Tag: Christmas books

Book Review: Yuletide Bride (Regency Christmas Brides) by Kasey Stockton

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 245 pages
Author: Kasey Stockton
Publisher: Golden Owl Press
Release Date: November 18th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

When a marriage of convenience becomes inconveniently complicated…

Mercy Caldwell, the vicar’s eldest daughter, has watched her younger sisters march down the aisle while she remains resolutely on the shelf. When a chance at matrimony arrives mere hours after her youngest sister’s engagement, Mercy seizes the opportunity—and the man she’s secretly admired for years.

Colin Birchall’s grand estate is crumbling, and his aunt’s generous inheritance comes with one he must be married by Twelfth Night. In Mercy, he finds the perfect candidate to meet his aunt’s exacting standards. It seems an ideal arrangement—until they’re forced to actually live together.

From differing views on marriage to clashing Christmas traditions, Mercy and Colin discover that convenience and compatibility are two very different things. But when Colin’s aunt arrives unannounced demanding proof of their love, they must convince her—and perhaps themselves—that their hastily forged union is more than just a festive facade.

Can Mercy and Colin turn their paper marriage into a love match before Twelfth Night? Or will their convenient arrangement crumble faster than Colin’s ancestral home?

Book three in the Regency Christmas Brides series,Yuletide Bride is a heartwarming holiday romance that proves love often arrives in the most unexpected packages—no bow required.

A DELIGHT.

I loved this book. I loved how fast pace it was and that it was just the right length to convey a full story and make for a quick read during a busy season. I haven’t read a regency in a minute and this reminded me of why I love them.

The holiday charm was in full swing and I love all of the historical aspects of those moments. And y’all know I’m a sucker for marriage of convenience so I knew I had to pick this one up. I looooved Mercy and Colin. They had a lot of differences to work through and I appreciated them learning how to communicate and be friends as that turned into love.

I appreciated that the aunt was eccentric but not overly dramatic. She provided the little spark for Colin and Mercy that really got the romance swinging and I loved all of the little tender moments and the slow burn on the kissing scenes brought the tension. You won’t regret picking this one up.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical Christmas Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: none

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ARC Book Review: Holiday Tides (A Wilks Beach Holiday Novella) by Laura Langa

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Holiday Contemporary Romance Novella
Length: 143 pages
Author: Laura Langa
Publisher: West East Publishing
Release Date: October 15th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Don’t get caught kissing Surfing Santa beneath the mistletoe.

Returning to her small beach town, Summer Owens finds herself living next to her former rival, Nick Watson, the renovation foreman who’s as handy as he is irresistible in his custom Santa-red wetsuit. But Summer isn’t falling for Nick’s charm, remembering how he once made her life miserable.

Determined to prove he’s changed, Nick jumps at every chance to fix the things that keep falling apart in her historic cottage—and maybe in her heart too. But nothing can happen under the mistletoe until Summer realizes that her current boyfriend is all wrong for her.

As they enjoy the town’s tree lighting ceremony, holiday parties, and a spirited karaoke competition, the sizzling tension grows. With Christmas approaching, Summer must decide between the wrong man in her life and the one who’s been right next door all along.

Enjoy the playful banter, sizzling kisses, and all the Christmas feels of this he falls first, small beach town, closed-door/kisses-only holiday novella by grabbing your copy TODAY!
Holiday Tides is a standalone novella that shares characters with the Wilks Beach novels.

Thank you Laura Langa for the gifted eARC.

JUST RIGHT.

You know what hits well? A perfectly crafted holiday novella. I love reading novellas during the holidays because when so much is usually going on moving through a quick romance brings a smile to my face. I adored this story.

I thought there was just the right amount of background information provided to really set the scene for the romance and that both characters were easy to love and clearly had a lot of great chemistry and banter together. The beachside small town holiday goodness was in abundance and made me crave all things winter.

Overall audience notes:

  • Holiday Romance Novella
  • Language: low
  • Romance: make-outs
  • Violence: low
  • Content Warnings: cheating (not between the main characters), mentions of loss of loved ones

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Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: December 2022

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It’s the end of 2022! And there were plenty of amazing reads this month. I loved my rereads and the many new books I came across too.

