CHRISTMAS ON MISTLETOE LANE by Annie Rains

October 4, 2018

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From a nice Jewish girl, Christmas book reviews, day 2. 

Sweetwater Springs, Book 1

From the publisher:

This USA Today bestselling author invites you to the delightful small town of Sweetwater Springs where the magic of Christmas brings to strangers together in this “story you won’t forget” (RaeAnne Thayne, New York Times bestselling author).

Christmas is coming to the North Carolina mountains, and the air is fresh and crisp and filled with promise. After the devastating loss of her job in the big city, the small town of Sweetwater Springs feels like heaven to Kaitlyn Russo. She’s inherited her grandparents’ charming (if a little rundown) bed and breakfast, and it’s just the new lease on life she needs. Only “heaven” comes with a catch-and a handsome and completely infuriating one at that.

After what he hopes will be a quick trip, Mitch Hargrove wants nothing more than to put his hometown in the rearview mirror. But his plans get derailed when he learns he’s now half-owner of the Sweetwater B&B. The fact that he’s given only two months to make the inn a success is a huge problem, but it’s his pretty-and incredibly headstrong-partner who’s the real challenge. With the holiday fast approaching and a grand re-opening looming, will Mitch keep running from the ghosts of Christmas past . . . or will he realize the true gift he’s been given?

I’m on a roll – this is another new series that I’ve started with the first book. Maybe it will become a trend!

This was a sweet romance that just happened to be set around the end of the year. It’s not a Christmas story, per se, other than the decorations. But it has lots of small town charm, likeable characters and an unlikely romance, put together by a deceased grandparent. What can I say, it works!

Kaitlyn was fired from her dream job under a cloud of suspicion, and she is thrilled to have somewhere to run. Her family situation isn’t the best, but she loved the grandparents who left her the B&B, even though she didn’t get to spend much time with them. On the other hand, they practically raised Mitch since his mother worked two jobs.

Mitch is dealing with the aftermath of a horrible car accident when he was a teenager. Guilt is a terrible thing, especially when fueled by the animosity of the victim’s family. But he is a good person and a good, caring man who truly needs to be forgiven.

They have their problems for sure, but they work them out to find their happily ever after. This was a very enjoyable read.

10/18 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

CHRISTMAS ON MISTLETOE LANE by Annie Rains. Forever (September 25, 2018). ISBN 978-1538713952.  432p..

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ALASKAN HOLIDAY by Debbie Macomber

October 3, 2018

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From a nice Jewish girl, Christmas book reviews, day 1. 

From the publisher:

“[Debbie] Macomber brings her signature charm to this appealing tale of an aspiring chef. . . . This charmer will please Macomber fans and newcomers alike.”—Publishers Weekly

Debbie Macomber brings us to the Alaskan wilderness for a magical Christmas tale about finding love where it’s least expected.

Before beginning her dream job as sous chef in one of Seattle’s hottest new restaurants, Josie Avery takes a summer position cooking at a lakeside lodge in the remote Alaskan town of Ponder. Josie falls for the rustic charms of the local community—including Jack Corcoran, the crotchety keeper of Ponder’s famed sourdough starter, and, in particular, the quiet and intense Palmer Saxon, a famed master swordsmith.

Josie and Palmer become close during the long Alaskan summer days, but Josie knows that, come fall, she’ll be returning to reality and the career she’s worked so hard for. Palmer, on the other hand, would like nothing better than to make Josie his wife and to keep her in Ponder. But Josie can’t imagine abandoning her mother back in the Emerald City and sacrificing her career to stay in this isolated town—not even for a man she’s quickly coming to love.

Fate has other plans. Josie misses the last boat out of town before winter sets in, stranding her in Ponder and putting her dream job at risk. As the holidays approach, Josie and Palmer must grapple with the complications that arise when dreams confront reality, and the Christmas magic that can happen when they put their faith in love.

Debbie Macomber is at her best in this beautiful holiday story about the far journeys we travel to find a place to call home.

I was really excited about this book. I love Christmas books, and have really enjoyed most of Macomber’s. I also love any book set in Alaska; living in Florida, it is like another world to me. And I’m a foodie, so any book with a chef as the main character automatically grabs my interest.

