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2022 Fall Flurry of Holidays Challenge -- December Reviews and Discussion
Viola Shipman has a curious talent and style that runs through her books. First of all, she does small towns and small town life, like no other. The books are kind of hallmarky and corny. I could not stop thinking about the Kim and Penn Holderness Videos where they make fun of Hallmark movies, which her her books fit to a tee. But then there is always this other theme that creeps in, and these beautiful lines. And a message and metaphor about life and love and loss and resilience and all of a sudden there may even be some tears in your eyes, and before you know it, you are rather moved.
I never describe summaries and plots, but I am doing so to show both what I mean about who this author is and how she works, and the similarities to the Charm Bracelet, also by Viola Shipman, as it got called back so viserally by its similar tropes and feel. In The Secret of Snow, LA meterologist Sonny Days is forced out of her job and to move back home to Michigan where she has to confront multiple losses, the ones she left behind. Her beloved sister Joncee always loved the snow. And the writing is so beautiful here, where the author talks about the magic of snow and who this little girl was, and what she meant to everyone. What she meant to Sonny/Amberrose. Sonny has to re-learn the magic of winter, and re-find herself in her hometown. Learn to fall in love again, and also with Winter and Snow. There are many wonderful lines about resilience and how one lives after loss, and many illustrations of Joncee's joy, and the magic and wonder of snow. But the first time Viola "got" me, was when she said, through the voice of the amazing resilient mother, she says, "When the Snow falls, you have two choices. You can either shovel, or make snow angels. You have to decide how to live with it." And that was the first of the messages of how one learns to cope with life, loss, and love. And to re-find joy. Now that's the other thing Viola Shipman does really well. Mothers who get their adult children's heads on straight, and lead them to live fuller lives. Ms. Shipman must have had one hell of a mother.
In the Charm Bracelet (it took me the entire day to remember the title, while I had the review lolling about in my head), another LA woman, this time maybe some kind of publishing fashion editor or something? Well she moves back to Michigan with her young daughter, because her mother is dying and something happened with the work. There is this old fashioned Ice Cream Store, and the story of the Herons. The Herons in the lake where one is crying out for its missing mate, and the herons ultimately have to find one another and bond. Something about the fireworks, and the mother and father being the herons, but also her and the new hometown love. Same drill, with the returning LA judgmental career woman who never wanted to come home to Michigan in the first place, who becomes at first disenchanted with the hometown and has too many ghosts, but eventually falls in love, returns to their mother and the charming town, and makes their life work. Its ultimately the same book, but substitute summer for winter, and herons for snow. It's a sleepy corny cutesy thing, until you are hit over the head with the messages, and the fireflies, and the sparkles of the snow, and the fireworks, and the scarves and hats and gloves. Because Viola Shipman sneaks up on you. Makes the 3 star read a 3+, and makes you feel despite yourself. Campy becomes warm and spiritual in a way that just works. Okay Viola, cutesy three becomes 3.5, or 3+. Perfect for the Season Start.
I did this as a free audio from audible. It's a very fast, 80 page.
It was adorable - like a Hallmark movie but the conversations actually felt realistic and the perfect start to my holiday reading. It was a light, quck read. I found myself chuckling at points and swooning at others. Even though it's short, I felt the characters were well flushed out - even the side characters of the mailman and the grandma! I loved the letters and how cute they were - first, all grumpy about Christmas and then as they slowly thawed. This was so cute! I'm so glad I started my December with this one!
I think this one hit at just the perfect time. I found myself swept up in the story as Mary crumbles her life to the ground and spends time re-finding herself, rebuilding her life, and reconnecting with her daughter and granddaughter.
It takes place just before Christmas and goes through Christmas in the story.
Trisha wrote: "I did this as a free audio from audible. It's a very fast, 80 page.
It was adorable - like a Hallmark movie but the conversations actually felt realistic..."
I like the title!
Butterflies in Novemberhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The story started in November but continued to December
Kateloves2read wrote: "A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg 5 stars“Deep in the southernmost part of Alabama, along the banks of a lazy winding river, lies the sleepy little community of Lost..."
I liked that book as well.
