Category: book review

Nancy Naigle delivers a heartwarming Christmas story in Hope at Christmas that proves you can always go home again.

About Hope at Christmas

Sydney Ragsdale is looking for a fresh start far away from her controlling ex-husband and the self-doubt that has plagued her since the divorce. Returning to her childhood home in Hopewell, North Carolina is just what her soul needs. Praying some Christmas magic will follow her she moves with her daughter to a farmhouse that once belonged to her grandparents. While there Sydney finds solace working at The Book Bea, her favorite bookstore.

Single dad Kevin MacAlea, Mac to his friends, is the local high school history teacher and baseball coach. He is also the towns best kept secret―he has been playing Santa since his son was born twelve years ago. Mac loves the enchantment of the season and wants his son to share in his joy.

When a catastrophe forces The Book Bea to close before the end of the year, everyone in the small town is feeling the loss. While Sydney is already off-balance by the bad news, her ex-husband breaks a promise to their daughter that sends her running away and threatens the relationship that she has begun with Mac.

As Sydney and Mac try to figure out what their next steps are together they will soon discover that there’s always hope at Christmas.

My Thoughts

While Christmas can be a special time of faith, love and happiness, for others it can be a reminder of loss, hurt and pain. It can remind us of loved ones who have passed, relationships and marriages that have failed and may even darken depression.

In this story, Sydney is just recovering from her ex-husband’s unfaithfulness and their divorce. While he is off building a new life with his new wife, she is trying to pick up the pieces and help not only her daughter heal but herself as well. No easy task right? She does this with such grace and strength, I am actually quite proud of her. You do see her struggle at times but she is one amazing woman who tries to hold it together not only for herself but her daughter as well.

In this moment walks in Mac, the town’s Santa (but that  is under cover!) and most eligible bachelor who also comes with a child package. His wife left him and their son when he was quite little and he has had to pick up the pieces and be both Mom and Dad. He does an amazing job at this and you can see the love and hope he has for the future. He falls for Sydney and wants to take that leap of faith with her but can understand and respect how hurt she still is. He has such a kind and good soul.

This was a beautiful story of hope, learning to trust again, recovering from a painful situation and moving into the future. All of this can be difficult but when you find a person who helps you want to be better, appreciates you for you and wants you to continue to grow is an important thing. I couldn’t put this book down!

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and SMP Romance.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

USA Today bestselling author NANCY NAIGLE whips up small-town love stories with a dash of suspense and a whole lot of heart. Now happily retired, she devotes her time to writing, antiquing,
and the occasional spa day with friends. A native of Virginia Beach, she currently calls North Carolina home. Nancy is the author of Christmas Joy.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

New York Times bestselling author Donna Grant returns to Texas, where a small-town legend just might find the greatest gift of all in The Christmas Cowboy Hero.

About The Christmas Cowboy Hero

’Tis the season for ex-Navy SEAL Clayton East to come home for the holidays―even if the mood at home is anything but festive. His father is ill. The East Ranch is in financial trouble. And now it’s on Clayton, the prodigal son, to make sure his family doesn’t lose everything

Headstrong Abby Harper is like a mother to her younger brothers, who she’s helped raise since she was a teenager. Keeping them in line is no small task while she’s also working toward her college degree. And now that one of her brothers has been arrested for stealing cattle at the East Ranch, Abby is at her wits’ end. But there is a silver lining: Clayton East. He believes in second chances, and is willing to give one to her brother this Christmas. Letting beautiful Abby―and the inescapable longing in his heart―off the hook, however, is a whole ’nother story. Could it be that the woman of this local hero’s dreams has been back at home all along?

My Thoughts

The Christmas Cowboy Hero is a fun, sexy read from start to finish.

In this novel, we have the dashing, exotic ex-Navy SEAL Clayton who has returned (not happily) to his family home. He has been trying to avoid returning home ever since the death of his older brother. He doesn’t want the responsibility and the family ranch, you definitely can feel there is quite a bit more to his reasoning then what he lets on. It isn’t until further into the novel that you learn more about the truth behind his brother’s death and why he ran away from his family the first chance he had.

Abby on the other hand has taken over the role of Mother and sister to her younger brothers. She has given up everything for them since the day their own Mother left. She goes without so that they can have the smallest of comforts. She is trying her best to the mental and emotional support they need but it is taking a toll on her. When her brother is caught stealing from Clayton’s family farm, the two are forced together.

Clayton sees something in her brother and wants to give him that second chance that he needs and no one has given him. Abby is beyond grateful – the thought of her brother going to jail is too much for her to bear. They begin to work on his family ranch and sparks quickly fly between the two.

You can feel how much the pair want to let go and trust each other but they are always holding a part of themselves back as both are scared to fully let go. They don’t believe they deserve love and a relationship and this really does hurt both of them and their future. You can see it will take something big for them both to learn that they are in this together, to have faith in each other and their love and to let that guide them.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and SMP Romance.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Donna Grant has been praised for her “totally addictive” and “unique and sensual” stories. She’s written more than thirty novels spanning multiple genres of romance including the bestselling Dark King stories, Dark Craving, Night’s Awakening, and Dawn’s Desire. Her acclaimed series, Dark Warriors, feature a thrilling combination of Druids, primeval gods, and immortal Highlanders who are dark, dangerous, and irresistible. She lives with her two children, a dog, and four cats in Texas.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

A wallflower determined to fulfill a dying promise, the rogue she jilted years ago, and an orphaned baby are all brought together amidst the magic of Christmas in this new novella from Manda Collins, With This Christmas Ring.

