December 2021 Wrap Up

 And just like that, it's the end of 2021! December has been another crazy month to finish the year off with, as it always is. Despite having so much going on over the month, I still managed to read a total of 7 books in December. I read almost exclusively Christmas books, which was great, discovered a new author whose books I binged and, most importantly, really loved reading again. So let's chat about the final seven books I read in 2021.

Falling For Christmas by Kate Hewitt -

This is a Christmas novella about a woman who leaves a Christmas party after her ex brings his new girlfriend and ends up driving for miles with no destination in mind, when she ends up stranded and completely unprepared in a small town. She is rescued by the local carpenter and has no choice but to stay in his house with him over Christmas. This was a fun festive novella but really nothing particularly special. I enjoyed the small town setting and I like a snowed in together story, but the romance wasn't that well developed so I couldn't fall in love with it.

Rating: 3/5

Underneath The Christmas Tree by Heidi Swain - 

This is a cozy, festive read about a woman who returns to her late father's Christmas tree farm to spend one last Christmas before she sells her shares. This is not something I would typically pick up. It is much more women's fiction than romance, although does feature a romance, but turned out to be exactly what I wanted. The Christmas tree farm is the perfect setting for festive fun and I loved being immersed in this little community. It was lovely to get to know all of these characters as our main character does and just fall in love with the place along with her. The romance was a dull, which did affect my rating, but it wasn't the main aspect of the book. Overall, this was a lovely Christmas read and just what I needed at the time.

Rating: 3.5/5

Call Me Maybe by Cara Bastone -

Now that I have an Audible membership again, I have been wanting to try out the many Audible Originals. I had heard great things about this one so decided to pick it up. It follows a woman who sparks up a friendship with the customer service representative she ends up on the phone to for hours while trying to get her business website fixed. It seems like such an odd concept but I thought it worked so well. Vera and Cal end up getting to know each other through this phone call and the connection they have is so clear, even without them ever having me. It was such an adorable romance, with two really great characters that were such fun to follow. There is a bit of a twist at the end that I managed to work out pretty early on but it was still a lot of fun to read about. This was written for audio so the audiobook was a full production with sound effects and everything. It was the most fun and immersive audiobook that made for a great reading experience. I can't wait to listen to more like this.

Rating: 4/5

Mince Pies And Mistletoe At The Christmas Market by Heidi Swain -

I have gone down a Heidi Swain Christmas rabbit hole. I want to read every Christmas book she has written because they give me all of the cozy festive vibes. This one follows a woman who drops out of university and returns to her home town to run a market stall for her friends cafe over Christmas, but things get complicated when she discovers she is working next door to her ex-boyfriend. This one was just as festive as my first Heidi Swain as the stallholders all come together to make this the best Christmas ever and save their struggling small town market. It was just so sweet and I loved it. Again, this is more women's fiction but does involve a romance. The romance takes a definite backseat and while it was quite sweet, I wasn't all that bothered about it. What I really loved was getting to known all of the characters in this small town and experiencing the magic of Christmas alongside them. It seems that this is all I want this festive season.

Rating: 4/5

Sleigh Rides And Silver Bells At The Christmas Fair by Heidi Swain - 

Yet another Heidi Swain Christmas book! This is in the same series as the previous book and follows Anna who takes a job at Wynthorpe Hall in an attempt to avoid Christmas. However, when the Christmas plans at the hall change, Anna finds herself thrust into the festivities she has tried so hard to avoid for many years. This is a really adorable found family story featuring a great cast of characters who all bring so much to the story. Anna has had a really tough past and the characters in this sweet little town all help her to move on from that and look to the future. There is also some change and uncertainty at Wynthorpe Hall involving the owner's youngest son, Jamie, who has an instant connection with Anna. This was another fun and heartwarming Christmas story from Heidi Swain, with an adorable romance and lots of festive spirit. It was another perfect read to get me in the Christmas mood.

Rating: 4/5

Snowflakes And Cinnamon Swirls At The Winter Wonderland by Heidi Swain - 

When I say I fell down a Heidi Swain rabbit hole, I mean I really fell down a Heidi Swain rabbit hole. This was my fourth and final Heidi Swain Christmas book of the month and it takes us back to Wynthorpe Hall for more festive fun. This follows Hayley, the Wynthorpe Hall housekeeper who we met in the previous book, after her engagement has ended dramatically and she has moved into the Hall with others. Also moving to the Hall for this Christmas season is Gabe, a friend of Jamie who has come to work in the grounds and has baggage of his own. This has all of the heart, mayhem and festive fun I have come to expect from these books and it was great to spend another Christmas season in Wynthorpe Hall with the characters we met in the previous book. I didn't love this one quite as much as the others I have read this month, which I think is a lot to do with the romance. Hayley has just ended her engagement when she meets and feels a connection to Gabe, which is fine and I would have enjoyed a nice slow burn romance between them. What we actually got was a lot of angst followed by everything moving very fast. I also felt as though Gabe's past wasn't explored as much as it could be. I enjoyed the festive activities and the side characters just as much as I knew I would, but the rest fell a bit flat for me.

