Are you as sick as I am of Hallmark movies where woman perpetually ditch their highly successful, big city careers to move to a boring, rural, small town for some guy who wears flannel and drives a pick-up truck?

If so, you’ll love Bright Lights, Big Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews. Kerry Tolliver is an unemployed creative director living with her divoced mother in the mountains of North Carolina. Her dad Jock and brother Murphy own a Christmas tree farm. The family has been making annual treks to Greenwich Village in New York City for decades to sell their trees to loyal customers, but Jock’s health is keeping him at home this year. Kerry is pressed into service and very reluctantly drives the family’s ancient camper Spammy (because it looks like canned Spam) to New York to join her brother and his dog Queenie.

Murphy and Kerry need to have a very successful Christmas season because the family farm is on the brink of financial disaster. To ramp up revenue, Kerry leverages her creative skills to create wreaths and decorate trees for customers with more money than time. She meets Patrick and his adorable son Austin. Queenie is beloved by everyone including Heinz, a quirky, elderly neighborhood recluse. To entertain Austin, Heinz and Kerry write and illustrate a story inspired by the Christmas tree lot.

After Heinz disappears, Kerry and Austin are worried about his health. Nobody seems to know exactly where he lives. Austin’s mother thinks he’s crazy and homeless. Spoiler alert: he isn’t.

I cheered when Heinz gave Kerry a much needed wake-up call:

“Go home then. Give up on a good man who could bring you happiness. Give up on your art. Give up on your dreams. Live a small life in a small town. And spend the rest of your life wondering ‘what if?'”

Kerry’s reaction made me cry tears of joy:

The old man was right, of course.

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Oh, please, Hallmark, make a movie based on this book! Please!