In a Holidaze

CHRISTINA LAUREN

Stats for my copy: Kindle edition, Gallery Books; Unexpected publication 10/6/20. 

How acquired: NetGalley. 

(For the Goodreads synopsis, scroll to the bottom of this post.)

My thoughts: I was excited to read this after seeing the synopsis - “Love Actually meets Groundhog Day” - and because I've heard so many things about the authors but hadn't yet read any of their books. 

It took me a bit to get into the story, partly because there are so many people staying at the cabin that I had a little trouble keeping up with who was who. But once the object of Mae's affection is elevated from supporting character to central, I got swept up very fast. And then it didn't take long for all the other characters to get straightened out in my head. 

I have nothing bad to say about this book. I loved Mae, and after she wishes for the universe to show her what would make her happy and jumpstarts the time traveling, I was a little excited everytime she woke up to find herself back on the plane, flying to the cabin for the holidays. Her reaction after one of those times made me laugh out loud. This was just a fun read. Whether Mae was talking one on one with Theo or Andrew, the sons of her parents' best friends, or when everyone was together in a big group. I'm not a cold weather person and do not care for snow at all other than to just look at, but the contest to build the best snow creature seemed like a lot of fun, as did the scavenger hunt.

A couple of themes of the book, in my opinion, are family and tradition. Mae's parents have been friends with Theo and Andrew's parents since college, along with two of the other men at the cabin, one here with his own family, and the other, Benny, who quickly became my favorite. Theo and Andrew's parents own the cabin, and the group have been spending Christmas there together every year as long as Mae can remember. They're not all related by blood, but they are chosen family. But as Mae relives the days, some of the traditions – that snow building contest, for example - get shaken up, with happy results. Learning that this may be the last year they all get to spend at the cabin, however, devastates Mae. Another theme that fit the story was finding yourself. Mae had to do some soul searching to figure out what she was doing wrong each time she got sent back in time, and ultimately what needed chaning in her life.  

A wonderful, feel good book, that had me crying happy tears at the end. 

Goodreads synopsis: It’s the most wonderful time of the year…but not for Maelyn Jones. She’s living with her parents, hates her going-nowhere job, and has just made a romantic error of epic proportions.

But perhaps worst of all, this is the last Christmas Mae will be at her favorite place in the world—the snowy Utah cabin where she and her family have spent every holiday since she was born, along with two other beloved families. Mentally melting down as she drives away from the cabin for the final time, Mae throws out what she thinks is a simple plea to the universe: Please. Show me what will make me happy.

The next thing she knows, tires screech and metal collides, everything goes black. But when Mae gasps awake…she’s on an airplane bound for Utah, where she begins the same holiday all over again. With one hilarious disaster after another sending her back to the plane, Mae must figure out how to break free of the strange time loop—and finally get her true love under the mistletoe.

Smooth (A Love Story, Book 11)

TRACY EWENS

Stats for my copy: ebook, published January 23, 2018.

How acquired: The Hidden Gems ARC Program.

My thoughts: I've previously read two of Ms. Ewens' books, TASTE, which was just so-so for me, and RESERVED, which I loved loved so much. So when I saw this book offered through Hidden Gems I immediately requested it. And I'm so glad I did.

The story opens with Patrick, co-owner of Foghorn Brewery with his brothers, and Aspen, the brewery's business manager, flying to a conference together. Patrick and Aspen have known each other since they were kids, but Aspen is unaware that Patrick has been silently crushing on her all these years. Aspen is all business, and as far as Patrick knows she has no interest in dating or relationships, so he's pushed his feelings to the side and been satisfied to work side by side. But at the conference they run into her college boyfriend, and seeing Aspen flirt with Lucas awakens those pushed aside feelings and stirs up some jealousy.

Back home at the brewery (literally for Patrick, who lives upstairs), Patrick's mouth keeps saying things without his permission. Things that mortify him, and crack up his brothers. And I cracked up right along with them. I mean I was literally laughing out loud, and even paused more than once to go back and reread a passage. I thought adding some quotes here, but there are just too many to pick from. Suffice it to say he blurts things out that make his feelings a little too evident, and Aspen definitely begins to take notice of him as a man, not just a friend and coworker.
 
I loved both Patrick and Aspen, not to mention Aspen's matchmaking grandmother, though I did occasionally want to shake some sense into Aspen. Her childhood was a bit fraught, with a mother who had a very skewed relationship with relationships, which is now Aspen's excuse for not trusting men and avoiding relationships. She even rains on her brother's parade when he tells her he's asking his girlfriend to marry him. I seriously thought she was going to seriously try to talk him out of it! Fortunately, Patrick grew up with parents who loved each other, and fortunately he had the patience to put up with Aspen's bordering on ridiculous fear of love.

