged couple Madeleine and A.J. scramble to pull together their perfect holiday wedding in a few months’ time. I recently helped my younger sister with her fall wedding on November 1st, and even though it was a smaller affair, there was still a lot that didn’t go as planned, but at the end of the day, it was wonderful, beautiful, and perfectly imperfect as most weddings are.

True to form, I started this series midway through, and while the author did a great job of keeping the reader in the loop, I also feel like I would’ve connected better with the characters had I read the first few novels in the series first. Clearly, there’s been quite a bit that’s happened before we get to this book that I’ve missed out on.

With everything going wrong, I was intrigued to find out just how bad it would get before it got better, and in that aspect, I wasn’t disappointed. I do wish the story wouldn’t have felt so surface-level and that there could’ve been more insight into why Madeleine was so focused on the perfect wedding and not the marriage itself. I also didn’t feel a strong connection with any of the characters, which is something I craved.

All in all, this was an entertaining holiday read complete with a Christmas wedding, flawed characters, and chaos at every turn. The thread of faith throughout added levity, and the unexpected events kept things interesting and show that sometimes imperfections can actually be pretty perfect.

My Rating: ★★★1/2

Other Books in the Series

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Be sure to check out my other reviews of books by Sarah Anne Crouch

About the Author

Sarah Anne Crouch lives in Arkansas with her husband, three children, and thousands of books. She always wanted to be an author, but spent some time as a teacher, earned a degree in library science, and makes feeble attempts to corral her small children as a stay-at-home mom. Sarah loves reading books, recipes, piano music, and emails from readers.

Connect with Sarah by visiting sarahannecrouch.wordpress.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.