The Deep, Deep Snow by Brian Freeman4 stars
35 years ago, Shelby Lake, now a police detective in the town of Avery Weir (aka "Everywhere") was left on the doorstep of the local police chief Tom Ginn's home. He named her after the body of water he had been fishing. Ginn gladly raised the infant and their relationship was close and warm. Now Tom is beginning to show signs of the disease that took both of his parents: Alzheimer's. Shelby dreads the day when he no longer recognizes her or the day she realizes she can't care for him anymore.
A decade ago a young boy named Jeremiah went missing after a bike ride with his older brother Adrian. Jeremiah was only 10 years old at the time and quickly became bored with his 16 year old brother and decided to head back on his own. Adrian told him to go and that he would catch up with him in a while. Jeremiah was never seen again. His bike was found abandoned along the side of the road that cut through the deep forest. Clues were sparse but rumors were rampant. A popular teacher had been accused of his wife's murder several years before but was acquitted. There never was a good explanation of her death and now his name has come up again in the case of Jeremiah.
Ten years after the mysterious disappearance of the young boy a startling clue is found at an abandoned resort. The case is reopened and the guilty party commits a murder to try and cover the tracks. Shelby Lake slowly comes to realize the truth hidden beneath the deep deep snow and is astounded by what she uncovers.
This is the first book I have read by this author and I will certainly be looking for more. The story was well paced with characters I could root for. Red herrings abounded and the final reveal was a shocker. It's a good one.
Kateloves2read wrote: "Studmuffin Santa by Tawna Fenske 5 jingle bellsFull disclosure, I only downloaded this because I snorted with laughter from the title and wanted something quick t..."
Oh Kate! A girl after my own heart! Immediately added to my TBR and shelved prime stud muffin and studs. Now to see if any of the others have a hunky dog for my studly men and hunky dogs shelf!
Kateloves2read wrote: "Yes! Another kindred heart 😍Let me know what you think once you are done. 🎅🏻"
No hunky dogs but who knows when she adds to her series and sees the appeal?
Just sent you a friend request ... want to entice you into the Hunky Dog Studly Men fan club here. Katie Ruggles Rocky Mountain series is a good start.
Ann☕ wrote: "
The Secret History of Christmas narrated by Bill BrysonWell narrated by Bryson, this is a quick, entertaining and f..."
I love books like this about Christmas! My other favorite are collections of Christmas stories, from classices to genre to contemporary. It's so lovely in December to just read a couple of short stories or novellas from these collections, I've discovered many a wonderful Christmas season story that's not as famous as A Christmas Carol. In fact, I often reread them every few years.
A Christmas in the Alps by Melody Carlson2 stars
I liked the other two Christmas stories I've read by Carlson, but this one didn't quite make it to a like. I'd say it was nearly 2.5 stars. I think I am just so very tired of WW II novels for the most part and books that have people with family who were alive during WW II that it's much harder for these books to make me like them. I have probably read close to a hundred books and short stories set in WW II, although you won't see that many in that shelf since a. not all of the ones there have been shelved properly and b. not all of them are listed in my GR books.
So, the story. Heroine inherits a house, her friend convinces her to visit the area in France her great-grandmother came from to see about some treasure that may or may not be there. Meets handsome man who--surprise, surprise-- ends up in the same place she does,and it turns into a romance.
The last straw that kept this from being 3 stars was a weak attempt at a love triangle. Books of this length just don't have room for that highly overused trope and it was completely unnecessary to this story, IMO. Plus one a secondary ending involving that was very lame.
The Christmas Pact - Audible Original Novella
It was fun and cute. Makes you smile. Loved the ending, which seemed just perfect to me. Definitely holiday season material. Gets one in the mood.
The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer 3 starsThe Matzah Ball was a fun read. It totally is a Hallmark Christmas movie, except for the fact that it's about Hanukkah. Everything is there, the obviously attracted to each other couple who belong together, but getting there is a bumpy road. In this book it's Rachel, the daughter of a rabbi. She loves all things Christmas, even writes Christmas romance novels under a pen name. This of course, she keeps secret from everyone she loves, expect her best friend Mickey. Rachel also suffers from a chronic illness that she tries to keep hidden also. Jacob runs a successful business organizing big events. Jacob has his own back story and baggage, and he just can't forget about his first love from the summer he was 12, who just happens to be Rachel.
Jacob is back in New York for his latest event, The Matzah Ball Max, and Rachel is desperate for a ticket to the ball.
From here the Hallmark movie really kicks in. The story is predictable, but it is a fun ride getting there.
