Dalton and Orrie are a ridiculously cute couple. They are completely adorable and so damn sweet together. My heart definitely beat faster in the hope for their future. And because this was a wonderfully sweet and gorgeous story, they get it. Not without a lot of issues along the way though.
My husband and I decided a long time ago that Christmas would be about one event… no running around like headless chickens all day long. And that is just between two families. I can’t imagine jumping between four! That to start with just sounded and felt ridiculously difficult and complex. And, as it unfolded, it was even worse than I had anticipated.
This was a fun, chaotic story evolving into a beautiful ending. With the one family portion that the couple actually got along well with. I love that in the one day they not only run the gambit of their four families, but they also had to deal with their own insecurities. A brilliant holiday story.
Title: A Tale of Two Cities Author: Charles Dickens Series: Word Cloud Classics Rating Out of 5: 2.5 (Readable, but not worth reading again) My Bookshelves:Classics Pace: Slow Format: Novel Year: 1859
I love the writing of Charles Dickens. And I’ve always loved that even though now he is considered a “classic”, at the time he was writing, it was seen as “pop culture” with all of the connotations that implies. But I digress, as with the other pieces I’ve read by Dickens, I loved the writing of this, there is something very accessible about the flow of words and the lyrically of the prose.
Having said all of that, I did struggle to get into the storyline of this a little bit. This is most definitely not my favourite Dickens story. Maybe it has something to do with the politics of the storyline, it was set in the French revolution, and almost everything about that timeline has never really interested me. Which made it hard to really be interested in this story.
As much as I wanted to love this novel, I just didn’t. For the aforementioned reasons. But it’s definitely a book that I will reread in the future. After all, it was the best of times (see what I did there).
AJ and Jasmine are an incredibly sweet couple, the kind that is easy and enjoyable to read about in a short story, but maybe doesn’t have enough drama going on for a long tale. It’s a nice way to imagine a settled and happy couple getting through the insanity of the festive season (because there is ALWAYS insanity). St. Charles did a great job of telling you the background to this couple, without getting too bogged down in the details. Certainly an enjoyable holiday short story.
Although this is a simple and easy story, and you can tell from the first instant that the couple is very much in love, the moment that Jasmine realises she loves AJ is probably my favourite. That moment of somewhat everyday life when you just look at someone and know is fantastic. But, the humorousness of this moment was even better. Particularly since this entertaining, but still very sweet moment involves a frozen turkey and an axe…
This short story was one calamity after the other. It was seriously funny reading one chaotic moment after the other and waiting for the next thing to go seriously wrong. Had me giggling out loud quite a bit, and wanting to add a bit more of this fun flavour to my shelves.
Title: Skye Falling Author: Mia McKenzie Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Contemporary, LGBTQI, Race Pace: Medium Format: eBook, Novel Year: 2021
This was a brilliant and kind of intense read. But damn, it was also kind of amazing. I mean, it was a great story of self-discovery, with some impressively dynamic relationships and a whole heap of emotional connections. Throughout this personal journey Skye spends a whole lot of time looking inwards. It’s a nice reminder that we never truly stop growing and learning.
This book gave me all of the feelings, it was intense and complex. Skye not only has to navigate her current friendships and family dynamics. But there a heap of new relationships and family dynamics that she also has to negotiate. I love that Skye slowly creates a relationship with the new members of her family. Relationships are never quite as easy as they seem in the books, they’re always way more complicated and McKenzie honours this fact.
Skye is forced to face up to a whole heap of hard truths and realities in her own actions. But it’s about more than that. Skye is forced to face the changing times and how the things we treasure don’t always stay the same. McKenzie also beautifully shows some of the challenges that African American women face and the realities of being an LGBTQI+ woman. McKenzie pulls in so many social justice issues and my head is still spinning after reading this.
I love that the ending of this isn’t neat and tidy. There is no tie it all in a bow ending that shows everyone riding off into the sunset. Rather, everyone finds a new path and a way to find their happy new reality. Life never has a satisfactory conclusion that ties up every loose end. And I love that Skye Falling didn’t either.
