Kiss Me on Christmas by Sarah Monzon

 

Kiss Me on Christmas by Sarah Monzon

As I mentioned earlier this year on this blog, Sarah Monzon is on my authors to watch list. She’s very good!

Let’s begin with the summary:

Single mom Kaitlyn Stafford has never considered Christmas a balancing act, but when her sister calls with the news that she’s getting married in less than two weeks—on Christmas Day—that’s exactly what the holiday looks like becoming. Helping with the out-of-state wedding will be fun. The challenge will be doing so while accommodating her neurodivergent son’s need to keep every single one of their Christmas traditions while they’re away from home. It’ll be tricky, but she can do it.

At least, that’s what she thinks before her son’s favorite YouTuber, Beckett Walsh, shows up on the scene, knocking her world off-kilter with his speaking glances and knowing smiles. How on earth is she supposed to pull off her balancing act when her world’s just tilted on its axis?

And now, my review:

If you’ve experienced neurodiversity or lived with someone who is neurodivergent, you’ll resonate with this story’s descriptions of behaviors. I appreciated the heroine’s listing the behaviors, helping readers who can relate feel less alone. Also, showing us an example of how to navigate a world that is only just now beginning to understand neurodivergence.

There’s a belief by folks unfamiliar with neurodivergency that those affected can simply “get over it” or “change already” or “figure it out.” But that’s like saying, “Just have blue eyes and red hair. What are you waiting for?” Without tinted contacts and hair dye, we can’t will ourselves to be what’s expected if we aren’t wired/designed that way.

For these reasons and many more, this book really resonated with me.

The author mentions stimming, overstimulation, a need for routines, making noises, having tics, dissociation, and decompressing.

Now, for the story! It’s so much fun. We get to meet a very interesting hero who is thoughtful and not put off by the heroine’s son’s condition. While she teaches the hero, she’s educating readers, possibly, on the challenges she and her son face. But the prose doesn’t come across as preachy or bitter.

In fact, I felt the heroine handled the challenges of being misunderstood by others with a lot of grace. I yelled at the rude, impatient characters in the book, but she stayed calm. Heh!

Sarah’s prose is well done. She’s competent with the romance genre and in story telling. She’s very good at characterization. I loved how the hero and heroine were opposites in some ways. He was upbeat, she was burdened. His coming along lightened her burden. And all this against the backdrop of a Christmas setting.

Highly recommended!

All’s Fair in Love and Christmas by Sarah Monzon

 

All's Fair in Love and Christmas by Sarah Monzon

Don’t you just love a Christmas story?

Let’s begin with the summary:

Two workplace rivals. One festive competition. And a romance that upends it all.

Every December two things are guaranteed for graphic designer Mackenzie Graham—Christmas celebrations and the annual promotion at her workplace. Those two things are by no means mutually exclusive. In fact, the better an employee is at harnessing the Christmas spirit, the more likely they’ll win the new job. With her social anxiety, Mackenzie never thought she’d be a contender in her company’s holiday competition, so how exactly has she found herself dueling her workplace crush with wrapping paper tubes and using tinsel as her weapon of choice for a much-needed raise?

Jeremy Fletcher’s life is meticulously planned out, including how to win this year’s promotion at work. Not only will the new position fulfill some of his career goals, but as a single guardian to his twin niece and nephew, he needs the salary increase to support his family. Jeremy has barely noticed Mackenzie Graham around the office, but now that she’s his rival, he can’t stop thinking about her. Her quirkiness intrigues him, and he’s afraid that if he can’t get his head on straight, the promotion isn’t the only thing he’ll end up losing to Mackenzie.

And now, my review:

Overall, I enjoyed this book! I enjoyed the snarky first-person female protag’s voice. Loved the humor sprinkled throughout the story.

Our pour heroine is stuck in insecurity. She overthinks everything—what Meyers Briggs’ updated personality charts calls “turbulent.” She habitually rejects herself, undervalues her own strengths and positive traits, and fears she’ll fail in social situations. She has difficulty communicating her thoughts due to paralysis of social anxiety.

