Call Me Mrs. Miracle / The Christmas Basket

by Debbie Macomber

Mrs. Miracle on 34th Street

This Christmas, Emily Merkle (just call her Mrs. Miracle) is working in the toy department of Finley's, the last family-owned department store in New York City. And her boss is none other than Jake Finley, the owner's son.

For Jake, holiday memories of brightly wrapped gifts, decorated trees and family gatherings were destroyed in a Christmas Eve tragedy years before. Now Christmas means only one thing to him — and to his father. Profit. Because they need a Christmas miracle to keep the business afloat.

Holly Larson needs a miracle, too. She wants to give her eight-year-old nephew, Gabe, the holiday he deserves. Holly's widowed brother is in the army and won't be home for Christmas, but at least she can get Gabe that toy robot from Finley's, the one gift he desperately wants. If she can figure out how to pay for it…

Fortunately, it's Mrs. Miracle to the rescue. Next to making children happy, she likes nothing better than helping others — and that includes a bit of matchmaking!

This Christmas will be different. For all of them.

Genres: Christmas, Romance, Fiction, Holiday, Contemporary

368 pages, Paperback

First published September 29, 2015

About the author

Debbie Macomber is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and one of today’s most popular writers with more than 200 million copies of her books in print worldwide. In her novels, Macomber brings to life compelling relationships that embrace family and enduring friendships, uplifting her readers with stories of connection and hope. Macomber’s novels have spent over 1,000 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Fifteen of these novels hit the number one spot.

In 2023, Macomber’s all-new hardcover publication includes Must Love Flowers (July). In addition to fiction, Macomber has also published three bestselling cookbooks, three adult coloring books, numerous inspirational and nonfiction works, and two acclaimed children’s books.

Celebrated as “the official storyteller of Christmas”, Macomber’s annual Christmas books are beloved and six have been crafted into original Hallmark Channel movies. Macomber is also the author of the bestselling Cedar Cove Series which the Hallmark Channel chose as the basis for its first dramatic scripted television series. Debuting in 2013, Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove was a ratings favorite for three seasons.

She serves on the Guideposts National Advisory Cabinet, is a YFC National Ambassador, and is World Vision’s international spokesperson for their Knit for Kids charity initiative. A devoted grandmother, Debbie and Wayne live in Port Orchard, Washington, the town which inspired the Cedar Cove series.

Reviews

[Srivalli (Semi-Hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am one of those people who read Winter stories in Summer. I like to read about snow when I am probably facing a heat stroke.

The stories were simple and sweet to read. No too many complications or confusions. Though I like to have a villain in the story, I do enjoy reading the ones without.

[Briar's Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a marvellous duo of stories by Debbie Macomber, all about the spirit of Christmas!

Call Me Mrs. Miracle is by far my favourite of the two, and I really want to read the rest of that series because it's just so cute! Who doesn't love a sweet tale about two people falling in love and a child getting everything they want for Christmas? All with a secret angel? What a gem!

The Christmas Basket didn't wow me as much, and I felt it dragging on. It kind of bored me even though it was also well written and a cute romance collection.

Overall, great book! Three out of five stars.

[Sue Shipley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

[Bev Walkling · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a delightful sweet read to get me in the mood for Christmas in what has been a very tough year. It's nice to find a book that can distract you from real life for a few hours and encourage you to dream.

[Michael crage · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was kind of a fluff piece, but a great one. It took me about two hours to read it. This is a sequel to the Hallmark movie Mrs Miracle and was written expressly to make into another Hallmark movie. In it Mrs Miracle who is an Angel, comes to earth to work in the last family owed department store in New York. J.R. Finley is the owner and manager and his son Jake is working his way through all the departments to learn the business so he can take over. This Christmas he is managing the toy department and Mrs Miracle comes into it as a temporary employee. Mrs Finley has several things she needs to accomplish. One of them is to get the Finley's to celebrate Christmas again. They have not since the mother and daughter of the family were killed Christmas eve 21 years earlier.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tale of angels helping or giving a nudge to people on earth. In this case Mrs Miracle grts a job in Finley's Department store to bring Jake Finley and Holly Larson together.
Jake and his Dad haven't celebrated Christmas in twenty yrs, since his mother & sister were killed during the holiday. Holly is tsking care of her 8 year old nephew (while his Dad is in Afghanistan ), and wants to give him the Christmas he deserves - but she may not get her Christmas bonus.

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a gift and it was very enjoyable, light reading, akin to beach reading, except it's Christmas stories. There are 2 books in one and I enjoyed the magical character of Mrs. Miracle a bit more. Both books put you in a holiday mood.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Hallmark movie book, "Call Me Mrs. Miracle" is an angelic spin on "Miracle on 34th Street." Enough said, it has the usual predictable characters with the very predictable feel good ending. It relieved the long drive to classes.

