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The Christmas Spirit–sharing Christmas
The Christmas Spirit
by Debbie Macomber
What could the pastor of Light of Life church and the owner/bartender/waiter/janitor of the Last Call tavern possibly have in common? They were childhood friends and they maintain their connection by meeting at Mom’s Place monthly for lunch. Pete is clean-cut and Hank looks a little rough and shaggy, but they both love Jesus and people.
Debbie Macomber’s The Christmas Spirit is a humorous romance that is as Christmasy as Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. With only one week to go before Christmas, the two men decide to change places for a week because each thinks he has a harder job than the other. Walking in each other’s shoes teaches the men a lot of lessons about how to deal with all kinds of people with love and compassion and how to trust God. The pastor has to stand up to some tough characters including the Hell’s Outlaws, and Hank must confront the equally challenging Mrs. Millstone who dangles the large donation of a new roof for the church over the pastor’s head.
Both men are single so you can expect some romance. The women they are interested in have backgrounds that complicate their relationships. The waitress Millie might be unacceptable to Pete’s congregation, and the woman who has caught Hank’s attention happens to be Pete’s sister and the church secretary. Because of past pain, she has shut herself off to others with a superior attitude.
The story has a sweet format as Nana tells it to her two grandchildren who have come over to visit. Instead of a fairy tale, she tells them a real story. Eight year old Lance is good with that, but Nana has to promise to forewarn him if there is any kissing so he can cover his ears. Six year old Lily is delighted that there will be kissing. The plot progresses quickly with interludes in which Nana and the kids reflect on events in the story.
So many problems arise, some fun and some more serious. Characters must rise to the occasion to overcome biases, think outside the box, and trust God to work things out.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: General Fiction, Romance, Women’s Fiction
Notes: This is a good book for anyone who feels “church people” are too stuffy or hypocritical.…or for any Christians still holding onto biases. After you read this, you may come away with a new understanding of how God’s love is meant to play out in our world today.
Publication: October 18, 2022—Random House (Ballantine)
Memorable Lines:
Never in all his days had he met anyone more self-righteous than Grace Ann Armstrong. The woman had her nose so far up in the air that she was in danger of drowning in a rainstorm.
In Hank’s way of thinking, Gracie was so heavenly minded, she was no earthly good. Life was black and white for her, unlike Pete, whose real gift was understanding human nature and accepting others for exactly who they were. Pete was never one to cram faith down anyone’s throat. He loved people, and anyone who spent time with him, even a short while, recognized as much.
“Doesn’t the church belong to God?” he asked. “Technically…yes, but…” “It seems to me,” he said, “if God is who you say He is, then it makes sense to me that He knows that the roof needs to be replaced and He’ll see to it.”
The Post Box at the North Pole–falling in love with Christmas
The Post Box at the North Pole
by Jaimie Admans
With less than a month until Christmas, Sasha is replaced in her job as an assistant to a dog groomer and gets a phone call from her adventurer father Percy informing her that he is recuperating from a heart attack. When her mother died, her father became an absentee parent traveling the world and never able to make it home for Christmas.
Sasha jumps at the chance to be with her father, to be needed by him. He says he is running a reindeer sanctuary in Norway. When she arrives, she discovers Percy is “Santa” at the North Pole Forest two hundred miles north of the actual North Pole. He and the mysterious, tall, quite independent and capable Tav are trying to bring the decaying Christmas attraction back to life.
Sasha resists all things Christmas because of her many disappointments over the years. Percy and Tav (also a part of the North Pole Forest enterprise) want to engage her again in the magic of Christmas.
It would be impossible to imagine a tale with more of the Santa Christmas spirit. The setting is an incredibly cold land with lots of snow. The North Pole Forest is decorated with white lights, and Santa’s house is the perfect cozy refuge where you can always find a mug of hot chocolate. Santa greets children in a grotto, and the onsite post office is overwhelmed with 500,000 letters to Santa each year. There are Christmas themed cabins and glass igloos for viewing the Northern Lights.
