Under the Christmas Tree

Virgin River #7.5

by Robyn Carr

Complete your Virgin River collection with this classic Christmas novella from #1 New York Times bestselling author Robyn Carr. There’s no better gift than the thrill of a holiday romance…

With snow falling over the redwood forests, secluded Virgin River is the ideal place to spend the holidays. Each year, the close-knit community gathers in the town square to decorate and light a massive tree. Carols are sung, hot chocolate is shared—and this time a surprise is left under the Christmas tree!

When the folks of the town discover a box of adorable puppies abandoned under the tree, they call on local vet Nathaniel Jensen for help. The puppies are the talk of Virgin River, but it’s Nate’s budding romance with Annie McCarty that really has tongues—and tails—wagging

Originally published in 2009

Genres: Romance, Christmas, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Holiday, Novella

93 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 29, 2009

About the author

Robyn Carr is a RITA® Award-winning, eleven-time #1 New York Times bestselling author of over sixty novels, including the critically acclaimed Virgin River series and Sullivan's Crossing series. Robyn's new women's fiction novel, THE FRIENDSHIP CLUB, will be released in January 2024. The new hit Sullivan's Crossing TV series (season 1) inspired by Robyn's book series was released in the USA in the fall of 2023! Plus, season 5 of the worldwide fan-favorite Virgin River TV Series is now streaming on Netflix (July 2023) with two holiday episodes coming November 30, 2023. Both TV series have been renewed for another season!
Robyn is a recipient of the Romance Writers of America Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award 2016, and in 2017, VIRGIN RIVER was named one of the HarperCollins 200 Iconic Books of the past 200 years. Robyn currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. You can visit Robyn Carr's website at https://www.robyncarr.com/.

Reviews

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really cute romance novella where a box of abandoned puppies left under the town Christmas tree brings two people together--Nate who is a large animal veterinarian and Annie who runs her own beauty salon. Enjoyed the lovely small-town setting, Annie’s family, the festiveness of the Christmas season, and especially the eight adorable little puppies.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Under the Christmas Tree

Robyn Carr


UNDER THE CHRISTMAS TREE is book 7.5 in the Virgin River series. I started this series years ago and I'm on a mission to finish it up this year.


It sure was nice to visit my old friends in Virgin River. Even though UNDER THE CHRISTMAS TREE is a novella it sure does pack a punch. A box of abandoned puppies is found under the Virgin River town Christmas tree and they immediately throw Nate and Annie together. Nate is the town vet and Annie was just passing through to check out the tree when her life changes right then and there. Nate and Annie knew each other when they were younger but their age difference kept them from being friends. Well, that's about to change and Annie is afraid.


What can be better than a holiday story that takes place in Virgin River? Nothing! UNDER THE CHRISTMAS TREE is a quick read that I read in one sitting and loved every minute of it. Throw in a box of puppies and what's not to love? If you've never read the Virgin River series you could easily start with this heart warming story. But be prepared to go back and read the whole series! It's just that good! The only problem I have with this series, besides the fact that Robyn Carr is finished writing it is that I am always left with wishing Virgin River was a real place. I would pack my bags in a New York minute and move there!

[Teresa (Reads_Romance) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ooof, that did NOT stand the test of time. I think I liked this novella the first time I read it when I was much younger? The pressure Nate put on Annie to have sex before she was ready was an instant NOPE from me. Cajoling is unattractive, dude. Especially when Annie plainly said she wasn't ready yet. Plus, some of the comments he made about women, in general, were cringeworthy. I can usually let that stuff go, but it was pretty bad in this novella. I also thought Nate's grand gesture was the dumbest idea ever. It's just a vacation, dude; you'll see her when you get back! I liked the puppies and Annie's relationship with her family. That might be it, though.

[Pam Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Under the Christmas Tree Stars

Awe this was a short story, but it packs a punch!
Who could resist Christmas, and puppies!

Annie and Nate come together because of a box of puppies. What could be sweeter than that! She is a hair dresser who owns her own shop; he is the large animal Vet.

I loved that they knew of each other from when they were younger but never were friends.
Just a great feel good book all around.

Jack and Preacher sure put up a fight about NOT having a dog.. But there boys David and Chris have other ideas… And we all know what a bunch of softy’s Jack and Preacher are… haha

*You don't have to like my review but its 100% my opinion, and I am allowed to have it.*

[Alba Turunen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4'5 Estrellitas. Qué relato más cuco. Ahora me da pena haberlo leído tan rápido, porque me ha durado un suspiro.

