Christmas – Stephanie Caffrey, Author

Cute, sweet romance. Highly recommended if you want something that is best described as a Hallmark movie in book form. I loved both romances in the book, and didn’t feel left out having not read the rest of the series.

4 Stars

I’ve read a lot of celebrity memoirs this year, and Mean Baby easily is the best. And I’m sure listening to Blair read her own story was a huge part of it. The book is emotional and deeply honest. Blair puts all her flaws on the table, and air all her laundry. She doesn’t hold back. The book almost feels as if it was written specifically for her son, Arthur, as a way to make sure her story is told and he has a piece of her when she is gone. Blair’s voice often breaks as she reads particularly trying reminiscences, and at one point she is full on crying as she reads. If you’re an empathetic crying, listen with tissues.

5 Stars

Cute for what it was, but I felt the plot was thing (even for a holiday romance). There didn’t seem to be any character development, and the romance just really didn’t rope me in.

3 Stars

Went into this one with low expectations and came out of it loving it! A princess from a made up country falling in love with a nobody from Brooklyn? Yes Please! The characters were rich, the humor was on point,and the story was tight. I loved everything about this book. It was just what I needed.

4 Stars

I had a lot of expectations for this book, and felt a little let down. The plot wasn’t as tight as I would have liked it to be. Started off sloppy, the middle was amazing, and the end was really disappointing. I felt if I was already expected to suspend my disbelief for most of the novel, the ending didn’t need to be rooted in reality. I wanted something more outlandish. Left the book feeling a bit, ‘meh’.

3 Stars

A sequel I loved possibly more than the first?? Rare, but true for this one. I loved the characters even more than in Princess, and the humor was ratcheted up even more. Plus, it was an enemies to lovers, which is easily my favorite romance trope.

4 Stars

Read for my Sci-Fi/Fantasy book club, I had a lot of high expectations for this book, as on paper it should be something I absolutely loved. However, it was more “cozy” than I would have liked. The first part of the book just felt like an instruction manual on how to start your own coffee shop, and it really didn’t feel like much happened in the rest of the book. I think if there were more plot, I would have liked it a lot more.

3 Stars

Fake Dating Holiday Romance PLUS a reality TV Show. This is the second holiday romance I’ve read by Maggie Knox, and I wasn’t disappointed. It was an easy read, and I couldn’t put it down, staying up much later than I intended while sick reading it. The characters and their problems felt real, and everything just seemed to flow.

4 Stars

Third Eldovia book of the year, and honestly the weakest of the three. I always pictured Mr. Benz as much older when I read the first two books, so to learn he was only thirty really threw me off a little. However, I liked seeing a new, softer side to him. I liked Cara, but felt she wasn’t quite as developed as the other New York based love interests in the other books, which is really what brought this one down a little lower than the rest. That being said, I really liked this book, and it made me smile, and laugh, and cry, like any good book should do.

4 Stars

Not my favorite Christmas book I’ve read this year. There was something about the way it was written I didn’t really like. I think a large part of it was the characters just weren’t great. Carmen, the main character, just felt whiney. And on top of that, the romance just felt shoehorned and not really developed at all. I think the book wouldn’t have been better if there wasn’t the romance, honestly.

3 Stars

Third year reading a Jenny Bayliss Christmas romance, third year loving it. Her books are so subtle, and calming, and her characters just so wonderfully written. I loved Nory and Isaac. Their romance just felt so smooth and natural. I also loved the overall arching theme of friendships and how they can grow and change over the decades.

4 Stars

Groundhog Day. Christmas. Romance. Yes, please, and can I have more of this? All the characters were great. There were a lot, but it didn’t feel like there were a lot. Each character was unique and had their moment to shine. Gwen and Nev’s romance felt fresh and sweet, and their chemistry was legit. There was nothing about this book I didn’t love.

4 Stars

The Twelve Dates of Christmas

This was a cute book to kick off my Christmas month of reading. An easy romance, that had everything I love about a book. It was quirky, light-hearted, and the romance didn’t seem forced. I loved the conceit of the main character trying to find love at Christmas time through twelve blind dates, and I loved the backstory between her and her best friend.

