Christmas books Archives - Page 3 of 4

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: Christmas Book Reviews

Posted on October 3, 2020October 3, 2020 by Jaymie

I usually do a post in October about the Children’s Literature Festival in my area. But due to Covid concerns, it is not happening this year. Instead, I will be posting full reviews – all day – of some of the Christmas books releasing this fall.

I was fortunate to be granted access to several Christmas ARCs this year – far too many to fit into my Wednesday reviews of books for adults alongside the other ARCs I received. So instead of posting them on Wednesdays, you will get to read them all here today.

If you want to pop in periodically, the new posts will arrive every half hour, starting at 11:30 this morning, through 4pm this afternoon. Of course, you can always just come back after 4:00 and read them all.

Here are the books I’ll be reviewing, in order:

BONUS REVIEW: Recommended for You by Laura Silverman

Posted on September 3, 2020August 29, 2020 by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Shoshanna adores her job at the mall bookstore, Once Upon. Her boss is a mentor, and she loves her co-workers. And it’s a good thing she loves it because it’s the holiday season which means the mall is crazy busy, and she is working double shifts until Christmas.

Shoshanna needs those double shifts. Her car has become unreliable, and the repair is expensive. Her moms don’t have the money, and they are fighting enough already. She doesn’t want to add any stress to their household. But then her boss offers a holiday incentive. The person who sells to the most customers leading up to Christmas will earn a bonus. That extra money would go a long way toward helping her fix her car.

The biggest roadblock to Shoshanna’s success is the new guy, Jake. He doesn’t even read, except for things assigned at school! But he’s charming and clever, and customers like him. He’s bonded with Shoshanna’s work friends and leveraged technology to help him make recommendations. He is serious competition. In all of their interactions he has come across as a jerk to Shoshanna, so she is determined to beat him. She’ll get the money she needs AND show Jake that being a bookseller is about more than doing an online search.

Review

This was fun! I loved the bookstore pieces in this as well as Shoshanna’s enthusiasm about her work and about books/reading in general. The author does a good job of keeping Shoshanna endearing, even when she’s a bit much. There’s some immaturity at play, which makes sense for her age. In fact, it’s been awhile since I read a YA novel where the main character felt like a genuine teenager. Shoshanna really feels genuine. Here, she has a lot to learn about boundaries. She wants everyone to be happy, get along, and feel good about themselves, even if that means she meddles in things she shouldn’t. The other great thing about this is that Shoshanna learns from her mistakes. She is intentional about making different, better choices as the book goes on. She lets her failures instruct her for the future.

The bookstore pieces are balanced by the women in Shoshanna’s life and the problems they are experiencing. Shoshanna’s moms are fighting and it makes home feel unsettled and tense. Then, when Shoshanna alienates her best friends, she can’t even go home for comfort because things there are so on-edge. There are nice holiday pieces woven in, too – Hanukkah celebrations for Shoshanna and Jake as well as the Christmas festivities at the mall.

The romance here is sweet and gradual. It’s a low key enemies-to-lovers story. And in reality it’s probably more bickering-rivals-to-crushes, but the usual features of the trope are there. I warmed up to Jake pretty quickly and loved watching his relationship with Shoshanna thaw over time.

While the cover doesn’t show it, this is definitely a holiday story, so librarians and booksellers should keep this title in mind for holiday displays. Readers who love sweet teen romances, books about books and bookstores, and stories about personal growth should check this on out! (Some language, LGBTQ+)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥*

*♥♥♥♥=Great!

REVIEW: The Dating Charade by Melissa Ferguson

Posted on December 4, 2019December 4, 2019 by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

After a string of bad dates, Cassie is giving up on her dating app and the blind date scene. Her best friend is convinced the string of bad luck is because her dating profile says she doesn’t want kids. She actually does, but she physically can’t have them. And that has caused enough heartache all on its own. She can’t get attached to a guy and then find out it’s a deal breaker.

Jett can’t believe he found Cassie on that dating app. He had such a huge crush on her when she was a senior in high school. As a lowly freshman, she didn’t know he even existed. But now he has a chance to try again.

And they hit it off. They have a great first date. They exchange some flirty texts. And then, in a moment, everything changes. Each of them becomes the caretaker of three kids. And neither wants to tell the other and risk ruining the tender new relationship they had just started to explore. But the girls in Cassie’s care are in desperate need of love and stability. And Jett’s niece and nephews are traumatized after being abandoned. They have to prioritize the kids. But how long can they keep up the charade of being the same single people they were on their first date?

Review

This was great! I loved watching how these two single people were transformed when they became instant parents to three kids each. It was hard, but they also determined it was worth every struggle.

The end was a little abrupt, at least on Cassie’s side. We get no explanation of how things wrap up like they do. But I enjoyed the wrap up and the epilogue.