Las historias de Robyn Carr tienen una particularidad y es que escribe muy bien y a todo lo dota con un encanto único. En este relato aúna lo mejor que tiene para crear una historia breve y muy bonita.

Robyn Carr nos vuelve a traer a Virgin River, pero en época navideña. Annie Mckenzie es una peluquera de Fortuna que va a la granja de su familia a visitar a sus padres un domingo cualquiera. Pero a mitad de camino para en el pueblo de Virgin River para ver el enorme árbol que están decorando sus habitantes.

Annie es una habitual de Virgin River y del bar de Jack, así que no es mala idea saludar. La cosa se complica cuando el pequeño David, el hijo de Jack saca a un cachorrito hipotérmico de debajo del árbol, y sus mayores descubren una caja con otros siete perritos.

Nadie sabe quién los ha abandonado, pero Annie toma como responsabilidad suya cuidar de estos cachorros hasta que encuentren una buena familia que los vaya a adoptar. En seguida los llevan al bar de Jack para que entren en calor junto a la chimenea, y mientras, Jack llama al veterinario.

Nathaniel Jensen es el veterinario local, y cuando entra en el bar de Jack, se asombra de ver a una adulta Annie Mckenzie. Ambos se conocieron de niños y no se han visto desde el instituto, ambos han cambiado, se han hecho adultos, y esos ocho cachorros unirán lo que se ha separado en veinte años.

Sí, el relato ha sido breve, pero la historia ha estado muy bien medida y el romance me ha resultado convincente, cosa que no es fácil en un relato corto. Los dos protagonistas me han gustado mucho, el valor y la entereza de Annie y el encanto de Nate, capaz de cambiar todo por amor.

Ha sido muy bonito. Lo recomiendo si eres fan de la serie, además me ha resultado un cambio muy fresco tras dos libros seguidos que han sido un poco chasco. Además, creo que abre un nuevo arco narrativo dentro de Virgin River.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining holiday listening 🎶🔰

This is a kindle e-book novella from my local library by Robyn Carr.

Annie find an abandoned litter of puppies which she gets Jack to take into the bar. There she meets the local vet Nathaniel which leads to romance and love 💘 and a family Christmas.

I have watched Virgin River on TV 📺 excellent show. I would recommend this series and author to 👍 readers of romantic family and friends relationships novels 👍🔰. 2023 👒😀💘🏡

Happy Holidays Season 😀

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful Christmas romance that reminds us all just how special Virgin River is. This story is sweet, and I loved it.

Annie McCarty stopped in Virgin River to take a look at the lovely Christmas Tree that the people of Virgin River decorate each year. As she is chatting with Jack, his young son finds a special gift under the tree. A box of eight adorable newborn puppies has been abandoned under the tree and Annie is determined that they are not turned into a shelter. She takes the responsibility for the puppies with the help of Jack and the very hot local vet, Nathaniel Jensen, who falls in love with Annie.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yay! A short story that's actually short! I like Annie a lot. She's down to earth and also loves animals. Falling in love over puppies is probably the cutest thing ever. I didn't love Nate as much. He kept kind of weirdly pushing her to be more intimate. He was kind of joking every time, but he still said it quite a few times. I didn't love that. And falling in love in three weeks is also a bit silly, but these two were pretty adorable, and I liked her big, silly family and the fact that she owns her own hair salon even if it's random.

What I really want to know is what's going to happen with both of their farms?!? It seems like it's being set up for her to take care of her family and their farm and keep it in the family, but he also has a big giant farm. How's that going to work out?!??! I really want to know?!?!

Also, I wonder if this couple is going to disappear from the face of the story like that couple from the 4th book that should have been a short story who live up in the mountains and have no plumbing. Whose names I cannot remember because maybe they died in a forest fire???

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was adorable and a nice, quick and light read.

[Aly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jack's son discover a box of 8 half-frozen newborn puppies under the Christmas Tree outside when Annie, a farm girl who live not far from Virgin River is in town to buy a couple things. She's waiting for old Doc Jensen, the kind vet she know, to examine the furry babies , but it's the new one ; his son, who arrive. He's cocky but she's bossy so there's a little bit of arguing despite the obvious attraction. But both had bad experiences with relationship before. Thanks to the puppies that everyone in town will help to babysit at Jack's bar, this Christmas will be different for Annie and Nate.