Unfortunately, the center is in disrepair because tourists are not flocking in. Percy had to let go his workers which continued the downward spiral. Tav is a reindeer whisperer with skills at managing and healing reindeer, but he has emotional wounds of his own and physical scarring that is usually covered in layers of clothes.
We don’t get to know Percy as well as Sasha and Tav, but all three are important to the story and will speak to your heart as you learn their motivations. If you are looking for some Christmas magic, you will find it in The Post Box at the North Pole.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: General Fiction, Romance, Women’s Fiction
Notes: I love Christmas decorations, music, and celebrations as much as anyone, and I do find the season magical, full of wonder. This book, which I highly recommend, emphasizes the “true meaning of Christmas” as the belief that anything is possible at Christmas. With all the focus on Santa, elves, and presents, the book skirts over the real “reason for the season:” to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Jesus was born as a human to be like one of us. One of His names, Emmanuel, means God with us. He taught love of God and others, died an unjust and painful death, and was resurrected—all to take on himself our sins so that we can live forever. All we have to do is believe in Him. (John 3:16). Regardless of your beliefs about the season, I wish you a very Merry Christmas!
Publication: October 18, 2021—HQ
Memorable Lines:
The excitement of sitting down to compose a letter, maybe drawing a picture with it, decorating the envelope, and then posting it…That’s magic to a child. The whole world has gone digital, but Santa is one person who should always uphold tradition.
Every star in the universe must be out tonight, twinkling down on us, the movement of the curtains of green gives the illusion that the stars are dancing in time with the lights. Shades of pink creep into each green splash and turn yellow before fading away completely, only to be replaced with more flowing streaks of light, and just watching them makes me emotional.
“If you can’t be a big kid at Christmas, when can you?” “I’m glad you’re coming round to my way of thinking.” He tilts his head to the side. “Too many people absorbed the lie that when you grow up you have to stop liking fun things and start liking adult things but the happiest people are those who embrace things they love without shame.”
Pride–love in the ‘hood
Pride: A Pride and Prejudice Remix
by Ibi Zoboi
In a fun retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, similar themes of class differences and the prejudices that accompany them are the focus of Ibi Zoboi’s Pride. The characters are of Haitian-Dominican background and the setting is the “hood” of Bushwick in Brooklyn.
Life changes dramatically for the Benitez sisters when the rundown property across the street is renovated by the upper class Darcy family. Ainsley Darcy, who attends Cornell, is attracted to Janae Benitez, a student at Syracuse. His younger brother Darius is treated harshly and with suspicion by our narrator who is also the protagonist, Zuri Benitez, age 17. The Darcy’s clearly don’t fit into the hood, but when Zuri goes out of Bushwick, she finds that she doesn’t fit in easily there.
This young adult novel explores the barriers put up intentionally and often unwittingly by the community and by individuals. It seems that Bushwick will be forced to change, but where does that leave its residents? If you are not from that community, dear reader, you will find yourself immersed in an unfamiliar culture with new words and customs. I found myself liking the characters and the warmness of their world although it is outwardly a much tougher one than the home community in which I was cocooned. This book exposes the assumptions it is all too easy to make when we are confronted with dissonance. Reading it will expand your horizons and make you dive deeply into your soul to consider how you view those whose life circumstances are different from your own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Young Adult, Romance, Fiction
Notes: Contains a fair amount of cursing as appropriate to the street language of the community
Publication: 2018—Balzer and Bray (HarperCollins)
Memorable Lines:
Every book is a different hood, a different country, a different world. Reading is how I visit places and people and ideas. And when something rings true or if I still have a question, I outline it with a bright yellow highlighter so that it’s lit up in my mind, like a lightbulb or a torch leading the way to somewhere new.
If Janae is the sticky sweetness keeping us sisters together, then I’m the hard candy shell, the protector. If anyone wants to get to the Benitez sisters, they’ll have to crack open my heart first.
