Review | All I want for Christmas by Claudia Carroll

Title: All I want for Christmas
Author: Claudia Carroll
Genre: Romance, Women’s Fiction, Chick Lit, Short Story
Publishing date: 25th November, 2014
Published by: Avon
Pages: 21
My Rating: 2/5 stars  

 

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Synopsis:

Christmas with the one you love. It’s going to be perfect … isn’t it?

Three couples. Three Christmases. One perfect day!

In three days Lucy and Andrew will to fly to Mexico for their beautiful wedding. What’s a twenty-year age gap when you’re this in love? Christmas dinner feels like the perfect occasion to introduce the two families to each other. What could possibly go wrong?

Workaholic Jo Hargreaves spends most of her Christmas day wondering where her unreliable new husband is.

Dawn and Kirk spend hours slaving over a mung-bean based vegan festive lunch – but Dawn’s mum is struggling to keep her true feeling to herself.

Can these three couples manage the magical Christmas they’ve been dreaming of?

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My Take:

It’s a quick and easy read. The summary is very intriguing. I was really looking forward to reading it. What I didn’t realize was that this was a prequel to another book- Love me or Leave me.

So, we get a glimpse of all the three stories, the Christmas time in the lives of these 3 couples. As prequels go this book did the job right of building the excitement for the actual book. 😀

I really want to know where the stories go. All the couples visit the first ever divorce hotel in the book Love me or Leave me. That’s interesting! 😀

A proper disclaimer about this being a prequel, actually teaser, should have been given. It was a huge disappointment on that part but then again it wasn’t that long so it was okay.

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Why would I pick it up?

To build up excitement if I was reading the actual book.

 

Review | A Cowboy For Christmas by Jennie Marts

Title: A Cowboy For Christmas (Page Turners #3.5)
Author: Jennie Marts
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Short Stories
Publishing date: 1st December, 2014
Published by: CreateSpace
Pages: 71
My Rating: 3/5 stars  

 

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Synopsis:

Holly Adams returns to her hometown with a simple to-do list from her therapist: 1) Return to your roots, 2) Face your fears, and 3) Listen to your heart. But Holly hasn’t been back since a tragic accident claimed the life of her young husband. Returning home is one thing. Facing her fears and giving her bruised heart a voice are quite another. Cowboy Levi Garrett remembers Holly as the brazen girl who once stole a kiss at a high school party, and barely recognizes the heartbroken young widow who ends up stranded at his ranch on Christmas Eve. All he wants is to remind Holly of the fearless girl she used to be. It’s holiday magic when a winter storm traps the pair together, but will Holly be able to hear her heart when it asks for a Cowboy for Christmas?

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My Take:

A perfect holiday read! ❤

Light and heart touching. The reading is light but the emotions are not. You will feel deep emotions as you keep proceeding. You can feel Holly’s grief, her struggle with moving on, her efforts in trying to move on, her inner self giving her strength when she tries to chicken out, you can feel her defenses weakening, you can feel her falling in love with Levi, you can feel her fear for what she is feeling, you can feel her hesitance, in short you can feel a lot of things in this book.

Levi is such a sweet character. If it wasn’t for Levi, Holly might not have been able to accomplish the list her therapist gave her. Sure, she returned to her hometown, ticking off the first thing in the list. The second thing is facing her fears, she has a fear of horses because her husband died riding one. Levi helps her get over it. He is so patient with Holly that you can’t help liking him. With the second thing ticked off there’s only one thing  left on the list.

Listening to her heart. Will Levi help her achieve that. Him being sexy is a great help along with being a nice person.

“What was it about guys in jeans and cowboy boots.”

I enjoyed reading this book. The writing is simple and it compliments with all the feelings in the story. Overcoming the fears, getting a grip of yourself, learning to deal with grief and moving on, falling in love…

She remembered the Barista asking her what she wanted for Christmas.Would a cowboy be too much to ask for?

A little co-incidental magic seals the deal. 😉 Some predictable proceedings help set the plot but it still plays out beautifully. ❤ 🙂

“It’s a special bell. It’s got Christmas magic. You can only hear it when you listen with your heart.”

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Why would I pick it up?

For all the feels! 😉 😛

Review | What’s for Thanksgiving Dinner? by Sally Huss

Title: What’s for Thanksgiving Dinner?
Author: Sally Huss
Genre: Children’s Fiction
Publishing date: 4th November, 2014
Published by: Huss Publishing
Pages: 50
My Rating: 4/5 stars  

 

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Synopsis:

In this book you’ll meet several fine-feathered folks (a duck, a goose, and a turkey) who, after some tricky beginnings, become friends. With amusing rhyming verse to tell the story, the point gets across… that anyone can become a friend. This story is one to tickle the heart of any child, and subtly spark the spirit of gratitude within them. It emphasizes the importance of being thankful.

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My Take:

It is a well written book- beautiful with lots of illustration, easy and rhyming verses. 😀 Everything required to hold a child’s attention. 😉

This is a tale of making friends. Well, this is kind of an awkward way to make friends but this also teaches that something good can come out of every situation.