Her bff will help her overcome her tendencies, and the heroine will use interesting strategies to do so.

I felt the author did a fantastic job with the heroine’s characterization and her hang-ups. Her story line resonated with me as genuine, flawed, and relatable. I cheered for this heroine to overcome. Hooked, I was curious how she would.

The faith element was interesting here too. The heroine prayed for deliverance, but it didn’t come the way she expected. I loved this subtle thread. The flawed hero has some growth ahead of him too. He’s confident, but perhaps teetering on cocky. He doesn’t always have compassion on others, he blurts things out to his buddies, and he overlooks the underdog at work. His nobility is in his guardianship of his sister’s orphaned children. So we don’t dislike him for long. It was satisfying to watch him grow as well.

I liked that the male protag was the planner. This is a welcome twist on the usual trope. Another helpful author choice was putting the female MC’s voice in first-person narrative, and the male MC’s voice in third person. That helps readers track whose POV we’re in as we come back to the story. Watching the heroine find her voice, celebrate her strengths, and overcome her fear kept me engaged. The simple answers didn’t solve it. I loved that! God often takes us through a process to find healing or breakthrough. He overcomes our misguided attempts or beliefs while teaching us the truths that set us free. He answers our prayers over time. I loved that part of the book. Kudos to the author for going deeper than a surface, pat answer.

I love the competition and the aptly chosen title wording. They’re at war, after all.

My only drawback was with Frank. Not that the author included him, but that, at first, the hero’s pursuit didn’t feel any different than Frank’s. This is a fine line—not to let heroes come across as creepers as they back heroines against walls. Otherwise, this book is very, very well written.

I also read her book Kiss Me on Christmas and appreciated her inclusion of an autistic child. See my review on this blog for that book as well! Sarah is making a name for herself (at least with me) of competently writing about autism and anxiety disorders. I appreciate these deeper layers and tougher topics, especially since she doesn’t gloss over these challenging issues nor does she offer easy answers. Her work feels authentic because of her approach. She’s on my list of authors to watch!

Mulberry Hollow by Denise Hunter

 

Mulberry Hollow by Denise Hunter

Denise has done it again! Her books are consistently well-written, romantic, and engaging.

Let’s begin with the summary:

When a handsome handyman faces a medical emergency on the Appalachian trail, his sudden appearance in town challenges an ambitious doctor’s plan to remain single for life.

Avery Robinson decided to be a physician after helplessly watching her mother lose a battle with a terrible disease. Now at risk of developing the same illness, Avery guards her heart from love. She’s driven to protect her loved ones as a workaholic doctor in the tiny mountain town of Riverbend Gap, North Carolina.

Contractor Wes Garrett is hiking the Appalachian trail, in memory of the man who died saving his life, when an illness racks his body. After an agonizing fifteen-mile hike to Avery’s clinic, he collapses on her doorstep. He recovers to find himself in debt again—but this time to a beautiful doctor.

When he decides to help her renovate a rundown carriage house, the obstacles to their attraction sprout like weeds—starting with the woman waiting for Wes at the end of the trail. Will he be able to relinquish the debt he owes his best friend? And will Avery find the courage to risk everything for love?

And now, my review:

Denise is such a pro at story telling. You know you’re in good hands, reading her books. Her method of short chapters keeps the pacing very strong.

I liked the Appalachian trail tie-in—very interesting for someone who’s never seen any part of it. Still wigs me out a little that total strangers sleep side by side in the periodic shelters, but again, the trail is foreign to me.

The story’s hero chafes at the idea of owing any more debts to anyone. He’s committed to paying off one so personal he’s sacrificing a lot to do so. We’ll see his debt aversion a few times in the story. I like his noble cause and could immediately sympathize with him, even though his reasons slowly unfolded.

Our heroine lives under a large shadow. She fears the future, in a way, and that’s relatable to readers I think, no matter what their personal issues may be. Her private concerns were a great why-not, which, paired with the hero’s, gave us solid tension and conflict.

