The Sleigh on Seventeenth Street is a Christian romance story. I liked it, but the story had a number of loose ends. The two main characters are a plumber and an electrician, but the plumber is a girl, Camilla Cruz, and she is trying to prove herself in her profession. She has been in Three Rivers about three years. Three Rivers is a Texas town about an hour from Amarillo, where she came from. Cami, as she is called in the book, struggles with herself and relationships; she has a quick temper and doesn’t react well in some situations. Additionally, her last relationship was with an abusive man who was also a plumber. When she finally outed his abusiveness, she lost her job, so she came to Three Rivers to start over.
Dylan is the electrician; he is a good guy who keeps all the Three Rivers Christmas floats going. He also helps out at a horse ranch that caters to wounded veterans who need some horse therapy. So he is a cowboy, baseball fan, dog lover, handyman, electrician and an eligible bachelor. His first meeting with Camilla came shortly after she came to town, and it was a blowup at the jukebox. However, they later are brought together on a big project on which they both won their respective bids. Predictably, they began to form a relationship although water and electricity don’t mix well. Issues on the job create a major problem, but it gets worked out in the end when Dylan acts like the white knight.
Dylan as a character is pretty straight forward. He is thoughtful, protective, and rather giving. Cami is the one who is volatile and has some hang-ups. She wavers between wanting to like Dylan and whether she is ready for any kind of relationship. Of course, in the end, things all work out, and the story ends on their wedding day.
It is a feel good story, but aside from Cami, the characters are pretty flat. Some questions go unanswered at the end of the story, but the questions are not central to their relationship. Dylan’s family and friends are nice folks with good values. He is a believer, goes to church, prays about things and as mentioned above, is a good all around guy. It is a quick read, and the author got me to chuckle a few times at the reactions of Cami or Dylan in some situations. It was engaging to read but is an easily forgettable book.