I’d look back at them with defiance and a little pride; a look that says that I love my family and we may be messy and loud, but we’re all together and we love each other.
A Bookshop Christmas–recovering from grief
A Bookshop Christmas
by Rachel Burton
Although Christmas is an important part of the setting for A Bookshop Christmas, the story focuses on Megan, a young widow. When she loses her husband Joe to cancer, she retreats back to the bookshop where she grew up. She’s been hanging on emotionally for over three years with support from her mom and two friends, but the bookshop is floundering and her heart is just not in it. Is it time to reenter the world of publishing, to leave behind the security of York and her bookshop?
Xander, a swoon-worthy author, as emotionally damaged as Megan, is scheduled to introduce his newest book at her bookshop. He is rude and arrogant, but maybe those characteristics are just a coverup for his pain and shyness.
One of my favorite characters is Philomena Bloom, Xander’s agent. She is bigger than life and seems to have connections with everyone in the publishing world. My other favorite character is Gus, a dachshund, whose sweetness is woven all through the book.
Megan and Xander have deep, painful secrets that make it difficult for them to open up to others. All is not sweetness and light in this romance. Although you will want a happily ever after for these two, the road is rocky and there is sadness and misunderstanding as they struggle to get over the past and find a hopeful future.
I enjoyed A Bookshop Christmas for the way the characters support each other. They make mistakes but learn to recognize and admit their mistakes and apologize for them. There is humor sprinkled in the book that helps lighten the tough times Megan and Xander go through. It is a thought provoking book and I recommend it.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Romance, Women’s Fiction
Publication: September 2, 2021—Aria
Memorable Lines:
“Reading is completely subjective and most readers read all kinds of different books. Being a snob about genre is like pretending that reading on e-readers or listening to audiobooks is somehow not proper reading. It’s ridiculous.”
Philomena Bloom burst into the bookshop at exactly three o’clock the next afternoon, leaving a wave of expensive perfume in her wake. The handful of customers browsing the shelves all looked up at the same time like meerkats.
The five stages of grief aren’t linear either—they all seem to exist together in one fiery hell ball of emotion that feels as though it will last forever. People will tell you that time heals but, in my experience, time just takes away the intensity.
The Best is Yet to Come–hope for the hurting
The Best is Yet to Come
by Debbie Macomber
When a hurt is so deep, so intense, that it permeates your very soul; when it causes pain that is both physical and mental, is there any way out? Cade survived a firefight after watching his two best friends die. He has a leg injury, PTSD, and a lot of anger. He lost his parents’ support when he chose not to follow the family tradition of becoming a lawyer.
Shadow is a German Shepherd who was abused and neglected; but even in his malnourished state, he is aggressive toward all in the animal shelter until he meets Hope. Hope is a high school teacher and counselor who is determined to win Shadow over with patience and love. Can she do the same for Cade?
Hope has her own past to get over as her twin brother died in Afghanistan. He was her only remaining family member, and they were very close.
Along the journey Cade makes toward wellness, we meet Harry his VA counselor, the other members of his group counseling sessions, and a lot of supportive people.
The Best is Yet to Come is a book with relevant issues facing many who have served in the military and their loved ones. It is a clean romance with emotional impact. A quick read, it provides lots of opportunities to take breaks, but you won’t want to. The story line includes interactions with some of Hope’s students focusing on their struggles, and it climaxes with an action-packed scene.
The author provides satisfying resolution to all the plot threads, and the book leaves you wanting to read another Debbie Macomber novel. Fortunately, there are many you can choose from.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Women’s Fiction, Romance
Notes: This is #3 in the series Oceanside, but it read like a standalone to me. I was not aware it was part of a series until I began to write the review.
Publication: July 12, 2022—Balantine (Random House)
Memorable Lines:
The memories of that last battle engagement clawed at him like an eagle’s talons, his sleep peppered with nightmares that his mind insisted on tossing at him like a hundred-mile-an-hour hardball pitch. He drank to forget. To sleep. To escape.