I expected more Christian content since this is published by Thomas Nelson, but other than an extended scene at church, there aren’t really any faith pieces to this.

Expectations are a BIG deal when it comes to this book. The publicity materials sell this as a “romantic comedy.” I did not find that to be true at all. Jett and Cassie barely spend any time together before the arrival of the kids, and even less after. It’s almost like the romantic relationship is based on imagination and potential rather than reality. Thankfully the epilogue takes place a year later so I could tell myself they had a real foundation by then. But there’s not a lot of romance happening in the story. I also didn’t find it especially funny. I thought of it as a Christmas story, and in that regard, I was satisfied. This situation is fascinating. I would have liked more obvious treatment for the girls in Cassie’s care and more discipline and boundaries for Jett’s three. But I enjoyed the story for what it was – a story of two adults who let the unexpected upend their lives for the sake of kids who need them.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: Holiday Books for 2019

Posted on November 2, 2019October 15, 2019 by Jaymie

Publishers start releasing holiday books in earnest come September, so by now readers have a lot to choose from. I burned myself out on too much Christmas, too soon last year, so I am trying to be more judicious in my early celebrating. But now that it’s November, it’s time to go all in. Here are some of the holiday books that have released this season!

Holiday Books for Kids

Holiday Books for Adults – Mystery

Holiday Books for Adults – Romance

Holiday Books for Adults – Nonfiction

REVIEW: 10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston

Posted on October 10, 2019October 3, 2019 by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Disney-Hyperion in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Sophie is happy to let her parents leave town for Christmas to go help her pregnant older sister. She’ll spend the holiday with her grandparents and large extended family. In fact, she’ll be heading there after her parents leave. Although maybe not as quickly as they assume.

Sophie is hoping to spend a few hours with her boyfriend, Griffin, before going to her grandparents. This is a perfect time for them to have quality alone time. If only she can find him! He doesn’t answer his phone when she first calls. Sophie finally finds him at a party. And overhears him say he was glad when he thought she would be gone for Christmas break because he thinks he wants to break up with her.

Sophie is devastated. She cries most of the way to her grandparents’ house. And she tells her Nonna all about it. By the next day, her whole extended family knows. and before the humiliation even sets in, her grandmother has gotten the bright idea to have the family set her up on some blind dates over the holiday to help her shake off this bad break up. The humiliation knows no end!

Review

A delight from start to finish! This is now the book I am telling everyone about. I absolutely adored this. The premise is fantastic and funny. Sophie’s extended family is a hoot with all these blind dates. I loved the four main characters as well as the larger, quirky crew. The family pieces of this – Sophie’s sister’s complicated pregnancy, checking in with her parents who were several hours away during the story, etc. – were a great B-story to complement the blind date/break up part of the book.

I laughed SO MUCH with this! The blind dates, the family betting, the social media sharing and so many other things. I didn’t want the reading experience to end because it was so fun! I will definitely be buying my own copy of this and reading it again. I would personally pair this with Prince in Disguise for two fantastic, funny holiday romcoms.

I can’t recommend this highly enough. Don’t miss this one! (One of the dates may be on the risque side for younger readers.)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

BONUS REVIEW: Dachshund Through the Snow by David Rosenfelt

Posted on October 9, 2019October 9, 2019 by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy from Netgalley and Minotaur Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Fourteen years ago, Kristen McNeil was killed. She was a young woman – 18 – and her body was found by a rundown stadium. While she had DNA under her fingernails, the police couldn’t find a match. Until now.

Andy Carpenter’s wife, Laurie, is a huge fan of Christmas. One of her favorite parts is claiming Christmas wishes for families in their community and using Andy’s considerable wealth to meet them. This year she pulls a tag for a boy named Danny. Laurie is happy to provide everything he asks for – a coat for his mom, and a sweater for his dachshund, Murphy. But Danny also asks Santa to bring his dad home. As an investigator, Laurie’s the perfect person to find Noah Traynor. Except Danny’s mom acts like she doesn’t want him found.

Noah Traynor has been hiding in a motel, but it’s only a matter of time until the police find him. His brother just had to do one of those DNA kits. Once the results are uploaded, they are fair game for law enforcement. While Noah didn’t kill Kristen, he knows his DNA would have been at the scene because he had been there with her that night.

Once Noah is arrested, Andy’s on the case. Danny’s Christmas wish is to have his dad home – and Laurie’s going to make sure they do everything they can to make that happen!

Review

This was delightful! My favorite characters, a holiday story, an excellent mystery, and several adorable dogs. What’s not to love?!