I love that we revisited previous characters from this Riverbend Romance series. An enjoyable book! I can’t wait to read the next novel in this series, which centers, I’m guessing, around the most wounded of this family of siblings: Gavin.

Highly recommended.  

Sunrise by Susan May Warren

Sunrise by Susan May Warren

The first book in a new series by Susan May Warren!

Let’s begin with the summary:

Coming home was never the plan.

Pilot Dodge Kingston has always been the heir to Sky King Ranch. But after a terrible family fight, he left to become a pararescue jumper. A decade later, he's headed home to the destiny that awaits him.

That's not all that's waiting for Dodge. His childhood best friend and former flame, Echo Yazzie, is a true Alaskan—a homesteader, dogsledder, and research guide for the DNR. Most of all, she's living a life Dodge knows could get her killed. One of these days she's going to get lost in the woods again, and his worst fear is that he won't be there to find her.

When one of Echo's fellow researchers goes missing, Echo sets out to find her, despite a blizzard, a rogue grizzly haunting the woods, and the biting cold. Plus, there's more than just the regular dangers of the Alaskan forests stalking her . . .

Will Dodge be able to find her in time? And if he does, is there still room for him in her heart?

And now, my review:

Oh, you’re going to feel chilly reading this novel set in Northern Alaska, but you won’t feel bored!

I call Susan the queen of first lines. Check this out: “By the time Dodge got to the hospital, he’d already broken his first promise.” So good. Hooks you, doesn’t it?

We have SEALs; hot-headed heroes; strong, independent, survivor heroines. What’s not to love?

The hero had a falling-out with his father a long time ago. This makes for an awkward homecoming, but he faces it. Generally, he’s the type to go into denial, to dodge the truth. A fitting fatal flaw since his name is Dodge.

The heroine’s lie is that everyone you love leaves. That makes her doubt they ever loved her at all. She may feel her voice is an echo back from the expanse, without a response. Fitting since her name is Echo. She’s described as having put herself back together, following a betrayal, with anger. I’ve known people like that. They’re edgy and determined, gritting their way through—just the strength she needs to take on the Alaskan wilderness.

Susie uses symbolism throughout, like how tagging a bear teaches them they’re not quite free anymore, which could symbolize how people’s wounds/traumas rob our innocence too.

As a reader of Susie May’s novels, I liked seeing familiar characters peopling this one. It’s comforting, like visiting old friends. Her descriptions are layered and original. Like this: “The stars came out slowly, arching over the nightscape, the moon an eye, tracking her.” (location: 342 of the ARC) Or this: “A shard of compassion separated him from his frustration.” (location 1876 of the ARK)

There were a couple of melodramatic moments in the early copy I read, and some places lacked transitions, leading to confusion, but overall—a very compelling, well-written story with layered characters, prose, and plot.

This is book one in her Sky King Ranch series.  

Highly recommended!

Mistletoe Countess by Pepper Basham

Mistletoe Countess by Pepper Basham

Such an enjoyable Christmas read!

Here’s the summary:

Will the magic of Christmas bring these two newlyweds closer together, or will the ghosts of the past lead them into a destructive discovery from which not even a Dickens’s Christmas can save them?

Mistletoe is beautiful and dangerous, much like the woman from Lord Frederick’s Percy’s past, so when he turns over a new leaf and arranges to marry for his estate, instead of his heart, he never expects the wrong bride to be the right choice. Gracelynn Ferguson never expected to take her elder sister’s place as a Christmas bride, but when she’s thrust into the choice, she will trust in her faithful novels and overactive imagination to help her not only win Frederick’s heart but also to solve the murder mystery of Havensbrook Hall before the ghosts from Frederick’s past ruin her fairytale future.

And now, my review:

Pepper’s rich storytelling and strong prose immersed me into the story from the beginning. And that premise: the wrong bride is (somehow) the right choice! What a hook.

