REVIEW: Nick and Noel's Christmas Playlist

Title: Nick and Noel’s Christmas Playlist
Author: Codi Hall
Publisher: Audible Audio
Publication Date: November 2020
Genre: Romantic Comedy / Christmas Holiday / Chick-Lit
Buy the Book: Audible | Amazon | BN

Description: Press play on happily ever after in this charming, heartfelt holiday rom-com.

Nick Winters and Noel Carter have known each other their whole lives. After years of shared family holidays, working together on the Winters’ Christmas tree farm, and being each other's safe haven, they wouldn't dream of crossing the line from friends to something more....

But when Nick comes home for the holidays after serving overseas and finds that his long-term girlfriend has decided to get her stocking stuffed elsewhere, Noel is there to pick him up and show him that instead of a Blue Christmas he can still have a Wonderful Christmastime without his cheating ex.

A night on the town and an impulsive kiss later has Noel thinking that perhaps this year they’ll be rockin’ around the Christmas tree as a couple, but only if the ghost - er rather - girlfriend of Nick's Christmas past doesn’t decide to haunt their holiday....

My Thoughts: This title popped up on my audible recommendations and was perfect for a quick listen to add to my Christmas holiday reading list. An enjoyable story that had me smiling all the way to the end. I really liked Nick and Noel and the premise of their shared love of music and playlists.

Best friends growing up, Noel is a part of Nick’s family and she has Nick’s back. As close as they are, it surprised me they weren’t a couple long before as their chemistry is so obvious, but Noel keeps people at a distance and is afraid of opening her heart to anyone, afraid she will lose them as she lost her parents when she was a teenager. I really enjoyed seeing Noel open up and let her guard down.

My Final Verdict: Solid story and great narration made for a good read to add to my Christmas cheer of 2020.

REVIEW: 'Twas the Knife Before Christmas by Jacqueline Frost

Title: ‘Twas the Knife Before Christmas (Christmas Tree Farm Mystery #2)
Author: Jacqueline Frost
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: November 2018
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: SWEET JUSTICE

When a body turns up in the dumpster behind Caroline’s Cupcakes, the store’s owner is the main suspect. Everyone in town saw Caroline fighting with the victim on the night of his death. Worse, the murder weapon is Caroline’s custom-designed butcher knife. But Holly White knows that her best friend isn’t capable of murder.

Now, just ten days before Christmas, Holly’s up to her jingle bells in holiday shenanigans. Juggling extra shifts at her family’s Christmas tree farm and making enough gingerbread jewelry to satisfy the crowd is already more than she can handle. Add in her budding relationship with the sheriff, and Holly’s ready to fly south until springtime. But her mittens come off when Caroline is taken into custody. Can Holly wrap up the case in time for Christmas?

My Thoughts: One would think after nearly losing her life, the last thing Holly White would ever do again is insert herself into another murder investigation, placing herself in the killer’s sights and risking all sorts of danger to herself. Despite Holly’s apparent lack of common sense, another charming installment of the Christmas Tree Farm mystery series brings us back to Holly’s world, her family’s Christmas tree farm brimming with holiday spirit, festivities and another murder. This time, Holly’s best friend Caroline is the main suspect after a body is found stabbed with one of Caroline’s butcher knives. Caroline was also seen arguing with the victim, so it doesn’t look good for her. Much to hunky sheriff Evan’s, displeasure, Holly once again begins asking questions.

The story moves at a good pace and with several possible suspects besides Caroline, I was unable to figure it out before the big reveal. In addition to the regular characters that I have come to care about, this installment brings the arrival of Evan’s little sister from Boston under some unusual circumstances as well as construction for the new inn is well underway which will bring more visitors to Reindeer Games and hopefully more opportunities for murder and mayhem sprinkled with a little Christmas spirit.

My Final Verdict: Another great addition to my Christmas reading list that could be read any time of the year, but really recommend reading it with a steaming mug of cocoa and a plate of snickerdoodles while waiting for St. Nick to make his appearance.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of ’Twas the Knife Before Christmas from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: Eight Winter Nights by Liz Maverick

Title: Eight Winter Nights
Author: Liz Maverick
Publisher: Audible Originals
Publication Date: November 2020
Genre: Romantic Comedy / Contemporary Romance / Christmas
Buy the Book: Audible

Description: Cozy up with this warm, festive rom com novella about being true to your heart, the friendships that define us, and the irresistible pull of holiday magic.