While I enjoyed this, it did not live up to my expectations. I actually put it down a couple of times to read other books, then came back and eventually finished it. I know that when that happens, it means the book is not holding my attention as well as it should. I didn’t get lost in the story, and I was kinda bored through much of it.

The plot was a geographic love problem; Palmer lives in such a small town that when winter comes, it can take weeks to get out and there’s no mail service. Josie is from Seattle, and loves living in that city. They fall in love but never tell each other and of course, this being a Debbie Macomber book, their physical relationship is limited to kissing. I can live with that, I know what to expect. But every obstacle was easily anticipated and worse, there were no real surprises and dammit, I want to be surprised sometimes.

I did like these characters and that helped me keep reading because I wanted them to get their happy ending. The secondary characters were not developed at all, they were just used as a way to move the plot on occasion.

Maybe the Hallmark movie will be better. I’m assuming there will be one, I think they have made movies from her last several Christmas books. I’ll wait and see.

10/18 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

ALASKAN HOLIDAY by Debbie Macomber. Ballantine Books (October 2, 2018). ISBN 978-0399181283.  256p.

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A SPARK OF LIGHT by Jodi Picoult

October 2, 2018

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From the publisher:

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Small Great Things returns with a powerful and provocative new novel about ordinary lives that intersect during a heart-stopping crisis.

The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center—a women’s reproductive health services clinic—its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage.

After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic.

But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order to save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester, disguised as a patient, who now stands in the crosshairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard.

Told in a daring and enthralling narrative structure that counts backward through the hours of the standoff, this is a story that traces its way back to what brought each of these very different individuals to the same place on this fateful day.

Jodi Picoult – one of the most fearless writers of our time – tackles a complicated issue in this gripping and nuanced novel. How do we balance the rights of pregnant women with the rights of the unborn they carry? What does it mean to be a good parent? A Spark of Light will inspire debate, conversation…and, hopefully, understanding.

So the good: it is no exaggeration to say that Picoult is fearless in taking on abortion. She does a very good job of exploring and explaining all sides of this controversial issue. It is well written, well researched, and the characters – and there are many – are well developed, even memorable.

What I didn’t love about it was the timeline. The story moves backwards in time, albeit for a good reason; the ending, which I loved, was a shocker. And it did force me to read very carefully and think about what I was reading and where I was in the story, so maybe that was the point?

The subject matter alone makes this a worthwhile read, but I didn’t like it as much as her last book, Small Great Things. Then again, I think that was her best book so maybe I should just cut her some slack. After all, Picoult has consistently written excellent books, year after year, and this one certainly is as well, plus it is sure to loved by book groups.

All that said, people who support the “right to life” may not be happy. Just FYI.

10/18 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

A SPARK OF LIGHT by Jodi Picoult. Ballantine Books (October 2, 2018). ISBN 978-0345544988. 384p.

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THEN THERE WAS YOU by Miranda Liasson

September 29, 2018

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Angel Falls, Book 1

Look at me, starting a series with the first book! And an excellent start it is.

Angel Falls is the small town where Sara grew up. She left for college and medical school, and the only reason she returned was to get married. But the night before the wedding, the bachelor party included a girl jumping out of a cake, and that girl was the groom’s high school sweetheart. Despite their ten years together, he dumps Sara for the cake girl and she has to learn to deal with it.

A year later, she returns home to Angel Falls to become her father’s  partner in his medical practice and to take care of her Nonna who is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. Her first patient is Police Chief Colton Walker – the groom’s best man and the man she thinks orchestrated the demise of her wedding. Luckily, she gets to stitch him up and give him a tetanus shot so at least she has a bit of revenge. But it turns out her arch enemy has changed quite a bit since the days he teased her in school. He is now much beloved in town and by her family as well.

This is the enemies-become-lovers storyline prevalent in so many romances and Liasson does a marvelous job with it here. Colton and Sara have a lot of hurdles to jump over but the tension between them really makes the pages fly by.

