Review of Midwinter's Magic by Erica Ridley

Midwinter's Magic 

by Erica Ridley 

Jack Morgan has lived the life of luxury as big time CEO/President for a major corporation so when a congressional hearing leaves him dumb founded he decides to give it all up and do charity work. So he hops on a plane to Bolivia in hopes of making one little village have a very merry christmas. However, things don't seem to be going his way as flights are canceled and some of his luggage is lost in transit. But to his surprise he does have something happen and that is when out of now where a beautiful woman by the name of Sarah appears. 

Sarah Phimm has been Jack's guardian angel at his side since the day he was born. She has been at his birth, his high school graduation and even the death of his father, however, she has always remained invisible. This changes though when Sarah reveals herself in hopes of talking Jack out of risking his life once again. However, rather than being able to convince Jack to return home he talks her into joining his quest in giving the village a christmas they will never forget. Will Sarah be able to keep her relationship with Jack purely professional? Can she protect him from getting her? Will her secret remain a secret or will the truth of her being his guardian come out? 

My Review:

This is the second book that I have read in the Nether-Netherland's series by Erica Ridley. I enjoyed the first book by Erica and this one did not disappoint. I actually liked this book better than the first. I think that Erica created a very simplistic story that had you hooked from beginning until the very end. 

Erica did a great job of making the story as realistic as she could but also gave you the fairytale romance that readers like. The ending surprised me a little but in many ways was what I predicted would happen.

I think that this is a great book to read on an airplane ride or the beach. Romance readers and supernatural fans will also like at is has both romance and magic in it.  It is a fairly quick to read and will make you laugh and smile! Can't wait to read more in this series by Erica. 

Review of Steadfast Heart by Tracie Peterson

Steadfast Heart
by Tracie Peterson

Summary by Goodreads:

"Lenore Fulcher isn't pretentious despite her spoiled upbringing. Her deepest desire at the age of twenty is to find true love. However, her father believes she's wasted enough time searching for a suitable husband, and he wants to marry her off to one of his business partners--thirty-seven-year-old James Rybus. But the idea of marriage to a man so much older is out of the question for Lenore.

Kolbein Booth, a lawyer from Chicago, arrives in Seattle looking for his headstrong sister who he believes may have answered an advertisement for mail-order brides. Sick with worry, he storms the Madison Bridal School, demanding to see his sister, only to learn she isn't there. But Lenore Fulcher is, and something about her captures his attention.

Is this the man Lenore has been searching for? She may not have long to find out"

My Review:

I received a free copy of Steadfast Heart by Tracie Peterson from Bethany House and Netgalley for an honest and non biased review. This was the first book in Tracie Peterson's new series of Brides of Seattle and I was very excited to read it as I am a big fan of her books. As always Tracie did a great job setting the scene for the book and making you feel that you were in that time period with the main characters.

However,  after that initial first chapter or two it took me to half way throughout the book to finally learn more about the supposed main character Lenore and what role she would play in the book. I felt like Tracie developed and spent more time on Abrianna's character, that I almost felt like that is who this book should have been about. In addition, I think that she at times has Abrianna's character connecting more with Kolbein then Lenore's. I just felt at times confused about what direction this story was going to take. In the end I was I not really happy about the ending with Lenore and Kolbein because I never really felt like I read much about their story. I felt as I read that a lot of stories were left hanging and not one was really finished.

I think all in all Tracie started out with a good story but loses you throughout the book when she has Lenore's character leave for a trip with her family and then concentrates on Abrianna's family and life. I am interested to read the second book as I am interested to see where Tracie takes the characters.

All in all I would give this book two out of five stars as I was not happy with the book as a whole and the way it ended. 

Review of Christmas at Angel Lake by Edie Ramer

Christmas at Angel Lake 

Summary courtesy of Goodreads.com:

A kitten saved her…

Broke, pregnant and deserted by her boyfriend, Maddie Barrymore swerves to avoid a kitten while driving in a Wisconsin blizzard—and her life takes another turn. Like Puss in Boots, she stays in an empty house. She has the baby, the kitten, gets a job and a degree…yet every day she’s ready to flee if the real owner shows up.

