REVIEW: What Happens at Christmas by Victoria Alexander

Title: What Happens at Christmas (Millworth Manor #1)
Author: Victoria Alexander
Publisher: Kensington
Publication Date: October 2012
Genre: Christmas / Historical Romance
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: Camille, Lady Lydingham, requests the pleasure of your company at a festive house party in the English countryside, as she endeavors to coax a marriage proposal from Prince Nikolai Pruzinsky of Greater Avalonia. Given the nature of the hostess’s eccentric relatives, they will be played by a troupe of actors hired to impersonate a proper Victorian family. What a clever way to fool the prince! And gate-crashing, distractingly handsome first loves like Grayson Elliott are most unwelcome.

But nothing about Camille’s charade goes as planned. Tonight, at Millworth Manor, games will be played, motives will be revealed, the masks will come off, and hearts will be lost—and won—in the most romantic, magical season of all.

My Thoughts: I’m not saying that the Regency time period does Christmas better than any other time period, but this book really pulls the reader in and surrounds them with the beauty and the spirit of the holiday. I can certainly see why Camille was so insistent on giving Nikolai the full effect of an English countryside Christmas as I was completely drawn into the elegance, charm and beauty of the home and the Christmas finery and frippery.

I loved that Camille’s so-called brilliant plan is so full of holes and nearly every time she manages to catch her breath, something else happens to make this undertaking all the more tasking. Of course, hiring a troupe of actors to play one’s family is definitely not a clever idea, especially when the actress portraying your mother can’t remember her name! Of course, the arrival of your first love, the man who broke your heart eleven years ago and vanished without a word is bound to add a few unplanned complications.

I loved Camille and Grayson individually and as a couple. There’s a lot of unresolved hurt and anger they need to work out, but it was so clear they were perfect for one another and though eleven years have elapsed since they have seen or spoken to one another, it felt like no time had passed at all. I couldn’t pick a side as they both are carrying pain from the past, but Camille is definitely the more stubborn of the two.

In addition to the madcap behaviors occurring at Millworth Manor, the spirit of the holiday is keenly felt as decorations are put up, a fresh evergreen is cut down and brought inside and there is ice skating at a nearby frozen pond. Everyone has a role to play to pull off this Christmas charade and it was so much fun to watch it all unfold.

My Final Verdict: I highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy Christmas themed stories as well as historical settings that really bring the traditions of the period to light. Christmas is a time for new beginnings and what better way to begin again than with a second chance at love?

REVIEW: Scrooge-ish by L.B. Dunbar

Title: Scrooge-ish
Author: L.B. Dunbar
Narrator: Stella Hunter, Teddy Hamilton
Publisher: L.B. Dunbar Writes, Ltd.
Publication Date: November 2022
Genre: Christmas / Contemporary Romance
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: I hate Christmas.

I don’t know who thought every female must love shopping, wrapping, baking and hosting but I missed the memo. On top of that, I manage an upscale department store. Sprinkle in the fact I’ll be turning forty during this holiday season, and my life is a Christmas cookie recipe gone wrong.

And every year I become a little more Scrooge-ish.

But the spirit of the most wonderful time of the year seems to have a plan for me and my midlife-crisis attitude.

First, my past returns when I attend a high school reunion happy hour and run into that boy—the one I had a summer fling before I left for college, then promptly ghosted me.

The torture continues because that boy is now a man, worldly, wise, and sexier than I remember. And he invites me to attend a holiday work party with him.

That’s where I learn this forty, fine, former NFL quarterback, now fireman has a new role: single father to the sweetest little girl, putting me at risk of falling for both of them.

However, I have my reasons not to believe in love and the happiest time of the year. And the first twenty-five days of December tests all my strength.

Just what the Dickens is happening? Charles himself might approve of this plot.

Even I’m a little curious to see how it all plays out.

With the past behind her and the future uncertain, can Eva Nazar accept that the present is a gift and love is the greatest treasure we receive even if it isn’t always wrapped in pretty paper with a perfect bow on top?

