» Holiday Reading Challenge 2009

The Christmas Promise, Donna VanLiere – Review

The Book Faery — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:00:44 +0000

Van Liere’s seasonal confection (following The Christmas Hope) finds 60-year-old Gloria Bailey doing informal good works for needy cases seven years after her husband died, and her youngest son, Matthew, disappeared without a trace at age 17. With infinite good nature, Gloria fends off the complaints of her crabby widow neighbor, Miriam, annoyed by the constant riffraff at Gloria’s house, while Gloria still sadly hopes that wayward Matthew will somehow return. Meanwhile, 24-year-old Chaz McConnell, a hard-luck drifter and drinker with a good heart, starts his Christmas season job as a security guard at the local department store and is reluctantly drawn into the lives of the people around him. Everyone changes for the better in this tidy fable. – FROM AMAZON.COM

Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press; 1ST edition (October 30, 2007)

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…The Christmas Promise is definitely a tearjerker. Whether your tearing up from laughter, heartache, or happiness, you better be sure to grab a box of tissues while reading this one. Like her other Christmas novels, I recommend this one to all looking for a Christmas story. It’s a reminder that not all is lost in more ways than one and that there is always hope even after being at the bottom.

Please note that this is a re-post from the last Christmas Season. I enjoyed this book so much that it’s a keeper for my shelves and one that could be re-read with still the same emotions.

A Bride by Christmas (Anthology), Graham,Beverley,Camp – Review

The Book Faery — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:33:14 +0000

Home for Christmas by Heather Graham

It broke Travis’s heart to see Isabelle go, but he was the Yankee captain who had commandeered her home and she was a daughter of the Confederacy. Yet even in the war-torn South, there was room for a Christmas miracle or two.

The Wise Virgin by Jo Beverley

Their families have feuded for generations. But will the love of Edmund de Grave and Joan Montelan overcome all this Christmas Eve—or will a family secret keep them apart forever?

Tumbleweed Christmas by Candace Camp

“Bah humbug” rancher Daniel MacKenzie met his match in his new housekeeper, Melinda Ballard. She was determined to bring the holiday spirit into his home—and the magic of love into his heart. – FROM THE BOOK BACK

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…This was a good Christmas historical romance anthology. I enjoyed the characters and how each story took me back to a different period of time. I found myself feeling for each other characters as they battled their feelings for the other. You usually know that most end in triumph but you you never know what struggle you’ll go through til you read their stories. Good Christmas read for those who love a good historical romance. Passionate yet not so erotic that it will have you hiding the book from other eyes.

A Wallflower Christmas, Lisa Kleypas – Review

The Book Faery — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:56:34 +0000

The Wallflowers are four young ladies in London who banded together in their wild and wickedly wonderful searches for true love. Now happily married, they join together once again to help one of the world’s most notorious rogues realize that happiness might be right under the mistletoe.…

It’s Christmastime in London and Rafe Bowman has arrived from America for his arranged meeting with Natalie Blandford, the very proper and beautiful daughter of Lady and Lord Blandford. His chiseled good looks and imposing physique are sure to impress the lady in waiting and, if it weren’t for his shocking American ways and wild reputation, her hand would already be guaranteed. Before the courtship can begin, Rafe realizes he must learn the rules of London society. But when four former Wallflowers try their hand at matchmaking, no one knows what will happen. And winning a bride turns out to be more complicated than Rafe Bowman anticipated, especially for a man accustomed to getting anything he wants. However, Christmas works in the most unexpected ways, changing a cynic to a romantic and inspiring passion in the most timid of hearts.

A Wallflower Christmas takes a trip to Victorian London, under the mistletoe, and on a journey of the heart. With her trademark charm, sensuality, and unforgettable characters, there’s no one like Lisa Kleypas to make you believe in the magic of Christmas. – FROM AMAZON.COM

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…This was one of my first Lisa Kleypas books and glad I picked it up at the local library this past Sunday. Read this book in just a couple of hours. A Wallflower Christmas was a fun read filled with laughter, love, and passion. I liked how just an ordinary girl could make a handsome passionate man get crazy in love with her just for being her. Kleypas will definitely be added to my romance list of books and the other Wallflower books will definitely now have to be picked up to read.

