Tag Archives: Meg Bellamy

Feliz Chanukah! by Meg Bellamy

Book Review, , , ,
Overview

Title: Feliz Chanukah!
Author: Meg Bellamy
In: Worst Holiday Ever (Miscellaneous)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Christmas, Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Year: 2018

Thoughts

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.

<- Thankful in PerditionWorst Holiday Ever ->

Image source: Fantastic Fiction

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Worst Holiday Ever by Miscellaneous

Book Review, , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Overview

Title: Worst Holiday Ever: A Family Drama Romance Anthology
Author: Eva Moore, Adrienne Bell, Kilby Blades, Kari Lemor, Preslaysa Williams, Marie Booth, R.L. Merrill, Erin St. Charles & Meg Bellamy
In: Worst Holiday Ever (Miscellaneous)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Christmas, Contemporary, Contemporary romance, Short story collections
Pace: Medium
Format: Anthology
Year: 2018

Thoughts

This was one of the best holiday collections that I’ve read in a while. It included a whole lot of humour and romance, shenanigans, and high jinks. What I loved most about it though is that it really helped to capture the whole holiday feeling. The way that the holiday season is always chaotic and goes a little bit awry. But there’s always a silver lining if you look hard enough.

I only knew one author in this collection when I added it to my ereader – Kilby Blades. Now I have an absolutely stacked TBR in my ereader from all of the fantastic new authors I got to discover throughout this collection. I always love a good collection of stories that starts with an author that I know and love, and then just… expands my horizons. I don’t think I’ll ever get through all of the lovely books on my shelves. But there is so much wonderous potential…

Every story in this collection is chaotic and kind of humorous, poking fun at the challenges of the holiday season. But they all have very different themes. Everyone does highlight that the worst of the holiday season comes from the chaos of family. For some the love also comes from there, for others, it comes from elsewhere… the range within this collection is brilliant and made me love it just that much more.

This was a fantastic collection of short stories set around the chaos of family in the holiday season. Definitely a collection I’ll read again and again at that time of year. If only to remind myself that maybe my own family isn’t so bad after all…

<- Feliz Chanukah!Decked Out ->

Image source: Fantastic Fiction