About With This Christmas Ring

Miss Merry Parks makes a deathbed promise to a school friend that her infant daughter will be taken to her absent father. There’s only one problem—to find the baby’s father, she’ll have to consult his cousin, Viscount Wrotham, the man she jilted five years ago. The man she couldn’t forget.

Alex Ponsonby, Viscount Wrotham, is stunned to find Merry Parks—looking more lovely than ever–on his doorstep with an infant in her arms. His shock soon turns to dismay when he learns his own cousin William is the man who abandoned his wife and child. As head of the family he’s duty bound to see right is done. But he can’t let this opportunity pass. He’ll take Merry and the baby to his cousin, but he’ll woo her back in the process.

Merry agrees to travel with Alex and the baby to Wrotham Castle, where the entire Ponsonby family has gathered for Christmas, but her plans to see the baby settled then leave are ruined by a snowstorm. After five years apart, Alex and Merry will spend the week getting re-acquainted. Perhaps it’s the spirit of the holiday, or the magic of the season, but there could be something else in the air this Yuletide…A Christmas Reunion.

My Thoughts

This was an excellent historical romance novella with an exciting (yet different for this time period) plot. In this novel, we have a couple who were previously engaged but Merry had broken off their engagement without any rhyme or reason. To escape everything, Alex went overseas and in the process found his birth Mother and learned quite a bit of information about his family, his abusive Father and Grandmother.

He never expects to see Merry again so you can imagine his shock when she shows up at his door! Especially when she comes bearing an infant. We find out that his cousin had fathered a child and then left mother and child alone in the world. Together they travel to his family home (well a castle really!) to ensure that his cousin does the right thing by the child.

Quite quickly the sparks start to fly! The author is able to pack a lot in this novel and I expect it is because of the previous history this couple has shared. As they begin to get to know each other all over again, we find out the true reason that Merry had left. It leaves you feeling angry and resentful at his Grandmother. Then the plot begins to unfold even more and you understand her true motives.

This was a sweet story of lost love, hope and forgiveness. A great holiday time period romance!

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and SMP Romance.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Manda Collins is the author of the Studies in Scandal series, The Lords of Anarchy series, The Ugly Duckling series and the Wicked Widows series as well as several other Regency-set romances. She spent her teen years wishing she’d been born a couple of centuries earlier, preferably in the English countryside. Time travel being what it is, she resigned herself to life with electricity and indoor plumbing, and read lots of books. When she’s not writing, she’s helping other people use books, as an academic librarian.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

In A Season of You, it’s Christmastime in the quaint island town of Cloud Bay, where love is always in season…

About A Season of You

Will has believed in love at first sight since the day he first laid eyes on Mina Harper five years ago.
There was only one problem: She was happily married. Then, when Mina’s husband was killed by a
drunk driver, Will figured she’d want nothing to do with a guy who owns a whiskey distillery. So
he’s kept his feelings locked away, knowing that not even a Christmas miracle would be enough to
melt Mina’s heart.

Mina believes her days of true love are behind her. Since losing her husband she has kept to herself, content to do her own painting and stay out of the limelight that comes with her famous family. But when, after a freak accident, Will comes to her rescue, Mina can’t quite get him out of her mind. As curiosity turns into a fling during the first Christmas Festival, she finds it harder to convince herself that her feelings for Will are just mistletoe inspired.

Could Mina be ready to lay the past to rest and finally admit that what she really wants for Christmas and forever is Will?

My Thoughts

I fell in love with this novel from the start! We have Mina Harper, who is the daughter of rock legend. You would think this would make her eccentric, entitled (or worse) but she is kind-hearted, loving and selfless. She is also broken over the loss of her husband, who was killed by a drunk driver. She is still so young but she allows her husband’s death to stop her from fully living. The only times she seems to come alive again is in her art.

Will is a quiet, reserved but gentle soul. He has always loved Mina but has put his feelings on the back burner in order to give her the time and space she needed. When he rescues her, he falls in love all over again and he knows that he needs to take this chance.

The pair take a short leap of faith – saying that they will give this relationship thing a short fling (they even set a deadline!) but they find that this is more difficult than they planned. They begin to develop stronger feelings for each other. Feelings that Mina is not yet ready to feel and she really struggles with this throughout the novel. A huge part of her is not ready to put her trust in another person if there is a chance she can lose them.

This was an excellent story from start to finish. It was full of hope, learning to trust again and taking that leap of faith regardless of how scared we are. It is a definite must ready novel!

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and SMP Romance.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Emma Douglas would love to live in a world where professional napping was a thing. But until then, she thinks writing books is a pretty awesome alternative. When not writing about imaginary
people, she can be found reading, doing something crafty, binge-watching TV, playing her latest
song crush on repeat, or singing badly in her car. She lives in Melbourne, Australia in a tiny house
stuffed full of books, too many craft supplies and two cats who take up more space than you would expect. Find out more about Emma at www.emmadouglasbooks.com.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.