This book follows the story of three species of fine-feathered folks who plan on making each other their thanksgiving dinner. It takes understanding and kindness on their part to agree to not eat each other and decide on a meal that they all can have without having to kill each other, which is a pumpkin pie.

This book teaches thoughtfulness, togetherness, and problem resolution and most important, it teaches to be thankful. 🙂

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Why would I pick it up?

 

For the rhyming verses and pretty pictures! 😀

 

Review | Rainy Days by Grant Hudson

Title: Rainy Days
Author: Grant Hudson
Genre: Fiction, Short Story
Publishing date: 18th June, 2014
Published by: Lulu.com
Pages: 11
My Rating: 3/5 stars  

 

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Synopsis:

John and Abigail are standing in the rain under an umbrella. The rain reminds him of the day they met.

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My Take:

Memories can be triggered by any and everything. We associate memories with things surrounding the memory.

This book works around that logic. It’s raining, John and Abigail are sharing an umbrella. The rain brings back memories for John. He goes into flashback about the day he met Abigail. ❤ ❤

Rain sure is something that I enjoy! ❤ ❤ It’s a memory, beautiful and romantic thing to be reminded of in rain. 😀

This is a beautiful short book about reliving a memory in it’s simplicity. 😀 😀

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Why would I pick it up?

Rain and a quick read? Yes please! 😛

Review | Making Room at Christmas by Olivia Stowe

Title:  Making Room at Christmas (A Charlotte Diamond Mysteries Special)
Author: Olivia Stowe
Genre: Fiction, Short Story
Publishing date: 2012
Published by: CyberWorld
Pages: 12
My Rating: 2/5 stars  

 

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Synopsis:

Charlotte and Brenda are now facing their second Christmas together. Last year’s Christmas and New Year were spent on a Rhine River cruise with Charlotte’s doctor brother and his minster wife, as told in An Inconvenient Death, but this year the pair are off to a mountain retreat so Brenda can promote a film to movie financiers. Of course all is not smooth sailing for the pair in this small Christmas gift from Olivia.

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My Take:

This is a sweet little tale wound around the spirit of Christmas. Brenda and Charlotte along with two other travelers are snowbound en route to a mountain lodge and have to take cover in a B&B.

This is a short and simple read that ends with a wedding. Despite of being so short you can still connect with the characters the best a short story can allow.

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Why would I pick it up?

For a quick read. 😀

Review | Chasing Nathan by Jeanette Hubbard

 

Title: Chasing Nathan
Author: Jeanette Hubbard
Genre: Women’s Fiction, Mystery &Thrillers
Publisher: Promontory Press
Publishing date: 7th June, 2016
Pages: 192
My Rating: 3/5 stars

 

*e-copy received from the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

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Synopsis:

Jeanette Hubbard’s humorous style of suspense writing has been compared to Carl Hiaasen and Janet Evanovich. In this quirky follow-up novel, a chance encounter in a remote forest campground plunges plucky retiree Claudie O’Brien into a vortex of crime, kidnapping, and a marijuana hijacking. A pleasant dinner with Nathan, the gentleman at the next campsite, is disrupted by the arrival of a very loud and a very angry young man. The next morning both Nathan and the man are gone, but Claudie suspects something is not right. No one believes her when she tells them that Nathan might be in danger. It’s up to Claudie to connect the dots and find out why Nathan disappeared in the middle of the night.

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My Take:

I started the book late at night deciding to read only 2 chapters before going to bed but I ended up reading THE WHOLE BOOK!

The reason being the easy paced writing. Perfect for even when you are tired and sleepy. 😀 It being only 192 pages was helpful too. 😛

I don’t remember reading many novels where the main characters were in their senior years. So, this was a refreshing and fun read in that sense. I was a bit worried in the start because I wasn’t sure if I would like reading a senior point of view but I really did enjoy it. It was a bit slow in the start but then it just all got together and I couldn’t keep the book down.

Both the main characters Claudie and Nathan somehow get involved in a dope deal gone wrong situation. Again their age kinda sets the tone for the book for me because all they wanted to do was have a nice time camping. They were too, until Hammer came up and parked near them at the campground. The thugs are not the brightest bulbs and their decisions are stupid and actions comical.

Nathan ends up being kidnapped. When Claudie finds him missing, she suspects foul play and sets out for help, not before taking in a poor canine and befriending him who in turn makes the thugs chase Claudie.

As the new characters were added the story kept on getting more and more interesting and the reading became more easier which is always a plus. 😀 As I read this book when I was sleepy I didn’t mark out anything to share with you guys but you can always read it and see for yourself, right?

This is surely a different plotline and I loved it for that. ❤ The short read and easy pace, good narrative, the touch of humor, growing feelings, the drama and mystery tied up the book in a nice, lovely bundle of read. 😀 😀

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Why would I pick it up?

For a quick read with an unexpected character base and plotline. 😀