Tag: christmas

The Christmas Cookie Wars by Eliza Evans

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The Christmas Cookie Wars is a very funny, enjoyable Hallmark Channel type love story about a widow with two young middle school twins and the principal of the same school who is divorced and has a daughter. The two are very different in how they see the world, and how they parent. What they do have in common is their love for their children, learning how to let go of their pasts and taking a giant leap into what could be their future together. But there will be certain forces who will try and prevent this.

Melody Monroe has young twin boys. Her husband passed away only a few years ago. Her boys are her life. But she sees and realizes that they are beginning to grow up and grow away from her. Although her heart is broken, she understands this is part of the growing process. But it’s Christmas which is such an important time of year for them all as they try to preserve the memories and the traditions of the past.

Jonathan Braxton is the principal at her son’s school. He is very rigid and unfortunately her boys know him for all the wrong reasons. Let’s just say her boys know his office very well and so does she and leave it at that.

So, when Melody learns the school cookie committee has been disbanded thanks to its unpopular/popular chair, which also happens right before their famous Christmas cookie adventures, a great fundraising season, she decides in a moment of insanity to become the new chair.

Thus begins the relationship between the overworked and overstressed Melody and the by the book take no gruff cookie baker extraordinaire Principal Jonathan. Now Melody must work side by side with Jonathan to make sure all the fundraising dates go well which won’t be very easy as it seems someone is not very happy with her taking this position and is trying to make sure she does not succeed.

As Melody and Jonathan discover their attraction to each other, Melody is unsure of her feelings because of her late husband. But as they begin the holiday season and all the activities there becomes a spark neither of them can resist.

Chaos ensues but when something happens and her boys are blamed this may be the final straw for Melody. Can they overcome what seems to be a deal breaker?

The Christmas Cookie Wars is more than just a falling in love, love story. It includes lessons in learning how to deal with loss, change, opening your heart, letting your children grow and begin to learn life lessons on their own. It’s an enjoyable quick read and a very feel-good story.

Thank you #NetGalley #G.P.Putnam’sSons #TheChristmasCookieWars #ElizaEvans for the advanced copy.

A Christmas Ghost Story by Kim Newman

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A Christmas Ghost Story is a delightfully demented chilling mysterious ghost story within a story. It’s dangerously addictive as you begin the haunting climb to the unexpected ending. It’s a book which should be read in the daylight only… at night if you are brave!

It’s the Christmas season in England for Rust, a teenager and his mother Angie, a struggling novelist. It’s just the two of them and they don’t have much but come Christmas they splurge! But this Christmas everything seems to be off, and they don’t quite understand what is going on. Their first hint of a problem is when on December 1 Rust opens the first day of his advent calendar and there is something wrong with the taste of the chocolate.

Then, they begin to receive unsigned Christmas cards with ominous poetic writings in them. Rust wants to throw them out but Angie for some reason feels scared by doing that so they begin to put them on their mantel. Each day.

They try to figure out if this is some sort of a sick joke and even attempt to fool the writer of the cards and try to see who is putting them in their mailbox and on their property with no luck. They begin to feel it must be a ghost, but really, they are both too sensible. Each card is more frightening than the previous.

Worse, strange things begin to happen to them and their surroundings. Rust feels sick after eating the chocolate. A strange plant begins to overtake their backyard. And the Christmas turkey, well it just goes bad in the refrigerator.

But Angie fears she knows what’s happening and it has something to do with when she was a child and she secretly watched a Christmas horror story on the television without her parents knowing after they had gone to bed. More importantly is if she is correct, Rust is in danger. She must figure out how to stop this.

As she searches the internet for clues of the story she watched, she finds nothing. It’s as if it never existed. Did she imagine the whole thing? And as the days towards Christmas get closer, her fears grow because she knows what happens on December 25. How do they stop this?

A Christmas Ghost Story is a spine-chilling tale in which you won’t know the outcome until the very end. How can such a happy time take such a terrible turn? Well, you will certainly find out!

Thank you #NetGalley #TritonBooks #KimNewman #AChristmasGhostStory for the advanced copy.

The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett

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The Christmas Appeal is a novella which once again follows the kooky bunch of actors who make up the Fairway Players, the acting troop who appeared in Hallett’s first novel, The Appeal. Most of the characters are new, but we do have a few of the cast from the original. A few things are the same. There is backstabbing, jealousy, revenge and oh yes, a murder! It is hilarious and in her enjoyable writing style, emails and texts, which makes for a quick delightful read.

Set during Christmas, a time of Peace on Earth and Goodwill, the Fairway Players have clearly not received the message. The Fairway gang under a new husband-wife directing team in Lower Lockwood, England some of whom are determined to unseat the couple. They seem to not be able to do anything right! So, while trying to put on a Christmas pageant, Jack and the Beanstalk, which of course some feel is stupid, they all seem to try and make each other miserable.

The production is for the children, which they all seem to have forgotten as they continue to fight and make fun of each other. The proceeds are to benefit the church which needs a roof repaired. But the beanstalk which had been used in a production years ago is in need of a cleaning as it will be the center of the story. Oh, how it will be the center!

But of course, everything begins to fall apart immediately, and as the date of the show nears, the beanstalk is deemed too big, the sweets are needed for the bags of goodies for the children, and unfortunately more patrons keep getting invited. Also, rumors begin to swirl about there being something terribly wrong with the beanstalk. The “candy” is delivered day of and as for the beanstalk, well of course during the show a skeleton falls out of it. But the audience thinks it’s part of the show and therefore the performance is deemed brilliant! Much to some people’s chagrin.

So once again we have our two levelheaded lawyers on the case with their now retired boss. They begin to sift through all the emails, texts, etc. to see if they can find out just what happened and how a body could have been left in the beanstalk for years and no one seem to know.

So, who on earth is the dead body? Who spread the rumor of there being something terribly wrong with the beanstalk? Will this be the end of the Fairway Players? With a few cameos from characters from The Appeal, The Christmas Appeal is a laugh out loud mystery which does not disappoint, and even if you think you’ve got it all figured out well, you’re probably wrong!

Happy Holidays!