My Thoughts: Finally a fun story that can be flirty and sexy with a character who is turning forty. As a reader who is more than a dozen years older than this character, it’s nice to read a story about a woman who isn’t in her twenties or just turning thirty, who is still viable and has a lot to offer the right man. For Eva, turning forty may be the best thing that has happened to her in quite a long time.

Right after high-school graduation, Eva had a fling with the guy she had a major crush on. But it was over practically as soon as it started. Zebb went on to a successful NFL career and Eva went on to college and now manages a large department store in Chicago. She never really got over Zebb, but life moves on and we all get older and hopefully, wiser.

Working in retail at Christmas time was the job I hated most and Eva tries to power through it as she doesn’t have any family to celebrate with, so staying busy with work is just fine with her. Her mother left when she was ten and her father pretty much cancelled all celebrations. Eva is definitely a scrooge-ish character, absolutely no holiday spirit. She is not in a festive or celebratory mood so when her coworker practically forces her to attend her high-school reunion, she grudgingly agrees. Imagine her shock and surprise when she runs into none other than Zebb, who is back living in the same town again and is a fireman.

Their attraction reignites, though in Eva’s case, I doubt it was ever fully extinguished. This story mainly centers on Zebb’s efforts to change Eva’s mind about Christmas and he can be pretty persuasive. I absolutely adored Zebb’s daughter and loved how accepting she was of Eva in their lives. I loved Zebb and Eva as a couple, but really wish I were given more information about why they didn’t stay together. The blurb for this book says he ghosted her, but I don’t recall that being addressed in the story. It seemed that there was no real resolution with that, but it didn’t seem to affect my enjoyment of the story.

My Final Verdict: Overall, I found this to be a very enjoyable story and recommend it to readers who enjoy Christmas themes and second-chance romance plot devices. This story has a lot of spice and heat that will make the most grinchiest of grinches blush.

REVIEW: Last Couple Standing by Matthew Norman

Title: Last Couple Standing
Author: Matthew Norman
Publisher: Random House - Ballantine
Publication Date: May 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance / Women’s Fiction
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: A couple determined not to end up like their divorced friends try a radical experiment—and get in way over their heads—in this hilarious, heartfelt novel from the author of We’re All Damaged.

The Core Four have been friends since college: four men, four women, four couples. They got married around the same time, had kids around the same time, and now, fifteen years later, they’ve started getting divorced around the same time, too. With three of the Core Four unions crumbling to dust around them, Jessica and Mitch Butler take a long, hard look at their own marriage. Can it be saved? Or is divorce, like some fortysomething zombie virus, simply inescapable?

To maximize their chance at immunity, Jessica and Mitch try something radical. Their friends’ divorces mostly had to do with sex—having it, not having it, wanting to have it with other people—so they decide to relax a few things. Terms are discussed, conditions are made, and together the Butlers embark on the great experiment of taking their otherwise happy, functional marriage and breaking some very serious rules.

Jessica and Mitch are convinced they’ve hit upon the next evolution of marriage. But as lines are crossed and hot bartenders pursued, they each start to wonder if they’ve made a huge mistake. What follows is sexy, fun, painful, messy, and completely surprising to them both. Because sometimes doing something bad is the only way to get to the heart of what’s really good.

My Thoughts: Last Couple Standing by new to me author Matthew Norman had me wondering is divorce contagious? As part of a group of four couples, three of which have systematically split up, Mitch and Jessica Butler are wondering if they are next. This is probably a common thought amongst couples whose friends are splitting up. As depressing as the subject may be, this book addresses this issue with open honesty and a lot of humor.

Mitch and Jessica decide to try an experiment by introducing a relaxed marriage. This wasn’t a free for all, have sex with anyone you want, but more of an opportunity to try some things differently, with rules and communication to see if their marriage is worth fighting for. What ensues was very entertaining as well as surprising.

