Review of The Heart of Christmas

ARC from the Author Brenda Novak

The Heart of Christmas

Eve Harmon has always been the good girl in town who had everything a girl could ask for: a great job, a loving family and the best friends a girl could ask for. However, there is still one thing missing... a husband. So she decides on the eve of her birthday that she will live a little and of course drink a little. Much to her surprise when she wakes up the next morning there is a sexy stranger in her bed who she brought home last night.

Rex has always lived a secretive life letting very few people in not even his family so when he ends up hooking up with Eve Harmon he figures it will be a one night stand and never have to see her again. However, much to his surprise, Rex or as Whiskey Creek patrons know him, Brent decides to take a break from his protection company life and spend a couple weeks on vacation.

Will Eve end up falling for the sexy stranger when she promised him that there would be no strings attached? Can Rex continue to hide his past life and family from Eve?


My Review:

This is the third book that I have read of Brenda's and this one did not disappoint. As I continue to read Brenda's books I find that her writing continues to get better and better. I felt that the she did a great job of giving you back story on the new character and also continuing the stories on of past characters you have met in previous books. It was cool to see how she continued Cheyenne's story in this book as it made you realize that there was more that is going to be going on with past characters from the Whiskey Creek series.

In addition, I really felt that this book was realistic in the way that Brenda went about things. For instance when she was talking about Rex's past and why he did the things he did it truly made sense. I also felt like she did not sugar coat what can really happen to people who are in hiding from bad people. You can tell that she did her research and didn't try to fluff things.

Lastly, I loved how she took a character that I didn't very much like in the last book to one of my all time favorite characters from Brenda. After the first couple characters I really felt like i connected with Eve and was rooting for her until the very end! I would have to say my favorite part of the book was of course the ending. Don't worry I won't give and spoilers other than to say I was very proud of the way she ended it. Brenda again made it very realistic but also gave readers what they were asking for.

Can't wait to read the next book in the series and to see what she has planned!

Review of Mr. Miracle by Debbie Macomber

Mr. Miracle 
By Debbie Macomber 

Addie Folsom has returned to her childhood home in time for Christmas hoping to celebrate the holidays with her mom and
to make a fresh start. However, things don't go as planned when her neighbor nemesis is in a car accident and she offers to take care of him so that their mothers can go on a cruise. Will Addie and Erich remain enemies or will they find that they have more in common than they think?

Harry Mills has been sent to earth to complete one mission. That mission is to help Addie Folsom remember who she is and that there is a plan for in life. Harry is given two things to help him complete this mission. One is his advisor Celeste, who is sent to help keep him on track. The second is a classroom. You may ask how is a classroom going to help Harry complete his mission? You will have to read the book to find out.

My Review:

This is not the first book that I have read of Debbie Macomber's so this book had a lot to live up to. Especially in comparison of her previous two Mrs. Miracle books that Debbie has written. It was a good but not great book. I thought that she did a great job of keeping with theme of guardian angels and a mission for them to complete here on earth. She also did a great job developing the characters and the scenery so you really felt like you were actually there.

In addition, I think that she also did a great job of introducing new characters in addition to the main two characters Addie and Erich. These new characters were interesting and I wanted to read more about them so I am hoping she has more planned for them in future books.

The only down side that made this book good and not great was that I felt it did not end right. I felt like the book was too short. I don't know why but it just felt like there was more that could have been written. It didn't seem like there was a proper ending in the book for Addie and Erich. Debbie left you hanging which is good if she plans to continue them in the next book but I am not sure she is going to.

All in all this was a good Christmas story that had friendship, faith and romance all rolled into one. It is definitely a book that I would recommend to my friends and family.

Review of Snow Angel Cove by RaeAnne Thayne

Snow Angel Cove

Eliza Hayward has left also that she has known and worked for in Boise to start working as a Hotel Manager in Snow Angel Cove. However, things don't go as planned when she gets there and her hotel that she was supposed to work at is on fire. She decides to spending the night in small town and head back in the morning but as her fate would have it life throws another curve ball at her when she gets run down by a car.


Aidan Caine has only one thing on his mind this winter season and that is to bring his family all to his home in hopes of making it a memorable christmas for all. However, things change when his car malfunctions and he hits a young woman. After realizing she has no job and no place to go after she gets out of the hospital he offers her employment through the holidays to help with his family coming in for the holidays.

Will Eliza be able to keep her relationship with Aidan purely professional? Can Aidan keep his big secret from his family?


My Review:

I received this book free from the author in return for an honest, unbiased review.

This is the third book of RaeAnne's that I have read. I thought RaeAnne did a great of job of giving the backstory on the characters so you really felt like you knew them. In addition, I really liked how she allowed you as the reader watch Aidan and Eliza's relationship blossom from the hospital where they were strangers to friends to more than friends at the end. This made the story more realistic to what would have happened in real life.

I also enjoyed how she brought in characters from her series "Hope's Crossing". I always love to see authors continue to grow characters even when they have finished their story in the series.

My only negative of the book was that I found Eliza's response to Aidan's christmas gift to be unrealistic. I really don't think from what I read about the character that she would have reacted that way.

I would be very much interested to see her building on the characters that she introduced in this story because I truly think she can make this book into another series!

Lastly, I leave you with my favorite quote from the book from Eliza, "The way I see it, you're like a fairytale prince & I'm Cinderella without the godmother and the shoes."

I would recommend this book to other romance readers who read the likes of Jill Shalvis, Kristin Higgins and Susan Mallery as you won't be disappointed with this great story from RaeAnne!