Last year, Rachel Bacharach met the man of her dreams at a Hanukkah party — and then her outgoing best friend Tamara swooped in and “called” Oz Caplan for herself. It’s a typical outcome for the dependable, bookish Rachel, who is never able to extinguish the spark she immediately felt for Oz. But being secretly in love with her best friend’s boyfriend all year hasn’t been easy.

As this year’s party approaches, Oz and Tamara break up. It’s a worst-case scenario when Oz asks Rachel to help him write Tamara love letters to win her back in time for their Hanukkah anniversary. Rachel’s been writing love letters to Oz in her journals for a year; she knows all the words he would need. But will Rachel be able to hide her true feelings from Oz any longer? And might this year’s party finally be Rachel’s chance to trust her heart and put everything on the line for love?

My Thoughts: It really frustrates me when the girl meets the guy of her dreams and loses him to her best friend before she ever has a chance to give it a go. I chose this story because I wanted more Christmas theme books for the holiday and the idea that Rachel is asked by her best friend to look after Oz after they break up was intriguing to me.

Rachel met Oz at a Hanukkah party the year before and before she could see where it would go, her best friend makes a grand appearance and calls dibs on him. Rachel has been in love with Oz ever since but only shares her feelings in her journal. A year later, Oz and Tamara break up, he hurts his leg and Tamara leaves the country on vacation. Tamara asks Rachel to look after Oz and Oz asks Rachel to help him write letters to Tamara in the hopes of winning her back.

This story should have frustrated me because Rachel comes across as a complete doormat, Oz is an idiot for not getting with Rachel in the first place and what kind of friend is Tamara to just think of herself? Instead of getting frustrated, I continued with the story to see how it would play out and it turned out to be one of my favorites for my Christmas reading of 2020.

Thankfully, Oz doesn’t spend the entire book pining over Tamara and begins to wonder if he had spent the last year with the wrong woman as he sees Rachel as more than just one of his best friends. I really enjoyed that we got both Rachel and Oz’s points of view throughout the story, which made the story more enjoyable. The chemistry between Oz and Rachel was palpable and though Oz was clueless when they first met, I enjoyed his confusion when he gets the clue. I couldn’t help but like Rachel. She is selfless and caring of the people she loves, even at her own expense. Yeah, she’s a doormat, but she’s a loyal one and she was easy to like and relate to. I wanted to despise Tamara and, to be honest, I had a bone to pick with her for most of the book. She comes across as vain, selfish and inconsiderate, considering she just dumps her boyfriend, who is injured and goes on vacation AND refuses to answer her phone, return calls or respond to text messages! She surprises me in the end, showing a different side of her personality and redeems herself.

My Final Verdict: I recommend this story to readers who are looking for an interesting story to make the Christmas season sweeter.

REVIEW: A Highland Ghost For Christmas by Jo-Ann Carson

Title: A Highland Ghost for Christmas (Gambling Ghosts #1)
Author: Jo-Ann Carson
Publisher: JRT Publications
Publication Date: November 2016
Genre: Paranormal Romance / Christmas
Buy the Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: Jilted by her fiancé, librarian Maddy Jacobson is nursing a broken heart, when her best friend gives her an early Christmas present. Intended to be a fun, psychic reading in a spooky, tea house, the gift turns out to be life changing. Maddy becomes haunted by a mischievous, Highland ghost.

Ruggedly handsome, Cullen Macfie, the Highlander, has been dead for over three centuries, and never in all those years has he been so attracted to a woman, as he is to Maddy. He falls hopelessly in love and decides to woo her.

Can there be a future for a librarian and a naughty, Highland ghost?

A Highland Ghost for Christmas is a sweet, romantic comedy guaranteed to warm the cockles of your heart, make you laugh out loud and leave you craving a man in a kilt … and shortbread, of course.