The Delaney Christmas Carol, Hooper/Johansen/Preston – Review

The Book Faery — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:13:23 +0000

Christmas Past by Iris Johansen…Killara, Arizona, 1893. Kevin Delaney doesn’t know what to make of the Gypsy beauty he finds rummaging in the attic of Killara, his family’s estate. The waif claims she’s there to recover an old mirror with extraordinary powers. While Kevin doesn’t believe her mystical talk, there’s no doubt that a kind of magic is at work on his heart – just in time for Christmas…

Christmas Present by Fayrene Preston…Bria Delaney is at Killara for the holidays when she discovers a mirror that reveals more than her reflection. Appearing in the glass is a startlingly handsome man who just as mysteriously disappears – until she meets him in person that very night. What they see in each other leads to a Christmas they’ll never forget…

Christmas Future by Kay Hooper…A breathtaking vision in the legendary Delaney mirror drove Brett Delaney to the other side of the world. Now his father’s death bequeath’s him the mirror, and the unbearable prophecy it offers sends him back to Killara for Christmas, determined to save the home – and the woman – he’s always loved. – FROM THE BOOK BACK

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…I was a little disappointed; it’s not that I thought it was bad, it’s just that only one of the three stories really caught my attention. I wanted more adventure and/or action to draw something emotional out of me. Of the three stories within the anthology, Christmas Past by Iris Johansen was probably the only one that affected me. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m more into historical romance than contemporary or if it’s because I found the main characters more powerful than the others.The magic mirror had me intrigued but slowly faded away as I read the next stories. While this won’t be a book I would personally reread again for future seasons, this still might be the book for someone else.

2009 Holiday Reading Challenge

The Book Faery — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:27:13 +0000

The year has flown by fast and what better way to end it but to do a holiday reading challenge (which will actually be The Book Faery Review’s FIRST book challenge). I know I for one have several holiday books on my shelves that I’ve tried my best all year to refrain from reading since the season was off. Now I no longer have to refrain and I can read to my heart’s content!

All About {n} has started a new 2009 Holiday reading challenge. You can see reviews from others doing the reading challenge HERE.

Here are the challenge details…

1- Challenge will start Friday, November 20 and will end Thursday, December 31.

2- You can read anywhere from 1 to 5 books for the challenge and, of course, if you’re like me, you are more than welcome to surpass that number.

3- And now, here’s the clincher… they must be holiday related books. That’s right, the holiday doesn’t really matter, but it would be more “jolly” if your choices were Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etc.

4- The size of the book does not matter, nor does the genre. It is also okay for the book to overlap with other challenges. The only thing I ask is that they are not children’s books. YA is okay. And so are re-reads. I for one tend to read the same books every Christmas – they are tradition.

5- To sign up – leave a link back to your challenge post. There will also be a post for review links as well as one for challenge wrap-ups.

6- And…. there will be goodies. That’s right, we’ll call them presents. At the end of every week that the challenge is running I will choose one winner from the review links and I will allow them to pick a book of their choosing (of course, I will provide a list). Meaning the more books you read, review and link up, the more chances you have at winning a “present”.

To add your link to the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge, be sure to stop by All About {n}.

I’ve dug up the holiday books but I’m sure to find more. These are not listed in any particular order of read.
Let’s see how many I can get through this holiday season…

A Christine Feehan Holiday Treasure

The Christmas Promise by Donna Van Liere

A Virgin River Christmas by Robyn Carr

A Bride by Christmas by Heather Graham, Jo Beverly, & Candace Camp

The Christmas Kite by Gail Gaymer Martin

A Cedar Cove Christmas by Debbie Macomber

Small Town Christmas by Debbie Macomber

On a Snowy Night by Debbie Macomber

The Delaney Christmas Carol Anthology by Kay Hooper, Iris Johansen, and Fayrene Preston

A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas