The Baby's Christmas Blessing

 

MEGHANN WHISTLER

Stats for my copy: Kindle ARC, Love Inspired, 9/27/22.

How acquired: Hidden Gems ARC Program

First line: Chloe Richardson gazed down at the baby in her arms.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: This is my first time reading Ms. Whistler, and I enjoyed this sweet Love Inspired story. I’m a little partial to single fathers, and here we have Steve, who is actually a single uncle but that’s just as good. His sister died of a stroke while in labor, and Steve has custody of her baby. Chloe has recently broken up with a guy who was cheating on her, and after the Christmas holidays she will be moving to Boston where she’ll be starting a student teaching placement, the last step in finally getting her teaching degree.

But to back up a little, Steve and Chloe first met at a summer camp, when she was fifteen and he was seventeen. On the last night of camp, they shared an amazing kiss by a bonfire, and then Steve left, and Chloe never heard from him again. Now their paths have inadvertently crossed, as Steve needs a nanny for little Aiden, and Chloe applied for the job through his aunt Mabel, not knowing she’d actually be working for Steve.

Steve and Chloe are both great characters, each with their own particular baggage. Eventually Chloe learns why Steve dropped completely out of her life, and his backstory is just heartbreaking. He’s struggling financially between having just started a new business, then losing his sister, paying her funeral costs, and taking on Aiden. He’s determined to give his nephew the best life he can, and the childhood that his own father cheated him out of. I loved how earnest and sincere he was and how protective of Aiden, plus looking out for Mabel, who has debilitating arthritis.

The supporting characters are a bit eccentric, at least Mabel is, as well as Irene, another senior citizen who owns a candy shop and just happens to be Chloe’s roommate. Both of the elderly ladies were fun to read about. Chloe’s best friend has a daughter who is five, and she was cute, though her dialogue was a little tiresome as she talked like she was a bit younger, for instance: “We putted up our Chwistmas twee!”. I mean I guess some five-year-olds talk that way? My four-year-old granddaughter does not.

I read the entire book in two days, which I’m not able to do very often, but it was an easy and fun read, that also made me smile a few times. There is a theme of friendship running throughout, as Steve and Chloe begin to realize they want more than friendship, but are both afraid to be in a romantic relationship due to past issues. Watching them laugh and enjoy each other’s company, and then get scared and bicker, and then come back around to the easy friendship, was an enjoyable journey, and of course the resolution at then end was very satisfying.

*I received a free copy of this book from through the Hidden Gems ARC Program and have voluntarily reviewed it*

Goodreads Synopsis: A second chance at love... with a newborn as matchmaker!

Nothing will be merry about Steve Weston’s Christmas if he doesn’t find a nanny for his newborn nephew fast. But the best choice is Chloe Richardson, the woman he pushed away years ago. He has a second chance at making the season’s joy last for a lifetime—unless he allows old wounds to separate them once more…

Honor Bound (Love and Honor, Book One)

 

HALLEE BRIDGEMAN

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Revell, 2022.

How acquired: Revell Reads Blogger Program.

First line: Captain Rick Norton crouched near the edge of the dirt road.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: This is my first time reading Ms. Bridgeman, and I loved this book, so much. So so much. I don’t even know if I can write a proper review without just gushing about how much I loved this book!

Cynthia is a doctor, running a small medical practice and delivering babies in the middle of an African jungle. Rick, leader of an Army Special Forces team, has been trying to eradicate a warlord who terrorizes the villages, kidnapping the boys to raise into his army. Through chance and happenstance, Cynthia’s father has become the Vice President of the US, and the warlord has learned of her existence in his jungle. Now part of Rick’s mission is to retrieve Cynthia and get her out of there, regardless of whether or not she wants to leave.

Cynthia and Rick clash from the start, which is one of my catnips. I love a hero and heroine who are at odds with one another, who bicker and fight and drive each other crazy. They are both so well written. In the midst of all the danger and the adrenaline pounding non-stop action we get a wonderful character study, or rather two wonderful character studies as they get equal page time. Cynthia has been through the ringer thanks to an ex who was using her for political gain, and she’s found peace in the jungle, tending to the villagers’ minor medical needs and finding her own spiritual needs fulfilled. With her practice focused mostly on obstetrics, she’s a little out of her depth when two of Rick’s men are injured, but she rises to the challenge. She’s brave and resourceful. She abhors violence, which is where a lot of the conflict with Rick comes from. He gets her out of a sticky situation with the warlord’s army, but he kills to do so, and because of that she does not act very grateful!

Rick. Oh gosh, I adore him. He’s a leader, he’s a soldier, he doesn’t do what he does because he enjoys violence, he does it to protect and serve. He prays before a mission, and during a mission, and he only resorts to violence when it’s necessary. And of course saving Cynthia’s life was necessary!

