This was sweet and heart-warming, but there wasn't really much to it. Fletcher's narration is very hit and miss, with sudden asides such as the following:
'Sometimes words are unnecessary. Occasionally they can't match up to the mammoth feelings churning away through our veins. Every now and then, silence is best, for it speaks louder than any vowel, consonant or syllable ever could.'
This seems incredible forced and underwritten, it almost reminds of how students waffle just to up the word count of their assignments! I honestly found this excerpt in particular quite laughable, and much of the novella reads in the same way - as though it is more of a first draft than a finished copy.
The whole novella is also a lot of tell and absolutely no show. The story jumps around from event to event and the winter imagery is either overdone in two sentences or not mentioned at all, meaning that it lacks the peaceful, Christmassy feel it promised.
Overall disappointing - this would be much better if it was slightly longer and the author / editor had paid more attention to smaller details and taken the care to unfold the story at a slower pace. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reconnecting with the characters at Rosefont Hill.