Andy is in great form in this book. The dry humor was excellent. The author even gets a mention in the book, which was a hoot. The legal support team plays a smaller role in this book, but they all get equal time compared to one another, except of course for Laurie. There are a couple new characters who figured prominently in this one – not the Traynors, but other characters – that I loved! Those characters and their role in this book sets the stage for Rosenfelt’s spin-off series/book, The K Team, coming in 2020.

The mystery in this was fantastic. There was no organized crime angle like in many of the previous books, so this felt fresh. And my guess for the solution was off base all the way to the end. The wrap up was clever, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the twists and turns.

It was a Christmas book that introduced me to the Andy Carpenter series three years ago (The Twelve Dogs of Christmas, Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥), and they are among my favorites in the series. If you haven’t read an Andy Carpenter book before, give this one a try. It’s book 20 in the series, but the Christmas books seem especially new-reader-friendly to me. I don’t think a newcomer would have any trouble following the main action of this book. Of course, series fans should definitely not miss this one!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

REVIEW: Coming Home for Christmas by Rae Anne Thayne

Posted on October 2, 2019October 2, 2019 by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Harlequin in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Seven years ago, consumed by unresolved grief and deep postpartum depression, Elizabeth fled from her home and her family, convinced it was the only way to protect them. She didn’t intend to disappear. In fact, within hours, her head had cleared enough that she wanted to go home and find real help. But a patch of ice on a quiet road changed everything.

Luke had mostly convinced himself that Elizabeth was dead. As depressed as she was, she likely took her own life. But he still held onto a shred of hope that some day she would come back home.

Luke endured years of whispers and outright accusations that he murdered Elizabeth. And the new town DA had decided to make her job permanent by filing charges against him. But Luke’s sister’s fiancé has found her. And Luke can’t afford to let her stay in hiding when his life is on the line. So he’s going to get Elizabeth, bring her home to clear his name, and send her back so he can finally move on with his life.

Review

This is a warm holiday story – Book 10 in the Haven Point series – to help you get in the mood for Christmas.

The dynamics between Luke and Elizabeth are complicated. It’s been 7 years – that’s a long time to wonder where she’s been. People in town have been cruel, assuming Luke must have hurt her. She left without a word or a note. He has every right to be angry. I found his part of the story completely believable.

I’m not sure the book made a convincing argument for why Elizabeth stayed gone after her memory returned. She snuck back into town to see the kids, so she obviously wanted a connection. (The book also didn’t satisfy my questions about how she would know WHEN exactly to come back to see the kids in their events. She lived in another state and had no contact with anyone from her old life.) Readers are expected to settle for the idea that she felt too much had happened for her to go back. I wasn’t convinced.

I thought the kids reactions were pretty realistic. And the depictions of Elizabeth’s condition after the accident were also handled well. I didn’t fall in love with any of these characters, though, so I never fell under the magic of the holiday or romantic parts of the story. It’s a solid Christmas tale with an interesting premise and a Happy For Now ending that many readers will enjoy. (Some language)

Rating: ♥♥♥½

REVIEW: 2018 Christmas Books

Posted on November 23, 2018November 9, 2018 by Jaymie

Last year I did a list of Christmas book reviews, and that seems like a good idea for this year, too. I am pretty far backlogged on reviews, so unless a Christmas book is something I am reviewing for a publisher (like this one and this one and this one), I have a hard time squeezing in reviews. So here are the Christmas books I have read so far this season and what I thought of them! You can see last year’s post here.

Santa Bruce – This is the only Christmas book I have read for kids so far. It was adorable! I love the Bruce books! Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

Catching Christmas – A first year law associate and a cab driver connect over a wheelchair-bound old lady who is on the hunt for a date for her granddaughter. Overall this was cute, but I didn’t click with the characters. Other readers, especially fans of the author’s other work, might enjoy this one more than I did. Rating: ♥♥♥½

The Christmas Remedy – A young Amish woman runs into issues when she tries to help her community recognize how important it is to value their health and wellness, and the pharmacy that serves the community comes under fire. You can read a full summary and review here. I will say that this book ends at Christmas, but a lot of the action happens in the months leading up to the holiday. Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

The Christmas Star – A girl in foster care plays matchmaker for an after-school program volunteer. This is a sweet Christmas story with lots of heart. There’s not a lot of conflict or suspense in this one – just a touching Christmas tale. I read one of the other books in this series a couple years ago and loved it. Now I make a habit of looking for a new Christmas book from this author. You can read my review of the other book here. Rating: ♥♥♥♥

Dear Santa – You’ve Got Mail with a Christmas twist. A woman running her family’s Christmas shop writes to Santa through an app about the national chain that has come to town, not knowing that the guy from the chain is the one answering the Dear Santa letters. This is another story without a ton of conflict or tension – just a nice holiday story to help you enjoy the season! Rating: ♥♥♥♥