Twelve Days of Christmas by Debbie Macomber
2 stars
In this story Julia does not get along with her neighbor Cain. Julia is working developing her blog when a friend suggests that she try kindness on Cain for twelve days around Christmas and then report the results daily in her posts. When she writes she refers to Cain as 'Ebenezer' and starts her kindness project with things like dropping off his newspaper and trying to buy him coffee. As the days move along though the two start to spend more time together.
Macomber's story is a fast read and captures the spirit of the holidays. Julia and Cain are opposites with Julia being talkative and Cain shown as very serious. The author has the characters find common ground as the project goes along and both grow from the experience. The Christmas season is a way to have events that bring Julia and Cain together. The story is predictable, but cute. Fans of Debbie Macomber will enjoy it.
The Twelve Topsy-Turvy, Very Messy Days of Christmas by James Patterson and Tad Safran
3 stars
The Sullivans have not celebrated Christmas for five years. They have grown apart and have not really acted as a family since their mother died. This year Christmas is starting differently though, someone named Ms Truelove is sending them presents. The gifts are the ones told in the song the 'Twelve Days of Christmas.' The presents are turning the household into a mess and they are barely able to handle it all. The Sullivans would like it to stop and also to know who Ms. Truelove is.
While this is going on Henry may get fired from his job as a college professor. Will is in with a bad group of friends and Ella is painting the scenery for a school play. They do manage to finally start working together to manage things.
The author knows this is an unlikely situation. The reader has to just go with the sense of magic and amusement. Patterson and Safran wrote a Christmas book that is fun. It is a cute holiday story and although it may become predictable it fits the spirit of the holiday.
Mistletoe Cottage by Debbie Masonrounded up to 3 stars
This is romance channel movie/soap opera-sh sort of book. A single mother moves home after her apartment has burned down and gets a job working for the family of the man she had a crush on through high school. He's a firefighter who finds her daughter in a false alarm fire (someone turned a fog machine on). The soap opera part is due in part (too many "parts" but I am in a rush) to the fact that at least one sequel, and possibly two, are being hinted at with two other women in the novel, and because sometimes it was a bit outlandish rather like the way I think of soap operas which I don't watch.
I started this on audio but finished in print. Although I got used to the narrator, I thought she sounded too old for the main woman protagonist--it was a lower voice that sounded either like a smoker or older woman. and didn't suit a 26 year old non-smoking protagonist, although she sounded perfect for the very few times it was in the older woman's POV. True, it's not first person, but I still found it didn't fit well.
If you like this sort of romance there are many good things about it, but I hadn't realized that it had a ghost in it. I read it for reading discussion and didn't look up the details. If it weren't for the ghost, who will obviously be continuing, I might have read more of these, but it's not for me.
For December Fall Flurries, I decided to read a book set in the extreme cold, which I associate with winter weather: Two Against the Ice: A Classic Arctic Survival Story and a Remarkable Account of Companionship in the Face of Adversity by Ejnar Mikkelsen - 4* - My Review
Published in 1955, and based on the diaries of the participants, this is the true story of an expedition to Greenland in 1910-1912, led by Danish explorer Ejnar Mikkelsen and accompanied by mechanic Iver Iversen. Their goal was to find the journals of a previous expedition, whose members did not survive. Their journey took them through severe terrain in extreme cold. They faced starvation, scurvy, exhaustion, and polar bear attacks. It is a story of the golden age of exploration, prior to any form of technology that could have assisted in their rescue. It is a gripping tale of the limits of human endurance and how a positive mental outlook helped them endure. It is amazing that these two men were able to maintain their camaraderie for almost three years alone on the Greenland ice cap. It is a remarkable tale of survival and highly recommended.
Link to PBT discussion:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Rest You Merry - Charlotte MacLeod3 stars
Rest You Merry is a cozy mystery set at a New England agricultural college. When Professor Peter Shandy finally gives in a participates in a campus Christmas decorating tradition, he decorates his house and then leaves town for a cruise to escape the craziness. When he returns, he finds one of his colleague's wife dead behind his sofa. What appears to most people to be an accident, it looks like something more sinister to Shandy. This was a fun and easy cozy. There were times I found my mind wandering and a few times where something was said that made it evident that it was written in the 1970s, but overall it was an interesting mystery. Shandy was an OK main character with a lot of potential. I liked the college setting and the politics of the academic setting. I will add the next in the series to my TBR for when I am looking for a cozy, mindless mystery.
