A simple and touching story that becomes more heavily religious at the end. Themes of family, regret, cowardice and courage are handled in a light tone with humor and love. ( )

I was looking forward to a feel-good Christmas romance, even welcoming some sap and cheesiness. What I got was a sad story with an emotionless romance and flat characters.

The book goes back and forth between Finn's and Sydney's 1st-person points of view, which I still don't really get, but realize might just be Terri Blackstock's style (the other book of hers that I read was like this too). Fortunately, most of the time it was from Finn's POV, because at least him I could stand. His characterization was weak, as the type of person I thought he was supposed to be didn't jive with how he talked and acted in the 2nd half of the book. But Sydney barely had any characterization. She was a weak female stereotype, despite stating once near the end that she wasn't the weak type. But she let everyone walk all over her, and everything happened to her. She didn't do much of anything herself.

Callie would have been my favorite character, as a cheerful, friendly woman who believed so strongly in God and Heaven that her only regret about dying some day was that her granddaughter would be alone. Except that she tended to say really mean things about other people, things that were laughed off because she's just an old lady with no filter (fat shaming, for example). On a positive note, I would love to pass on the kind of legacy that Callie strives to, pointing others to the God that I serve even in casual interactions.

I don't read pure romance novels all that often because, though I love a good romance, I prefer subtle, slow builds, and of course in a romance novel, the genre itself tells you that the male and female MCs are going to end up together. I'm okay with that to a point, but that makes it too easy for the author to get lazy. So yes, it's clear that Finn and Sydney are destined to end up together, but at least make it make sense! They barely had any interaction in the first half of the book, and the romance that developed between them made no sense and was flatly written.

Between the cute cover, the promise of a "feel-good Christmas book" and the other Blackstock book I read being pretty good (Smoke Screen), I was excited about this one. Unfortunately, I feel like I wasted some of my limited Christmas reading time on this book. Thankfully, it was short. I wouldn't really recommend this book to others, but if you don't have a problem with the issues I mentioned above and are looking for a Christian romance, you may want to give it a try. ( )

My first book by Terri Blackstock and it's a good one. I enjoyed majority of this romance Christmas story except the part about Miss Callie. ( )

This was a book I’d been wanting to read for a while and I can’t believe I didn’t read it sooner! I read it in one sitting over the course of a few hours. Though I will give a warning, the end of the book left me a mess, even though I knew already what would happen. I’m just sensitive that way, I guess. To be honest though, I’m hoping there were others who at least teared up at this so I don’t feel so alone (I know, I’m terrible).

Catching Christmas follows Finn, a former chef who now drives a taxi to make ends meet, and Sydney, a first-year lawyer at a firm who is scraping to keep her job after they make cuts. Finn gets a call to take an old woman, Callie, to an appointment, and quickly finds out she is sick in some way – probably dementia. He wonders why Miss Callie is left to fend for herself, and later finds out that her granddaughter – Sydney – is doing the best she can.

The main focus of this book is on the relationship between Finn and Callie as he sort-of becomes her personal driver. He takes her on errands and learns quickly that this old woman has no filter, which I found hilarious and it reminded me of my grandma. Then a romance develops later in the book between Finn and Sydney, but really, the focus is on their relationships with Callie. I actually found it refreshing that it wasn’t focused on the romance aspect.

Overall, I enjoyed every moment of reading this book, even the parts where I cried. Finn, Sydney, and Callie were great characters to read becuase they were real. They weren’t perfect – they had their flaws – and they are just characters I can imagine in real life. ( )

An interesting look at the "sandwich generation" with a bit of a twist. Sydney is in her first year at a law firm, a job that demands extraordinary hours, and she's also trying to take care of her grandmother (Miss Callie). The future of Sydney's job depends on her defense of the son of one of the firm's big clients. When she can't get out of court, she calls a cab to take her grandmother to a doctor's appointment. Finn is that cab driver (but he used to be a chef).

Finn proves to have a very caring nature and goes above and beyond for several days. Miss Callie's overriding concerns seem to be having someone there for Sydney at Christmas and finding Sydney a Christmas present she will really like.

So what is more important? Work or family? How do we choose when we're between a rock and a hard place? How do we respond when someone wants more than we feel we should have to give? ( )