According to the hero, the heroine has "no reserve whatsoever." Ha! That’s enough to make him uncomfortable. She’s lively and unpredictable. He’s burdened by regrets and has allowed “the past to attach weights to the future.” Insightful lines like that pop up now and then like Christmas gifts to the reader.

The romantic thread is enjoyable, centered around books and fiction, and being the heroine or hero of your own story. The newlyweds' relationship must begin at the beginning, and it's fun watching their intimacy grow.

I appreciated how Pepper included symbolism throughout. Our heroine is very intelligent and strong. She’s courageous. Our hero carries the burdens of his role as a nobleman, but he’s kind, which draws her. She can see his heroic side, even if he can’t. She supports him in a beautiful way, and that thread felt like a takeaway for married readers.

One recurring thought moved me often as I read: I want to see this book made into a movie. The rich setting and prose, the characters, the romance—this story begs to be shown, played out.

I loved this novel! Highly recommended!  

Under Scottish Stars by Carla Laureano

Under Scottish Stars by Carla Laureano

I'm glad to revisit Scotland with this author. Her first book was one I still haven’t forgotten. If you haven’t read Five Days in Skye, check it out! Find my review here.

Here’s the summary:

Recently widowed Serena MacDonald Stewart focuses on her children to the exclusion of her career, her art, and her sanity. When her brothers ask her to oversee the family guest house on the Isle of Skye, it’s a chance to dust off her long-ignored business skills and make a new start. But her hopes for a smooth transition are dashed when the hotel manager, Malcolm Blake, turns out to be irritating, condescending . . . and incredibly attractive.

Malcolm Blake gave up everything—his home, his girlfriend, and his career—to return to Skye and raise his late sister’s teenage daughter. With few job opportunities available on the island, he signs on as the manager of the MacDonald family hotel, which he’s soon running successfully without interference from the owners. That is, until Serena shows up, challenging his authority and his conviction that there’s nothing missing from his new life on Skye.

Before long, Serena and Malcolm have to admit the spark between them is more than mere irritation. But as single parents, there’s more on the line than their own hearts. Will their commitment to family be the thing that draws them together or the only thing that could keep them apart?

And now, my review:

The author does a great job of immersing us into the Scottish culture with their vocabulary. 

Our story is set in a luxury hotel, which provides escape for readers who'd like at least a fantasy vacation if they can't take a real one. Our heroine is a widowed single mother who is determined to take good care of her children and meet their needs, but she is tasked to help at the family's hotel. She must find a way to balance her obligations amidst the challenges—a relatable pursuit and noble goal. Her son's mental and emotional health need attention. Professionally, she's a strong and capable business woman. She simply needs a fresh start, and some help.

Our hero is doing his best to prove himself a competent hotel manager. He has a knack for administration, and like most people, he doesn't want his abilities questioned. I think readers will find that relatable. But he's hiding his insecurities. I loved that before he worked at the hotel he was an accomplished astronomer at Johns Hopkins. Thus the tie-in to the title. 

It's refreshing to read novels with competent heroes and heroines. 

Their relationship is muddied as she is his boss, but he is her landlord. Great why-nots provided tension between them as their attraction grew. 

Carla does a great job with their developing romance, male POV, and the setting. An enjoyable read.

An Inconvenient Beauty by Kristi Ann Hunter

An Inconvenient Beauty by Kristi Ann Hunter

This is book four in the Hawthorne House series. I've enjoyed all of these novels!

Let’s begin with the summary:

Griffith, Duke of Riverton, likes order, logic, and control, and he naturally applies this rational approach to his search for a bride. He's certain Miss Frederica St. Claire is the perfect wife for him, but while Frederica is strangely elusive, he can't seem to stop running into her stunningly beautiful cousin, Miss Isabella Breckenridge.

Isabella should be enjoying her society debut, but with her family in difficult circumstances, her uncle will only help them if she'll use her beauty to assist him in his political aims. Already uncomfortable with this agreement, the more she comes to know Griffith, the more she wishes to be free of her unfortunate obligation.

