The Christmas Clash by Suzanne Park

 

Title:  The Christmas Clash

Author:  Suzanne Park

Narrated by:   Jay Lai and Jennifer Sun Bell

Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC

Length: Approximately 8 hours and 17 minutes

Source: Review Copy from NetGalley.  Thank-you!

Do you have a favorite mall?  Do you still have a mall around you?  Did you like hanging out in one as a teenager?  My Mom worked at Pearlevision / NuVision in the mall when I was a teenager.  It was great fun to go to work with her and my sister or a friend and then roam the mall all day long.  The mall of my youth is a bit sad and empty now when I go back home.  I enjoy our mall in Green Bay and my daughter thinks it is very exciting.

The Christmas Clash involves two teenager who work at a mall, Chloe Kwon and Peter Li.  Peter Li drives Chloe Kwon up a wall.  While Chloe works taking pictures of kids with Santa, Peter works at a North Pole Virtual Reality center right across the atrium from her.  As they fight over business, they are carrying on the fight between their parents.  Their parents each own a restaurant in the food court, the Lis sell Chinese food and the Kwons sell Korean food.  They have a bitter rivalry that their children don’t understand.  When Chloe and Peter discover that the malls new owner plans to evict everyone and tear the mall down, they ban together to save the mall.  Will they be able to save the mall and will their feelings for each other change?

This book was so delightful.  Chloe and Peter were great characters with great teenage angst . . . and chemistry.  I also enjoyed a friends to lovers’ trope as was the case in this story. . . although it is a teen story so it was more friends to boyfriend/girlfriend.  I like that it was like Romeo and Juliet, but the rivalry was between two food court restaurant owners.  I especially liked when Chloe started to question why exactly there was a rivalry and decide not to continue carrying it on to the next generation.  Both characters face racism as Asian Americans and I thought it was an interesting look into a realistic aspect of their lives.

I loved Chloe’s zest for fighting for saving the mall and her parents business.  The story of being in the mall brought back so many happy memories of my youth and local mall. I also liked that she had goals in life as a photographer and she pursued her goals.  Both her and Peter face challenges as the second child compared to their “perfect” older siblings and it was a great thing for them to bond over.  It was a great coming of age story for them both.

The story was a dual narrative told in chapters from Chloe or Peter’s perspective. Jay Lai and Jennifer Sun Bell were perfect narrators and were the voices of the characters to me.

Death on a Winter Stroll by Francine Mathews (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

What is the last book you read that kept you up too late?  Death on a Winter Stroll is a gripping story that definitely kept me up too late on a work night.  I was so immersed in the story; I couldn’t put it down until I finished.

Do you go on any holiday strolls?  My community has a Christmas stroll even that occurs the weekend before Thanksgiving and this year included Thanksgiving weekend.  I would love to go, but unfortunately have not had the time to attend yet.  Maybe next year!

Nantucket has a beloved traditional Christmas Stroll.  Nantucket Police Chief Meredith Folger has her hands full with the community coming back for the stroll after the COVID-19 pandemic and also the Secretary of State visiting during this time.  There is also a new show being filmed at a Nantucket estate as well.  When first one and then two murder victims appear that were killed with the same type of weapon, Chief Folger and new Detective Howie Seitz are on the case.  How are the two cases related and who has the motive to want two very different people dead?

The start of this novel had a great build-up.  All of the characters were introduced and their various reasons for being on Nantucket. Nantucket itself was vividly described and may now be on my list of places I would love to visit at Christmas.  The two characters I found myself intrigued with were Ansel McKay and Winter Candler.  Ansel’s stepmother is the Secretary of State.  He is a troubled young man that has just gone through rehab and is trying to find his path forward in life.  He is able to slip off on his own to finally meet his biological mother.  He also meets Winter Candler.  Her father is a famous star filming his come back on the island.  Winter is struggling with her mother’s suicide and her own eating disorder.  She is trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life.  The two young people bond and have a great relationship.  I liked that two lonely people were able to make a great connection.

I enjoyed the mystery, and I wasn’t sure myself who the murderer was until the very end.  I kept thinking I knew the answer, but I was wrong.  I love when I can’t figure out the killer, but that it all does make sense once you know who it is.

Death on a Winter Stroll is the 7^th book of the Merry Folger Nantucket Mystery series.  This is the first one I have read in the series.  It worked as a standalone novel, but I do wonder about the history of Merry Folger and want to read more in the series.  I love the Being a Jane Austen mysteries series written by Francine Matthews under the pen name Stephanie Barron.

Review Copy from Soho Crime as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour.  Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

QUICK FACTS

·       Title: Death on a Winter Stroll: A Merry Folger Christmas Mystery

·       Series: A Merry Folger Nantucket Mystery (Book 7)

·       Author: Francine Mathews

·       Genre: Traditional Detective Mystery, Holiday Reading

·       Publisher: ‎Soho Crime (November 1, 2022)

·       Length: (288) pages

·       Format: Hardcover, eBook, & audiobook 

·       ISBN: 978-1641292740

·       Tour Dates: November 14 – December 19, 2022

 

BOOK DESCRIPTION

No-nonsense Nantucket detective Merry Folger grapples with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and two murders as the island is overtaken by Hollywood stars and DC suits.

Nantucket Police Chief Meredith Folger is acutely conscious of the stress COVID-19 has placed on the community she loves. Although the island has proved a refuge for many during the pandemic, the cost to Nantucket has been high. Merry hopes that the Christmas Stroll, one of Nantucket’s favorite traditions, in which Main Street is transformed into a winter wonderland, will lift the island’s spirits. But the arrival of a large-scale TV production, and the Secretary of State and her family, complicates matters significantly.
 
