Home for Christmas by Camilla Isley

They name dropping ski places in Salt Lake and I'm like... I know where dat is...I've seen it....
Insert that scene from Drake and Josh about pink hair.
This was grossly resolved...like...it was supposed to be fluff, but it didn't hit right.
270 Pages

A Very Merry Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

Hey so Colton. You're a country star and you live in Nashville. Where's the Taylor Swift mention.
but also like....talking about artist contracts and advances and making money off of music versus making music for the sake of music.
jfkdsljfjkldsfjklda we gets to see Gavin my sweet one.
I just....love the shenanigans that the Bromance Club gets into.
I'm just....gonna be over here crying because like....sfjkld colton soft and loving and adorable.
It's the talking about how even if you're fed and taken care of physically, you can still have stuff that was wrong in your life for me.
also like....when you find a muse and the muse understands you just gotta do the writing and not be bothered....
368 Pages

Court of Frost and Starlight

 Court of Frost and Starlight

By Sarah J. Maas

Pages: 272

"Months after the explosive events in A Court of Wings and Ruin, Feyre, Rhys, and their companions are still busy rebuilding the Night Court and the vastly-changed world beyond. But Winter Solstice is finally near, and with it, a hard-earned reprieve. Yet even the festive atmosphere can't keep the shadows of the past from looming."

I enjoyed this little novella. It didn't have much plot impact but was a cute, wintery, Christmas-episode aesthetic story, and a nice way to wean off of the end of the series. It provided a bit of closure on the characters, while somewhat setting up the next trilogy, though it was not the best writing in comparison to the main books.

Wolfsbane and Mistletoe

Wolfsbane and Mistletoe edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner

Pages: 340

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars 

This short story collection was edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner and includes fifteen original tales set at Christmas time with a werewolf theme. The collection also includes an original Sookie Stackhouse story, set between books 8 and 9 in the series.

This was a fun read. Perfect to read around Halloween and Christmas time both. Some of the werewolves are sad, some are scary and others show how human the creatures can be in these short stories. There are a variety of authors, some new, some established including Donna Andrews, Simon R. Green, Kat Richardson, Patricia Briggs, and Nancy Pickard. 

The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand

yes I know it's January and I'm listening to a Christmas book. shhhhh
Ok but the Grinch references "wonderful, awful idea" "thought up a lie and thought it up quick" and maybe a reference to the Lindsey Lohan Parent Trap with "peppermint and tobacco"
And all of the warm and fuzzies. 
416 Pages

How the Dukes Stole Christmas

 

Another collection of short stories from some awesome romance writers. This was a fun read and I continually kept yelling at the characters for not communicating with each other. Come on people!!! Though, by rule, it all works out in the ends. :) 

Pages: 392

The Usual Santas: A Soho Crime Holiday Anthology

I wanted to get into the Christmas spirit with some Christmas stories. These are a little different than the general Christmas cheer type of stories but it was very entertaining nonetheless!

Nine mall Santas must find the imposter among them. An elderly lady seeks peace from her murderously loud neighbors at Christmastime. A young woman receives a mysterious invitation to Christmas dinner with a stranger. Niccolò Machiavelli sets out to save an Italian city. Sherlock Holmes’s one-time nemesis Irene Adler finds herself in an unexpected tangle in Paris while on a routine espionage assignment. Jane Austen searches for the Dowager Duchess of Wilborough’s stolen diamonds. And other adventures that will whisk readers away to Christmases around the globe, from a Korean War POW camp to a Copenhagen refugee squat to the streets of Thailand.

Pages: 352

 

Wish Upon a Cowboy (Cowboys of Creedence #4). By Jennie Marts.

Wish Upon a Cowboy (Cowboys of Creedence #4). By Jennie Marts. 2019. Sourcebooks Casablanca (ARC eBook).

With the Christmas holiday around the corner, the local youth hockey team to coach, and a financial mistake looming over his head, Logan Rivers hasn’t a moment to spare away from his ranching duties. But his couple of attempts at hiring a housekeeper have backfire, with the women making plays for his affections instead of preparing meals.