This is a disgustingly yummy and drool-worthy office romance. The fact that it’s all instigated by Secret Santa is just all that much better. I mean, my gosh, I love a good office romance that is filled with lust and sex. But when it also takes into account a little bit of Christmas? That’s what dreams are made of… at least around Christmas time when sometimes it can be a bit hard to get into the Christmas theme around town…
I love how wonderfully buttoned up Amanda is and how she is so aware of the double standards in the world. The voices that she hears is a little bit concerning though. I mean a lot of us have the angel and devil on our shoulders bit because, well, conscience. But these ones took on a little bit too much of an intensity. It got kind of uncomfortable.
As I’ve come to expect from Denison, this is a great, light and easy read. One filled with lust and a lot of seduction. And seriously enjoyable in all of its simple glory.
I’ve loved the nutcracker as a Christmas story in whatever version for as long as I can remember. So, of course when I saw that there was a novel retelling of it in a contemporary romance format… I was pretty keen to dive right in. And I most definitely was not disappointed! This was a wonderful Christmas story in and of itself, but as a reimagining of some of the themes throughout the Nutcracker? I really enjoyed it. This was one of those rare retellings that took the themes and some of the characterisations, but Alden was able to truly make it her own.
I love that throughout this story, Nash is just trying to show Clara what there is to love about their city and life with him. He might not be exactly subtle about some of it, but he is also obviously trying to make her see what there is to love about home. And also showing how much he truly knows her. Although it’s, admittedly, a little bit manipulative, it’s also incredibly sweet. Particularly the fact that everything he chooses shows Clara just how much he adores her and knows about her.
While reading this, I did think a lot about my little sister. She too has the wanderlust and need to travel. Itchy feet can lead to some pretty incredible adventures, and I love how Clara is able to harness that within her job. However, like my sister, there is a sense of fleeing in all of Clara’s actions. I really enjoy that at the end, she doesn’t have to give up her wanderlust and enjoyment of travel. But rather it’s about finding a better balance. Both in her life and Nash’s. But honestly, seriously the coolest job ever.
This was an incredibly Christmassy book. Not just in the fact that it’s actually set at Christmas and has the whole nutcracker retelling aspect. But also, in the fact that there is so much family involvement. For me, Christmas time is all about family and the chaos that is sure to follow with that kind of gathering. It’s about love and laughter. Alden highlights all of this really well in her story and makes you think of cozy nights with family around laughing and smiling.
Title: The Mapmaker’s Wife: A True Tale of Love, Murder, and Survival in the Amazon Author: Robert Whitaker Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Biographies, History, Science, Strong women Pace: Medium Format: eBook, Novel Year: 2004
This is an incredibly intense story, one that I completely fell in love with and enjoyed. It’s almost two stories in one, truth be told, but it’s still an epic journey. Well, two epic journeys. With a lot of backstory and a number of political implications and social nuances in fact, Whitaker manages to not know tell the tale of Isabella and Jean, but also a whole set of scientific breakthroughs, political battles and social norms which have changed throughout time.
To start with, I really just wanted to know about Isabella’s journey across the Amazon. That is still a feat that I think is amazing today, to do it on the 1800’s is a whole other, unbelievable story. A journey that literally killed all of her companions was survived, all for the sake of a man that she hadn’t seen for 20 years. A love story in a time that didn’t necessarily put a premium on love.
Although it was Isabella’s story that I was looking forward to, I got pretty stuck into Jean’s story. The idea of a scientific endeavour to prove the theory of gravity and how that effects the equator is intense in and of itself. But then, to add to that, there is murder, espionage, and a whole slew of other scientific discoveries. Some of which I remember using a little during my university degree.
This is an incredibly factual memoir, but one that is also highly emotional. Whitaker hits that perfect balance between facts and emotion when writing about the past. He also provides a great epilogue at the end which shows how everyone lived out the rest of their lives. A wonderful read that I look forward to picking up again in the future.
I did find Beth a little bit whiney in this story. In fact, at the beginning, I found her a little bit difficult to deal with. But, as the story unfolded, she kind of grew on me. Slowly but surely. And then, once I started to actually enjoy her as a character, it became a whole lot easier to enjoy this novel. Probably because once she grew on me she was also a little bit less whiney and a lot more relatable. Which for me is always important in a character.