Ms. Ewens has a real talent for writing dialogue, and as with RESERVED, she created a hero I fell for very quickly. I definitely want to read Patricks' brothers' stories now!

Note - while this book is part of a series, and some of the characters from her books are connected, the three I've read so far can all definitely be read as standalones, thankfully since I've been reading out of order which I rarely do. 

The Rancher's Baby (Texas Cattleman's Club: The Imposter, Book 1)

MAISEY YATES

Synopsis from Goodreads: When a torrid, possibly dangerous scandal comes to Royal, Texas, Selena Jacobs is nearly caught in the middle. Until her best friend Knox McCoy ensures her safety—by moving in! Selena has loved Knox for years, but she’s never had the courage to tell him. Now the sparks she’s tried to smother burn out of control…and leave her pregnant. But with the pain in his past, will Knox finally take a chance on love…with her?.

Stats for my copy: Mass Market paperback, Harlequin Desire, 2018.

How acquired: BookishFirst

First line: My fake ex-husband died at sea and all I got was this stupid letter.

My thoughts: I entered to win a copy of this book on BookishFirst because I see Maisey Yates' name all the time, and my aunt is a fan of hers, and we like a lot of the same authors, so I'd been wanting to try her for awhile. I was excited to win a copy, and waited very impatiently for the book to arrive. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations.

On BookishFirst, to enter for a book you have to read the first few pages, and then write a brief paragraph about your thoughts. The first page grabbed me immediately (the first line!). The book opens with Selena attending the funeral of her ex-husband, having received a letter telling her she was named as his heir. At the funeral there are several other women with the same letter. Also in attendance is Selena's best friend, Knox, who lives in another state and who she hasn't seen in a long time, and it's an awkward reunion between them. And then Will walks in. Not dead. Selena and Knox leave, but later a relative of Will's invites them to a gathering, along with everyone else who attended the funeral. At the gathering there is just a brief mention of the mystery surrounding Will's supposed death, and that someone may have been using his identity, and Knox fears that Selena could now be in danger, so he insists on going home with her and staying with her to protect her.

That mystery is never really revisited, and is never resolved, which really irritated me. Was it just a plot device to throw Selena and Knox together? The book is part of a multi-author series, so will a future book in the series feature Will and that mystery? It was as if this very interesting situation was introduced, and then just abandoned.

We learn from the beginning that Selena and Knox have been best friends since college. And the fact that they are best friends is constantly reiterated to the point of also being irritating. They kiss and then one of them marvels to themself that they just kissed their best friend! They marvel to themselves that they are lusting after their best friend! Selena becomes pregnant and marvels that she's carrying her best friend's baby!

I never really connected with either Selena or Knox. They are both damaged souls, which usually appeals to me, Selena having had a bad childhood with an abusive father, and Knox having a marriage fall apart after the death of his daughter. The angst level is mile high. The ending of course is happy and satisfying. But the journey to that ending was a bit tedius.

Halfway through the book I posted about it in a Facebook group, and several other members recommended Yates' Copper Ridge series, and I just happened to have the first book, PART TIME COWBOY, which I had picked up at a library sale. So I started it after finishing this book. And you know what? Five chapters in and I am LOVING it! I love the characters, I love the story so far, and I have laughed several times. Out loud. One conversation between the hero and heroine made me laugh so much I had to reread it twice and laughed out loud each time. If I didn't know who the author was, I wouldn't have believed the two books were written by the same person. Maybe THE RANCHER'S BABY being a category romance* and having a shorter word count meant the book had to be edited down too much, or didn't allow the author to flesh out as much detail. I don't know. But despite not particularly caring for this book, I will continue to read Ms. Yates' books, and I'm glad that I finally tried her.

*Not that's there's anything wrong with that! I've been a Harlequin fan and reader for many many years.

EDIT: After writing this review, I saw on Goodreads that the book is listed as Texas Cattleman's Club: The Imposter, and is book 1, and that the second book is about one of the other women who were at Will's funeral. So apparently that mystery will be a running theme through the series. However, that knowledge does not change my thoughts about it. 

Second Chance Pass (Virgin River, Book 5)

ROBYN CARR

Synopsis from Goodreads: In the space of a few months Vanessa buried her husband, Matt, and gave birth to their son--breaking her heart while filling it with a whole new kind of love. But the one man she longs to share this love with now acts as if she doesn't exist. Paul Haggerty lives by the marine motto: Semper Fi. Ever faithful to his best friend, he's done right by Matt's widow as best he can...considering he's been secretly in love with her for years. Now, just as he's about to make his move, another woman has staked her claim on him--a claim that will be tough to escape.

