A Little Paris Christmas by Jennifer Shirk

 

Do you have a favorite fictional dog?  I loved the dog character is this novel, but growing up, I loved Jack in the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Sophie Dubois is the promotions director in Paris, Pennsylvania.  Tourism is down and the mayor has tasked her to drum up business for the town or risk losing her job.  While she works on a plan to save both her job and the town, she needs her handsome, but grumpy neighbor, bestselling author, Mason Haywood.  Will Sophie and Mason find love?  Will Sophie keep her job and help the town?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       A Little Paris Christmas was my last Christmas read for the season.

·       I won this novel from the TLC Book Tours book club giveaway as part of the Rogue Book Club.  We gave it out at our meeting in November.

·       I loved Mason’s dog, Gingersnap.  Gingersnap is a cute dachshund.  He brings Sophie and Mason together and also forces Mason to leave his home and get to know his community.  Gingersnap was my favorite character.

·       This is a fun, light, and cozy novel.  I loved the humor!

·       The Christmas spirit was great in this novel.

·       There was wonderful chemistry between Mason and Sophie.

·       This novel had the following tropes:  enemies to lovers, grumpy vs. sunshine, and opposites to attract.

·       I thought by the title that this book was set in Paris, France, but it is really set in Paris, Pennsylvania.

·       This was a closed-door romantic comedy.

Overall, A Little Paris Christmas by Jennifer Shirk is a sweet story with fun characters.  The lighthearted romantic comedy was perfect for this time of year.

Book Source:  Thank-you to author Jennifer Shirk and TLC Book Tours for the giveaway copy of this novel.

Not Exactly Mr. Darcy by Carolyn Miller (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

Have you visited any literary locations?  I have visited many of the Little House on the Prairie locations, but still have a few on my bucket list.  One of my favorite literary locations is Gene Stratton Porter’s Cabin at Wildflower Woods in Rome City, Indiana.  Gene Stratton Porter wrote Girl of the Limberlost and Freckles.  It’s a beautiful and peaceful place.

Olivia “Liv” Bennett is a history teacher in Australia. When her teaching contract is not renewed and is given to another employee, her family decides she is the best person to travel to England and help out her Grandma who is having health problems.  Immediately after she arrives, she has an awkward run in with a gardener at a local estate.  While Liam and Olivia do not have a good first meeting, they get to know each other better when Olivia starts to work at Hartbury Hall to help open it back up to the public.  Will these two learn to look beyond first impressions?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       It was a clean read and a Christian read.

·       It was a cute story with a sweet romance.

·       I loved how it was a modern-day Pride and Prejudice story.

·       The characters were great.  I loved Olivia, Liam, and everyone in the village.

·       Hartbury Hall was the setting of a fictional 2015 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, which made it a tourist attraction.  I wanted to see this fake adaptation!

·       This is the first in a new series – The Silver Teapot series.  I am looking forward to the next book in this series and learning more about Olivia’s sisters.

·       I enjoyed the author’s note and am fascinated that Lyme Park (Pemberley in the 1995 adaptation) had no references to the film and that the author’s husband was a gardener there when he was young.  I don’t know why Lyme Park wouldn’t take advantage of being such a famous place in a movie and how fun that the author’s husband was a gardener there.

·       This was an interesting look at how hard it is to maintain and keep up a British great house or large estate.  It impacts the village when it is no longer an employer or tourist attraction.  I liked seeing the renovations of the estate through the story.

·       There were various themes in the story such as second chances, forgiveness, and moving on from the past.

·       The romance tropes were opposites attract, fake identity, and forced proximity.  I enjoy these tropes.

·       This was a cozy read that was perfect for this busy time of year.

Overall, Not Exactly Mr. Darcy by Carolyn Miller is a delightful and fun romance that is a modern-day Pride and Prejudice story. It was a very enjoyable and cozy read.

Book Source:  Thank-you to @carolynmillerauthor @barbourbooks @austenprose for a review copy of this novel as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour. 

Cruel Summer by Maisey Yates

 

Title:  Cruel Summer

Author:  Maisey Yates

Narrated by:  Nancy Peterson

Publisher: Harlequin Audio

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 38 minutes

Source: Thank you @netgalley for the review copy. 

What is your favorite song of the summer?  I do love the song “Cruel Summer” by Bananarama so this title caught my eye.  I finished this book up at the start of last week, which is perfect with summer coming to an official end today.  Our weather in Northeast Wisconsin also warmed back up this week so we have more summer weather.

Samantha Parker has a comfortable life with marriage to her high school sweetheart, Will, and three kids. They are ready to start on their empty nest phase when Samantha is blindsided by Will stating that he wants an open marriage.   She proposes that they have a summer apart with no contact to determine how they want to move forward.  Samantha wants to spend summer finding herself.  Will’s best friend, Logan, asks her to go with him to deliver restored class cars across the country as a part time summer job.  Will Samantha find herself?  Will she and Will reunite?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       The audiobook was good.  The Narrator was pleasant to listen to and the story was engaging.  I just had a hard time listening to it at the end when it took a turn into steamy romance.

·       This was not a breezy summer book as it tackled many hard topics.

·       I can’t imagine my husband coming home one day and asking for an open marriage.  What a shock – especially are they are just coming empty nesters with more time to spend together.

·       It was really Will wanting cake and to eat it too.  He didn’t want a divorce, but wanted to screw around since they married so young and never had another relationship.

·       I had a hard time with the romance.  On her adventures with Logan, it comes out that Logan has loved her since high school and she was attracted to him too.  How does this work?

·       Overall, in the book, Samantha is working on finding herself and what she wants in life instead of trying to please everyone else.

·       I love vintage cars so the descriptions of the cars and taking them cross country was fun for me.

·       This book had spicy scenes, forced proximity, 2^nd chance romance, and opposites attract.

Overall, Cruel Summer by Maisey Yates was an interesting summer read that tackled a lot of hard topics.

The Wedding Witch by Erin Sterling

 

Do you like when books combine two holiday seasons?  I do, it gives me a Nightmare Before Christmas Vibe.

Bowen Penhallow prefers to live life alone on a mountain in Wales studying ancient magic.  He ventures out to meet Tamsyn Bligh.  Tamsyn is not a witch, but she does procure magical items for witches.  She becomes exclusive to helping Bowen procure items.  She does decide to do one last private job on her own where she will make a lot of cash.  While on this job, she meets Bowen at a wedding that they are both crashing for different reasons. Will they be able to help each other with their projects?  Will sparks fly?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This is the third novel in the Ex Hex series.  I have enjoyed this entire series.  It is a lighthearted and fun series that is great for the Halloween season.  I hope this series continues!

·       This novel was a steamy romance.

·       I really liked the time travel elements of the story.  Bowen meets his grandparents right before their wedding.

·       The story got a bit slow for me in the middle, but then it picked up again and held my attention to the end.

·       It was set a Christmas, so it was both a Christmas and a Halloween read.

·       I loved how Bown and Tamsyn had an opposites attract story.  Bowen is grumpy and Tamsyn is all sunshine.  They had good banter.

·       In the 1950’s storyline, the child Emerald is a hoot.  She is always catching the two of them at awkward times, and she knows that they are up to something.

·       I enjoyed that the author tried something different in this world to keep the story interesting.

Overall, The Wedding Witch by Erin Sterling was an enjoyable, fun story with great romance, time travel, and fun banter.  It is perfect for both the Halloween and the Christmas seasons.

Book Source:  Review copy from NetGalley. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.