Blog Tour: A Holiday Miracle

 

Welcome bloggers and blog readers!  I am excited to once again participate in a blog tour for Cedar Fort.  This time was particularly fun because I am definitely thinking a lot about Christmas and feeling ready for the Christmas season to get started.

This is June McCrary Jacobs.  Isn't she cute?  I just wanna hug her.

This is June's book.  Love the cover.  LOVE.  So Christmas-y and romantic and absolutely pretty.

This book was an ultra quick read (which is perfect when you want to read a little romance and feel a little boost of Christmas spirit, but you don't have time because, you know... life).  The story moved quickly and didn't leave time for the reader to be bored.

This book was clean -- squeaky, blessedly clean.  Love it!!!  I have read some "clean" romances that aren't exactly clean, but this one definitely was.  I am always so grateful for that.  I hate having to constantly be on my guard when it comes to the content of books.  I hate having to skip paragraphs or pages.  I definitely didn't have to be on my guard with this book.

This book told a lovely story... a story about a little girl and her family going through something difficult and traumatic and their community that comes together to make a difference.  What a heart-warming and sweet way to remind us of the good we can do when we step outside ourselves and love our neighbor.

Thank you, June and thank you Cedar Fort for letting me be a part of this blog tour.  I am grateful to be reminded ahead of time that I should love and serve more, especially at Christmas.

Happy day and [early] happy Christmas!!!

Blog Tour: Carla Kelly's Christmas Collection

Carla Kelly's Christmas Collection by Carla Kelly
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Welcome Carla Kelly fans... new, old, and soon-to-be... I am glad to be participating in this blog tour. A big thanks to Cedar Fort for giving me the opportunity to read this book and be a part of this.

I am now in a Christmas-y mood.  What fun!  I usually put my tree up the day after Halloween... I know that'll bug some people... but I love it! So, no hating. ;)

So, this book is comprised of four short stories.  The first three were, to me, the most Christmas-y.

The first story is about a father looking for the right husband for his bookish daughter.  He has someone in mind, but so does his son. And so does his other daughter.  The man he has picked is scholarly and scatterbrained and just a bit... oblivious. He sticks his foot in his mouth a lot. A lot, a lot.  The pick by her brother is everything a woman might seem to wish for: handsome, important, wealthy, worldly... and a little bit pompous.  The final candidate is not so much spoken about other than that he is lame.  Misunderstandings, confusion, and all around chaos ensues.  It was fun and a little silly with a sweet romance mixed in.

The second story is about a small town with a crummy choir.  Mrs. Chard (The Dowager Lady Wythe) is determined to change that.  It is also about Peter Chard, a single father with two children, Will and Emma.  Somehow Peter gets roped into recruiting new singers for the choir.  Along the way he meets a beautiful, if slightly common, woman.  She is pregnant and a widow... living with her late husband's family and quite unwelcome.  Yet another lovely love story that made me want to snuggle up and drink cocoa.

The third story is about a sea captain who loses his first mate  in a battle with the French. He is battle weary and hardened by all he has seen.  His ship is broken and will require some repairs.  After holing up at Portsmouth he is surprised to meet the niece and nephew of his late first mate... they've come to him with nowhere else to go.  Since he is dead our lovely sea captain takes them under his wing for Christmas -- returning to his estranged mother and brother.  A lovely story that talks about how events can change us for better or for worse and how the worst events can still make us strong and good people.  It also broaches the topic of attitude in adversity.  I quite appreciated the deeper moral here.  The love story was also sweet and the protagonists were flawed, but likeable.

The final story is about a girl, Sarah Comstock, fleeing French-occupied Spain.  She meets up with an old friend of her brother's (her brother was shot and killed while trying to copy some old letters concerning Columbus).  The friend she meets up with ends up just kind of... disappearing, which was a little strange.  This friend left her in the care of Colonel Sotomayor.  After some trouble from the French, Sarah and the colonel find themselves separated from the other soldiers and being hunted for some as yet unknown reason by the French.
Because this is set in Spain they talk about the way the Spanish celebrate Christmas.  It feels well-researched and authentic.  It doesn't entirely feel Christmas-y, but that is a small thing.


Overall, I really, really enjoyed this collection of Christmas stories.  I want to purchase the paperback just so that when I feel like being in a Christmas-y mood I'll have a good, cozy book to snuggle up with and get lost in for a moment.

I don't feel as though I wasted my time at all and, like I said, I feel like buying this book -- an indication of my approval.

Here it is, October 8th... Christmas will be here before you know it.  If you are like me and can't hardly wait, then get this book now and read it!  If you like waiting until after Thanksgiving, then make sure you get this book and have it ready... the day after Thanksgiving will arrive and this book will definitely put you in a very holiday mood.  It is a lovely, festive read that will touch your heart and make you smile.

