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Review: Miracle on 5th Avenue

12/29/2017

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Miracle on 5th Avenue
by Sarah Morgan

Synopsis

​It will take a Christmas miracle for two very different souls to find each other in this perfectly festive fairy tale of New York! 


Hopeless romantic Eva Jordan loves everything about Christmas. She might be spending the holidays alone this year, but when she's given an opportunity to house-sit a spectacular penthouse on Fifth Avenue, she leaps at the chance. What better place to celebrate than in snow-kissed Manhattan? What she didn't expect was to find the penthouse still occupied by its gorgeous—and mysterious—owner. 

Bestselling crime writer Lucas Blade is having the nightmare before Christmas. With a deadline and the anniversary of his wife's death looming, he's isolated himself in his penthouse with only his grief for company. He wants no interruptions, no decorations and he certainly doesn't appreciate being distracted by his beautiful, bubbly new housekeeper. But when the blizzard of the century leaves Eva snowbound in his apartment, Lucas starts to open up to the magic she brings…This Christmas, is Lucas finally ready to trust that happily-ever-afters do exist?

Review

This is my first Sarah Morgan book, and it most definitely is not my last! In fact, I've already bought another one of hers to read. Her writing flows so naturally, and I found myself caring about and loving her characters. 

Eva is a "hopeless" romantic who loves Christmas and believes the best in people. She lost her grandmother the previous year, and it's made her a bit more introverted, and sad. She's determined to change that this Christmas, however. She's been hired to decorate one of her client's grandson's apartments for Christmas. He's supposed to be away for the weekend...

Or is he?

Lucas is a crime fiction writer and he's having trouble coming up with material for his new book (that was due, like, yesterday). He's having trouble writing - much of it having to do with the Christmas season, and the fact that the anniversary of his wife's death is coming up. It's been three years, and Lucas is only getting more isolated. 

Eva is a beautiful character who truly cares about others, and wants to find who she is again. The person who enjoys Christmas and believes in love. Lucas is infuriatingly wonderful. He has trouble seeing life from the bright side, and is perplexed by Eva's sunny attitude. These characters are quite different from each other, but they complement each other so well. 

This book is a cozy read - parts of it hurt because there's something about the holidays that can be sad. Just like Eva, however, there is definitely a silver lining. It's about moving forward, and pushing toward something we need, and want. Something that helps us be who we are. That's the meaning I got from this book. I'm curious to see what others may think.

I know Christmas has passed, but this is definitely a read I suggest you pick up, regardless. 

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Review: The 12 Dares of Christmas

12/31/2016

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The 12 Dares of Christmas
by Leigh W. Stuart

Synopsis

Lauren Hall has one wish for Christmas this year—raise money to build a new, no-kill animal shelter for the town of Sycamore Cove. And she is prepared to do anything to make it happen. Even dare a man she just met to perform a strip tease for the local knitting society.

Gabe Nicholson has one wish too—obtain the job of a lifetime to launch his career. Only his wishes get snowballed when his best friend's little sister hands him a pair of stripper pants and a bottle of eggnog-flavored body oil.

It’s all sugar plums and mistletoe until a scandal caused by Lauren’s fundraiser threatens to ruin it all. With Gabe's work opportunities disappearing before his eyes and Lauren's fundraising efforts tanking, their game of dares stands to burn them both. Unless it ignites a spark of Christmas magic.

Review

Yes, technically the Christmas season is over - but as long as my Christmas tree is up (usually until January 6), I'm counting it!

As any reader of the site should know by now, I am a sucker for a holiday romance. 12 Dares definitely had its moments where it was hot and steamy, and others when it was funny, but it still left a lot to be desired. 

Lauren is a sweet heroine - working her butt off to help the local animal shelter (even though...well, I'll let you read that part). Gabe is lovely for helping her out, even though he wasn't sure what he was going to do in order to help her (bless him). And together they make a cute couple. Add in the problem that Gabe is Lauren's older brother's close friends - and you have your friction. But, even with all that, I still could not fully muster enough energy to care about these two characters. Not really. They left me feeling a bit bland about it.