Enter new arrival to the small town of Creedence, Colorado, Harper Evans. She’s a down-on-her-luck widow and single mom who has come to retrieve her son, Floyd, from the boy’s grandmother. But she needs to earn some money before she can afford to take Floyd back home to Kansas by Christmas. Harper’s hard work, delicious peach cobbler and endless supply of snark charm the boots right off Logan, and his generous nature and cheesy one-liners do the same for Harper. But they agreed on a professional relationship and Harper’s plan to soon leave. Surely they can resist a little while longer.

This was my first time reading anything by Jennie Marts. I thoroughly enjoyed the banter, friendship and oh boy, the heat. "Holy hot hunk of cowboy" indeed. But Marts also delivered a story that tugs on the heartstrings and celebrates the gift of Christmas wishes. I plan to read more of this series.

384 pages

The Matchmaker’s Mistletoe Mission (Boots and Bouquets 0.5). By Jaci Burton.

The Matchmaker’s Mistletoe Mission (Boots and Bouquets 0.5). By Jaci Burton. 2019. InterMix/Berkely Publishing Group (ARC eBook).

Alice Weatherford is a L.A.-based matchmaker who loves her job and believes strongly in her approach, which doesn’t put much stock in chemistry being an important precursor for a lasting-commitment. Acting as Maid of Honor for her best friend, Alice arrives at the Bellini’s Red Moss Winery in Oklahoma one week ahead of the wedding in order to help oversee the final preparations. What she hadn’t planned on however was the blizzard that strands her with the Bellini family and their sexy neighbor, Clay Henry.

Needing a project to keep her occupied she decides to put her professional skills to use and find the perfect woman for the single rancher. She just has to ignore the chemistry sparking between her and her new client. Clay, however, is more interested in seeing where the chemistry take him and Alice and sets out to win her heart.

A fun, engaging novella with a charming hero and a promising start to a new series by Burton.

154 pages

Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives by Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger)

I love Pope Benedict. He so smart. I love that he looked at other people's analyses of the texts, and discussed what each of the Gospel writers was intending to do when they wrote their respective books.
144 Pages

All I Want for Christmas is a Cowboy (The Wyoming Cowboy #1). By Jessica Clare, Narrator: Abby Craden.

All I Want for Christmas is a Cowboy (The Wyoming Cowboy #1). By Jessica Clare, Narrator: Abby Craden. 2019. Tantor Audio (Unabridged audiobook, 8 hours, 3 mins).

Leading into the Christmas holiday, Eli Pickett finds only himself at the Wyoming cattle ranch he works at, as the rest of the hired hands have left on vacation. He doesn’t mind though, he’d much rather have the solitude the snow-covered sprawl provides than be a charity case.

Cassandra Horn is a long way from Manhattan, but she needs a respite from her self-involved boss and the boss’s flirty boyfriend. Her parent’s winter cabin in Wyoming should offer the perfect getaway. However, she is caught in a blizzard and crashes her car. Eli, out looking for a surly cow with a penchant for knocking down fence, comes upon an unconscious Cassandra on the verge of hypothermia. When she wakes, she finds she has amnesia and is snowed in with a cute cowboy of the strong, silent variety.

Sometimes forced proximity and amnesia plots are dark in tone, but that has never been Clare’s style. If you want a light and fun tone with your snowed-in holiday romance, this is your book.

 

288 pages

MOBIUS

The Annotated Night Before Christmas

 The Annotated Night Before Christmas

by Martin Gardner

Pages: 253

Rated: 4 out of 5

A collection of a wide-variety of versions of the Night Before Christmas including different cultural versions, regional, occupational etc. The book also gives the history of the original poem and it's animated versions too. 

"Sleigh Ride" by Heidi Cullinan

Opposites attract in this second book in the Minnesota Christmas series.  Gabriel Higgins is the lone librarian in small Logan, MN, but he loves his job.  He excels at it but hasn't really made any friends outside of the library.  When one of the library volunteers decides to raise money with sleigh rides in a real sleigh, Gabriel balks at the idea because she wants him to play Santa's elf to her son's Santa.  Arthur Anderson does not want his mother to play matchmaker, especially when she tells him that he'll be Santa with the lanky librarian playing his elf.  However, the library desperately needs the money, so both men relent.  As they get to know each other, Gabriel introduces Arthur, who doesn't enjoy reading, to graphic novels.  The best part of the book, in my opinion, is when Arthur's young nephew wants a doll, but the boy's mother refuses because of what others will say.  When Gabriel hears this, he decides to do a children's story time about it.  He brings his own dolls that he had as a child and explains to the children and parents that boys who have dolls will grow up to be loving fathers.  The author does a fabulous job with this part of the book; so well that it brought tears to my eyes.  It was a wonderful portrayal of the way good librarians, especially in small, isolated towns, can change children's lives.  229 pages (Kindle edition).