I was expecting this to be a sunshine-grump trope romance. Beth was obviously the sunshine for all of her whininess – after all, she is still incredibly optimistic throughout the entire tale. Rocco on the other hand wasn’t quite the grump I expected him to be. He was still a total grump and not even remotely positive. But I kind of liked this really obvious vein of sweetness throughout his interactions with Beth. It made me enjoy reading this novel a lot more than I thought I would, like I said, it took me a while to respond to Beth, but I found it pretty easy to respond to Rocco.
Although this story is listed as a Christmas romance. I really didn’t find anything Christmassy about it at all. Other than the fact that it is based at Christmas time. Beyond that, there were no feelings of Christmas or the festive season throughout the story. Honestly, this tale could have taken place at any point in the year, and it still would’ve worked. An enjoyable romance, but not one that I would reread to get me into the festive spirit.
This might not have been one of my favourite novels, but it was very enjoyable. And I particularly liked how it all ended with all of the weddings and happiness and new beginnings in the air.
This is an incredibly cute and laugh out loud kind of romcom story. It is filled with many, many moments of misunderstandings and confusions. Ones that I enjoyed ridiculously and have made me add a whole lot of MacIntosh to my TBR. The fact that this was a festive, Christmas story filled with family mayhem and stupidity just added to my enjoyment. It’s a silly, funny, and sweet tale that isn’t just about falling in love and romance. But also accepting your family and all of their chaos – particularly when some of that chaos stems from misunderstandings.
Rocco and Billie work incredibly well as a couple together. I love all of their shenanigans and high jinks throughout the group dating adventures that they go on. Actually, I love all of the shenanigans and high jinks that Billie manages to get herself into without Rocco. When he’s added to the mix, it’s even more hilarious. In particular, I loved the scone scene and how they were able to constantly orchestrate chaos. Both meaningfully and unintentionally. Add into the group dynamic Billie’s misunderstanding with Leila… and it was honestly comedy gold. I was smiling and grinning throughout this couple’s slow graduation to their happily ever after.
I can’t imagine my whole family showing up uninvited to stay over Christmas. I mean, I love them dearly, but I need to mentally prepare myself for extended periods of time with, well, anyone. The chaos of family where all boundaries are essentially removed? That’s a whole other level of emotional overstimulation. Billie just seems to fling herself from chaotic moment to chaotic moment throughout this. First with her mother, then her sister, then her father and stepmother… and then into the world of Rocco and Leila. I was actually expecting Billie to completely lose her mind and have a huge argument with her whole family, but it didn’t actually end up like that. It was far fuzzier and sweeter. Completely opposite to what I thought I wanted, but apparently EXACTLY what I needed for the happily ever after.
Again, most of the chaos and shenanigans in this story are kind of caused by Billie not thinking things through and the misconceptions that she has about other people. Some of these are boundaries, but other moments are just pure jumping to conclusions. And, as I mentioned before, I jumped to a few conclusions of my own as I thought I knew how this story would unfold. Which made the two twists with both Rocco and Kenny towards the end of the story even more brilliant. I didn’t see them coming, but I definitely enjoyed them, and it’s made me even more obsessed with MacIntosh.
Ana Maria’s family is fun, fantastic and truly quirky. I love the idea of a big family and all of the shenanigans that follows. The fact that there’s a petulant cousin, drunk uncle, petty aunt… it is just wonderfully brilliant. And gives a wonderful feeling of family, with all of the silly nonsense that that can entail. Although I loved this storyline and the insanity of family, Ana Maria’s cousin is more than just petulant… she’s severely unhinged. As in painfully so. The way that others stand up to her though was kind of fun.
This is truly a festivus story. A story about the ways that family gatherings can be intense. Without actually focusing on the religious and political connotations of this time of year. I kind of like the idea of having a celebration in the festive season that pulls in all of the different faiths and practices. Even if I know nothing beyond my Australian version of Christmas…
This wasn’t one of those stories that was high octane or driven in any way – rather it was an enjoyable story about bringing a guy home to meet your family. Knowing that there will be chaos and riding the waves of it anyway.
Earth and Skye 