Deck the Hounds – The first Andy Carpenter book I ever read was a Christmas one – The Twelve Dogs of Christmas – and it launched me into a frantic quest to read every book in the series. The second Christmas tale in the series is just as enjoyable. Everything I love about the series as a whole. In this book, Andy and his wife get more than they bargained for when they reach out at the holidays to help a homeless man and his dog. Rating: ♥♥♥♥

In Peppermint Peril – A woman home for the holidays finds murder at a stately manor where she played as a child. This is the first in a new mystery series. You can read a full summary and review here next Wednesday. Rating: ♥♥♥♥

Lark! The Herald Angels Sing – Meg’s brother, Rob, is named as the father of an unknown baby left in the manger at their church’s live Nativity. For me, this was the quintessential Meg Langslow mystery – it has all the family and town antics that I love as well as a first rate mystery. (This time the mystery focuses less on a murder, which happens off the page, and more on the fall out from it. It’s a fascinating story!) Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

Murder in Her Stocking – First in the new Granny Reid Mystery series, a spin off of G. A. McKevett’s Savannah Reid/Moonlight Magnolia series. This one goes back to when Savannah was a kid and Granny looked into a murder at Christmas time. I loved seeing Savannah as a 12 year old and see how the personalities of her siblings were already on display at a young age. I think readers will enjoy this more if they are already familiar with the characters from the original series. Rating: ♥♥♥♥

The Peppermint Mocha Murder – A chocolatier/”chocolate whisperer” heads out on vacation for the holidays and finds murder at a holiday musical production. I’ve only read the first book in this series, and then this one, so the relationships aren’t quite solid in my head for this series, yet, but the mystery was good. Rating: ♥♥♥♥

Premeditated Peppermint – Another chocolatier finds herself investigating a murder when her ex comes to town to do a show on her family candy shop and his producer winds up dead. I enjoyed the mystery in this one, and the characters are always a treat for me in this series. I’ll be writing up a more detailed review of this in December. Rating: ♥♥♥♥

Six Cats a Slayin’ – Someone leaves a set of kittens on Charlie’s door and a murderer hits the neighborhood as well. You can read a full summary and review here. This is probably my new favorite book in this delightful series. Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

‘Twas the Knife Before Christmas – In the midst of Christmas celebrations on the tree farm, a woman’s best friend is accused of killing a sleazy guy she dated one time. This is book 2 in this series and I have loved both of the books. The characters and the setting for this mystery series are first rate. You can read a full summary and review here. Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: ‘Twas the Knife Before Christmas by Jacqueline Frost

Posted on November 14, 2018October 6, 2021 by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

While Holly’s loved her life growing up in Mistletoe, Maine on her family’s Christmas tree farm, Reindeer Games, her best friend Caroline’s life in town has always been more complicated. Holly grew up enjoying the freedom of her family’s property. Caroline is the mayor’s daughter. Her life has been a series of lectures and expectations and obligations. The most recent was the event she had to attend with Judge Waggoner’s son, Derek. She didn’t want to go in the first place, and then he tried to get a little too familiar. The video of her telling him off went viral and news hit the front page of the paper. The only bigger news came 24 hours later when Derek was found dead.

Holly remembers how dangerous last Christmas was when she was on the hunt for a killer. Even if she could forget, her family and friends won’t let her. She’s been told to stay away from this investigation. But when the evidence stacks up against Caroline, and someone leaves Holly threatening notes to leave it be, Holly is convinced she has to get to the truth for Caroline’s sake – and her own.

Review

I fell in love with this series last year, and book two has lived up to the excellence of the first one. I adore the fictional Mistletoe, Maine! What a terrific setting! The town shops sound delightful, and I love the activities at Reindeer Games. I’m excited about the changes happening at the Christmas tree farm for Holly’s family – they add lots of avenues for new stories in the future.

Holly and her family and friends are people I’d love to know in real life. I chuckled many times at the conversations between the characters. Cookie is a hoot, and I loved the interplay between Holly and Ray as well as Holly and Caroline. The author added a nice wrinkle to Holly’s relationship with the sheriff that may extend into the next book.

The mystery was excellent! Lots of juicy gossip led to several viable suspects. There was a lot more danger for Holly in this book. This added a layer of suspense to the whole story that I don’t often find in cozy mysteries. It made for a great reading experience. There’s also a touch of Christmas magic in this one that I loved.

I highly recommend both books in this Christmas mystery series! Excellent characters and well-crafted mysteries make for an enjoyable reading experience and help set the mood for Christmas!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: Holiday Books for 2018

Posted on November 3, 2018October 9, 2018 by Jaymie

I love digging into holiday books at this time of year. Hallmark has already started showing Christmas movies. I’ve been buying presents since September. It’s time to get my Christmas on! Here are some of the holiday books releasing this year.