"Cold Feet" by Jay Northcote

Cute story about two college friends who get stuck in a cottage in the countryside of Wales over Christmas due to a snowstorm.  They find a kitty outside whose caretaker is the nearest neighbor, an elderly lady also alone for the holidays due to the weather, so they celebrate together.  But when Sam and Ryan return to school, will they still be friends or something more?  132 pages (Kindle edition).

Bring Me Home for Christmas by Robyn Carr

Posted for Diann Stark

Audio reading time:  7 hours, 8 minutes.  336 pages.

What Becca Timm wants most for Christmas is: getting over Denny Cutler.

Becca and Denny were so in love when they were in college. Denny broke Becca’s heart before heading off to war. She has told everyone that she is over him, she has a new boyfriend and has moved on, or has she?

She has to find out if it is truly over between her and Denny before she starts the next chapter in her life. So, she invites herself on a hunting trip with her brother and friends to Virgin River. There they will meet up with Denny and spend the weekend hunting and hanging out.

Then she breaks her ankle and cannot travel, so she is stuck in Virgin River for at least a week. Her brother leaves her behind and Denny feels responsible for the accident and agrees to take care of her.

As Christmas grows near and the town comes together for the festivities, Becca sees what has drawn Denny to Virgin River and its people. She also sees that the boy she was in love with has turned into a beautiful, strong and confident man.

As time draws near for when Becca can travel, she realizes she can’t leave for she is still in love with Denny.

A Big Sky Christmas by William W. Johnstone

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

A wagon train leaves Kansas City late in the year with a load of pioneers going to Montana.  The great challenge of outlaws, Indians, prairie fires, winter weather are some of their challenges. 

Audio:  9 hrs. 58 min.
Print:   416 pages

"A Mackenzie Family Christmas: The Perfect Gift" by Jennifer Ashley

This is book 4.5 in the Highland Pleasures series, about which I've posted in the past (including this month).  I read this out of order because I didn't know about it.  Luckily, it was a free download to my Kindle since none of the local libraries have it.  This story takes place eight months after Hart Mackenzie, the Scottish Duke of Kilmorgan, has made a duchess out of his first love, Lady Eleanor Ramsay, during the final weeks of the year.  Eleanor is very pregnant with their first child and can't do much to help with the preparations for Christmas and Hogmanay, the Scottish word for and celebration of the new year.  All of the Mackenzie brothers and their wives, as well as extended family and guests, have gathered at Kilmorgan to celebrate and await the arrival of the heir to the dukedom.  I really enjoyed seeing all of the Mackenzie brothers, their wives, and children together in one place.  It is not a stand alone read; the previous books in the series must be read for it to be enjoyable.  137 pages (Kindle edition).

"Vampire for Christmas" by Felicity Heaton

Shannon is a demon hunter with a secretive agency.  Rafe has been her partner for the last two years and has fallen in love with her.  However, she won't allow herself to even be friends with him because he's a vampire, and something in her past has caused her to be very weary of them.  Now that they're on their final mission together, can Rafe break through her walls and convince her that they should be partners in a more permanent way?

I've become a fan of Felicity Heaton, and this was another well-written novella that kept me interested and curious about the characters through to the end.  78 pages (Kindle edition).

Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas by Ace Collins

I probably annoyed my husband no end by constantly interrupting what he was doing with another fascinating tidbit I learned in this book about a favorite Christmas carol. From King Wenceslas being based on a real person who was killed by his brother to the Appalachian roots of I Wonder As I Wander to the many songs about Christmas peace that gained popularity during the Civil War, this book is filled with biographical information about the lyricist and composer of a song, as well as the conditions that led to why a carol was written. This was a good book to read at Christmas. 192 pages.