I love the author’s writing, and she obviously did a lot of research. Her descriptions of the jungle and the villages are evocative. She employs a lot of military lingo (with a glossary of military terms and acronyms provided at the front of the book), which helped it feel like a realistic portrayal. As the characters trek through the jungle, evading the enemy and roadblocks, sometimes having to engage with the enemy, the pace was brisk and the action nonstop.

Until they are safe and sound and back in the U.S. From there the action slows considerably, as the characters assimilate back into their own lives, but I was still completely captivated, to the very last page. While Rick and Cynthia undeniably have feelings for each other, their lives are so different that there is still some conflict. I saw where one reviewer complained that Cynthia was the only one who had to change, but I didn’t feel that she changed so much as that she came to some realizations, about herself and about Rick.

I am continually impressed with Revell’s romantic suspense line, and this book is a great example of the quality of the authors whose work they are publishing. The second book in this series came up for request, and I just found out a couple of days ago that I’m getting a copy, and I am beyond excited for that book to land in my mailbox!

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher and have voluntarily reviewed it* 

Goodreads Synopsis: It may seem odd to seek peace by moving to a war-torn African country, but for medical missionary Dr. Cynthia Myers, it provided a way to escape a shallow life of unearned wealth, a philandering fiancé, and a father now square in the public eye as vice president of the United States. At least here she knows her work and life have meaning. But all that is thrown into chaos when she fails to save the life of a local warlord's mortally wounded son.

As part of the Army Special Forces "A-Team" on a mission to capture and subdue the warlord, Captain Rick Norton is compelled to use deadly force to save Cynthia's life. Enraged at the violence she witnessed and riddled with guilt that men died because of her, Cynthia tries to hold on to her anger--but an unwanted attraction is taking hold.

With two members of his team badly injured and rebels in hot pursuit, Rick will have to draw upon all his strength and cunning to get her out alive . . . because he's beginning to think they just might overcome their differences and be able to make a life together.

A Quilt for Christmas

 

MELODY CARLSON

Stats for my copy: Hardback, Revell, 2022.

How acquired: Revell Reads Blogger Program.

First line: Vera Swanson used to love Christmas.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: I always enjoy Melody Carlson’s Christmas novellas, and this one was no exception. Vera is a widow, who sold her house and downsized to move into a condo near her daughter and her family, and then her daughter’s family has to move out of state when her husband is transferred by his employer. Now Vera lives in this new town where she doesn’t know anyone and has not made any friends. Until she meets little Fiona from across the hall, and suddenly her life becomes very busy and full.

I loved the relationship that developed between Vera and Fiona, as well as Fiona’s brother and sister. It was never labeled as such, but in my eyes Vera became a surrogate grandmother to the kids. Children bring such purpose to your life, and thanks to Fiona, Vera got out of her condo and started meeting people and making friends, as they formed a thrown together quilting group to make a quilt for Fiona’s mother.

The members of the group are all as different from each other as night and day. None of them have experience quilting, so Vera is also cast in the role of teacher and leader. I’ve never sewn, beyond fixing a hem or sewing up a torn seam on a stuffed animal, but I’ve always thought if I did sew I would want to learn to quilt.

There is some friction in the group, as one of the members is haughty and disdainful. Vera worries at times that having Eleanor in the group will bring down morale and pull the group apart. But everyone has a story, and when she finally learns Eleanor’s, it’s heartbreaking. Eleanor’s turnaround was a bit hasty, and seemed to happen very quickly and out of the blue, but then again, it’s a novella, so there isn’t time to drag things out.

This is a fairly quick and easy read, full of Christmas spirit and friendship, plus a romance for one of the members. A great addition to Ms. Carlson’s annual holiday novellas.

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher and have voluntarily reviewed it*

Goodreads Synopsis: Christmas should be celebrated with family. But for Vera Swanson, that's not an option this year. Widowed and recently relocated, she is lonely in her condo-for-one--until little Fiona Albright knocks on her door needing help. With her mother seriously ill and her father out of town, Fiona enlists Vera's help, and when she finds out her new neighbor is a quilter, she has a special request--a Christmas quilt for Mama.

Vera will have to get a ragtag group of women together in order to fulfill the request. Between free-spirited artist Tasha, chatty empty nester Beverly, retired therapist Eleanor, and herself, Vera has hopes that Christmas for the Albright family will be merry, after all--and she may find herself a new family of friends along the way.

A Three Dog Life

 

ABIGAIL THOMAS

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Harcourt, Inc., 2007.

How acquired: Bought at a library sale.

First line: This is the one thing that stays the same: my husband got hurt.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: I picked up this book because of the title, thinking it was going to be about the author's life with three dogs. And some of it was, but it was really about the author's life following an accident that left her husband with traumatic brain damage. And I loved it. It's heartbreaking, yet hopeful. It's incredibly interesting, and beautifully written. It is most definitely worth reading.