In a Holidaze

I absolutely loved this one. After a disastrous day after Christmas, Maelyn Jones makes a wish, and suddenly it’s Groundhogs Day meets Christmas! Mae needs to try and get her life together, or else she’ll be stuck reliving the same holiday for all eternity.

This book was SO GOOD. I loved Mae and Andrew and the romance that bloomed between the two. And I’m a sucker for time-loop stories. Another feel good romance for the holiday season. (BOTM)

A Warm Heart In Winter

I NEVER skip a J.R. Ward book. And this year’s December release was billed as Blay and Qhuinn’s mating ceremony. FINALLY. But the book was so much more than that. In fact, the mating ceremony is such a small part of this heartbreaking book. If you’re caught up on the series, this is definitely worth the read. It adds to Z’s story, and we get some resolution to the Lesser attack on the Glymera from early in the series. But at the heart of the book, you get to feel and see Blay and Qhuinn’s love for one another, and that is just amazing.

This Time Next Year

New Year’s Eve, 1990, two moms labor together, when they have their babies at the same time, Quinn is the New Year’s baby! Minnie, who was supposed to be named Quinn, misses out by just minutes and also loses her name in the process. What proceeds is a life believing she is cursed at New Year’s. On the Eve of her 30th Birthday, she runs into Quinn, stealer of her name and her luck, and the two form a friendship that grows over the year. A beautifully written book about love, friendship and making your own luck, this is a book that I will probably try and read annually. (BOTM)

Dune

For YEARS, my husband has been trying to get me to read Dune. It’s one of his favorite book series. Over the summer, we learned how to play the board game, and everyone who had read the book understood what was happening, those of us who didn’t, had no idea. So, I finally read the book. I got the audiobook from the library, and I was HOOKED. This book is AMAZING! It’s like Game of Thrones, in SPACE! I was drawn in by the politics between the houses. The book was 21 hours long, and I DEVOURED it. My goal in 2021 is to finish the series.

Anxious People

I had heard a lot of good things about Anxious People, and it has made a lot of the best of 2020 lists, that I was really excited to finally have it come in at the library. And I have to say, this book lives up to the hype. It starts off slow, but keep reading. The payoff at the end is just amazing. The book is beautifully written and deals with so many different topics, and it does it with humor. Seriously, I laughed out loud multiple times. This book is a great study in character and relationships. (BOTM)

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark

If you know me, you know I love True Crime. This book is amazingly written. When she wrote it, The Golden State Killer, a name she coined, was still unsolved. Responsible for 12 murders and 50 rapes up and down the California coast between 1978 and 1986, The Golden State Killer, or also known as the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker, was one of the most prolific serial killers, that no one was talking about. It wasn’t until the 1990s with the invent of more sophisticated DNA technology that all of the cases began attributing themselves to him, since he crossed jurisdictions. A collection of her research, this book puts humanity into the GSK’s victims, and turns them into people, and not just numbers. Make sure you lock your doors at night, and sleep with a light on, this book is going to make you paranoid of every sound you hear in your backyard at night.

No Time Like the Future

Michael J. Fox’s newest memoir discusses his life from about 2016 on. He talks about the back surgery he needed to remove a tumor from his spine, his recovery, his later career when he felt like he would never act again, and finally his decision to officially retire from acting. I listened to this on audiobook, narrated by the author, and you could hear the love he has for his family in his voice as he talked about all of the support they’ve given him over the years. If you are a fan of Fox, I highly recommend this book.

Ready Player Two

Definitely the most disappointing read of 2020. If I could unread a book, this would be the one. I loved the first book SO MUCH. But this one just made me hate Wade. I don’t want to spoil anything, but if you want to know specifically why I hated this book, you can find a spoiler filled review on my Goodreads page, or you can comment or send me a message and I will tell you in excruciating detail why this book is at the bottom of my list.

Love Lettering

This book was really cute. Meg is a professional at handlettering. Reid is an uptight quant on Wall Street. When Reid discovers Meg left a message in his doomed wedding programs, he comes to confront her about it. What follows is a story about finding inspiration in the most unlikely of places, and falling in love with the most unlikely of people. This book was fun, romantic, and you couldn’t help but root for Meg and Reid.

Tag: Christmas

December 2022 Reads

December Reads