I love puppies, I love Robyn Carr and her Virgin River series so why didn't it work this time ?
It's because of the hero. I almost gave this novella 2 star because of him. I wasn't thrill by any of the two protagonists but I was seriously turned off by things that Nate said even when he was only joking. But it's always a pleasure to see again Jack and Preacher :p

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not enjoy this one. The shelter bashing started it off, they couldn't bring the puppies to a shelter because they wouldn't be able to find them good homes over Christmas and they wouldn't be able to take care of them as well as Jack could in his restaurant ? (with occasional help from Annie, a hairdresser). Then Annie and Nate were doing ok and I got interested. Nate started getting weird...all the virgin river men are pushy but he was like...extra pushy, trying to make deals with her to have sex, it was so uncomfortable. Nate was showing his extreme privilege by having no issues cancelling a vacation and booking a new flight at the last minute. I did not like that he cancelled his trip for a girl he met 2 weeks ago. That was so rude to his friends and so weird...he really just couldn't go on a 10 day trip and see her when he got back?

[Melann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plus 2,5/5.

Je n'avais plus lus de Virgin River depuis 2017 et la fin des traduction. En ces soirées fraîches, j'ai bien envie de reprendre, malheureusement lire une novella n'est jamais une bonne pioche.
On a là 2 histoires indépendantes. La 1ère est mignonne mais on ne croise quasiment personne du village et il faut bien le dire, on s'y ennuie un peu.
La 2ème histoire partait identique, 2 personnages qui viennent de vivre une rupture chacun, qui se rencontrent. Sauf qu'ils passent l'intégralité de l'histoire à parler de leur ex. Non stop. C'est en général un gros Red flag dans une rencontre tsss.

Bref, j'ai toujours envie de reprendre la série, cette fois avec un vrai tome, en espérant retrouver toutes les belles émotions d'il y a 10 ans !

[~Nichole~ Sizzling Pages Romance Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nate and Anne were great. Loved how he couldn't even think about going on his trip and be apart from her. So sweet.

[Kiki Z · Rating 1 out of 5]

First of all, Nate seemed awfully pushy at times; although he wasn't a terrible asshole or anything, it was a little off putting with him saying things like "you kiss me like you're ready to have sex" (paraphrased). And Annie's constant insecurity over being a farm girl instead of a Hollywood type like Nate's ex is really unnecessary. And there's the crux of my issue: for a novella, the pages we did have were taken up by really unnecessary things. Too much about the puppies, too much about Annie's cheating ex, too much about her insecurities, too much about things we don't have time for. The relationship seems to take a back burner, and then we get enough time jumps to make it look like insta-love. So not particularly interesting to me--I was exceedingly bored by the halfway point--but cute enough if you don't care/don't have these problems.

[Sandra Hoover · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short but perfect holiday romance!

[Catalina Méndez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un libro lleno de comentarios machistas, misóginos, ni entendí a qué venían los perritos en la historia, al final ni se entiende qué pasó con los últimos 3, aparte el amor entre los protagonistas muy forzado, no hay química, no se conocen tanto y aparte él abandona su viaje por una mujer con la que está en 3 semanas, muy irreal todo.

Frases:

1. La gente de aquel pueblo te veía una vez, o tal vez dos, y desde entonces, te trataban como a una vieja amiga.
2. Erasmus era muy viejo, y cada saludo podía ser el último.
3. Annie era un poco mandona, pero a él le gustaba aquel rasgo en una mujer.
4. No conozco a ningún hombre a quien no le gusten las galletas caseras. Les recuerdan a sus madres.
5. porque era demasiado joven, y no estaba lista para casarse.
6. Es que no está bien hablar mal de las ex novias.
7. Lo que tú debes de saber es que ella era una persona buena y cariñosa, y que yo fui horrible con ella
8. Pienso que Ed no era tan importante para mí, o me habría disgustado por pasar tan poco tiempo juntos, y no me ponía triste.
9. No creo que lo quisiera tanto como me imaginaba.
10. Comenzó a desabotonarle la camisa. Pese a que parecía que ella estaba dormida, él la estaba desnudando, aunque sabía que no debía hacerlo.