1 star
I wanted to like this book, but it fell so short I almost did not finish it. All the characters are annoying, with the exception of the dog and not developed enough to care about any of them. Betty,the main character, has no clue on how to interact with the world without being judgmental and lacks common sense. Has the typical feel-good ending but needed more closure on the story line.
5 stars
Todd McCray talks his father into fostering a Dog from the animal shelter for the Christmas season with the agreement of returning the dog on December 26th.
The book started off slow, but it quickly became a feel-good Christmas story. I liked that it gives exposure to both foster and adopting animal shelters offer.
5 stars
George is dealing with the death of his father and upkeep of the family farm. With the help of an Irish setter name Tucker and his Grandparents he finds his path and allows himself to heal.
I was not sure about reading this book at first, but I pushed forward and so happy I did. I am in need of light feel good reads this holiday season and feared this one would be too heavy; it is not. It does have some sad moments, but they are needed to give you a full well-rounded picture of a farm life, the families living them and a young boy dealing the death of father at a very young age.
Death in D Minor - 3 starsI haven't read the first book in the series - I'm planning to go back and do that but wanted to read the Christmas-y one while it's seasonally appropriate (though, as it turns out, there isn't much Christmas-y stuff in the actual story). Gethsemane Brown is a former professional violinist living in Ireland and working at a school there. As the holidays begin, an American businessman shows up planning to buy the old house where she lives; her brother-in-law arrives for an art show; and things start to happen. There's an art forgery ring, false accusations of art forgery, and murder.
I thought this was cute and quick but not especially memorable. I liked the character of Gethsemane and had fun reading this, definitely enough to read the first book in this series.
There's a very poignant Christmas scene in this book ...
Icy Sparks – Gwyn Hyman Rubio – 5****
We know much more about Tourette’s Syndrome today than during the timeframe of this story (1950s), and I hope even the residents of rural Appalachia would be more compassionate about a young girl so afflicted. Icy Sparks jumps off the pages of this book straight into the reader’s heart. This is a child who is curious, intelligent, kind, loving, and who learns to stand up to bullies and fight for herself. She shows empathy and compassion in her dealings with others even when they ostracize and belittle her.
LINK to my full review
Christmas Chocolates and Crimes by Cindy Bell
4 Stars
Christmas is approaching and "Charlotte's Chocolate Heaven" has never been busier. Ally and Charlotte are working like crazy to fill all of the orders.
But then a resident at Charlotte's retirement community ends of dead and Charlotte is the chief's prime suspect. Charlotte and Ally race to find the true killer before Charlotte spends Christmas in handcuffs.
This was a cute, quick read. It was perfect for the holidays. I think I'll check out the beginning of the series and maybe one of the author's other cozy mystery series.
New Year's EveThe Hunting Party / Lucy Foley
4 stars
Emma has arranged for a get together of (mostly) university friends over New Year’s Eve in a remote area of Scotland. Emma didn’t actually know this group of friends in university, but she has been dating one of them for three years. Although they only get together every New Year’s, she still feels a bit like an outsider. The beautiful Miranda is married to Julien; Mark (Emma’s boyfriend) always had a crush on Miranda; Katie is Miranda’s best friend – or was when they were students. There is a gay couple and one couple with a new baby. Heather and Doug are not part of the group of friends, but work at the lodge the friends are staying at; they both have their own reasons for wanting to work somewhere so very isolated and remote. As a blizzard arrives, trapping them in place with no way in or out, one of the guests (friends) has disappeared.
The story took a bit of time to build. It was told from a few different points of view, including Emma, Katie, Miranda, Heather, and Doug. The atmosphere – the remoteness, the loneliness, the cold of the place – was done really well. The reader is not told who is the missing guest until a ways into the story. I have to say none of the characters was particularly likable. It was a good buildup to the finale, and hard to tell who the culprit was, as it could have been just about anyone.
The Santa Suit – Mary Kay Andrews – 3***
This is a charming holiday rom-com with a bit of mystery. The small town is full of colorful characters, and as Ivy begins to become known around town she opens up to her new friends and to the possibility of a new romance. The ending is neatly tied up in a pretty ribbon, but hey, it’s a holiday romance, so I’m okay with that.