Favorites

Least Favorites

  • Morning Star (Reread)
  • Lightfall
  • ACOTAR Series (Reread)
  • A Holly Jilly Christmas
  • Sisters of Sword and Song
  • Before I Let Go
  • Fractured Sky
  • The Co-Op
  • Bloodsinger
  • Dear Emmie Blue
  • A Heart Worth Stealing
  • You Wouldn’t Dare
  • The Last Tale of the Flower Bride
  • A Wilderness of Stars
  • Beauty Reborn
  • The Syren’s Mutiny
  • Just My Type
  • Cotswolds Holiday (Christmas Escapes #1) by Kasey Stockton
  • [Reread] Morning Star (Red Rising Saga #3) by Pierce Brown
  • [ARC] You Wouldn’t Dare by Samantha Markum
  • Keeper of Enchanted Rooms (Whimbrel House #1) by Charlie N. Holmberg
  • Lightfall (The Starchaser Saga #4) by Renee Dugan
  • [Reread] A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR #1) by Sarah J. Maas
  • [ARC/Novella] A Holly Jilly Christmas (Sheet Cake Love Stories) by Emma St. Clair
  • The Key to My Heart by Lia Louis
  • Sisters of Sword and Song by Rebecca Ross
  • Fates Illuminated (Call of the Norns #1) by Aimee Vance
  • Before I Let Go (Skyland #1) by Kennedy Ryan
  • [Novella] Visions of You (Lost & Found #0.5) by Catherine Cowles
  • [Novella] Snowbound (Tattered & Torn #2.5) by Catherine Cowles
  • A Vision in Smoke (Until the Stars Are Dead #2) by Allyson S. Barkley
  • Fractured Sky (Tattered & Torn #5) by Catherine Cowles
  • [ARC] Never Vacation With Your Ex by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
  • [Reread] A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOTAR #2) by Sarah J. Maas
  • To Bleed A Crystal Bloom (Crystal Bloom #1) by Sarah A. Parker
  • [ARC] The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi
  • Let it Snow by Michelle Stimpson
  • [Novella] A Very Merry Christmoose (Deadlights Cove #2.5) by B. Perkins and Aimee Vance
  • Esperance (Esperance Trilogy #1) by Heather Frost
  • [Reread] A Court of Wings and Ruin (ACOTAR #3) by Sarah J. Maas
  • A Wilderness of Stars by Shea Ernshaw
  • The Co-Op by Tarah Dewitt
  • Children of Ragnarok (The Runestone Saga #1) by Cinda Williams Chima
  • Two Wrongs Make a Right (The Wilmot Sisters #1) by Chloe Liese
  • Lord of Gold and Glory (Fae Isles #2) by Lisette Marshall
  • The Holly Dates by Brittainy Cherry
  • [Reread/Novella] A Court of Frost and Starlight (ACOTAR #3.5) by Sarah J. Maas
  • [Novella] Christmas Presents by Tarah Dewitt
  • 50 Ways to Win Back Your Lover (Bower Boys #1) by Kelly Siskind
  • Let Love In (Canyon Cove Love Stories #3) by Marie Soleil
  • Bloodsinger (The Starchaser Saga #5) by Renee Dugan
  • [ARC] Beauty Reborn by Elizabeth Lowham
  • [ARC] Off the Map (Beck Sisters #3) by Trish Doller
  • [Reread] A Court of Silver Flames (ACOTAR #4) by Sarah J. Maas
  • [ARC] Just My Type by Falon Ballard
  • [ARC] The Love Match by Priyanka Taslim
  • The Syren’s Mutiny by Jessica S. Taylor
  • Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis
  • [Novella] Falling in Somerset (Lost Story Bookshop) by Jenny B. Jones
  • [ARC] A Heart Worth Stealing by Joanna Barker

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Book Review: A Timeless Christmas by Alexi Stanton

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 296 pages
Author: Alexis Stanton
Publisher: Hallmark Publishing
Release Date: October 23rd, 2018
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

They’re from two different centuries,
but they’re perfect for each other.

Megan Turner is in love with the past. As a tour guide at a beautiful historic mansion, she tells visitors about its original owner, Charles Whitley. An inventor and businessman in the early 1900s, he rose from poverty to wealth…only to disappear without a trace.
Charles was always intrigued by the future. He just never expected to go there. But when he repairs a mysterious clock he bought on his travels, he’s transported to the twenty-first century, with his home decorated for Christmas and overrun by strangers.
Charles is determined to find a way back to his own era, especially when he learns about what happened after he left. But as Megan introduces him to the wonders of smartphones, pizza, and modern holiday traditions, they both feel a once-in-a-lifetime connection. Could it be that, somewhere in time, they belong together?

MAYBE THE MOVIE IS BETTER.

Went into this knowing exactly what was being laid out, a Hallmark movie as a book (or was it the other way around? I don’t know which came first for this novel).

And it may have been laid on a bit too thick for me.

I don’t mind cheesiness (when expected) and a fast-paced romance, but this was like whoa. Can we back up and add some more plot here? The book took place in less over a time span of what I gathered to be less than a week and I wasn’t even feeling the connection between the main characters. I think some further development was needed.

The concept was there and the writing was pleasant . It was easy for me to fly through it and appreciate the aspects presented. There’s some sweet moments and a connection to letting people who care about you in and coping with issues that have crept up from the past.

Maybe I’ll try watching the movie and see what I think of it compared to this!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses

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