Rating: 3/5

Christmas At Carly's Cupcakes by Jessica Redland - 

I moved on from Heidi Swain to something with similar vibes. This is another women's fiction-y Christmas book with a bit of a romance thrown in. This follows Carly who own a small town bakery and has given a job to her struggling younger sister, despite her lack of skills in the baking department. She is also discovering her long held feelings for her childhood best friend who is coming home on leave from the Army over Christmas. This was a little all over the place for me and didn't quite hit the mark. I liked the small town bakery setting and loved seeing how all of the business owners worked together and became good friends. I liked the family aspect and how Carly was trying to help out her sister. I also liked the idea of the childhood friends to lovers romance. However, all of these aspects of the story felt half done and could have all been executed better. I constantly felt while reading that Carly's sisters storyline would have been better told from Bethany's point of view as it felt like the main focus of the story and took away from Carly's own storyline. The romance was really poorly executed, in my opinion, as Liam, the love interest, didn't appear until the last quarter of the book meaning we had such little time to see the couple together that is was difficult to be invested in them. It also meant that everything moved very quickly and felt rushed. This could have been great but ended up being pretty average.

Rating: 3/5

Those are the very last 7 books I read in 2021. I would say a load of Christmas books and a Heidi Swain marathon was a pretty good way to end my reading year. As I said, I have really fallen back in love with reading in December, which I am hoping will continue into the new year. I have also been getting back into blogging and I'm ready to jump back into things with the end of year content in January!

What was the best book you read in December?

Sophie :)

Five Christmas Reads At The Top Of My TBR

 I am all about the Christmas romance in the month of December and my list of Christmas books I want to read is pretty extensive. I thought I would share the five that I really hope to get to before the end of the month, mainly to help me not forget about them among the mountain of other books on my TBR. 

1. The Boss Who Stole Christmas by Jana Aston - This was on my list last year but I never got to it. This is the first in a series of Christmas novellas and features an employee-boss workplace romance.

2. Mistletoe And Mr Right by Sarah Morgenthaler - This is the second book in the Moose Springs, Alaska series that I started a couple of months ago. This follows the best friend of the heroine from book one and has the typical Christmas movie/book storyline of the rich person buying the small town.

3. The Fake Santa Apology Tour by Julie Olivia - A heroine who only dates fake Santas ends up snowed in with her grinchy santa-lookalike enemy in a small town. This sounds like a lot of fun.

4. A Cross-Country Christmas by Courtney Walsh - A Christmas road trip with her brother's best friend, who she also happens to have had a crush on for years, this definitely sounds like my kind of thing.

5. Kiss The Girl by Melanie Jacobson - This is a small-town, fake dating romance following our heroine who has returned to her hometown temporarily and has vowed never to fall for a small-town guy.

Those are five of the Christmas romances on my TBR this year that I am most interested in at the moment. I am really excited for all of these and I'm hoping I can get to at least a few of these before the end of the month.

What is your favourite Christmas book?

Sophie :)

Reading Three 2020 Christmas Releases

I have been in the mood to read Christmas books since about October and after managing to hold off until November (mostly), I am now reading all of the Christmas books I can find. A few of the Christmas books I have picked up recently have been new releases, a couple of which I was lucky enough to receive eARCs of through Netgalley (marked with *). There seem to be so many Christmas books out there, and it seems like quite a lot being released this year, so I wanted to share my thoughts on three of the ones I have read. 

The Twelve Dates Of Christmas by Jenny Baliss*

(Published on 12th Nov 2020 by Pan MacMillan)

The Twelve Dates Of Christmas follows Kate, a single 34 year old from a quiet little English town who's best friend signs her up for a dating event promising her twelve dates for twelve chances to find love before Christmas. 

As you can probably guess from the premise, this was a really fun Christmas read. We have a genuine and loveable main character in Kate, who is perfectly happy with her life, her great job, and her two best friends. It was nice to read about a single woman who is satisfied with her life as it is and sees a relationship as something that could be a nice addition rather than a main goal. I loved reading about her small town life and the relationships she has with the people in the town, in particular her relationship with her father. It was all just very wholesome and heart-warming. I enjoyed the friendships Kate has, although found the 'big secret' from the past and the conflicts that created to be a bit blown out of proportion, I expected what happened in the past to be something more for the outcome it had. 