LINK to my full review
forsanolim wrote: "Death in D Minor - 3 starsI haven't read the first book in the series - I'm planning to go back and do that but wanted to read the Christmas-y one while it's seasonally appropriat..."
How much people like this book depends on their sense of humour, I think, since I know readers who have given this 5 stars because they found it so funny. I read all of these for some reading challenge somewhere in 2021 and found them mixed.
Hercule Poirot's Christmas - 3 starsPractically everyone in his family hates Simeon Lee. Right before Christmas, while all of his children (and some others) are at the family's estate his bequest, the old man is brutally murdered in a classic locked-room setup. Hercule Poirot is brought in to assist with the solving of the crime.
Fun and seasonally appropriate! I had fun following how the mystery unfolded, and I'm happy I picked this up.
by Ashley Shepherd - 2 starsI struggled with this one. The writing was fine and I was entertained and ultimately appreciated a strong message against sexual assault. BUT other parts were just so wrong. Olivia is an intern at a PR firm and makes so little that she needs to waitress every night to afford her literal closet of a room in a shared apartment. She doesn't get much sleep and has a somewhat tragic past which she covers up with holiday cheer and binge drinking. Her boss, Asher, is the son of the CEO, yup, and Olivia decides that he needs a fake girlfriend and puts herself in that role without consent which requires all the necessary dating intimacies that would not be appropriate between a boss and intern. And she constantly buys him personal stuff for his office and home using his credit card with no real oversight. Who does that? Also constantly perplexed by what is okay for a PA or intern to do for a boss in the corporate world. There are so many boundary issues that it is almost ironic that it takes a hard stance on unwanted/ assaulting advances especially in the workplace.
Bonus points for extra holiday cheer.
Cute YA Hannukah Romance. I skimmed a lot of it. I have learned something about myself. Perhaps I kind of already knew. I am not a real fan of YA - unless its done very very well. Had this not been a Chanukah Romance, I probably would have dumped it. But it was cute and sweet, and well you know the cute story in advance, if not from the title, or the book jacket, simply from the trope. But I started it on Chanukah Day Five, Night Six, and finished it less than 24 hours later. By the time we light the Seventh Candle, Shira and Tyler will be long forgotten. Already forgotten. Do you know I had just closed the book less than ten minutes ago, and was already struggling to recall Shira, our main heroine's name? Halfway through this early morning finish, I was already planning my next book. Which will be.... Ta Da..... Other Birds, by Sarah Addison Allen. Its holiday and miracle time. Feels like the perfect end of the year book.
Want to know what I have out here in Colorado? Other than the Winners and Eight Nights of Flirting?
I have.... Other Birds, Dial A for Aunties, and its sequel Four Aunts and a Wedding. I got Dial A out of the library, because I already own FA and a W, and its actually high on my TBR so I knew I would have to get the first of the trilogy first. I like to bring books I own out to visit my parents, because I can give them away, leave them on the plane, and not have to bring them back, like I have to slog all the library books back. I also have the Messy Lives of Book People, which I already own. Its also a quickie and even with those three and Other Birds, I sort of don't see that one making it home. I have another library book out here too. Just in case. But I think I won't need it. Its Flieschman is in Trouble. Why? Because I think my husband and I are going to watch it on Netflix soon, and I kind of want to read it first or I won't. I have such wonderful books planned for January and I simply can't wait! Plus, I will be surprised by my two Subdue the Shelf books! So now its just knocking these out. I am on vacation with my family, this should be easy to do. Plus, there is a plane ride back, and an entire day of New Years Eve Day back home to work with. Completing the Year.