To be honest, the insta-love is really getting to me. This may be why I'm taking a little break from the romance genre. Not for long, mind you, because I love it.

Back to the book - if you want a HEA (happily ever after) steamy romance surrounding Christmas, you'll like this.
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Review: More Than Friends

12/12/2016

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More Than Friends
by Jody Holford

Synopisis

​Owen Burnett planned on a quiet, easygoing Christmas, hanging out with his best friend and neighbor, Gabby Michaelson. So when his mom pressures him to come home for the holidays, he tells a little white lie...that he’s spending the holidays with his new girlfriend. But when his family shows up unexpectedly, Owen pulls the best friend card and asks Gabby to play his fake girlfriend. 

Gabby’s been hopelessly in love with her best friend Owen for what feels like forever, but playing his "fake" girlfriend when the entire boisterous Burnett clan visits is easier said than done. The more she tries to deny the attraction between them, the more obvious their chemistry becomes. But even though she's not the only one feeling it, putting their friendship on the line is a risk she can’t take.

Review

I will tell you that one thing that usually makes me stray away from a book is if I learn it has a friends-to-lovers theme. I am more likely to want to read an enemies-to-lovers story. I don't know what that says about me. Let's move on.

This story is a friends-to-lovers, and its a Christmas story *sigh* It's everything youd expect: cheesy, sweet, and all things Christmassy. Gabby is in love with her neighbor/best friend, Owen, and then one day he asks her to be his pretend-girlfriend because his family is visiting - and well, maybe you can guess the rest. 

Because it is a story that we can guess at and probably be right, I appreciated that the story went to the point right away. After that, there was always something happening, and because the author included dual POVs (yay!), we were able understand this couple a lot easier than other enigmatic "will-they-won't-they" stories. This was something I appreciated in a quick Christmas read. 

Also - I loved the family in this book. Owen's family is warm and inviting, while also being realistic when shit goes down. That's all I'm gonna say. 

This book took me a couple to a few hours to read - it was fast, and enjoyable for the season!

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Review: Kiss Me for Christmas

12/5/2016

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Kiss Me for Christmas
by Christine Bell, Ros Clarke, and Faye Robertson




    Review

    This collection consists of three romantic comedies, and here are the mini reviews for each.

    Little White Lie by Christine Bell
    Leah Latrelle has been crushing on her co-worker Mick Kilpatrick for awhile now, and she's been able to hide the attraction so far...except for the little white lie she told her family. In order to Leah's family not to worry about her, she said she was dating Mick. She would have been able to get away with it, except that now it's the holidays, and her family wants to meet the famous Mick. To Leah's surprise, Mick isn't opposed to playing her boyfriend while her parents are in town. 

    This was a sweet story about what it means to be happy, and allowing ourselves to be happy. Also - catnip (misunderstandings, fake relationships, etc.).

    All I Want for Christmas by Ros Clarke
    Anna is having a bad "morning after" the company Christmas party. Yet again, she had a little too much to drink, and yet again, she might have gotten a little to comfortable singing karaoke. More specifically, singing All I Want for Christmas is You to Hugh, a fellow co-worker. And if that weren't bad enough, her solo was followed up by a kiss with said co-worker (again). But Hugh decides he's not going to let Anna get away from him this time. He wants to know why she keeps denying her attraction, and why she keeps rejecting him. But soon Hugh is going to understand that Anna's reasons are a lot more complicated than he expects.

    This is by far my favorite romance short story in this collection. It could very easily be made into a feature length novel in my opinion. Anna is a sweet, strong, and hardworking woman, and Hugh is a strong, and understanding man. I loved that she wasn't playing hard to get with him, and that he wanted to help her. I don't want to give away what Anna's reasons are, but what I do want to say is that I loved, and appreciated that Hugh could have tried to convince Anna of getting something done...but decided that wasn't what love was. Hugh decided that love is knowing something may be difficult, but doing it anyway because of the person you love. 