“By being loners, we feel like we’re handling life; we’ve built this fortress around ourselves. Involving others, inviting them into our pain, is hard. We resist. We don’t like it. We feel we can handle it on our own. We’re islands unto ourselves, not needing anyone.”
“An attitude of gratitude,” Harry said. “That, young man, will take you far.”
Pride and Prejudice–courtship in the early 1800’s
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
In preparation for reading Pride, a modern day version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, with my book club, I decided to reread the original. I knew I could watch a video of the story, but I decided to aim for authenticity and read the actual book. I was glad I did as there is so much to be appreciated in Austen’s words, style, and depiction of characters. In retrospect, I believe my younger self had seen one of the several videos, but had never actually read the novel. I would still like to view one of the movies for an opportunity to better envision the costumes and settings of this period piece, but there is much value to be gained from the reading experience.
Pride and Prejudice is a romance particularly focusing on Jane and Elizabeth Bennet as they navigate the difficult waters of courtship in the early 1800’s in England. Their courses are made more murky by the family’s financial and social status. They are not part of the old monied class that is full of prejudice, but they have standards and they and their suitors are driven at least in part by pride. From a twenty-first century viewpoint, the courtship and rules of engagement seem stilted, but the reader can see in a younger sister’s impetuous disregard for the rules and assumptions of the time, that there are real societal and personal consequences for ignoring the standards of any time period.
I enjoyed the book which is as much about social issues as it is a romance. Pride and prejudice are, of course, themes throughout the book. Most of the characters of the novel grow and develop through the events of the story. Some remain stuck in their ways of thinking, and those continue to be persons the reader won’t like. You may find yourself rereading Pride and Prejudice for love of the characters, the joy of the language, or the journey towards a known ending—happy for some, less so for others.
Rating: 5/5
Notes: Edited by R. W. Chapman. Distributed by Gutenberg Press
Category: General Fiction, Romance
Publication: 1813—T. Egerton Military Library, Whitehall
Memorable Lines:
“Affectation of candor is common enough;—one meets it every where. But to be candid without ostentation or design—to take the good of every body’s character and make it still better, and say nothing of the bad—belongs to you alone.”
Without thinking highly either of men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her object; it was the only honorable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want. This preservative she had now obtained; and at the age of twenty-seven, without having ever been handsome, she felt all the good luck of it.
“You mean to frighten me, Mr. Darcy, by coming in all this state to hear me? But I will not be alarmed though your sister does play so well. There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me.”
Suspects–dangerous corruption
Suspects
by Danielle Steel
If you want an entertaining romance mixed with some mystery and spies, Suspects is a good choice. It reads quickly and has sympathetic main characters. Theo is a successful business woman in the fashion industry. She is married to an older, extremely wealthy man. They have a relatively happy marriage with one child. Everything changes instantly as Theo’s husband and son are kidnapped, probably by an angry Russian over a business deal that went sour.
Mike is a career CIA agent, promoted up the ladder but still very hands-on. He is married to his job. His path crosses with Theo’’s as he follows up on Pierre de Vaumont, a slimy character who makes his money by matching rich and shady individuals with corrupt individuals who can fulfill their needs. Mike knows about the kidnapping and is immediately drawn to Theo and wants to keep her safe.
Most of the book deals with efforts to find the kidnappers and keep Theo safe. In the process a mostly long distance romance, New York to Paris, develops between Theo and Mike.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Women’s Fiction
Notes: There is steam in this romance as the couple enjoys a “lovefest of tenderness and passion” whenever they are together. Their sexual encounters are closed door, but that part of the story becomes repetitive and does not move the plot forwards.
Publication: June 28, 2022—Delacorte Press (Penguin Random House)
Memorable Lines:
He could feel his good resolutions sliding away, like Jello-O down the drain.