Happy Holidays Everyone. This was my least favorite of the Chanukah Romances, and there are quite a few good ones. But it you like YA meet cute, Chanukah love for the 18 year old set, than this is certainly for you. One last note. I have always liked the name Shira - it means To Sing. There is a beautiful round called Hava NaShira (kind of have a little song) and my middle son's Hebrew Name is Chaim Shir - "Life of Song." Shain is named for my husband's grandmother Ida, who's Hebrew Name was Chaya (Life). Chaya/Chaim means Life. To Life, L'Chaim. Remember the famous Fiddler on the Roof song? We named him Shain, because he told us in a dream, before I got pregnant with my first Jaden. He literally told us that Baby Shain was coming after Baby Jaden, and at that point we were struggling so deeply with infertility, I didn't know that any babies would come at all. But the dream felt very real and gave us hope. When we woke up, I told my husband the dream and we immediately decided to spell it the way we do, which is sort a yiddish take on it, rather than Irish. Because Shain is "Beautiful/Darling" in Yiddish, and we came up with his name, Shain Jordan, that morning, long before any babies, and Jaden even entered the horizon. But when Shain was born, probably before even, we realized Chaim Shir was right, not just because of honoring Ida, with whom my husband was extremely close, but also for my grandmother Shirley, whose Hebrew name was probably her russian name, Sonya. So he is named for them both. So my husband was worried that his mother wouldn't like the name, because it wasn't close enough to Ida. She waited past our first baby to name for her mother. But when we told her, she had tears in her eyes. It was perfect. Because that's what she remembered her mother singing to her, her entire life. Shayna, Shayna, Shayna. And did she sing it at the Bris? (Public Jewish Circumcision Ritual) Why yes she did. Twice. That is the power of the dream.
So why am I suddenly telling you all this, on this Christmas Eve Morning? We are not skiing today and I am about to go into the shower, before my family heads to the Hickory House for Breakfast. Why am I telling you this? Well I really have no idea. I started with the name Shira, which I have always loved because I am a singer. And I began thinking about Shain and the miraculous situation about his name. Maybe because I am less stressed when I am on vacation, and have more time to muse. But as I was writing and thinking about my Darling Shain, and Chanukah, I am reflecting that he is almost 18, the age of the characters in this little YA thing. He is graduating from High School and heading to college, as we await to hear from another six schools. My kid who is charming and headstrong, and smart, and a little bit reactive and overly certain. Who is lovely and conversant and joyful and funny. Who has an extremely strong Jewish Identity and emulates wanting to be a role model. Who is classic middle child, and has grown into adulthood before my very eyes. My West Wing, Big Brother, Survivor kid. Who doesn't read books, but can improv and fake his way through anything. Who can talk a dog off a meat truck. Somehow I am thinking about him this morning. And maybe saying a little prayer for when all my three beautiful children fall in love for the first time. At least the older two. My youngest needs to finish Harry Potter Seven (we are in the middle), re-watch all the Marvel and DC movies, learn his Hebrew for June, raise his grades in history and math, and he still swears he will have a girlfriend before the older brothers. Ya Never Know.... We will have to see what 2023 holds. A Bar Mitzvah, a High School Graduation, and now two kids in college. Its kind of a momentous time for me. Very profound and emotional. So why am I telling you this? Perhaps I find it more interesting in the moment than Eight Nights of Flirting. Perhaps you caught me in a sentimental moment. Perhaps.... In any case, wishing everyone a beautiful Seventh Night of Chanukah and a Merry Christmas. Me we all be about Families and Love and Miracles and everything good that comes with light. May we continue to be lights to one another and to know there is a light within us. May tonight feel holy to everyone - and may we carry that feeling forth. With blessings and love to all, from our home to yours.
A Christmas Carol / The Chimes / The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens3 stars
This is the first time I read The Chimes that I can remember, but the other two novella length stories in this were rereads. Most people know the basics of A Christmas Carol, which I don't love or hate. I loathed The Chimes since it was so dark and then near the end (view spoiler). The Cricket in the Hearth is heartwarming, of course, but I can't say that I love it, either, so overall this collection is three stars.
Ballgowns & Butterflies / Kelley Armstrong4 stars
This is a novella to follow the first in the author’s series “A Stitch in Time”. (Possible spoilers for the first book - am marking them, but they are only spoilers if one hasn’t read the first book.) In this one, Bronwyn is back in England to spend Christmas with William. She is now 6 months pregnant, and exhausted, but is looking forward to the holidays with (view spoiler).
It was fun to “experience” the Victorian Christmas with Bronwyn. I also loved the cover! There were a few things that happened that will likely extend into the next book (though I’m sure it will be briefly explained there, too), so it was nice to see how those things happened, but I really liked the Christmas/holiday them of this one! (I actually don’t read very many Christmas-themed books.)