Goodreads Synopsis: When Abigail Thomas’s husband, Rich, was hit by a car, his brain shattered. Subject to rages, terrors, and hallucinations, he must live the rest of his life in an institution. He has no memory of what he did the hour, the day, the year before. This tragedy is the ground on which Abigail had to build a new life. How she built that life is a story of great courage and great change, of moving to a small country town, of a new family composed of three dogs, knitting, and friendship, of facing down guilt and discovering gratitude. It is also about her relationship with Rich, a man who lives in the eternal present, and the eerie poetry of his often uncanny perceptions. This wise, plainspoken, beautiful book enacts the truth Abigail discovered in the five years since the accident: You might not find meaning in disaster, but you might, with effort, make something useful of it.

Crossfire (Extreme Measures, Book Two)

 

LYNETTE EASON

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Revell, 2022.

How acquired: Revell Reads Blogger Program

First line: FBI Special Agent Julianna Jameson glanced at the alert on her phone.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: This is the second book in the author’s Extreme Measures series, and a great follow up to the first book. Julianna is a hostage negotiator, a profession I’ve not come across in my reading before now. Her younger sister Dottie, a senior in high school, moved in with Julianna as soon as she turned eighteen and could get away from their sorry excuse of a mother. So there’s some baggage from her upbringing, but also from an event that occurred during Julianna’s own high school days.

Clay, a police officer, is an SRO – school resource officer – at Dottie’s school. There are tons of books with police officer heroes out there, but an SRO was another first for me, and I really liked it. I remember a police officer at my high school, some of us called him CC, for “cool cop”, because he’d smile and wave at us as we walked out to our car to leave when we should’ve been in class. Something I’m pretty sure Clay would not do – he’d be questioning the students and sending them back to class. Clay enjoys his job and seems to be well liked by the kids, providing them with encouragement and a willing ear if they want to talk about anything, even making sure that one of the students gets breakfast every morning, and calling the middle school to be sure that student’s younger brother is also getting breakfast.

When the story opens, Julianna is called to a hostage situation at the courthouse. A high profile defendant has taken over a courtroom. Clay also rushes to the scene when he learns about it, as his younger sister, Reese, is one of the jurors. Watching Julianna at work was tense and fascinating, as she tries to get control over the situation. We’ve all seen hostage situations play out in TV shows and movies, but seeing it from Julianna’s point of view gave me a much more detailed look at and understanding of a negotiator’s role/process.

Once it’s all over, a grateful – and impressed – Clay invites Julianna and her sister to meet him and Reese for dinner, and a very quick close friendship develops between Reese and Dottie. It’s a little slower for Clay and Julianna, what with the baggage I mentioned earlier, which Julianna doesn’t like to share or talk about. And Clay has some serious baggage of his own, from an incident that occurred when he was deployed. He avoids relationships because he’s convinced that when a woman hears his story, she’ll turn her back on him.

But it’s not all quite over, as Julianna finds herself and Dottie in danger from someone who appears to be watching them, following them. From there it’s a roller coaster ride as Clay sticks close to his new friends, determined to help Julianna keep Dottie safe, and do whatever he can to keep Julianna safe. At one point, when Julianna is called to another hostage situation, Clay has to force himself to stand down and let her go on her own, knowing she could be in danger, but also realizing she’s very capable at her job, and of taking care of herself. The women in this series, and all of Revell’s romantic suspense line of books, are definitely not helpless victims who need a man to protect them, which is a big part of their appeal to me. But it’s more than just that, of course. There is lots of action, some tender moments, and believable, well written characters who you’d love to be friends with.

All in all, this is a gripping read, and I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher and have voluntarily reviewed it*

Goodreads Synopsis: FBI special agent Julianna James is a top-notch negotiator who has never lost a hostage. Surely, she can manage to take care of her much younger sister, Dottie, who showed up unannounced to live with Julianna while she finished her senior year of high school.

A former sniper with the 75th Ranger Regiment, Clay Snyder left the army after a tragic incident that he can't get past. Now he's working as a high school resource officer until he can figure out what to do with the rest of his life. 

Their paths cross when Julianna is called in to negotiate a courtroom hostage situation involving Clay's sister. Impressed and a bit intimidated by the calm, capable woman with the dark hair and blue eyes, Clay invites her to speak at his school. Dottie's school. 

But as the anniversary of a school shooting from Julianna's past approaches, it becomes clear that her perfect record is about to be tested and that Dottie is at risk. If Julianna and Clay can't figure out who's behind the attacks, more innocent people will die--and Julianna just might be one of them.

This intense story of revenge and redemption from bestselling author and master of suspense Lynette Eason will have you up all night as you race toward the explosive finish.