Angels at the Table

Angels at the Table by Debbie Macomber

Paperback, 288 pages

Published 8 November 2012 by Arrow Books

My shelves: adult-fiction, arc-or-review, better-than-expected, books-i-own, chick-lit, christmas-books, magical-realism, read-in-2012, realistic-fiction, series-or-companions, supernatural, to-read

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

Lucia Farrara and Aren Fairchild meet after bumping into each other - seemingly by accident - in Times Square on New Year's Eve. They immediately hit it off and find they have a lot in common: Lucie is a chef and Aren is a respected food critic. But just as quickly as they're brought together, another twist of fate tears them apart.

It's going to take a miracle to bring these two together again. But everyone knows that Chirstmas is a time for love and miracles...

This is the second Christmas themed book I've read by Debbie Macomber, again featuring the Shirley, Goodness  and Mercy, three Christmas angels who are also prayer ambassadors, aiming to help those on earth who take the moment to make a prayer, or need a miracle. This time, the angels have a young apprentice angel to guide...

Once again, this is a book that is typical of Macomber. It's typical comfort reading material - the type of book that you could snuggle up with and read contentedly all night. It is marketed as a Christmas themed book, but it is more than suitable to read at other times of the year - it doesn't really feel like a seasonal book. The book starts with Gabriel making his first blunder, making two strangers bump into each other on New Year's Eve. The angels watch as things unfold between the two strangers, adding even more trouble into the mix throughout. The angels added some humour and a fun to the book, but I still found the angels to be a bit childish and so a bit of a disappointment to read.

Lucie and Aren are the two people who meet on New Year's Eve and, initially, everything seems great - this chance meeting could be perfect. However, it turns out that Aren is an anonymous food critic and Lucie is a chef at one of the restaurants that he critiques. As their meeting wasn't to God's plan, of course their friendship couldn't run smoothly... thanks to the angels who once again do something mistakenly, things only get worse. We follow both Lucie and Aren through their ups and downs which are very well written. I like how Macomber really tries to get into the mind and emotions of her characters. Both characters are likeable and realistic in their thoughts and feelings. Honestly, the pace of the book was a little too quick for me - some things seemed a little glossed over and I think that the book could have benefited from some more length.

As this book is written by Macomber, it is predictable and you should expect a happy ending for everyone, however that isn't necessarily a bad thing. This is another book from Macomber that won't disappoint her fans. If you're looking for a relaxing, romance book then this would be a good quick read, whether it's Christmas or not!