This is a charming, small town romance with warm, wonderful characters and enough angst to make the happy ending worth it. I loved it and am looking forward to the next book in this series.9/18 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THEN THERE WAS YOU by Miranda Liasson. Forever (May 29, 2018).  ISBN 978-1455541805. 368p.

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COWBOY SEAL CHRISTMAS by Nicole Helm

September 28, 2018

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Navy SEAL Cowboys, Book 3

Navy SEALS who are also Cowboys? At Christmas? Yes, please! The mashup of two sexy professions at my favorite time of year works very well here.

The premise of this series is that three Navy SEALS, forced into retirement after injuries, have purchased a ranch and named it Revival Ranch. They have created a place for other soldiers to come and heal. They have a therapist on staff, and a therapeutic horseback riding expert. Two of the men had PTSD, and from the information gleaned in this book, they have been helped and have found their happily ever after.

This time out it’s the therapist herself in need of romance, along with the third founder, Gabe Cortez. Monica Finley is a single mom who moved to the Montana ranch in hopes of helping the men who need her. She has fallen in love with the place, and finds herself strongly attracted to Gabe but he wants no part of her. Gabe doesn’t suffer from PTSD, but he definitely has some issues, one of which is a strong mistrust of therapy at all.

Gabe is estranged from his family and no one knows why because he will not talk about, not even with his closest friends, the SEALS he calls brothers. Monica has no chance of getting anything out of him, he wears his cynicism of her and her work on his sleeve. Gabe really likes her son, though, and is wonderful with him. Let’s face it, there is no surer way to a woman’s heart than by being kind to her child, and Monica soon finds herself falling in love.

Gabe is not sure why he is attracted to Monica, and he fights it every step of the way, hurting her repeatedly. But her patience knows no bounds, and eventually they find their way to the happy ending but not without hitting some major roadblocks along the way.

It was a really heartwarming romance, with a bit of explicit sex, but it was the characters that really drove this story. I did enjoy the big sky setting as well. This was my first Nicole Helm book, and I will be back for more.

9/18 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

COWBOY SEAL CHRISTMAS by Nicole Helm. Sourcebooks Casablanca (September 4, 2018)). ISBN 978-1492641599.  320p..

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HOT WINTER NIGHTS by Jill Shalvis

September 27, 2018

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A Heartbreaker Bay Novel

From the publisher:

Who needs mistletoe?

Most people wouldn’t think of a bad Santa case as the perfect Christmas gift. Then again, Molly Malone, office manager at Hunt Investigations, isn’t most people, and she could really use a distraction from the fantasies she’s been having since spending the night with her very secret crush, Lucas Knight. Nothing happened, not that Lucas knows that—but Molly just wants to enjoy being a little naughty for once . . .

Whiskey and pain meds for almost-healed bullet wounds don’t mix. Lucas needs to remember that next time he’s shot on the job, which may be sooner rather than later if Molly’s brother, Joe, finds out about them. Lucas can’t believe he’s drawing a blank on his (supposedly) passionate tryst with Molly, who’s the hottest, smartest, strongest woman he’s ever known. Strong enough to kick his butt if she discovers he’s been assigned to babysit her on her first case. And hot enough to melt his cold heart this Christmas.

Heartbreaker Bay is a really fun series, and I especially love the Christmas stories, which encompasses about half the books in this series. This one also has a bit of suspense thrown in, which really helps to keep the pages turning. I read this in one sitting and enjoyed every page. The setting is the same in all the stories and as in most romance series, there is overlap with the characters, so it feels like visiting old friends when I read a new one. It’s funny and sweet and sexy, all the good stuff!

9/18 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

HOT WINTER NIGHTS by Jill Shalvis. Avon; Reissue edition (September 25, 2018). ISBN 978-0062741837. 384p.

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SEA PRAYER by Khaled Hosseini

September 26, 2018

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From the publisher:

An illustrated book on the refugee crisis that will break your heart in under 48 pages, from the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and And the Mountains Echoed.