Five years later, he does…

Dumped by the woman he loves, film producer Logan MacLeesh’s heart is as dark as one of his movies. He plans to hole up in his grandmother’s old mansion and throw himself into his work…until he discovers the sexy squatter and her four-year-old son. Before he can call the sheriff, Maddie’s tale of how she ended up there entertains him. They make a deal that as long as she tells him a story every night, she and her son can stay. Even the cat, though Logan’s always been a dog person.

A dog in need of saving…

Far away in another state, a homeless dog lifts his head, sniffs…and smells him. The human who’s meant for him. As he heads through the snow toward the scent, his journey seems impossible, even though it’s Christmas, a time when miracles happen. 

My Review: 

I received this book courtesy of Netgalley. This is the second book of Edie Ramer's that I have read. The first one I really liked so when I saw that this one was available I jumped on the chance to read this book when it came out. 

I think that the book started out good with Edie giving you the back story of Maddie and how she  got to  the house. In addition, Edie did a great job of bringing in the second character and describing the part that he would take in the story. However, after the first couple chapters the book started to get dull and felt like it was dragging on. I gave it up to 50% percent into the book before I gave up. 

My downfall was that they took too long on getting to the climax of the story. Edie kept on having the two main characters having interactions but nothing out standing that would make the story stand out. In addition, one of the things that I liked about the previous book was the animals and how they played a decent part in the story. It again took 50% to even really hear about the dog and it had yet to explain what part he would have in the story. 

I think that Edie is a good author and that she had a great idea for this book but it didn't work for me. 

Review of The House on Main Street by Shirlee McCoy

The House on Main Street 
by Shirlee McCoy 

Tessa McKenzie has spent most of her adult life building a life as a professional interior designer. However, her life changes distractedly when she is forced to come back to her home town of Apple Valley, Washington to care for her nephew after her sister and brother-in-law die. Tessa is hoping she can clean & pack up her childhood home and leave her town behind. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned when she is forced to quit her job and stay in Apple Valley to care for Alex her nephew and her Aunt Gertrude. But family isn't the only that she has to do deal with, she also has to deal with the local sheriff/high school crush butting into her problems.

Cade Cunningham has always seen Tessa McKenzie as his high school girlfriends kid sister. However, things change his thinking when he sees her again after the death of her sister and brother in law. Now he can't take his eyes off her.

Will Tessa be able to make her childhood home feel like home again and repair her relationship with her nephew Alex and Aunt Gertrude? Can Cade convince her that he truly cares for her and not just because she is Emily's sister?

My Review: 

I received this book for free from Netgalley and the publisher for an honest non bias review.

This is the first book that I have read of Shirlee McCoy's so I had no expectations on how the book was going to be. I think that she did a great job of developing the characters and setting the scene of the book. However, I felt at times the book drug on and took a long time to get to the climax of the story. But on the other hand once I got to the climax of the story I was hooked to read until the end.

I think that Shirlee definitely had a good plot for her story I just don't think it was executed out to the best that it could. I am still interested in reading more of her books and more in this series but this was not my favorite book that I have read.

Review of The Nine Lives of Christmas by Sheila Roberts

The Nine Lives of Christmas 

by Sheila Roberts 

Ambrose has always lived his life living for one person. That person is himself... that is until one day he was on his ninth life and asked for help from his creator and struck a deal. The deal that Ambrose struck is that he will do anything that he is asked for. In walks Zach a local firefighter who is always helping everyone but himself. Ambrose is unsure of what he is suppose to do to help Zach until he meets Merrilee at the local pet store. 

Merrilee has dreams.. but first she has to save up money so that she can go to college. She did not think she would meet a handsome gentleman at her work place.. However, Zach has no interest in starting a relationship or having more than friendship with Merrilee. Well that is what he thinks but Ambrose has other tricks up his sleeve. Will Ambrose be able to bring Zach and Merrilee together in time for Christmas?


My Review: 

This is my first ever book that I have read of Sheila Roberts and to be honest I had no interest in reading it until I saw the movie on Hallmark back in November. After starting to read this book I found that is was way better than the movie. 

Sheila did a great job of setting the scene and making you feel like you were part of the small town. In addition, I really liked the relationship that she built through out the story between Ambrose and Zach. I am not a huge cat person but it was nice to see those two characters relationship being built from the beginning of the book to the end. 