I really liked both Mitch and Jessica and thought they were taking a huge risk by going in this direction and I was worried for them, to be honest. I absolutely did not want to see them end up the way of their friends. Personally, I didn’t think their marriage was on the rocks to begin with, but hey, sometimes we have to mix things up a bit and make some radical choices.

The supporting characters were all interesting and added to the entertainment of the story too. I found the writing to be clear, concise, and flowed very smoothly. The dialogue was relevant and drove the scenes and the story so the reader doesn’t feel bogged down in a lot of monotonous discussion.

My Final Verdict: It seems like we live in a throw away society these days where it is much easier to toss relationships aside when things get tough or boring. I highly recommend Last Couple Standing to remind us the important things in life, like love, are worth fighting for.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of Last Couple Standing from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: Christmas in Chamonix by Sasha Wagstaff

Title: Christmas in Chamonix
Author: Sasha Wagstaff
Publisher: Canelo
Publication Date: September 2019
Genre: Christmas / Contemporary Romance / Chick-Lit
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN

Description: When life goes downhill... head to the snow-capped Alps for roaring fires, apres-ski and festive romance.

Lily Jackson loves Christmas. She also loves her childhood friend Jamie, but when her plan to kick-start their romance goes drastically wrong and her job gets her down, Lily decides it’s time to make changes. A job opens up in snowy Chamonix and egged on by her best friend Imogen, Lily decides to go for it.

As Lily settles in with the eccentric Devereux family at their gorgeous boutique ski hotel, she starts to confront her past. But when she meets handsome ski instructor Luc, who hates Christmas, Lily might have taken on more than she can handle.

Can Lily make a new life – with or without skis? And can she get Luc to see how truly romantic Christmas can be?

A heart-warming, feel-good romantic comedy, perfect for fans of Holly Martin, Carole Matthews and Tilly Tennant.

My Thoughts: My first time reading this author and for the majority of the book found it to be just OK, bordering on the less than bright and shiny aspects of Christmas I look for in my reading this time of year. I didn’t feel much of a connection to Lily for most of the book. I couldn’t understand what she saw in Jamie. Her constant pining over this tool for most of the book started to get old but then she pours salt into the wound by jumping to all sorts of conclusions about Luc without even talking to him about it. It takes her to just about the very end of the book for them to resolve their concerns. Add to that her paralyzing fear of heights and emotional trauma about her father contributing to her reluctance to ski but then deciding to take a job at a ski resort where everybody’s favorite pastime is you guessed it…skiing left me with my eyes rolled up into my head so far that I thought I was going to have to make a trip to the hospital to have them fixed.

Enough of this negativity, let’s discuss what I did enjoy. I thought Luc was a wonderful character and the fact that he was even available to the wishy-washy Lily was nothing short of a Christmas miracle. He hates Christmas and with good reason as he is carrying his own trauma that really got me right in the feels. I enjoyed how Lily wants to help him learn to love Christmas again and when he surprises her in return, I got a little teary eyed.

The descriptive setting of Chamonix was simply breathtaking. Sasha Wagstaff did an excellent job of bringing this community to life and though you will never catch me on a pair of skis, I would love to be there sitting in a cushy chair in front of a roaring fireplace with a mug of hot chocolate or whiskey laced eggnog and a keeper shelf book in my hands.

The supporting characters also brought a lot of interesting moments to the story as well. Some of these characters, like Elodie, turned out to be quite different than I was expecting. Lily’s best friend, Imogen, was a delight and I thought Lily was very fortunate to have her. I also was quite surprised that I liked Lily’s sister, Ivy, as much as I did. Having your sister start dating the man you have been harboring feelings for could create a lot of animosity in their relationship, but I was glad to see that Lily wanted her sister to be happy and Ivy wasn’t the type to rub it in Lily’s nose when she finds out about Lily’s feelings.