My Thoughts: After a psychic reading in a tea house promising her not just one man in her life, but two, broken-hearted librarian Maddy meets Cullen Macfie, a Scottish Highlander. The only problem is Cullen is dead. For over 300 years, Cullen has been a ghost who spends his eternity being mischievous and playing poker with other ghosts. Cullen spots Maddy in the teahouse and is smitten so he makes a deal with his angelic counselor to allow him to try to mend Maddy’s heart.

This was a cute story and I loved the chemistry between Maddy and Cullen. Their interactions ranging from Christmas tree decorating and baking were a hilarious endeavor and thoroughly enjoyable. I also liked the second man, Hank, making an appearance in Maddy’s life. I’m not a fan of love triangles at all, but this story appealed because you can’t help but like Cullen and his determination to show her that love finds a way.

My Final Verdict: I recommend this book to anyone looking for some fun and stress relief during the busy Christmas season. This is the first book in a series that has me curious about what’s next.

REVIEW: It's A Wonderful Wife by Camille Pagan

Title: It’s a Wonderful Wife
Author: Camille Pagan
Publisher: Audible Originals
Publication Date: December 2020
Genre: Christmas / Romantic Comedy
Buy The Book: Audible

Description: In this charming and heartwarming retelling of Frank Capra’s classic It’s a Wonderful Life, Camille Pagán, best-selling author of This Won’t End Well and I’m Fine and Neither Are You, introduces us to Bailey, a dutiful yet sharp-witted 30-something who finds herself on the verge of a nervous breakdown as Christmas Eve approaches. As if it wasn’t enough that Bailey’s husband has just cheated on her, the family business she’s been running since her parents died, which employs most of her small town, is about to go under. But even as she’s questioning whether her life has any meaning, Bailey bumps into a handsome stranger who claims to know her - and through a series of strange events, sheds new light on what it means to make a difference in this messy, wonderful world.

My Thoughts: Story was OK, a modern spin on It's A Wonderful Life, but very somber for a Christmas setting. Woman's company is in dire financial trouble and she needs her estranged husband to loan her the money to make payroll because how can you shut down your company, putting hundreds of people out of work at Christmas? She begins to wonder if everything would have been better had she never been born. Everything works out in the end, but I could have used more Christmas whimsy in this story.

REVIEW: The Christmas Pact by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward

Title: The Christmas Pact
Author: Vi Keeland / Penelope Ward
Publisher: Audible Original
Publication Date: December 2019
Genre: Christmas / Contemporary Romance
Buy the Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: Heat up the holidays with this sizzling new novella from New York Times best-selling authors Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward!

Riley Kennedy’s emails keep getting crossed with her colleague, Kennedy Riley.

The infuriating man forwards them along with his annoying commentary and unsolicited advice. At least she never has to see him in person since they work in different locations…until they come face to face at the office holiday party. As luck would have it, Kennedy turns out to be gorgeous…though still a jerk. Yet somehow, he’s able to charm her out on the dance floor—and convince her to participate in his crazy scheme: He’ll go home with Riley for a Christmas party and pretend to be her boyfriend if Riley agrees to be his date to a wedding.

It sounds easy enough. But little by little, the act they’re putting on starts to feel like so much more than a Christmas pact—and Riley’s about to learn there’s more to Kennedy than she ever imagined.

My Thoughts: Short, cute story about a woman who is frustrated her emails keep getting crossed with her colleague. To make the situation more annoying, her colleague, Kennedy Riley, is an arrogant jerk who forwards her emails back to her with unsolicited comments or advice.

I really liked the chemistry between these characters and though he irritates her to no end, I thought Kennedy was a great character and Riley could use some loosening up. When Kennedy proposes a plan to get their respective families off their backs, Riley surprises herself by agreeing to it. Kennedy will accompany Riley to her parent’s home for their annual Christmas party and she will be his date for a family wedding. I know this is a plot device that has been used over and over again in so many books, but it works really well here.

I really enjoyed watching these characters begin to develop feelings for one another and let their walls down to take a chance on love. It was a perfect addition to my holiday reading list.

My Final Verdict: I highly recommend this book to fans of contemporary romances, romantic comedies and for readers who are looking for a Christmas theme to make their holiday festivities a little merrier and brighter.