“Intensely moving. . .Powerfully evocative of the plight in which displaced populations find themselves.”– Kirkus, STARRED Review
 
“Hosseini’s story, aimed at readers of all ages, does not dwell on nightmarish fates; instead, its emotional power flows from the love of a father for his son.”– Publishers Weekly, STARRED BOX Review

A short, powerful, illustrated book written by beloved novelist Khaled Hosseini in response to the current refugee crisis, Sea Prayer is composed in the form of a letter, from a father to his son, on the eve of their journey. Watching over his sleeping son, the father reflects on the dangerous sea-crossing that lies before them. It is also a vivid portrait of their life in Homs, Syria, before the war, and of that city’s swift transformation from a home into a deadly war zone.

Impelled to write this story by the haunting image of young Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian boy whose body washed upon the beach in Turkey in September 2015, Hosseini hopes to pay tribute to the millions of families, like Kurdi’s, who have been splintered and forced from home by war and persecution, and he will donate author proceeds from this book to the UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) and The Khaled Hosseini Foundation to help fund lifesaving relief efforts to help refugees around the globe.

Khaled Hosseini is one of the most widely read writers in the world, with more than fifty-five million copies of his novels sold worldwide in more than seventy countries. Hosseini is also a Goodwill Envoy to the UNHCR, and the founder of The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, a nonprofit that provides t our list is as varied as our readers.

The synopsis from the publisher is almost as long as the book. Not kidding. This book looks like a children’s book; it’s the same size as many picture books, is fully illustrated across two pages at a time with a sentence or two of text. Parents will have to decide if they want to read this to their children. It is not a pretty story.

It is unclear to me who illustrated the book as Hosseini’s name is listed as the author, and I couldn’t find an illustrator.

I borrowed the e-book from my library through Axis 360 and the formatting was terrible, making it impossible for me to read the fine print on the introductory pages. (I don’t know how it formats on the Kindle.) There is a warning that comes with the ebook:

**Please note that this will work best on a color device and will appear in a horizontal format**

Even reading the text was difficult, I had to enlarge each page as it came up. So if you want to read this, I recommend the hardcover.

I’m not sure why Hosseini chose to write a book like this. I understand the impetus, as explained above, but I don’t understand why he didn’t just write a novel. I suppose this is a very dramatic way of expressing himself. It took me less than 5 minutes to read (even with bouncing back and forth to enlarge) but it has stayed with me. It is a very powerful story.

It was also turned into an illustrated film, available on YouTube. Enjoy.

8/18 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

SEA PRAYER by Khaled Hosseini. Riverhead Books (September 18, 2018).  ISBN 978-1501173028. 48p.

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RED WAR by Vince Flynn & Kyle Mills

September 25, 2018

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A Mitch Rapp Novel, Book 15

Vince Flynn created the persona of Mitch Rapp, writing 13 novels featuring this hero. Unfortunately, the literary world lost Flynn due to his untimely passing in 2013, but did not lose Mitch Rapp. Kyle Mills, a noted author in his own right, picked up the gauntlet and began writing novels utilizing Mitch, his brilliant supervisor Irene Kennedy, and the backup of a secret group reporting directly to the president of the United States.

“Red War” is such a book. Kyle Mills successfully utilizes the formula Flynn began with Mitch Rapp novels. There is action aplenty, playing out on a world wide stage and a style that captures the reader, causing a lack of sleep until the novel is finished. The difference with this book is that Russia rather than radical Islamic terrorism takes the stage as the villain. This seems to reflect the renewed emphasis on the evil empire as radical Islamic terrorism seems to be a bit less dangerous to the western world at the present time.

Maxim Krupin is the president of Russia and a complete dictator. He learns that he has inoperable brain cancer and is determined to hold power over his country as long as possible. In order to do so, as well as preventing people from noticing that he has become physically weakened Krupin decides to initiate a war with the west. The action requires that he invade and take over several countries previously allied with Russia during the cold war period. Irene Kennedy gets wind of what Krupin plans and assigns Mitch Rapp to thwart those ideas.

Mitch’s actions and the results obtained are, shall we say, somewhat exaggerated but consistent with the literary license both Vince Flynn and Kyle Mills utilize to develop the story. The usage of this style has made the Mitch Rapp novels the success that they are and readers will continue to enjoy the books as they appear. Often times it isn’t at all bad to stay with a hero that is a bit invincible and is acting on a world stage.