Will Griffith and Isabella be able to set aside their pride and face their fears in time to find their own happily-ever-after?

And now, my review:

Our hero and heroine each have an agenda, and neither of them want to fall in love. They’re approaching their problems practically and though both are in mission mode, they’re surprised by the inconvenience of attraction and growing affection. I loved this conflict. It was fun watching their efforts fail while they fought their feelings. 

I enjoyed the brotherly friendship between Ryland and Griffith. It’s rare in fiction lately, and it stood out as strong and honorable. Once again, Kristi’s humor injections made me laugh aloud. Such a fun element in a regency, which genre can at times be stuffy and proper. That balance is one reason I love this author’s work.

Kristi also gets to the center of these characters’ hearts. One of the book's themes was freedom. Though he’s a duke, Griffith isn’t wholly free. Another theme was helping one’s family to the extent of sacrificing personal comfort and preferred future.

I also love how Kristi includes a strong but subtle faith thread in her novels. Here’s what I mean: without preaching at readers, she weaves into either the heroine's or the hero’s life a need for God, a sense that He longs for her/him. In this novel, the heroine misses God and wonders if He misses her too. How delicious is that? Readers can feel that dynamic while considering their own faith. It’s personalized in that way, without readers feeling condemned or labeled or condescended to. So well done in her novels!

Such an enjoyable read! I recommend reading this series in order to get the most out of it. 

Highly recommended!

A Royal Christmas Wedding by Rachel Hauck

 

A Royal Christmas Wedding by Rachel Hauck

Sometimes you need to read a fairy tale!

Let’s begin with the summary:

Avery Truitt aches for true love—the kind she once shared with Prince Colin. Can she dare to hope for happily ever after, or is a fairy-tale ending beyond reach?

College volleyball star Avery Truitt has not seen her former flame, Prince Colin of Brighton Kingdom, since he suddenly pushed her away five years ago. But now, the sadness of losing her father and the joy of her sister Susanna’s pregnancy have brought Avery back to Brighton just in time for Cathedral City’s enchanting Christmas season.

Avery knows she can’t avoid seeing Colin—now the Kingdom’s most eligible bachelor—whether or not her heart is ready to relive the pain. But seeing him again might bring her the closure she needs after all this time.

When Colin finds himself at the center of a centuries-old Brighton tradition, he must decide whether to follow the path laid out before him or follow his heart to the only woman for whom he would ring the Pembroke Chapel Bell.

Can Colin convince Avery to meet him at the chapel on Christmas morning—as tradition dictates—or will Avery run back to her St. Simons home and pursue a coaching career as planned?

In the fourth installment of the Royal Wedding Series, New York Times bestselling novelist, Rachel Hauck, weaves a charming story of holiday romance as two broken hearts seek the love they once knew.

And now, my review:

I’ve really enjoyed Rachel’s Royal Wedding Series. So, what a treat to revisit those characters and their kingdom with this title. Here, we get to return to Brighton, an English kingdom with some grand traditions. And we get to see what happened to Avery, whom we’d followed in an earlier book.

This is a Christmas novella, so it reads fast. I was hooked from the first page (or screen on my e-reader) and stayed engaged (ha!) the whole way through. Such a fun story! Rachel’s sense of humor, her distinctive prose, and her skilled storytelling are so enjoyable.

As I read, I could see this story as a Christmas TV movie. Lots of romance! One of the themes was becoming one’s own person. Learning to follow God first and then listen to others in our lives, even when those others were once authority figures. The hero must learn this. He’s noble before he does, but he’s stronger afterward.

It’s fun to be Rachel’s friend and catch her references to her own life. She often includes character names of people in her life in her books. Here, she included Prince Tony and Princess Rachel—a direct reference to herself and her husband. How fun is that?

As always, Rachel includes a supernatural element in her books. You’ll have to read to find out how God steps into the story. I loved this aspect. Rachel’s depictions of God—as creative and original as they are—show Him as merciful, loving, and powerful. No exception here as God guides the characters.