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L Frank Baum. 4 starsThis was a very old fashioned, but delightful origin story of Santa Claus. First published in 1902, the book tells of how Santa Claus came to be, along with reindeer and Christmas trees.
by Dakota Cassidy- 3 starsCheesy holiday paranormal cozy mystery set in a Christmas town in Maine. I loved the over the top Christmas theme with a dash of magic. The MC's grandmother is now a reindeer which was fantastic. The romance is a bit awkward as they get to know each other while investigating a murder in town and there are definitely some big secrets lurking there. The writing was only okay but I would consider trying another in the series.
I was beginning to think that I, the lover of all books Christmas, was not going to read a single book for December Flurries! I managed to swap one of the 2 reads needed to finish PS to a fiction book from a non-fiction (which turns out to fit a 2023 prompt quite well), so I found a little time to squeeze in one Christmas romance at least.There has not been a lot of reading time for me this December, alas.
Boxcar Christmas by Lindsay McKenna - 4 starsI wanted studly men and at least one hunky dog and Christmas, puppies if possible. This delivered! We meet Jesse, a vet suffering PTSD, as she stumbles upon a train caboose set on a concrete slab in the middle of a woodland meadown in the mountains of western Montana. She arranges to rent it in exchange for restoring it. Her landlord is a studly vet, Travis, also recovering from PTSD, who runs a tourist fishing business in the nearby town. We also have Freya, a survivor of a horrific car wreck several months earlier who has just given birth to a litter of border collie puppies in the woods. Freya, sensing a predator nearby, seeks a safer place for her pups, finding Jesse in her caboose, and of course finding safe haven there, under the most dramatic of circumstances. What follows is a healing journey for all culminating in the first of what we expect will be many family Christmases filled with love and joy.
I give it 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. While certain writing habits that irritate me in this author's contemporary work are present (though less than in some of her series), this truly delivered what I was looking for as a Christas Day read, and thus got rounded up rather than down.
A Cowboy Under the Mistletoe – Jessica Clare – 3***
This is the second book I’ve read in this series set in and around Painted Barrel, Wyoming. It is, of course, a holiday cowboy romance. Sage Cooper is the nicest gal in town but nobody’s girlfriend. Jason is a veteran of Afghanistan trying to run from his PTSD by working on a ranch (something he’s never done before). I’m sure you can guess the plot. It’s a fast read and there are the requisite hot-and-steamy sex scenes. Not to mention a great dog, Achilles.
LINK to my full review
Book Concierge wrote: " A Cowboy Under the Mistletoe
– Jessica Clare – 3***
This is the second book I’ve read in this series set in and around Painted Barrel, Wyoming..."
*perks up* a HUNKY dog?
Mistletoe and Murder by Carola Dunn – 3 StarsIn the eleventh book in this series, Daisy and Alec spend their first Christmas together as a married couple with some distant relatives. As ever, mayhem and murder follow Daisy around, and Alec is charged with investigating the murder. This was a very easy read, with a good setting and some plot twists, making this book something light to escape into.
Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan3 stars
Christmas is coming, it's mighty cold in that drafty lighthouse, and the engaged Polly and Huckle are 'skint', but nevertheless they are looking forward to a cozy holiday together. Alas, Huckle keeps talking about setting up the wedding date and then about having a baby which Polly just is too busy to contemplate. Their friends Kerensa and Reuben have their own drama that circles around them, though it has one of the funniest resolutions I've ever seen. Topping it off, Polly starts learning about the father she never knew and has to face her parents' history that has long been kept from her.
There is of course more incident and drama around the cast of characters. Written as the third in a trilogy set around Mount Polbourne and Little Beach Street Bakery, I found myself quite enjoying the trials and tribulations of Polly (whose real name is Pauline of course) and all her friends as the Christmas holidays approach, and the author brings it to a grand ending on New Years. I do have a major complaint however. Neil barely appears in this!😥 I❤Neil!
Note: checking FantasticFiction, it appears Colgan wrote a 4th set around Little Beach Street Bakery but centered on a new character. Maybe I'll check it out some day.
Two days to go in 2022 and I realized I had not read any Christmas books! So I found a short one.The Christmas Pig by J.K. Rowling
3 stars
This is a sweet little story about a boy and his beloved toy from childhood, Der Pig or DP. When DP is lost, Jack is determined to set out and find him, but help comes from an unexpected source - the Christmas Pig (CP), who was given to him as a replacement, has come alive on Christmas Eve and will accompany him to the Land of the Lost where they hope to find DP. But they must return by midnight or they won't be able to come back.