The twelve dates aspect of the story was the most fun part for me. It was really enjoyable to read about some of the disastrous dates as well as the more successful ones. I did feel, though, that some of them were just kind of skimmed over and could have been more developed. 

I did really enjoy this book for the most part, even thought it was quite predictable at times. However, I struggled with some of the decisions Kate makes at points and felt that some things could have been handled differently. I would also have liked the relationship to have been more developed, it was a sweet romance and I enjoyed it but it could have been done better.

Rating: 3/5

In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren

(Published on 6th Oct 2020 by Gallery Books)

I discovered this author duo this year so was very excited to discover they were releasing a Christmas novel. This is a romance with a bit of a sci-fi twist, following a woman whose family are spending Christmas at their cabin for the last time, but after getting into a car accident on the way home she wakes up on the plane on the way there all over again. She then relives the days over Christmas until she can find what makes her happy. This also features a friends to lovers romance with her childhood crush. 

I really enjoyed this book! The Groundhog Day/time travel element was an interesting addition but it didn't overshadow the romance. It only happened a few times, which I appreciated as I think it would have taken me out of the story too much had it been done more. I really loved the snowy cabin setting and all of the traditions the families had over the Christmas period. I felt so festive reading about all of their fun activities. There were a lot of characters introduced in this book as three different families are staying at the cabin. This was a little confusing to start with but once I worked out who everyone was I began to really love the dynamic. Most of the characters were well-developed and had a unique personality by the half way point, although there were a couple I would have liked to have gotten to know a bit better.

The romance was, as is to be expected from a Christina Lauren book, the real highlight of the story. I love a friends to lovers romance, and this one was incredibly sweet. The relationship was adorable and developed really nicely throughout the story, though maybe a little too quickly, and I was constantly swooning. 

While I really enjoyed this, the conflict annoyed me a little as it felt like a bit of an overreaction and I could have done without the epilogue. I also didn't like the way Mae was perceived to have lead Theo on just by being friendly, as I feel like it really plays into the idea that people of the opposite sex can't just be friends.

Rating: 4/5

All I Want For Christmas by Joanna Bolouri*

(Published on 29th Oct 2020 by Quercus)

This was my surprised standout of the Christmas books I have read so far this year. It follows Nick who becomes Santa at a local shopping mall after both losing his job and being dumped by his girlfriend. When a young boy tells him his Christmas wish for his mother to be happy again, Nick decides to arrange a date between the boys mother, Sarah, and his best friend. However, when things begin to get more serious between the couple, Nick realises he might have feelings for Sarah himself. 

I'm still not over how adorable this was! It's the love triangle trope handled incredibly well and a storyline with quite sad undertones made a lot of fun. Nick is a really great main character. He is going through a really tough time and coping with it through self-depreciating humour, which I both related to and found very entertaining. He is very loveable from the outset but grows so much throughout the book. He really is just a great guy who is willing to put his the happiness of his friend about his own. 

The friendships within this book were great. Nick's friendships with both Matt and Sarah were just lovely. Nick and Matt's friendship really highlighted the importance of talking about the serious stuff within male friendships and the fact that it is good to talk about your feelings, as it is mentioned that the two have helped each other through the toughest times of their lives. The friendship between Nick and Sarah was also really sweet, even before Nick realised there were any feelings there. It was just lovely to have very genuine friendships that weren't completely ruined by stupid conflicts. However, the importance and strength of these friendships are what makes the love triangle aspect of the story so difficult. I was worried about how the love triangle would be handled but it was written so well. 

There were so many things I really loved about this book, Sarah's son Alfie was a particular highlight, but the ending just didn't live up to my expectations. Things wrapped up a bit too conveniently for my liking and then the last few chapters felt like a bit of a whirlwind. Other than that, this was a really great read.

Rating: 4/5

Three quick reviews of three very enjoyable reads. I would definitely recommend giving any of these books a go if they sound interesting, I have fun reading all of them. I have so many more Christmas books I want to get to and not enough time to read them in, but hopefully I can fit in a few more in the next few days.