My Final Verdict: Though I found Lily’s indecisiveness annoying, this story was quite heartwarming and a good addition to add to your Christmas reading this year. Readers who enjoy skiing will enjoy the snow-covered slopes and the mindfulness the author gives to this sport. If you’re like me and prefer to enjoy the snow from the comfort of the ski lodge, this story will also appeal.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of Christmas in Chamonix from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: Fool Me Twice at Christmas by Camilla Isley

Title: Fool Me Twice at Christmas (Christmas Romantic Comedy #1)
Author: Camilla Isley
Narrator: Denice Stradling
Publisher: Pink Bloom Press
Publication Date: January 2023
Genre: Chick-Lit / Christmas Holiday
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: There are two types of relationships: fake and real.

Chuck and Kate’s used to be real, oh-so-real. But after she broke his heart four months ago, leaving him, it became all just pretense for the sake of their entwined families.

With parents who are best friends and business partners, it’s not easy for Chuck and Kate to announce they’ve split up. But with the holidays looming over them, they can no longer keep pretending.

Chuck and Kate head home for Christmas, determined to tell the truth—and end up accidentally engaged instead. The more they try to pull apart, the more the Universe seems to push them back together, shortening the road to the altar. And when just-for-show kisses stir up forgotten feelings, things get even more complicated.

Now, with the midnight hour approaching, will Chuck and Kate’s relationship turn out to be real or fake?

My Thoughts: I enjoyed Fool Me Twice at Christmas but I should have skipped the audio format. The story was good, but the narration felt like nails on a chalkboard. There should have been two narrators, in my opinion, instead the narrator’s voice sounded like a squeaky mouse for all of the female character’s lines and kept pulling me out of the story.

Chuck and Kate broke up four months ago after a decades long relationship. Or, rather, Kate dumped Chuck and broke his heart and has moved on. They never told their parents who are all best friends and business partners. Now they are faced with Christmas and all the fun and frolic with family that believe not only are Chuck and Kate still in love decades later but are on the verge of matrimony. The lies keep piling up and before they know it, Chuck and Kate are engaged, pregnant and the wedding is on Friday! Even worse, their parents have an innovative marketing strategy for the company that features Chuck and Kate as the company role models. How will this work if word gets out that they broke up? Worse, Kate and Chuck feel horrible because they don’t want to shatter their parents’ dreams or hurt the business.

I really liked Chuck and Kate and the level of discomfort they both feel trying to pretend there is still a relationship as well as having to share a bedroom was quite entertaining. There are also a lot of things left unsaid between them so their emotions are filled with tension and irritation. I loved it when they find themselves in a pre-marriage counseling class pretending to still be together when Chuck starts airing their dirty laundry. It was impossible to take sides on who was right as I had a lot of empathy for both of them and didn’t wish to be in their shoes one bit when the proverbial poo finally hits the fan.

My Final Verdict: If you are looking for a quick read filled with Christmas cheer and warm fuzzies about two people who belong together as much as hot chocolate and marshmallows, give this book a go, but steer clear of the audio.

REVIEW: Highlands Christmas by Amy Quick Parrish

Title: Highlands Christmas
Author: Amy Quick Parrish
Publisher: Flying Cactus
Publication Date: October 2022
Genre: Christmas / Contemporary Romance
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: Christmas wishes do come true.

Melissa MacKenzie is an American interior designer with a seemingly happy life — until her husband Dave reveals he's been cheating on her and wants a divorce and the house. But when a letter informs her that she will inherit a home in Scotland, things start looking up. At the airport she inadvertently meets Colin McGregor, a charming Scottish-American lawyer who happens to be her husband's divorce lawyer. She's taken by his sexy Scottish accent and charm and, as fate would have it, he's on Melissa's flight to Edinburgh ... and on her train to Inverness and happens to live in the same town where she's inherited her home.

As sparks fly between Melissa and Colin, he agrees to help her secure the Scottish home that she believes she's entitled to. They dive right into Scottish culture — and each other's arms — as love and a new home seem within reach. Will they be able to succeed in both missions? Or will everything fall apart?