With courage, humility and not a little meddling from the good folks of Virgin River, Vanni and Paul might just get a second chance to have the love they both desire and deserve.

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Mira Books, 2009.

How acquired: Via Book Mooch.

First line: Paul Haggerty was finally back in Grants Pass after almost six months in Virgin River and there was an ache in his chest he just couldn't ease.

My thoughts: I loved the first four books in this series, giving three of them five stars on Goodreads, and one of them four stars. But this one was almost a three star. I just didn't love Vanessa and Paul the way I loved Jack and Mel, Preacher and Paige, Marcie and Ian. I'm not sure why, other than I didn't connect with Vanessa the way I did with the previous heroines. But as with the other books, while the main couple are the focus, the narrative still winds out among other residents of Virgin River, so there was plenty of Jack and Mel. In fact, I enjoyed their storyline more than Vanessa and Paul's. I was also happy that one of my favorite characters, the mystery illegal grower, made another brief appearance, and like me, Mike Valenzuela has come to the conclusion that there is more to the grower than what appears on the surface. I'm so hoping to learn more about him and that he gets a book somewhere down the line.

And then Joe came to town, and met Vanessa's friend Nikki, and oh my god I wish this had actually been their book! I loved loved Joe! I love a good grovel, and Joe groveled with the best of them. Joe singlehandedly bumped my rating up to four stars and the book is worth reading for his story alone. 

The Guardian

NICHOLAS SPARKS

Synopsis from Goodreads: Julie Barenson's young husband left her two unexpected gifts before he died: a Great Dane puppy named Singer and the promise that he would always be watching over her. Now, four years have passed. Still living in the small town of Swansboro, North Carolina, 29-year-old Julie is emotionally ready to make a commitment to someone again. But who? Should it be Richard Franklin, the handsome, sophisticated engineer who treats her like a queen? Or Mike Harris, the down-to-earth nice guy who was her husband's best friend? Choosing one of them should bring her more happiness than she's had in years. Instead, Julie is soon fighting for her life in a nightmare spawned by a chilling deception and jealousy so poisonous that it has become a murderous desire...

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Warner Books, 2004

How acquired: Bought

First line: Exactly forty days after she'd last held the hand of her husband, Julie Barenson sat looking through her window toward the quiet streets of Swansboro.

My thoughts:  When I first read Nicholas Sparks, many years ago, I thought he was an okay writer but a great storyteller. Well, his writing has improved, and his storytelling skills are still intact. And of the Sparks books I've read, THE GUARDIAN is by and far the best, a little ahead of my previous favorite, SAFE HAVEN (which is one of my favorite movies ever, seriously), and way above A WALK TO REMEMBER, THE NOTEBOOK, and TRUE BELIEVER. (I've also read MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE and A BEND IN THE ROAD, but so long ago that I honestly do not remember much about either one.

The prologue starts with Julie mourning the death of her husband, Jim, and suddenly received a belated gift from him of a Great Dane puppy, who she names Singer. Then we jump ahead four years later. Singer is a huge dog now, and at times almost seems more human than canine. Julie still misses Jim, but she's slowly putting herself back out into the world and starting to date.

In his Author's Note in the back of the book, Sparks says that this book was his first attempt at adding an element of “suspense and peril”, and I think he did it very well. There are a lot of days where the only chance I have to read is when I fall into bed at night, and three nights this week I sat up reading long past the time I should've been asleep, staying up until I finished the book last night.

The slow dawning of Julie and Mike's relationship was sweet and believable, and on Mike's side it also provided lots of humor. Mike was Jim's best friend, and has loved Julie for ages, and watching her start dating other men is torture for him. But while he and Julie have a wonderful easy friendship, when it comes to trying to start a relationship with her he becomes awkward and tongue-tied. In fact, when they do finally go on a date, it's Julie who instigates it. Mike's brother Henry teases him unmercifully, and some of those scenes were so funny that I actually laughed out loud, the first time that's happened with a Sparks book.

Sparks is a detailed writer, with lots of stretches of narrative where not much actually happens but we get a good look into the characters and what makes them tick. And then there were also lots of scenes played out more through dialogue, and in both instances my attention never wavered. Towards the end of the book, the tension and suspense ramped up, and knowing Sparks' propensity for tragic deaths, I began to feel nervous and worried about how the book was going to end. And I'm not gonna spoil it for you by telling you how it ends, but I will just say I loved this book.