Sophie :)

Top Ten Christmas Books On My Radar

 

Am I even doing a Top Ten Tuesday if I'm not posting it on a Wednesday? I haven't done one of these for ages and I'm definitely wanting to make it a goal for 2021 to do it more often. The theme for this week is a Holiday/Seasonal freebie. Since I have been wanting to read all of the Christmas books recently, I thought I would share some of the Christmas books on my radar, some of which I will hopefully get to over the month.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

1. A Very Bossy Christmas by Kayley Loring - An employee-boss, fake dating romance.

2. Scrooged by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward - A collection of three holiday romance short stories.

3. Mistletoe Montana series by Various Authors - A series of holiday themed novellas written by various romance authors.

4. Oh Snowy Night by Ella Goode - A Christmas romance novella with a grumpy lumberjack hero.

5. A Holiday Temptation by Tiffany Patterson - A second chance romance novella.

6. The Boss Who Stole Christmas by Jana Aston - Another employee-boss romance novella.

7. Twelve Dates Of Christmas by Rilzy Adams - A friends to lovers holiday novella.

8. Unwrapping Holly by Lisa Renee Jones - Workaholic meets small-town stranger while home for the holidays.

9. All They Want For Christmas by Andie J Christopher - A snowed in MMF romance novella.

10. All About Us by Tom Ellen - A one that got away romance with a bit of time travel.

I will definitely not get to all of these this month but they are all books that sound intriguing or I have heard great things about. A lot of them are romance novellas, so I can hopefully make my way through  few of them.

I am always looking for recommendations so what Christmas books do you love that I should check out?

Sophie :)

TisTheSeasonAThon 2020 TBR

It is very nearly my absolute favourite time of year and this year I can finally take part in a Christmas themed readathon! I should be relaxing in the sun right now but, since Covid has meant that is not happening, I now have a whole week off work with no plans just in time for TisTheSeasonAThon, a holiday themed readathon starting today (November 30th) until December 6th, hosted by Bookables and A Court Of Crowns and Quills.

This readathon has both reading challenges and a bingo board. I am going to be trying to complete the challenges, but I would also like to get to some of the bingo board squares if I get the chance. I have so many Christmas books I want to get to but I'm trying not to be too over-ambitious with my TBR.

1. Group Book - In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren

I discovered Christina Lauren earlier this year so I am super excited that they have released a Christmas book. This follows a woman who is spending Christmas in a cabin with her family for the last time, but ends up reliving the Christmas over and over again. I am so glad this is the group book for this readathon as I was definitely wanting to get to it at some point this year.

2. Read a holiday themed book - All I Want For Christmas by Joanna Bolouri

This is a Christmas ARC that I didn't quite get to in time for it's release but still want to read soon. This is a romance following a Christmas grotto Santa who sets a single mother up on a date with his best friend but begins to develop feelings for her.

3. Read a book you meant to get to this year but didn't - The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

This one might change, I haven't completely decided what I want to read for this prompt yet. I do really want to read The Flatshare before the end of the year but I will most likely read whatever I am in the mood for at the time. The Flatshare is a romance following two people who share a bed but have never met, as one works during the day and the other works at night.

4. Read a diverse book - Written In The Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

This is another one that could change if I can get some recommendations of good LGBTQIA+ Christmas stories to add to my TBR. This one is a f/f fake dating romance following an astrologer and an actuary who pretend to date over the holiday period.

5. Read a book with lights on the cover - One New York Christmas by Mandy Baggot

Yet another Christmas romance, but this one takes place in New York. Two friends decide to spend the Christmas season in New York after one has a bad break up and I think there is a romance involving a famous actor. Christmas and New York are two of my favourite things, so I'm excited for this one.

6. A cozy read - 10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston

Any of the books I am hoping to read for this readathon could probably count for this prompt, but for me nothing is more cozy than a YA contemporary. This follows a girl who's boyfriend breaks up with her just before Christmas and her family decide to set her up on blind dates to help her get over him.

Those are the books I am hoping to get to for each of the readathon challenges. I expect I will probably need to double up on some of these challenges, especially as I am wanting to fit in some novellas to meet some of the bingo board challenges. To be honest though, I'm really not bothered if I don't read all of the books and complete all of the challenges, I'll just be happy to start my December and holiday season off with a week of Christmas themed reading.

I am just in the mood to read all of the Christmas books at the moment and definitely need some recommendations. What are your favourite Christmas books?

Sophie :)

What I've Been Watching: Christmas Edition

As I have mentioned already, I like Christmas quite a lot. I have my favourite Christmas movies that I watch every year, usually multiple times, but I do try out some new ones each year. I thought it might be fun to share the Christmas movies, and TV show, I have watched so far this holiday season.