I highly recommend this novella! The story is more satisfying if you’ve read the earlier books in this series, but she sprinkles in enough backstory that you wouldn’t be lost if you began here.

[Earlier books in the series include: Once Upon a Prince, Princess Ever After, How to Catch a Prince]

Wild Montana Skies by Susan May Warren

Wild Montana Skies by Susan May Warren

It's release day for Susan May Warren's latest book. 

Let’s begin with the summary:

Search and rescue pilot Kacey Fairing is home on leave in Mercy Falls, Montana, twelve years after she joined the military to escape the mistakes of her past. With a job waiting for her as the new lead pilot of Peak Rescue in Glacier National Park, Kacey hopes to reconnect with the now-teenage daughter she sees only between deployments. What she doesn't realize is that someone else is also back in town.

Ben King has been building his country music career since the day Kacey shut him out of her life. Now all of that's on hold when his injured father calls him home to help run Peak Rescue until he's fully recovered. It doesn't take long, though, to discover his father's ulterior motives as Kacey Fairing walks into the house and back into his heart.

With Mercy Falls in a state of emergency due to flash floods, Kacey and Ben are forced to work together to save lives. But when floodwaters turn personal, can they put aside the past to save their future?

And now, my review:

Thanks to Susie, I’ve had John Denver’s song “Montana Skies” in my head for as long as this book graced my nightstand. (*wink) I don’t mind.

First, I recommend reading Susan’s prequel to this story, entitled If Ever I Would Leave You. You could probably read this novel without having read the prequel (i.e., it would make sense), but if the prequel is still free in e-book format, why not have a read? It’s a short story/novella and it reads fast. Oh, and it’s yummy. See my review here.

The setting for these books (the prequel and this story and the rest of the Montana Rescue Series) takes us into the wilds of Montana. We get to participate with the characters on rescue missions, as a backdrop for several relationships we’re following. We’ll see the main characters from the prequel in this story, but at the center are a couple whose past mistakes in their romance hinder their chance at a present one.

The hero is a musician who chose his dreams over his one-time girlfriend, the heroine. Both of them have grown up since then, and each of them has secrets.

I liked all the music references—the song lyrics. The SAR team are a fun group of characters, each member competent in her/his role. I’m looking forward to the second book in this series.    

If Ever I Would Leave You by Susan May Warren

If Ever I Would Leave You by Susan May Warren

This is the prequel (and it's a novella) to Susan May Warren's Montana Rescue Series, which launches with book one, Montana Skies, in October, 2016. Read on for information on how to get this prequel/novella FREE.

What a fun, bite-sized story! But I’m getting ahead of myself.  

Let’s begin with the summary:

In this book, you’ll meet billionaire Ian Shaw and his lovely assistant, Sierra and experience the event that threads through the entire series…the disappearance of a young woman in the middle of the massive mountainous forest and the start of PEAK Rescue.

And now, my review:

I’m always up for a new SMW series! She paints such strong descriptions I felt like I’d been dropped into the story. One of the things I’ve noticed with Susie’s book is she presents believable characters, each with his/her own distinctive voice. Her teen girls sounds like teen girls, and her boys, like boys. Same with the main M/F characters. I also easily (naturally) believe their motives as they walk out the story. (Even if I don’t always like what they do. :))

I wanted to follow these characters further, and we'll get to do that in the first book in the Montana Rescue series, Montana Skies, releasing October, 2016.

One of the themes in this story of searching for a lost person was that of hope and how hope can be cruel, especially when it doesn’t deliver. I think readers who’ve been waiting on and hoping for something in their own lives will relate with this. I certainly did.

I’ll post my review for Montana Skies closer to release day. Until then, read on, friends.

To get a FREE copy of Susan’s prequel—If Ever I Would Leave You, see her website: http://www.susanmaywarren.com/get-your-copy-of-if-ever-i-would-leave-you/

(The e-book was free at the time of this writing.)