2/5⭐️

[Kaity ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

My last book of 2024!! This was a bit insta-lovey but it was done so well and was so cute. I loved the puppies and I love Nathaniel. A cute cozy holiday read. I was not expecting it to be spicy?? Don’t let that puppy fool you! But it was sweet overall! 4 stars! 🐶🎄

[Stephanie Harkx · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story went SUPER fast
The love as well, but what do you expect of an novelle.
Still love Virgin River though♥️

[Sᴏᴄᴏʀʀᴏ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una historia corta y linda de navidad ambientada en una granja con ocho perritos huérfanos, no hay más que pedir.

[Fanny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Under The Christmas Tree es una novela corta dentro de la serie Virgin River escrita por Robyn Carr y tiene como protagonistas a Nate y Annie, dos nuevos personajes.
Esta novela sigue la misma linea que los libros anteriores con la diferencia de que tiene menos paginas, si te han gustado los libros anteriores estoy segura de que disfrutaras esta lectura.
Una historia dulce, tierna y especial, no es novedosa o demasiado profunda pero tiene mucho sentimiento, perfecta para esta epoca del año.

3.5 Estrellas!

[Alice Inbookstaland · Rating 4 out of 5]

J’ai adoré la première Nouvelle ! 🥰

En revanche j’ai été un peu déçu par la seconde (après c’est une nouvelle donc normal que ça soit très court mais j’aurais aimé en avoir un peu plus 😇)

J’aime beaucoup la plume !

PS: il n’est pas nécessaire d’avoir lu la saga pour lire ces petites nouvelles mais c’est vrai qu’elles spoiles quelques infos donc si vous souhaitez découvrir Virgin River ne lisez pas ce petit livre tout de suite 🥲😅

[Shaila · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was bored and annoyed. Annie's personality was all over the place and Nathaniel was a giant red flag. I did not understand why these two were in love and ... how it even happened. Nate is pushy and egotistical, it doesn't help that he pressures Annie into sex and was engaged to a woman he (and Annie) don't take seriously because she's 'a Hollywood type'. They have no chemistry and there's no substance whatsoever to their relationship. Annie is so 'not like other girls' and terribly insecure while simultaneously being super confident in herself (maybe overly) and degrades the 'model type' women. The story just wasn't there and nothing made sense to me. The grand gesture of returning to her while already halfway on a trip and bailing on his friends made no sense to me. As I read other reviews, I think and hope this was just a terrible book in a good series. I really liked the Netflix show so I hope the regular installments appeal more to me.

[Vfields Don't touch my happy! · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars!
Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas to me. I don’t know how I missed this one but wow is this a nice little gift. These are characters that showed up later that I never understood where they came from. Well here’s their story. Everything about it works for me and it was just wonderful to be back in this little town with these lovable characters. High Point: It was nice to be with preacher and his son even for a little bit. Carr is very good at knowing how much ‘children’ you need in a story. There’s never so much that you just wanna start screaming “stop it!”

[Ashley's Novel Idea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect feel good love story

No extra drama needed. All the warm and fuzzies. Perfect for a quick pick me up. Besides the first small portion of the book taking place in jacks bar I honestly kind of forgot which series I was reading. So if you're at a place in virgin River where you're waiting for this book to continue reading I can't think that it would mess you up terribly to go back and read this later. There's no new developments with existing characters they are all way in the background.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was just something about this book that felt off.

To me it felt rushed and incomplete. I know it was a novella, but still something was missing. Maybe it was the characters that I just couldn't click with. Maybe it was the way the originals were mixed into the story. I just don't fully know.

It wasn't a horrible story, but it just felt like a filler. Hopefully we see the characters appear throughout additional stories, but I have a feeling these two might disappear like Ian and Marcie.

[Priya · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very short story but a heart warming one. It had all the things that I would like in a story

- puppies
- christmas tree
- favorite virgin river people
- loyal male
- confident female

The writing of Robyn Carr is growing on me and I would definitely like to read all her books ... :)

[Delta · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 sweet holiday romance stars

[Phoebe Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

great story i fell in love again

[Diana Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute, short book! I just love Robyn Carr books for their easy reading!

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet installment to the Virgin River series. Basket of puppies is found under the town Christmas tree, two people fall in love while finding them homes. Lovely to see jack and the gang again.