Let It Snow - This is the Netflix adaptation of the novel by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle. I read the book last year and enjoyed it, so I was super excited that this was being adapted. This follows a group of teenagers in a small town during a Christmas Eve snowstorm. I actually ended up being a little disappointed by this film. It wasn't a bad film, but it almost felt like nothing really happened. It had its cute moments and a few festive bits, but probably not one I'm likely to watch again.

A Christmas Switch - This is basically a Christmas version of Freaky Friday. Two completely different women end up in the others body and have to live their life during the holiday season. If I'm being honest, this wasn't that great. It's obviously a concept that has been done many times before, but this wasn't done very well. I wouldn't recommend this one.

Merry Happy Whatever - Unlike anything I have seen before, this was a Netflix Christmas show. The story itself is not unusual, a girl brings her boyfriend home to meet the family and it doesn't go quite as smoothly as everyone hoped. I wasn't loving it after the first episode but decided to keep going and I'm really glad I did. I ended up really enjoying it and got pretty invested in the story. I would definitely recommend giving this a watch.

Christmas In The Heartland - This is another switching movie! In this one, two teenagers on their way to spend Christmas with grandparents they have never met decide to switch places. This was a pretty average teen movie that I almost gave up on. It really wasn't great to start with, the acting was bad and the story was slow, but it did get better. It was very predictable and even more cheesy than the usual Christmas movies. However, it wasn't terrible and I did find it quite sweet in the end.

A Bad Moms Christmas - I watched Bad Moms a few years ago and really enjoyed it so it was nice to finally get around to watching the Christmas sequel. This movie follows the three mothers from the first movie who have to deal with the stress of the Christmas season, but with their own mothers turning up to add to the madness. I really enjoyed this, though not as much as the first, and thought it was a super fun Christmas movie. Although I am not a mother, I thought it was super relatable at showcasing the stress of Christmas, while most other movies like to paint the picture of a perfect, stress free holiday season. The cast is great, the plot is never dull and pretty funny, and there is a nice heartfelt message to it as well.

A Christmas Prince - This was probably the biggest surprise of the Christmas movies I have watched this year. It follows a reporter who is sent to write a story about a Prince and ends up under cover as a tutor in the palace. I enjoyed this way more than I was expecting to. It was pretty predictable but it was also really sweet. I enjoyed the story and ended up quite invested in the relationship. There are another two movies in this series available on Netflix and I can't wait to check them out.

That is everything Christmassy I have watched so far this year, well except all of my usual favourites. I will for sure be watching more in the next couple of days, so they will most likely feature in a future What I've Been Watching post.

Do you have any Christmas movie recommendations for me?

Sophie :)

Four Christmas Book Recommendations

I love books, I love Christmas, of course I love Christmas books! I've read a few Christmas/holiday themed books over the last few years, some hits but also some definite misses. I thought, since were getting pretty close to Christmas, I would share some of my favourites that I have read over recent years.

(full disclosure: I haven't actually read all of these, they were just the only Christmas books I had to hand)

1. My True Love Gave To Me edited by Stephanie Perkins

This is an anthology filled with 12 amazing holiday stories written by popular YA authors, edited by Stephanie Perkins. These stories cover a variety of holidays, not just Christmas, and feature some of the most adorable couples. I haven't read this since 2015, so I definitely need to reread it soon. I do have a full review, in which I go into detail about each individual story, if you want to know more.

2. Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson & Lauren Myracle

I read this one last year, after putting it off for a while after hearing some mixed reviews, and ended up really enjoying it. This book features three interconnected stories taking place during a Christmas Eve snowstorm in a small town. I absolutely loved Maureen Johnson's story, really liked John Green's story, and thought Lauren Myracle's story was just okay. As a whole though, this was a really fun, super sweet book that definitely got me in the Christmas spirit.

3. The Gift by Cecelia Ahern

This is another one I read last year and was a real surprise for me. It's a little bit odd, and took me a bit to get into, but I ended up loving it. It follows a man who struggles to juggle work and home life and claims he needs to be two places at once, who meets a homeless man outside his office and gets him a job. However, everything isn't quite as it seems. It's a great story, with a hint of fantasy/paranormal that Cecelia Ahern does so well, that has a really great message.

4. What Light by Jay Asher

As I write this I am in the process of rereading this one to see if I still love it quite as much as I did back in 2016. This is about a girl who essentially lives two lives - one during the majority of the year at her family's Christmas tree farm in Oregon, and another at Christmas at their tree lot in California. One Christmas she meets a boy, who of course has a bed reputation, and begins to fall for him. I thought this was the most adorable Christmas read.

What Christmas books would you recommend I check out next?

Sophie :)