Review: The Hart of Christmas

Here's another review that I won't be sharing on social media but which I feel like I need to write and make available (mainly because I keep seeing The Hart of Christmas pop up in my feed). I really hate to talk about books I wouldn't read or recommend as I want to focus on being a blessing and an encouragement to Christian authors; however, this is the book that did not sit well with me for weeks and which left me in a funk about Christian books. As a result, I feel convicted that I need to say something about it.

I shared an amended version of this review on my Goodreads account that omits my ethnicity as I don't want that to get attacked, but which is important for me to share here because it points to why I'm so culturally and spiritually sensitive to this topic. Furthermore, let me just express how sad I am at the name of the series that this book kicks off. Even though I've watched hockey all my life and enjoy the sport, I'm going to skip the rest of these hockey romances in favour of other ones, especially if the style of this series opener is emanated throughout the other books.

Finally, I recognize that this review is lengthier than others I've written, but I hope that readers can understand my heart behind writing this. I've prayed a lot about this and have since removed my rating on Goodreads in an effort to maintain Christian unity.

Book Synopsis

Sometimes life takes a detour...

Millie Jane Brooks’ dream of stardom falls apart when she can’t catch a break in Nashville. With her tail between her legs, she sulks back home to spend a few days at her best friend’s vacant house before facing the truth—she might not be cut out for a singing career. But Millie Jane isn’t the only one seeking solitude and when her high school enemy crashes her perfectly laid plans of escape, she's faced with more than just her current failures.

Dex Hart is looking forward to a quiet recovery at his step-sister’s house after a season-ending injury halts his hockey career. With questions about his future looming over him, he’s hoping to find clarity over the holidays. But when he gets snowed in with Millie, the girl who got away, old feelings rise to the surface, stealing any chance of rest.

Millie Jane's heart is guarded after Dex’s betrayal years ago, but Dex has missed her sassy remarks and sparkling eyes too much to let the past ruin this second chance at love. Dex is determined to help her see that God might have another plan for her life... and his.

Can Dex break the walls around her heart in time for Christmas? Or will she shut him out and run away like she did all those years ago?

Source: Amazon

Book Thoughts

This book caught me off-guard and not in a good way. After reading a novella by this author that didn't raise any red flags for me, I was shocked to see that this book was riddled with them. For a book that is being marketed as Christian fiction, I was completely unprepared for the interactions between Millie and Dex. What began as a hopeful foray into a Christmas story quickly turned into a disappointing experience that had me regretful over initially promoting this book. I couldn't even begin to describe how grieved I felt after reading The Hart of Christmas.

Not only did this book feel disjointed, as if two different manuscripts were merged together where one was secular and the other happened to be Christian, it just felt wrong to read it, which is a controversial opinion for a fairly popular book. However, please consider reading this book through the lens of consent and a man being able to take a woman’s “no” seriously. Whenever Millie demonstrates that she is uncomfortable around Dex or that disagrees with him, he attempts to use physical chemistry against Millie to override her words and her personal space. I’m not saying that their relationship is only built on lust, but there is little evidence to prove otherwise when Dex keeps pushing Millie to just give into the attraction. This type of behaviour would be very off-putting in real life. Even if the woman happens to like the man back (although here, it primarily focuses on his appearances), that does not give the man a reason to invalidate the woman’s feelings and act as if they were never expressed in the first place. There was very little respect offered, and to me, a Christian fiction book should exemplify the love of Christ and model godly love rather than imitate the world’s version of love where it only matters that the characters can finally lock lips. As a few reviewers have brought up, the intimacy scenes are a bit much; it’s not that Christians should be legalistic and force others to only behave in a certain way, but sitting on someone’s lap for a first kiss along with the shirtless scene can stir up more heat than is necessary, and could even be triggering for those wishing to avoid this type of content in their reading materials.

I wish I could share more positive things about this book since the author has been vocal elsewhere about glorifying God. However, Millie and Dex’s relationship felt vacuous at best and what could be construed as harassment at worst. Some have pointed out that Dex’s nickname for Millie was meant to be a term of endearment, but considering it started out as an insult toward her, I found it problematic to keep seeing it appear. Since Dex continually disregarded Millie throughout the book, the nickname felt a little predatory, not to mention demeaning when it was used. Even though this book might be regarded as a light Christmas romance, I can see how eroding a young woman's voice (in more ways than one in this case) has serious implications and is on the slippery slope to worse content appearing in Christian books. Consent is not just a worldly term that gets bandied about; ultimately, it reflects the inherent dignity given to a person and Christians should be even quicker to honour it.

Furthermore, I also have an issue when dragons are referenced in Christian books. In the Bible, dragons are usually in opposition to God and His people, especially in Revelation 12. It’s hard to read a Christmas story when you think about how the dragon “pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child” (verse 13). As an Asian Christian, I found it especially concerning that dragons were prominent in the story and that this is now the name of the series. The Bible Project shares the following summary about what dragons represent: “In the Bible, dragons represent rebellious spiritual beings and the violent humans and empires in league with them. Jesus ultimately overcomes the dragon with a courageous act of generous love, and he invites his followers to do the same.” How different this book could have been if Dex had acted with more indications of generous love than simply physical love. No matter how many romantic things Dex may have done for Millie that others are swooning over, I really felt like this book could have done more to further point to Jesus rather than constantly belabouring each other's good looks.

Book Summary

• Format of book: 📱
• Rating: ⭐
• Recommendation: 👎

Disclaimer and Update

When I originally wrote this review, I had thought about adding something in about how I'm not endorsing The Bible Project, but rather only citing a summary that I thought was one of the better explanations I had come across (despite much searching, some explanations were too long and others didn't get around to this point). However, I reasoned that this would make the review a little too long, so I omitted this disclaimer. As it so happens, I should have done so, as this tangent was used to discredit what I wrote.

Though I'm including it now (and after the fact), I realized three things:

1. No matter how many disclaimers are included, people will still disagree with me.
2. If there is a prompt to include something, it might be a nudge from the Holy Spirit, so I need to be more careful in the future.
3. Christian social media is still fraught with all the same problems that plague social media in general. I don't know how someone will take something, and I can't control any reactions. This is why I choose not to participate in controversial matters.

With all that being said, take this book review for what you will based on your own personal walk with God. I felt convicted that I was reading about an improper relationship; others may love the power dynamics involved. Whatever the case, I choose to practice grace by wishing the author well, and praying that God will bless and guide their future writing endeavours.