9/18 Paul Lane

RED WAR by Vince Flynn & Kyle Mills. Atria/Emily Bestler Books (September 25, 2018).  ISBN 978-1501190599. 384p.

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THE ANCIENT NINE by Ian Smith, M.D.

September 24, 2018

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A well done novel about a secret society within a secret society set in the bounds of Harvard University.

Spencer Collins, a young man from the inner city of Chicago, has been accepted into prestigious Harvard University. He expects to live the full life of a student attending university where he will endure grinding class work and study while playing basketball for the school. Much to his surprise and pleasure, he is tendered an invitation to join the very cream of the “final” clubs existing at Harvard. These clubs provide room and board to their members and the benefits of a fraternal type of organization. It is the “Delphic” that invites him to meet with their members as a prelude to gaining membership.

While working at his studies and becoming involved with the “gas” club as the Delphic is popularly known, Spencer also becomes aware of the “Ancient Nine.” This is a secret organization within the secret Delphic club and comprised of unknown members of that group.

Spencer and his friend Dalton Winthrop become entranced in attempting to learn the secrets behind the Ancient Nine and what they stand for and Smith brings us a logical progression towards this end. He also brings the reader a very realistic picture of men and women involved in academic life and learning with parties, drinking, sports and rooting for the college team. He also shows the entrance of love into Spencer’s life and his meeting with the girl that is to become his wife.

The novel tells the story set in the academic world that Harvard is. The University is one of the first colleges established in the United States and the alma mater of generations of successful graduates who not only have the education received, but the help of a powerful alumni group built up over centuries. The purpose of the Nine as presented by the author is a very original idea utilizing Harvard’s lengthy existence as a prop in the story. While Smith has written several other books involving technical topics, this is only his second novel and certainly should press him to do more with fiction.

9/18 Paul Lane

THE ANCIENT NINE by Ian Smith, M.D. St. Martin’s Press (September 18, 2018).  ISBN 978-1250182395. 432p.

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THE NIGHT CROSSING by Robert Masello

September 23, 2018

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Masello’s forte is the writing of historical novels with a touch of the supernatural included; “The Night Crossing” is no exception. It is set in England during the late 1800s and early 1900s and features the author Bram (Abraham) Stoker.

Stoker contributed more than a few books to the world of literature but is most remembered for “Dracula,” a novel about an undead Vampire living in Transylvania but than migrating to London spreading his horrors there.

This story opens when Mina, an intrepid explorer who is seeking out old ruins working in the Carpathian mountains, discovers a beautiful golden box and brings it back with her to England completely unaware of it’s evil power. She meets Stoker who is working as the manager of a successful theater and attempting part time to establish himself as a major author. Mina and Bram meet while becoming involved in a deadly plot that the wealthy owners of a safe haven for the poor have going for them. It is discovered that what these people who are brother and sister are engaged in is using ancient Egyptian methods in forestalling the aging process while using people staying at their safe haven as objects to utilize in their methods.

The couple own a factory making matches, using the poor as low or no paid workers to do so. The methods involve taking their souls and incorporating them into their own while killing the donor. Stoker and Mina are approached by Lucinda, who is an employee of the factory and mother to one of the children used to harvest the soul. They begin their investigation and in determining what is going on Masello makes the insinuation that in thinking about the possible eternal life gained by the couple and the source of Mina’s find of the golden box Stoker conceives the basic idea of the “Dracula” novel.

One of the coincidences of the period the novel is set in in real life is that Bram Stoker died five days after the headlines of the sinking of the Titanic appeared. Masello takes advantage of this and places Stoker and Mina aboard the doomed Titanic in their pursuit of the non aging couple they have chased for many years. The ship’s fate is chronicled faithfully indicating a good deal of research and an interest in it’s fate by the author. The description and the inclusion of people that actually were present makes for a very well done final setting to an excellent novel and adds to the story rather than steering it in another direction.

The presence of Bram Stoker on the Titanic is literary license- he never set foot upon her.

9/18 Paul Lane

THE NIGHT CROSSING by Robert Masello. 47North (September 18, 2018).  ISBN 978-1503904118. 448p.

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