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't know why I keep reading Debbie Maccomber's books because I always seem to be disappointed at the end. This one was hard to finish because it was so predictable. I have a large collection of her books so hopefully I will find one that suits me. But neither of these stories were memorable.

[Jennifer Myers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love happy holiday books. This one is good. A light read - expected but good.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pure Christmas magic. I loved The Christmas Basket even more than Call Me Mrs Miracle. I hope Hallmark picks it for a movie someday.

[Mskathy1031 · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my all time favorite authors.

[Kandia Watson]

Good read

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection is two separate stand-alone stories, both with a Christmas theme. Light fun summer reading if you enjoy this author.

[Lisa Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful holiday story.

[Valerie Cotnoir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute story! I loved the detailed struggles of the daily life. And how some people just need a little angelic intervention. 😉

[Judith Levis · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a sweet and wonderful book ! It was perfect for Christmastime.

[Albert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great Christmas story

[Emily Withan-Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cried. Oh yes. The unexpected tears of a hopeful reader living vicariously through the miracles that came perfectly in this Christmas story. Thank you.

[Badwill Ambassador · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you are not above 49 years old and you 're also not a Christian, don't even bother picking this up.

There is hardly any romance, there is hardly any suspense and most importantly there is hardly any plot. My mother in law left this at my place after visiting and I have not asked her yet but knowing her, she probably left it here just to avoid throwing it away.

1. Apparently homophobic comments are totally okay
2. Bringing up a child in a homophobic way is completely fine as a result of Nr 1
3. Sex is not even in the thoughts of two grown-ass adults who are flirting
4. Flirting consists of your regular conversation. Not, not even that. The conversation someone has with the Starbucks employee who hands them coffee in the morning is probably more heated than what is described in this book.
5. It's okay for a woman to skip meals when having to buy the child she's taking care of an expensive gift (????)
6. If you ask your horrible employer for a company Christmas party (which by the way EVERYONE hates, can we stop throwing those?) they will give you the bonus they took away from you because the clams from their pockets disappear, like Ebenezer Scrooge's, apparently. Also we now want that horrible person as a family member for some reason. Sure, she didn't really believe in human rights but then she met a nice kid and she changed.
7. Literally, I can't stress this enough, there is no plot.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I often say that Debbie Macomber books should be made into movies because they would play out well on the screen. This one has already been turned into a Hallmark movie, and it is no surprise.

You have the woman who has given up on love and is now caring for her nephew whom she doesn't know well while her brother is stationed overseas. You have the good-looking rich man who has written off Christmas because of a family tragedy. They have their meet-cute and are clearly destined to be together, but have some minor hiccups along the way. Then there are the other crotchety people in their lives.

To make everything better, there is the angel on earth, conveniently nicknamed Mrs. Miracle.

It's everything you need for one of those sappy inspirational love stories taht we love so much.

A bonus in the book is each chapter includes an inspirational quotation, many from Mrs. Miracle herself. Even better, Debbie Macomber has included some of her favorite recipes that are mentioned throughout.

And I will say that while I am glad this was made into a movie, I can promise you that some of the Mrs. Miracle insights are best delivered in book format.

And I promise the last couple of pages will put you in tears.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked both stories in this book. In the first story "Call me Mrs. Miracle", Holly has been doing her best caring for her nephew,Gabe while her brother is in Afghanistan. Her boss was giving her trouble about her work and Jake (whose Dad) owns one of the biggest department store in New York.
Once Holly finds out that Jake is heir to the store, she kind become standoffish to Jake. Mrs. Merkle(AKA) Mrs. Miracle helps their romance et on track.

The second story,The Christmas Basket is about two families that used to be best friends but the mother don't like each other anymore because of something that happened in the past. Noelle and Thom (who loved each other in past but also had a mis-understanding)did not get along for several years fell in love again. It was a good story. There is just too much to go intowith this story to write her. I think you would enjoy this story.

[Eva Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Δύο άκρως Χριστουγεννιάτικες ιστορίες από την Debbie Macomber. Ιστορίες που έφεραν στην καρδιά μου λίγη από την ζεστασιά των Χριστουγέννων και μου υπενθύμισαν πως τα θαύματα είναι πιθανά, αρκεί να πιστεύω.
Σίγουρα μια συγγραφέας που θα ξανά διαβάσω στο μέλλον. 💕

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Debbie Macomber's Mrs. Miracle stories. They are filled with love, hope and miracles!

[Mark Kloha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story. Enjoy.

[Star Forbis · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Mrs. Miracle was right,” he declared after his first bite of turkey. “This is the best Christmas ever.”

How quickly life can change, he mused, and never more so than at Christmas.

[Kriste · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really 2 stories, one I read before Christmas, one I read after.

[A Very Bad Apple · Rating 4 out of 5]

Εκτός εποχής αλλά πολύ γλυκό! Προτείνεται.

[Tammy Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice sweet read!

[Μαρία Κωλέττα · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the story a lot. It is very christmassy and ideal for a cosy evening by the fire.