Married to Christmas: Diamond Cruise by Vaughn Weatherford

Married to Christmas: Diamond Cruise by Vaughn Weatherford
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Indie Release (September 9, 2025)

Review by Mae Clair

I received an ARC of Married to Christmas: Diamond Cruise from the author for an honest review.

Perry Most developed a crush on Mary Kris Muscovey in grade school. Many years later when they wed, Mary (who goes by Kris) becomes Mary Kris Most. Thus, Perry is married to “Christmas” through a tongue-in-cheek play on words.

In some respects this is almost like two books in one. The first half follows Perry and Kris through their school years, college, marriage in December (hence the Christmas setting), then on to a honeymoon cruise with port stops in Italy. While this portion of the book had some fun moments, I felt much could have been eliminated or condensed.

The port stops on the cruise were more like a tourist learning the history of each site—informational in nature rather than moving the plot forward. I did, however, enjoy the visit to Athens, especially walking where Paul the apostle did, and worshipping in an international church.

Perry has hopes to pastor his own church, which made seeing those sites more impactful.

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He could scarcely believe he stood in the place where Paul once told the Athenians about the “unknown God.” They hoped one day to do the same in whatever location the Lord chose to place their ministry.

Married to Christmas: Diamond Cruise by Vaughn Weatherford

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Near the end of the first half, Perry and Kris visit a museum (before their honeymoon) and unwittingly become a carrier for an international jewel thief. This is when things start to get interesting—especially when the thief tracks them on the cruise.

I thoroughly enjoyed the second portion of the book which involves a lot of misdirection among our MC characters, the jewel thief, a private detective, assistant museum director, thugs, kidnappers, and undercover police. When Perry is kidnapped, along with the jewel, the plot becomes a madcap adventure of one group trailing another, trailing another, trailing another, no one exactly who they seem. The scene in the police station toward the end with a dismayed officer trying to figure out who is who, is a gem.

Harry Clyster (the private detective) gets special mention as he quickly became my favorite character from the moment he appeared on the screen/page. He’s quirky, a bit unrefined, and fun. Weatherford develops him nicely and ties up his small story arc with a neat bow.

Overall, this is an easy read though it does have POV shifts throughout and a few hiccups a good editor could have caught. It’s not a holiday story in the way I anticipated, other than mention of the time of year and some decorations in the background on occasion. A faith-based message is woven subtly throughout and most especially strong in Perry’s character (I liked him trying to witness to his kidnappers). The ending is wholly satisfying and left me with a smile.

The author, Vaughn Weatherford spent forty years in full-time ministry and now serves as an interim pastor, in addition to being an author and podcast host.

I give Married to Christmas: Diamond Cruise 3.5 festive fish.

I received a Kindle copy of Married to Christmas: Diamond Cruise.