Month: December 2024

Review: Let It Glow

Title: Let It Glow
Author: Marissa Meyer, Joanne Levy
Genre: Middle Grade, Contemporary
Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: October 1, 2024
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

When Aviva Davis and Holly Martin meet at the holiday pageant tryouts for their local senior’s center, they think they must be seeing double. While they both knew they were adopted, they had no idea they had a biological sibling, let alone an identical twin! The similarities are only skin deep, though, because while Aviva has a big personality and even bigger Broadway plans, Holly is more the quiet dreamer type who longs to become a famous author like her grandfather.

One thing the girls do have in common is their curiosity about how the other celebrates the holidays. What better way to discover the magic of the holidays than to experience them firsthand? The girls secretly trade lives, planning to stage a dramatic reveal to their families at the pageant. Two virtual strangers swapping homes, holidays, and age-old traditions–what could possibly go wrong?

Review:

When Holly Martin and Aviva Davis sign up to perform at a holiday pageant at a senior’s residence, they discover that they are identical twins. Both the girls know they’re adopted but they didn’t know that they had a twin. Holly’s family celebrates Christmas and Aviva’s family celebrates Hanukkah. They are both curious about each other’s holidays, so they decide to switch places for a few days until they can reveal their identities at the pageant. However, the girls don’t know much about each other, so they have to work hard to hide their identity in their new families.

This was such a fun holiday story! The Parent Trap is one of my favourite movies, and this story was like a holiday version of it. My family celebrates Christmas so I knew the Christmas traditions that Holly’s family did. I liked learning about Hanukkah in this story. Aviva was also learning about her family’s traditions, so her and Holly were both being taught throughout the story.

Let It Glow is a fun middle grade holiday story!

Thank you Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for providing a digital copy of this book!

Have you read Let It Glow? What did you think of it?

Review: Where’s Waldo? The Mighty Magical Mix-Up

Title: Where’s Waldo? The Mighty Magical Mix-Up
Author: Martin Handford
Genre: Children’s
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Source: Publisher
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: September 10, 2024
Rating: ★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Wizard Whitebeard’s magic staff is missing—and is going wild transforming everything! Join everyone’s favorite wanderer and search through twelve Where’s Waldo? scenes as you’ve never seen them before.

Wizard Whitebeard has lost his magic staff, and it’s stirring up mischief everywhere. Dragons are making a spectacle at the seaside, robots have crash-landed in the Stone Age, dinosaurs are wandering in the Wild West, there’s a sticky situation at a castle made of cake . . . The magical mayhem seems unstoppable! Follow Waldo and his friends on a quest to find the sneaky staff and unravel this mighty mess. With twelve marvelously mixed-up scenes and hundreds more things to look for, Where’s Waldo? The Mighty Magical Mix-Upis a truly mesmerizing search adventure.

Review:

I loved reading this Where’s Waldo book! It brought back memories of searching for Waldo in the detailed illustrations when I was a kid. 

In this book, there are magical settings, including a beach full of dragons, a museum where the artifacts come to life, and a movie set.

Where’s Waldo? The Mighty Magical Mix Up is a fun book for kids and adults!

Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for sending me a copy of this book! This book was gifted to me from @penguinrandomca as part of the Holiday Book Magic Campaign! The Holiday Book Magic books are a curated list of books that are perfect for gifting and enjoying all year long!

Have you read Where’s Waldo? The Mighty Magical Mix-Up? What did you think of it?

Review: The Kiss Curse (The Ex Hex #2)

Title: The Kiss Curse (The Ex Hex #2)
Author: Erin Sterling
Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Fantasy
Publisher: Avon
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Release Date: September 22, 2022
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Welcome to Spooky Season!! The follow-up to Erin Sterling’s New York Times bestselling hit The Ex Hex features fan favorite Gwyn and the spine-tinglingly handsome Wells Penhallow as they battle a new band of witches and their own magical chemistry.

Gwyn Jones is perfectly happy with her life in Graves Glen. She, her mom, and her cousin have formed a new and powerful coven; she’s running a successful witchcraft shop, Something Wicked; and she’s started mentoring some of the younger witches in town. As Halloween approaches, there’s only one problem—Llewellyn “Wells” Penhallow.

Wells has come to Graves Glen to re-establish his family’s connection to the town they founded as well as to make a new life for himself after years of being the dutiful son in Wales. When he opens up a shop of his own, Penhallow’s, just across the street from Something Wicked, he quickly learns he’s gotten more than he bargained for in going up against Gwyn.

When their professional competition leads to a very personal—and very hot—kiss, both Wells and Gwyn are determined to stay away from each other, convinced the kiss was just a magical fluke. But when a mysterious new coven of witches come to town and Gwyn’s powers begin fading, she and Wells must work together to figure out just what these new witches want and how to restore Gwyn’s magic before it’s too late.

Review:

Gwyn runs the successful witchy shop, Something Wicked, in her hometown of Graves Glen. The grumpy descendent of the town’s founder, Wells Penhallow, arrives in the town for a new start. Wells starts his own shop, Penhallow’s, across from Something Wicked. Gwyn wants to shut it down, but as she spends more time with Wells, she starts to fall for him. When her magic begins to fade, Gwyn and Wells must figure out what’s causing it before it’s completely gone.

Gwyn was one of my favourite characters in The Ex Hex, so I was excited to read her own story. I loved the grumpy/sunshine pair, though Gwyn could be more grumpy than sunshine at times. There were some funny moments, just like in the first book. I listened to the audiobook as well as reading the physical book, and it was really well done!

The Kiss Curse is a cute witchy rom com!

Other books in the series:

Have you read The Kiss Curse? What did you think of it?

Review: Merry Ever After (Under the Mistletoe Collection #2)

Title: Merry Ever After (Under the Mistletoe Collection #2)
Author: Tessa Bailey
Genre: Romance, Novella
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Format: Ebook
Release Date: November 12, 2024
Rating: ★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

A single mother working in a thrift store. A gentle giant farmer who can’t find jeans that fit. When opposites attract, they find themselves making alterations in more ways than one in this smoking-hot short story by #1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey.

Evie Crowe is starting over in a strange town with her newborn, and men are the furthest thing from her mind. If only the quiet, hulking farmer, Luke Ward, would stop coming into the thrift shop and piquing her reluctant interest. Evie wants to stay single all the way—she can’t trust anything more than friends-with-holiday-benefits. But Luke is in it for the long haul. He’s fixed on making this a Christmas Evie will remember forever. If she gives him a chance.

Tessa Bailey’s Merry Ever After is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.

Review:

Evie Crowe is starting over in a small town with her newborn baby. She works in a thrift shop, where farmer Luke Ward comes in to look for pants, but he can never find a pair that fits his large frame. Evie decides to make a pair for him, which touches his heart, and starts their whirlwind romance. 

This was a short novella. Luke’s large size was emphasized a lot throughout the story. It almost started to feel like a joke because of how big he seemed to be. I really liked the ending though!

Merry Ever After is a short, fast paced romance.

Other books in the series:

Have you read Merry Ever After? What did you think of it?