Highlands Christmas is a romantic and delightful story that will set hearts afire. In a fairy tale as captivating as the Loch Ness monster, Melissa and Colin must cross an ocean to end up right where they belong... because home is where the heart is.

My Thoughts: Highlands Christmas by new to me author Amy Quick Parrish was a cute and enjoyable story to add to my Christmas theme reading. Imagine after throwing a lavish Thanksgiving party for your spouse and a group of friends, your pig of a spouse announces that he wants a divorce because he is hooking up with your brother’s ex-girlfriend. The house you live in is in his name and he wants you out so you’re going to be homeless as well as divorced. Not a very festive beginning to the Christmas season. A letter arrives from Scotland advising you that as the last living relative of someone you’ve never met, you have inherited a home and rather than selling it, you decide to go to Scotland and see about making this house your new home.

Having a pig for a husband, one would assume that his divorce attorney is also a pig, but after meeting spontaneously in the airport, at the train station and in town, Melissa tries to maintain a professional and friendly demeanor. It’s quickly obvious that Colin is not the type of attorney or man who lacks integrity. I thought their meet cute was well played and a lot of fun to watch. Colin’s family is also wonderful and I thought it was so sweet how they welcomed Melissa into their home and invited her to participate in their holiday festivities.

My Final Verdict: I recommend this book to readers who are looking for a sweet romance with the Scottish Highlands at Christmas in the background. Sightings of the Loch Ness monster may happen, but not guaranteed.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of Highlands Christmas from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: Cobble Hill by Cecily von Ziegesar

Title: Cobble Hill
Author: Cecily von Ziegesar
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: November 2020
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: From the number-one New York Times best-selling author of the Gossip Girl series, a deliciously irresistible novel chronicling a year in the life of four families in an upscale Brooklyn neighborhood as they seek purpose, community, and meaningful relationships—until one unforgettable night at a raucous neighborhood party knocks them to their senses.

Welcome to Cobble Hill.

In this eclectic Brooklyn neighborhood, private storms brew amongst four married couples and their children. There’s ex-groupie Mandy, so underwhelmed by motherhood and her current physical state that she fakes a debilitating disease to get the attention of her skateboarding, ex-boyband member husband Stuart. There’s the unconventional new school nurse, Peaches, on whom Stuart has an unrequited crush, and her disappointing husband Greg, who wears noise-cancelling headphones—everywhere.

A few blocks away, Roy, a well-known, newly transplanted British novelist, has lost the thread of his next novel and his marriage to capable, indefatigable Wendy. Around the corner, Tupper, the nervous, introverted industrial designer with a warehouse full of prosthetic limbs struggles to pin down his elusive artist wife Elizabeth. She remains...elusive. Throw in two hormonal teenagers, a 10-year-old pyromaniac, a drug dealer pretending to be a doctor, and a lot of hidden cameras, and you’ve got a combustible mix of egos, desires, and secrets bubbling in brownstone Brooklyn.

Smart, sophisticated, yet surprisingly tender, Cobble Hill is a highly entertaining portrait of contemporary family life and the colorful characters who call Brooklyn home.

My Thoughts: She felt a little left out. Stuart knew all these people, and she knew no one. But that’s what you got for pretending to have MS and hiding in your house with boxes of other people’s food and a whole lot of weed.

With Cobble Hill by new to me author Cecily von Ziegesar, we are introduced to a plethora of people living in the Brooklyn, New York neighborhood of Cobble Hill. Writer types, musician types, artist types and even people who lie about being afflicted with a debilitating disease and stealing their neighbor’s gourmet food deliveries from their front stoops. I want to live in this neighborhood. Prior to authoring this book, Cecily von Ziegesar had already made a name for herself with her Gossip Girl series, which I haven’t tackled. This book, however, is full of snarky wit, humor, sarcasm and the most eclectic group of people I have ever met.

Roy Clarke, his wife Wendy and their daughter, Shy are new to the neighborhood, having moved over from across the pond. Roy is a best-selling author struggling with his next book while his wife struggles to remain relevant in the highly competitive fast-paced world of magazine publishing. Their daughter is struggling with all of her classes, except Latin and her crush on her tattooed Latin teacher.