I liked this story, but I would have appreciated it more as a child. I loved the beginning, but when they get to the magic Land of the Lost Things, the pace kind of slowed for me. It picked up again at the end, where there was an unexpected twist, and concluded quite satisfyingly. A solid 3 stars.
A Copper Ridge Christmas by Maisey Yates
3 stars
It can't be December Flurries without at least one review of a Maisey Yates Christmas romance, one of NicoleR's favorite cheesy romance writers. It was a tough job, but having a suitable Yates sitting on my ebook TBR, I put on my readers and curled up to the job. This is for you, NicoleR.
I really thought I was reading a holiday Yates novela where the author did not fall back on her addiction to the 30 year old virgin trope coupled with the heroine having crushed on the hero since puberty, and ultimately desperate first sex on hardwood floors (ouch!). Alas, the crush trope appeared on page 1, the virgin trope on p.37 and the hardwood floor soon after. I mean at least put them on carpet!
However, this was actually one of the best Yates stories I have read, with the emotional journey of Holly and Ryan, two damaged foster kids who found love, support, and safety in the home of the same foster parents making the tropes work and far less ridiculous than usual in her work. Well, except for the hardwood floors. Holly also takes charge of her own destiny and even to some degree Ryan's. Plus the initial bickering of the two as she convinces him to help her with the surprise Christmas party for their foster parents was very sharp and amusing. At the end, I felt this was a couple who were meant to be with each other. And it had a very satisfying Christmas vibe to it.
The Honk and Holler Opening Soon by Billie Letts3.5 stars
The Honk and Holler Opening Soon was a pleasant read. It opens at Christmas at a small town cafe owned by a disabled Vietnam veteran. There is a lot going on in this cafe, where the majority of the story is set. Caney owns the cafe, Molly O works there, Vena shows up one day and starts working there, and a few days later Bui shows up and starts working there also. We spend a year with these people, through the ups and downs of life. The book touches on many of today's issues including abortion and racial prejudice. Overall, it's a good heartwarming story of family and friends.
Just managed to squeeze in one holiday book.Link to my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Twelve Deaths Of Christmas by Marian Babson
5 stars
I snuck in one more - a Christmas Cozy Mystery, a favorite reread, and both my final review and Flurry for 2022.
This is one of my favorite cozies and cycles through as a reread at Christmas frequently. Never disappoints.
It opens in the days counting down to Christmas, using the song but not for the days it was intended. It opens in the first person of an anonymous someone quite grumpy and irritable who has stopped in to see his/her lawyer on the spur of the moment after hours about something troubling. It is clear that whatever this troubling thing is, it deeply disturbs the lawyer far more than it does his client. The attorney makes the mistake of mentioning Broadmore and the police ... and something unfortunate happens though the narrator does not seem to assimilate the seriousness of what has happened; only mentions a bad headache...
Next chapter is in the 3rd person at a boarding house, and the pieces start to come together. Though we quickly learn that our perpetrator from Ch. 1 in fact resides in this boarding house, we have no idea which occupant it is.
And that is the brilliance of this work. Babson switches between the 1st person narrator perpetrator, and the residents at the boarding house as the days count down to Christmas and more unwitnessed inexplicable murders take place, and you have no idea which person in the boarding house is the murderer though you are watching them happen. Every time I read it, I am totally mystified at the beginning because the who is less important than the plot itself.
I remember how light and ironic and funny I thought this was the first time I read it in the late 1980s. When I reread it the first time a year later, I found it was still that, but also far darker and more disturbing than before. That too is a testament to Babson's writing and plotting and character building.
You will also never look at an Aerosol can of fake snow innocently again.
My Kind of Christmas – Robyn Carr – 1*
In Carr’s defense I have not read any of the previous books in this series (and this one is # 18). So, I had no background on the residents of Virgin River or their previous interactions / relationships. That made me feel a little lost. I didn’t think the relationship between Patrick and Angie made sense. She’s suffered a traumatic brain injury, he’s “in love” with his dead partner’s wife. But they are going to have great sex anyway. Puh-leeze. Plus, there was very little – if any – actual Christmas cheer evident. In the spirit of the season, I’ll grant it 1 star.
LINK to my full review
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The Winners (other topics)A Christmas Carol (other topics)
My Kind of Christmas (other topics)
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Marian Babson (other topics)Maisey Yates (other topics)
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