All in all I thought it was a well written book with great a great story and well developed characters. I am very inserted in reading more books from Sheila after reading "The Nine Lives of Christmas". 

Review of Yours for Christmas

Yours for Christmas
by Susan Mallery

Bailey Voss never thought she would have feelings for another guy but that changes when she meets retired NFL star Kenny Scott arrives in town. Kenny is not only handsome but also a nice generous guy. However, Bailey feels there is no chance with Kenny so she distances herself from him but that doesn't work for long when she is put in charge of a toy drive with Kenny by Mayor Marsha.

Will Bailey and Kenny be able to keep their distances and feeling aside or will love conquer all?


My Review: 

This is the 15.5 book that I have read in Susan Mallery's Fool Gold Series and it was just as good as the first 15 that I read earlier. I was very interested to see how she told Kenny's story and who she was going to have him fall in love with. As always Susan did a good job of building the backstory on the characters so you knew who they were after the first couple chapters.

The only thing that I would change in this book is that I would have built up the relationship between Kenny and Bailey's daughter more. I think that it would have added more to the story.

Other than that I don't think I would have changed anything else in this story. I am very interested to see what Susan does for the next three books this spring as she always surprises me!

Review: Change of Heart by Jude Deveraux

Change of Heart
by Jude Deveraux

Part 1 of Change of Heart tells the story of how Eli's mother Miranda and the billionaire got together. The story starts out with Eli and his friend Chelsea use Frank's letterhead to help people in need. However, when Frank finds out what he Eli and Chelsea are doing and reacts differently then everybody thinks he was going to. So when Frank offers to help Eli find happiness for his mother he jumps at the chance.

Jumping to Part 2 of the Change of Heart story we find Eli and Chelsea are both grown up and living different lives. However, they are brought together when Chelsea is home visiting and connects with Eli again. Chelsea finds that Eli is not the same boy that he used to be and is about to leave when they are brought into a mystery that they need to solve.
 
Will Eli and Chelsea be able to solve the mystery in time? Can Chelsea and Eli be friends again or even something more?

My Review:

I received this book free from Netgalley for an honest review.

I am a huge fan of Jude Deveraux so when I saw this title on Netgalley I jumped at the change to read it. This is the 5th book that I have read of Jude's and was not disappointed with it.  I have to admit that I wasn't liking the story when I started reading it. However, once I got deeper in to the book and on Part 2 of it I really started liking it. I think the Mystery that Jude threw in there fit the book well and help me understand the characters better.

The parts that I didn't like was that she threw in the short Novella of Frank and Miranda in the beginning which I don't think was needed. I think that they could just have started off with Chelsea and Eli right away.

All in all I thought it was a good story and keep me interested once I got to Eli and Chelsea's story. That is why I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. I would recommend reading this book and I don't feel you have to read the previous books in this series of Jude's to understand it as she gives you enough of a back story.

Review: Home for the Holidays by Rochelle Alers

Home for the Holidays
by Rochelle Alers

Iris Nelson moved to Cavanaugh Island in hopes of leaving everything about her old life behind and for a chance to start a new one. She land a job at a locally bakery, a nice apartment and a best friend. What else could make this holiday season better? Maybe a gorgeous Army Master Sergeant Collier Ward.

Collier has always kept himself closed off from everybody but his family. That changes when he meets his sisters new best friend Iris. He connects with Iris like has never connected with any other woman. However, he is only in town for a short time. Should Collier give in and date Iris? Should Iris open up to Collier or just stay friends?

My Review:

This is first book that I have read of Rochelle Alers in her Cavanaugh Island series. I think that Rochelle did a great job of setting the scene of this book. I really felt like I was in the small town of Cavanaugh Island and Iris's next door neighbor. She did a great job of also really building the characters background story so that you would understand why they were the way they were.

In addition, I think that she did a  good job keeping the characters real. She did this by showing what abuse could do to a woman and what war does to our men who serve over seas. I was very impressed how real it was and made me want to read the book until the end.

Even though this was a short christmas novella I felt like it impressed me just as much as a regular book would. I am very interested to read more in this series and from this author.