The windows were all tightly closed so tear gas wouldn’t enter the apartment, and they heard the first cannons go off, shooting tear gas into the crowd. Mike was shocked at what was happening, it looked like a war zone in the most civilized city in the world.
“You’re not a normal person. You’re an exceptional, remarkable one that people are jealous of, which makes you a target. And there are dangerous people in the world.”
A Cowboy Thanksgiving–Thanksgiving with Christmas themes thrown in
A Cowboy Thanksgiving
by Melinda Curtis
If you are searching for a good seasonal read, look no further than Melinda Curtis’ final book in The Mountain Monroes Series. Although you might think it would be daunting to start reading the series with the twelfth and last book, I think you would be pleasantly surprised. Characters from previous books are mentioned or have a recurring role, but their connections are either explained or are not critical.
A Cowboy Thanksgiving focuses on Bo Monroe, the last of the Monroes to come to Second Chance, Idaho, to weigh in on the decision he and his cousins would have to make a year after they inherited the town from their beloved Grandpa Harlan. Bo brings along a friend’s cousin, Max, whom because of a bad phone connection, he assumes will be a boy. Instead, he is tasked with providing a good holiday for Maxine. Her survival technique is to erect barriers to avoid being hurt as she has been in the past as “an unwanted orphan” who later in life is “crushed by a disappointing marriage and a calculated divorce.” Max is accompanied by her precious four year old daughter Luna.
To her surprise, Max finds herself warmly embraced by the huge Monroe family who has gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving and compete in the Monroe Holiday Challenge, a week long event of fun and games that the handsome, charming, and competitive Texan Bo has never won.
The challenges combine cowboying, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with a backdrop of snow. Because so many of the Monroes are young, the competitions have been designed with their limitations in mind so the week will be fun for everyone. Contests include scarecrow stuffing, sleigh decorating, gingerbread house decorating, and snow skiing behind a horse with the skier carrying a pumpkin head to top his team’s snowman at the end of the course. Bo, Max, and Luna comprise “Team Bo,” one of five teams, while the rest of the Monroes, spouses, and children gather round to help with preparations and support the teams.
While all this is happening, Max and Bo get to know each other better. Max does not fit neatly into Bo’s list of the ideal woman’ characteristics. Will Bo discover that the heart is stronger than the head? Will Max overcome her trust issues? It is fun to watch the journey of these two. All of the Monroe clan can see the attraction and the reader watches the relationship develop along with the Monroe cousins.
The author ends the book and series with an epilogue that explains the status of the various Monroes, tying up any loose ends. She also chimes in with what Grandpa Harlan would think about his grandchildren and the legacy he passed on to them as he took the silver spoons from their mouths and gave them the opportunity to develop strength of character and discover their individual paths in life.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Romance
Notes: #12 in The Mountain Monroes Series. This is a family saga, but each book focuses on a different one of the twelve cousins. Melinda Curtis says she enjoyed “the challenge of making each book connected yet stand-alone.”
Publication: August 23, 2022—Harlequin Heartwarming
Memorable Lines:
“Luna will never know what it’s like to be an afterthought. I don’t want her to learn how to hold back her tears because she’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. She should’t have to walk on eggshells wondering when the next moving day will come.” She shouldn’t have to store important possessions in her suitcase for fear she’d leave something dear to her behind in the next move.
“As a fellow engineer, I know it’s habit to follow a logical plan. There’s safety in blueprints and standard processes. But sometimes you have to embrace the unknown and trust that your ability to creatively problem-solve will lead you to a more satisfying result.”
There were more Monroes swarming about the log cabin looking for clues about who had lived there than there were ants on a potato chip dropped at a summer picnic. They all wanted to know if their grandfather had stayed here during his visits.
