This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!
What I just finished:
This weekend I finished Wrapped Up in You by Talia Hibbert.
What I’m currently reading:
I’m currently reading God Rest Ye, Royal Gentlemen by Rhys Bowen.
What I’m reading next:
Next I will be reading Roxy by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman.
What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?
The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.
This Sunday I’m reading Wrapped Up in You by Talia Hibbert.
Goodreads Synopsis:
William Reid is nothing special, except for his billion-dollar acting career and his, you know, face. (Apparently, it’s a good one.) Winning ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ was nice, but this Christmas, he has more important goals in mind… like finally winning over his best friend’s little sister, the super-smart and kinda-scary Abbie Farrell.
When a blizzard leaves Will and Abbie alone at Grandma Farrell’s house (if bunking with 27 pets counts as ‘alone’), it’s the perfect opportunity to pull off a Christmas miracle. Convincing clever, frosty Abbie to give Will a chance will take more than mistletoe, but hiding his lifelong crush on her is no longer an option.
Title: Wrapped Up in Christmas Hope Author: Janice Lynn Genre: Romance Publisher: Hallmark Publishing Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Audiobook Release Date: October 26, 2021 Rating: ★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
He’s willing to risk his life to save others. Is she willing to risk her heart on him?
Morgan’s late husband was a daredevil…and now she’s a widowed single mom. All she wants now is to set up a stable life for herself and her son in the small town of Pine Hill, Kentucky.
Andrew’s a firefighter who thrives on the rush of saving others. His secret dream is to become a smokejumper and fight raging wildfires across the country. But it’ll mean leaving his hometown and the people who rely on him.
Morgan and Andrew are drawn together as they both volunteer to make quilts for veterans at the local quilt shop. Morgan’s son looks up to Andrew, and Morgan can’t help but notice how good Andrew is with him. Meanwhile, Andrew’s torn between his ambition and his growing attraction to Morgan. They both have choices to make about their future…and about each other.
Review:
Morgan moves back to her hometown of Pine Hill with her son. She is a widow and wants to have a stable life for her son by living with her grandparents. Andrew is a firefighter in Pine Hill, but his dream is to fight wildfires in California. Morgan has promised herself she will never fall for another daredevil since her husband died, but she’s drawn to Andrew. Andrew also gets along well with her son, who begins to look up to Andrew immediately. Morgan has to decide if she’ll follow her heart, even though there’s a chance it could be broken again.
My favourite character in this story was Morgan’s son. He made some cute observations, such as talking about his little girlfriend from school. Unfortunately, I didn’t connect with Morgan or Andrew. They were flat characters without much depth. They only seemed to focus on one thing: Morgan focused on not falling for a daredevil while Andrew focused on his dream of taking risks. I would have liked to see them talk or think about things other than these challenges because it became repetitive and boring.
This was a slow romance without much tension. The differences between what Morgan and Andrew wanted was constantly repeated. There wasn’t much else happening in the story other than their differing goals in life. The resolution at the end was sudden and didn’t make much sense considering how adamant they were in sticking to their beliefs.
Wrapped Up in Christmas Hope didn’t work for me.
Thank you Hallmark Publishing for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Other books in the series:
Wrapped Up in Christmas
Wrapped Up in Christmas Joy
Have you read Wrapped Up in Christmas Hope? What did you think of it?
Title: Christmas with Hamish Author: Sophie Penhaligon Genre: Romance, Novella Publisher: BooksGoSocial Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: November 1, 2021 Rating: ★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Christmas has never been the most wonderful time of the year for Verity Robinson. When her younger sister sends her an invite to her Christmas wedding on the other side of the country in Vancouver, she decides to kill two birds with one stone and plans a ski trip to Whistler with some old friends. However, her dreams of a snowy Christmas on skis are thwarted by her sister’s dog sitting crisis.
Instead of spending Christmas enjoying the après ski alcohol, she is instead stuck minding Hamish McDuff for the next week. They say that every cloud has a silver lining and for Verity, the silver lining comes in the guise of her sexy new neighbour, Nikau Taylor. Nikau seems determined to help Verity eradicate her ghosts of Christmas past, but what will happen when her time is up and it’s time to go home to Toronto?
Review:
Verity Robinson travels from Toronto to Vancouver for her sister’s wedding before Christmas. Verity has never gotten along with her sister or the rest of her family, but she goes for the trip home and to visit friends for the holidays. However, when her sister’s dog sitter backs out at the last minute, she insists that Verity must look after her dog, Hamish. The good thing is that Verity gets to stay in her sister’s penthouse apartment, with Nikau Taylor for a neighbour. Nikau does his best to help Verity move past the trauma in her past and finally have a happy Christmas.
This story had some cute moments, but I found a lot of it exaggerated and extreme. Verity had a horrible childhood, with physical and emotional abuse. Her relationship with her family was purely negative and they had very exaggerated reactions to each other. Their interactions were extreme and didn’t have any hint of hope for reconciliation over the holidays.
There were some plot holes that I just couldn’t look past. Verity’s sister hated her, yet she insisted that Verity was the only person who could look after her dog while she went on her honeymoon. Their neighbour and friend Nikau (who also had a dog, unlike Verity who had never spent time with a dog) was there constantly and spending all of his time with Verity. He would have been a much more likely choice as a dog sitter, so I don’t know why Verity would have been chosen in this situation, other than to create a story.
Christmas with Hamish was an awkward and contradictory holiday read.
Thank you BooksGoSocial for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Have you read Christmas with Hamish? What did you think of it?
Written by #1 New York Times bestselling author V.E. Schwab, Extraordinary expands deeper into the world of Schwab’s critically acclaimed novels Vicious and Vengeful.