Stuart Little, (not the mouse), former lead singer of popular boy band, the Blind Mice, his wife Mandy, his high-school sweetheart who now struggles with her weight and self-esteem issues and takes it one step further by lying to her husband about her health and stealing. They have a young son, Ted, who is developing some behavioral concerns.

Peaches Park, the nurse at Ted’s school, an avid drummer who has a major crush on Stuart, her husband Greg, who teaches music and wears noise cancelling headphones everywhere and their teenage son, Liam, who has a crush on Shy Clarke and practically jumps at the chance to tutor her.

Rounding out the group are Tupper, an inventor of sorts and his wife, Elizabeth, an artist who is as mysterious and strange as the works of art she creates using prosthetic limbs.

I enjoyed how all of the lives of these characters intersect in the most unusual but entertaining way. It felt like those movies that have a bunch of people with different storylines, but then at the end, you see how connected they are to one another.

My Final Verdict: Overall, I found this story to be enjoyable with equal parts drama and humor. My takeaway from this story is that we all have the opportunity to meet some pretty amazing people living right in our neighborhood if we just open the front door and step outside. Readers who enjoy women’s fiction and stories about families and relationships will enjoy this book.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of Cobble Hill from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: All the Dirty Secrets by Aggie Blum Thompson

Title: All the Dirty Secrets
Author: Aggie Blum Thompson
Narrator: Hillary Huber; Josephine Huang
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publication Date: July 2022
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Buy The Book:Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: One warm summer night twenty-five years ago, Liza Gold and her friends celebrated their high school graduation with a party on the beach. It should have been the best night of their lives, only one of them never came back out of the ocean.

The tragedy haunted Liza Gold for years. Now, Liza is a recently divorced working mom struggling to connect with her standoffish teenager daughter Zoe when history repeats itself. Another young woman has drowned at Beach Week, and this time the victim is Zoe’s secret best friend.

Liza begins to suspect that the two deaths are somehow related, which causes her to face hard truths and take an unflinching look at the people she’s called her closest friends for the past two decades. She must discover what really happened to both women before it’s too late.

Set in the upscale DC private school scene, where silence can easily be bought, All the Dirty Secrets asks how far you would go to protect your status and your family, and if some secrets should ever be revealed.

My Thoughts: With All the Dirty Secrets, new to me author Aggie Blum Thompson presents a novel that is so masterfully crafted with twisty suspense, it feels like something that comes from the mind of Alfred Hitchcock. Combined with the excellent narration by Hillary Huber and Josephine Huang, the reader is presented with a novel that is both written and narrated in such a way that I was unable to figure out what was happening while keeping me on pins and needles anticipating the big reveal.

Additionally, the story occurs both in the present and thirty years in the past and both time periods blend together so smoothly, the reader barely notices the shift. Understanding the background of all of the characters took a little bit of time as well as who was responsible for the two deaths.

If I had a problem with any part of the story, it was mainly centered around Zoe and her attitude towards her mother. I understood she’s a teenager and just found the dead body of her best friend but knowing that her mother went through something similar with her own best friend should have brought them closer together. Instead, Zoe acted like a petulant brat and I felt bad for Liza, who feels like she is losing her daughter and there isn’t anything she can do about it.

Understanding how the two deaths are connected in addition to the mountain sized pile of secrets everyone is keeping really ripped the rug out from under me. I really liked Liza and for the most part found her behavior and choices reasonable and understandable given the situations she finds herself.

My Final Verdict: This book illuminates brightly the problems that can and do occur when terrible things happen and are then covered up and people you thought you knew are keeping massive secrets. No amount of time passing will ever diminish the truth from eventually coming out and it packed quite a punch when it did. I highly recommend this book to fans of twisty thrillers, mysteries and novels of suspense. I think Alfred Hitchcock would approve.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of All the Dirty Secrets from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.