    Holly's First Noel by Faye Robertson
    Holly is a teacher who gets a very unfortunate phone call from her boyfriend while at work - turns out he wants to break up with her right before Christmas! Holly finds herself crying in the closet in her classroom, and finds the next door teacher, Noel, has stepped in to help out with her class. They aren't close friends, not at all, just colleagues that can't seem to be anything less than awkward around each other.

    Feeling sorry for the turn of events, Noel, who is a bit lonely himself, decides to invite Holly out for a cup of coffee during lunch. An invitation for coffee soon turns into an invitation for Holly to spend Christmas with Noel...as friends, of course. 

    This was a truly cute and Christmas-y story. Holly is a great protagonist in that, she's awkward and odd, in a totally endearing way. Noel is sweet, and thoughtful. It is a far-fetch story, but a magical one. 
    ​


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    Review: The Trouble with Mistletoe

    11/26/2016

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    The Trouble with Mistletoe
    by Jill Shalvis

    Synopsis

    If she has her way . . .

    Willa Davis is wrangling puppies when Keane Winters stalks into her pet shop with frustration in his chocolate-brown eyes and a pink bedazzled cat carrier in his hand. He needs a kitty sitter, stat. But the last thing Willa needs is to rescue a guy who doesn’t even remember her . . .

    He’ll get nothing but coal in his stocking.

    Saddled with his great-aunt’s Feline from Hell, Keane is desperate to leave her in someone else’s capable hands. But in spite of the fact that he’s sure he’s never seen the drop-dead-gorgeous pet shop owner before, she seems to be mad at him . . .

    Unless he tempers “naughty” with a special kind of nice . . .
    ​

    Willa can’t deny that Keane’s changed since high school: he’s less arrogant, for one thing—but can she trust him not to break her heart again? It’s time to throw a coin in the fountain, make a Christmas wish—and let the mistletoe do its work . . .

    Review

    Goodness me, how I love holiday romance novels. This was my first read by Jill Shalvis; I was encouraged to try one of her books when I listened to an interview of her by Smart Bitches Trashy Books's Sarah Wendell (if you are a fan of romance reads, you need to check out this website and podcast). Shalvis sounded down to earth, and her books sounded like the sweet contemporaries that I enjoy. So, when I saw that she had a holiday romance out, I could not resist. 

    The Trouble with Mistletoe is a contemporary story about Willa and Keane. Willa knew Keane back when she was a new student at their high school. With a leap of faith, Willa invited Keane to the Sadie Hawkins dance back then, only to be stood up by the popular jock. Fast forward to the present, and Willa is the owner of the town's popular pet supply shop, and Keane is the local house flipper. Their paths cross when Keane is looking for a cat sitter for the day - except Keane does not recognize Willa. He does, however, notice the prettiness of her green eyes, and the strawberry blonde hair. 

                                                ***some spoilers ahead***
    Aside from this story revolving around Christmas time, what I thought was novel about it was that Willa, as loving, and caring as she is, is the one that has difficulties with commitment. Not because she doesn't believe in it, or would rather "play the field," but because she's been disappointed before - by family, and men she's dated. Willa is cautious, and she panics about having "feelings." It was refreshing to read about real emotions that included anxiety. 

    Keane also broke the mold that I'm used to when it comes to romance leading men. He starts off as the "usual" guy in these books with not wanting commitment, but as the story progresses, he realizes that the idea of commitment doesn't sound so scary when it's with someone special. But we also see Keane slowly adjust to commitment in other areas in his life, like his home, and with Petunia (a cat). I really enjoyed the development of both of these characters.

    Due to this being a holiday read, it does move rather quickly (a few weeks?), but I'm willing to overlook that because it's a romance story, and....CHRISTMAS!

    Plus - no outrageousness :D I'll let you fill in the blanks with that one. 

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