Thanks for stopping by and... Happy (early) Christmas!


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Book Review: How the Hangman Lost His Heart

How the Hangman Lost His Heart by K.M. Grant
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I have struggled with rating this book. I don't really feel it deserves a 2, but I didn't like it enough to give it a three. So for the writing, cleverness, and ability of the author to be morbid without being utterly gruesome... I give it a 3.  But for the fact that I will never read it again and don't really care that I ever read it, and don't really think I'd suggest it to anyone... I give it a 2.

Overall, it was fine.  The characters were complex enough to be interesting, but simple enough to keep the book light.  The content matter was very grown-up, but the writing suggested a younger audience.  This book was placed in the YA section of my library, and I suppose it fits.  Adult (ish) content... child (ish) writing so it ends up being somewhere in between.  I think that if the author had pushed herself she could have written an impressive adult fiction (not the dirty kind) novel or even a truly stunning YA novel.  Alas the book just rests easy in the safe and simple category.

There were some ridiculous (and I mean that in a good way) parts, and some clever parts, and even one or two laugh out loud parts.  I don't think I'd rate it a waste of time, but it might be.  This one will definitely depend on the reader. (Most do, I know, but some books really are quite horrid and others are worth giving a chance for almost everybody.)

Book Review: A Proper Pursuit

A Proper Pursuit by Lynn Austin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was impressed. I think I would rate this a 3.5, honestly. I thought it looked cute when I saw it at my friend's house and am glad I asked to borrow it.

Not a waste of time.

The main girl reminded me a lot of Catherine Morland in, Northanger Abbey with her wild and overactive imagination and silliness. She was lovely and cute and funny and fanciful and just a little ridiculous.

And Silas was lovely, too.

The book had a lot of silliness and fluffy-ness, but the main character, Violet spent the book having her eyes opened to the silliness and fluffy-ness of her world.  She had to spend a lot of time deciding what was worthwhile and where her place was in the world.  Set in a time when the world is on the cusp of change,  Violet has to find a place somewhere between the excitement of the new world and the safety and goodness of certain traditional values.

I was also really impressed with the obvious level of research that went into this book.  The knowledge the author has about the World Fair that year, what the exhibits were, etc.  She does a wonderful job bringing Chicago in 1839 to life.



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Book Review: Prank Wars

Prank Wars by Stephanie Fowers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So I found the characters in Stephanie Fowers's previous books... obnoxious after a while (sorry to sound harsh... they just... grated the nerves) and so it kind of ruined the books for me. But this book???? Not so much. Fun, crazy action with a surprising twist halfway (ish) through with characters that are likeable and not nearly so whiny and harsh. She is bitter like the other two main character girls in "Meet Your Match" and the other one "Rules of Engagement", but there's less of her preaching than the other two and so it doesn't get old.

Not a waste of time. Clean. And I love Lord Byron's character. Love.

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Book Review: Blackmoore

Blackmoore: A Proper Romance by Julianne Donaldson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was soooo happy when a friend told me Julianne Donalson was having another book published.  She had already bought it and finished it in a day and so shegave it to me this morning. I gobbled it p.  Every bit as lovely and full of clean romantic tension as Edenbrooke with an entirely different plot that sucks you in until you have finished it.(minus the girl not thinking she could get the guy.  That part is the same.  It suits, though.  We, as women, often relate to that 'cause we have almost all felt it.)...

Be prepared, readers to let the dishes, laundry, and kids fend for themselves because you will not be able to put this sweet, thrilling romance down.

I will say I kept thinking of Phillip any time Henry spoke... they had a similar voice... but Kate was different and had a lot of different struggles.

Love. Love, love, love, love, love.  Clean, sweet, and absolutely satisfying.

Book review: The Family Under the Bridge

The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think that this book is a good way to help kids understand that people who are homeless aren't necessarily there because they are lazy and teaches them to respect All types of people. I know it did for me.  I loved this book growing up.

Armand certainly is lazy, though, and so that adds another layer to the story.  It is nice, too, to see him grow up and change.  I love that quote, "It is never too late to be what you might have been." by George Eliot.  Armand's character illustrates this well.

We read this with our four year old over the course of... maybe a month and a half. He was SO bored.  So... maybe for older kids that can understand deeper concepts and don't need a lot of humor and action, this would suit.  Little ones? Not so much.

Also, this book is set at Christmas, so if you are looking for a novel to read with your kids at Christmas time and want to try something different, this might be a good one to read.

Not a waste of time!!!