Christmas Wishes at the Chocolate Shop: A Tale of Two Christmases
Christmas Wishes at the Chocolate Shop
by Jessica Redland
Charlee was raised by her grandparents. When they both passed away and her beloved mentor at the chocolate shop moved back to France, Charlee is encouraged by her live-in boyfriend Ricky to move to the city where he has just found a new job. She decides to open her own chocolate shop. Meanwhile, she continues to pay all of Ricky’s expenses because he is trying so hard to pay off his credit card debt and he puts in a lot of overtime. If you are less naive than I or Charlee, for that matter, red flags are probably fluttering high.
Charlee has one really good friend Jodie who moves to Charlee’s new town soon after Charlee and works in Charlee’s shop. Through their hard work and the friendship of other small business owners on lovely Castle Street, her new business prospers. Charlee meets the very kind, handsome, and engaged Matt who saves her shop from a plumbing disaster. She also takes the plunge to find her biological mother who abandoned her when she was a baby. It is not a step she is sure she wants to take nor does she know if she wants a relationship with this secretive woman.
In Christmas Wishes at the Chocolate Shop, the setting is very Christmasy including decorations, snow, and tree lightings. A major theme is the difference between Charlee’s first Christmas and the second in her new home of Whitsborough Bay.
There are many questions Charlee has to work through. The journey she takes is fascinating, and the reader will be rooting for Charlee to succeed both personally and professionally. As the book draws to a close, there are many surprises. You will be hoping for a happy ending for (almost) all of the characters.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: General Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Romance
Notes: I am not generally a huge fan of the romance genre, but I occasionally like to mix in a few, especially when they are Christmas themed. As happens frequently in modern romances, in the beginning of this book, lust gets confused with love. So the first part has a lot of “steam,” but not graphic descriptions. Later in the book, the characters have for the most part worked out what love is, and the focus switches to relationships and making honorable choices.
Publication: August 3, 2021—Boldwood Books
Memorable Lines:
“And now my best mate in the whole wide world, the only person who I care about spending time with, has bogged off to live at the seaside, leaving Billy No Mates here with nothing to do except gorge on Spam sandwiches and watch the soaps every evening.”
Matt and I were obviously destined only to be friends and I was going to have to hope that I’d wake up one day and be over him. Was that a pig flying past my window?
Castle Street was the perfect setting for that magical Christmas feeling. Full of Victorian character buildings and old-fashioned lamps there was almost a Dickensian feel to the place.
Snowflakes Over the Starfish Café–a lost dog brings hope
Snowflakes Over the Starfish Café
by Jessica Redland
In the first part of Snowflakes Over the Starfish Café, the reader really gets to know the characters in this book and the story behind each one of them. Hollie and Jake are the main characters; both of them have pasts immersed in tragedies. Those two tell the story in their points of view. The timeframe bounces around between the present and various times in their pasts slowly revealing the details of the personal disasters that they don’t seem to be able to overcome. The changes in timeframes and narrators are clearly delineated and never confusing. There are a lot of supportive friends and a few you would like to kick to the curb. “Mr. Pickles” is a tiny homeless shih tzu who plays a huge role in this romance, but will he be big enough to bring Hollie and Jake together and help overcome their issues?
All of the action occurs in or near Whitsborough Bay on the North Yorkshire coast. The book is filled with Britishisms that I enjoyed immensely such as references to wearing their “waterproofs” or shops displaying bags of “candyfloss.” I also learned a lot about the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) with its amazing volunteers.
As frequently occurs in romance novels, Jake and Hollie inch towards resolution and a happily ever after. Then suddenly there is a twist that neither Jake, Hollie, nor the reader could have predicted. It seems they may be forced to retreat into isolation abandoning what they had together.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: General Fiction, Romance
Publication: August 31, 2021—Boldwood Books
Memorable Lines:
Angry waves snatched at the deserted beach, spitting spray over the railings, while ominous grey clouds threatened rain.
“People can still be in love but not like each other very much and sometimes they can like each other but not be in love.”
“Then he’s not right for you, but one day you’ll meet someone who is. Someone who makes you laugh every day, hugs you simply because it’s Tuesday, holds you when you cry, and dances in the rain with you.”
education pathways 