Torn from the world of ‘Vicious’, where death is not the end, only the beginning of extraordinary powers… Three new “EO”s must grapple with their new abilities… and with those who would hunt them down! Featuring unseen character design galleries from Andrea Olimpieri and story commentary from V.E. Schwab!
Review:
After a near death experience when her school bus is involved in an accident, teenage Charlotte Tills gains extraordinary powers. When she looks at someone, she can see that person’s death in their reflection. Her own reflection shows her the man who will kill her: Eli Cardale. She has to find other EOs to figure out how to use her new power.
This graphic novel is part of the Villains series. It can be read as a stand-alone, but it does mention characters from the novels in the series, such as Eli and Victor.
Charlotte’s power of being able to see someone’s death was such an interesting power. It made it difficult to look at people, since she could see them dying, but at the same time she knew what to expect. The ending had a great cliffhanger. I didn’t know this was going to be a series of graphic novels but now I’m so excited!
TBR Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly Faye Reads, where you post a title from your shelf or e-reader and find out what others think about it.
My pick this week is The Fairy-Tale Detectives (The Sisters Grimm #1) by Michael Buckley.
Goodreads Synopsis:
In this first book in the series, orphaned sisters Sabrina and Daphne are sent to live with their recently discovered grandmother, Relda Grimm. The girls learn that they are descendants of the Brothers Grimm, whose famous tome of fairy tales is actually a history book. The girls are pitted against a giant, who has been rampaging through town. But who set the giant loose in the first place? Was it Mayor Charming (formerly Prince Charming), who has plans to get his kingdom back? The Three Not-So-Little Pigs, now working as police officers? Or a giant-killer named Jack, currently working at a Big & Tall store?
With an irresistible combination of adventure and imagination, the Sisters Grimm series injects classic fairy tales with modern day sensibilities and suspense, creating a fantastical combination readers of all ages will love.
Have you read this book? What did you think of it?
Title: The Holiday Swap Author: Maggie Knox Genre: Romance, Contemporary Publisher: Viking Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: October 5, 2021 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
A feel-good, holiday-themed romantic comedy about identical twins who switch lives in the days leading up to Christmas.
All they want for Christmas is a different life.
When chef Charlie Goodwin gets hit on the head on the L.A. set of her reality baking show, she loses a lot more than consciousness; she also loses her ability to taste and smell–both critical to her success as show judge. Meanwhile, Charlie’s identical twin, Cass, is frantically trying to hold her own life together back in their quaint mountain hometown while running the family’s bustling bakery and dealing with her ex, who won’t get the memo that they’re over.
With only days until Christmas, a desperate Charlie asks Cass to do something they haven’t done since they were kids: switch places. Looking for her own escape from reality, Cass agrees. But temporarily trading lives proves more complicated than they imagined, especially when rugged firefighter Jake Greenman and gorgeous physician assistant Miguel Rodriguez are thrown into the mix. Will the twins’ identity swap be a recipe for disaster, or does it have all the right ingredients for getting their lives back on track?
Review:
Charlie Goodwin is a judge for a TV reality baking show, but when she gets hit on the head on set, she gets a concussion, along with losing her senses of taste and smell. She needs to keep this job because it could lead to another cooking show. Meanwhile, in their hometown, her twin sister Cass is struggling to run their family’s bakery while also dealing with a toxic ex-boyfriend who won’t go away. Charlie and Cass decide to trade places so that Cass can properly judge the baking show and Charlie can use her confidence to run the bakery and deal with Cass’s ex. Soon after they switch lives, Charlie falls for Jake, the new firefighter in town, and Cass likes the physicians assistant Miguel. Now they not only have to run each other’s lives, but also figure out how to start a relationship while living as their sister.
I’ve always loved stories about twins. The Mary-Kate and Ashley movies and TV shows, and The Parent Trap movies were my favourites as a kid. This situation made for the perfect switch. Cass and Charlie were both experienced bakers, but Charlie’s sense of taste and smell were so important for judging the TV show that she couldn’t keep her job if she stayed there. They were both able to make changes in each other’s lives, though not all of them were for the better.
This was a fun holiday read. There were lots of baked treats, so make sure you have some handy while reading. The Christmas scenes were brief, as it was mostly about the days leading up to Christmas. However it still had a festive feel!
The Holiday Swap is a fun holiday rom com!
Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer
Meet Me in London by Georgia Toffolo
Have you read The Holiday Swap? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. In this post we highlight a book that’s highly anticipated.
The book that I’m waiting on this Wednesday is The Bone Spindle by Leslie Vedder. The expected publication date is January 11, 2022.
Goodreads Synopsis:
Sleeping Beauty meets Indiana Jones in this thrilling fairytale retelling for fans of Sorcery of Thorns and All the Stars and Teeth.
Fi is a bookish treasure hunter with a knack for ruins and riddles, who definitely doesn’t believe in true love.
Shane is a tough-as-dirt girl warrior from the north who likes cracking skulls, pretty girls, and doing things her own way.
Briar Rose is a prince under a sleeping curse, who’s been waiting a hundred years for the kiss that will wake him.
Cursed princes are nothing but ancient history to Fi–until she pricks her finger on a bone spindle while exploring a long-lost ruin. Now she’s stuck with the spirit of Briar Rose until she and Shane can break the century-old curse on his kingdom.
Dark magic, Witch Hunters, and bad exes all stand in her way–not to mention a mysterious witch who might wind up stealing Shane’s heart, along with whatever else she’s after. But nothing scares Fi more than the possibility of falling in love with Briar Rose.
Set in a lush world inspired by beloved fairytales, The Bone Spindle is a fast-paced young adult fantasy full of adventure, romance, found family, and snark.
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