The TV shoot is plagued with problems from within, as a shady, power-hungry producer clashes with strong-willed actors. Across Nantucket, the Secretary’s troubled stepson keeps shaking off his security detail to visit a dilapidated house near conservation land, where an intriguing recluse guards secrets of her own. With all parties overly conscious of spending too much time in the public eye and secrets swirling around both camps, it is difficult to parse what behavior is suspicious or not—until the bodies turn up.
 
Now, it’s up to Merry and Detective Howie Seitz to find a connection between two seemingly unconnected murders and catch the killer. But when everyone has a motive, and half of the suspects are politicians and actors, how can Merry and Howie tell fact from fiction?
 
This latest installment in critically acclaimed author Francine Mathews’ Merry Folger series is an immersive escape to festive Nantucket, a poignant exploration of grief as a result of parental absence, and a delicious new mystery to keep you guessing.

 

ADVANCE PRAISE

• “This fast-moving mystery packs in a lot, but never too much, and will work for fans of coming-of-age stories, police procedurals, and romance.” —First Clue
• “Fresh, well-wrought prose brings the setting of Nantucket to life. Mathews consistently entertains.” —Publishers Weekly
• “Christmas and death come to Nantucket . . . Plenty of fascinating characters and myriad motives make for an exciting read.” —Kirkus Reviews
• “Mathews consistently places relationships at the forefront of her mysteries, and Merry's unique blend of tenacity and humanity makes her a heroine to root for.”—USA Today bestselling author Karen Odden, author of the Inspector Corravan mysteries

 

PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY | BOOKSHOP | GOODREADS

 

AUTHOR BIO

Francine Mathews was born in Binghamton, New York, the last of six girls. She attended Princeton and Stanford Universities, where she studied history, before going on to work as an intelligence analyst at the CIA. She wrote her first book in 1992 and left the Agency a year later. Since then, she has written thirty books, including six previous novels in the Merry Folger series (Death in the Off-Season, Death in Rough Water, Death in a Mood Indigo, Death in a Cold Hard Light, Death on Nantucket, and Death on Tuckernuck) as well as the nationally bestselling Being a Jane Austen mystery series, which she writes under the pen name Stephanie Barron. She lives and works in Denver, Colorado.

 

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | BOOKBUB | GOODREADS

All the Lost Places by Amanda Dykes (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

Do you enjoy reading books where a character has a journey or second chance?  I know I do, and this was a good book for me.

All the Lost Places is a historical fiction novel with a dual narrative.  One narrative is set the 1800’s and is the story of a lost baby boy, Sabastian Trovato, who is found in Venice and is raised by a guild of five artisans.  The other narrative is set in the 1900’s and involves a man named Daniel.  Daniel has led a troubled life but is trying to start over by going on a journey to Venice to procure a rare book for a wealthy man.  While there, he discovers who Sebastian Trovato is and why his story was unfinished.

All of the Lost Places was a beautifully written book with an interesting story.  I’ll admit that it did take me awhile to get into the story.   It’s the kind of story that you need time to read and immerse yourself in.  Once you get into the story, it is hard to put down. I have always wanted to visit Venice and this story was a love letter to the City.  It made me want to visit even more.  I loved the stories of both Daniel and Sebastian.  I like mysteries and I loved learning more about The Book of Waters as Daniel made his discoveries.

Review Copy from Bethany House Books as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour.  Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

QUICK FACTS

·       Title: All the Lost Places: A Novel

·       Author: Amanda Dykes

·       Genre: Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Inspirational Fiction

·       Publisher: ‎Bethany House Publishers (December 13, 2022)

·       Length: (400) pages

·       Format: Hardcover, Trade paperback, & eBook 

·       ISBN: 978-0764239502

·       Tour Dates: December 5 – December 19, 2022

 

BOOK DESCRIPTION

When all of Venice is unmasked, one man's identity remains a mystery . . .

1807
When a baby is discovered floating in a basket along the quiet canals of Venice, a guild of artisans takes him in and raises him as a son, skilled in each of their trades. Although the boy, Sebastien Trovato, has wrestled with questions of his origins, it isn't until a woman washes ashore on his lagoon island that answers begin to emerge. In hunting down his story, Sebastien must make a choice that could alter not just his own future, but also that of the beloved floating city.

1904
Daniel Goodman is given a fresh start in life as the century turns. Hoping to redeem a past laden with regrets, he is sent on an assignment from California to Venice to procure and translate a rare book. There, he discovers a city of colliding hope and decay, much like his own life, and a mystery wrapped in the pages of that filigree-covered volume. With the help of Vittoria, a bookshop keeper, Daniel finds himself in a web of shadows, secrets, and discoveries carefully kept within the stones and canals of the ancient city . . . and in the mystery of the man whose story the book does not finish: Sebastien Trovato.

 
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR AMANDA DYKES

https://austenprose.com/2022/11/16/an-exclusive-interview-with-amanda-dykes-author-of-all-the-lost-places/

 

ADVANCE PRAISE

• “This lyrical dual-narrative historical from Dykes (Set the Stars Alight) dives into the histories of Venice, Italy, and Venice Beach, California.”— Publisher’s Weekly
• "Introspective, surprising, and achingly beautiful."— Booklist starred review
• "Dykes's pen is fused with magic and poetry. Every word's a gentle wave building into the splendor that is All the Lost Places, where struggles for identity and a place to belong find hope between the pages of a timeless story."— J'Nell Ciesielski, bestselling author of The Socialite
• "Luscious writing, authentic characters, and an ending that satisfies to the core of the spirit, this novel is another winner from Amanda Dykes."— Heidi Chiavaroli, Carol Award-winning author of Freedom's Ring and Hope Beyond the Waves

 

PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY | BOOKSHOP | GOODREADS

 

AUTHOR BIO

Amanda Dykes's debut novel, Whose Waves These Are, is the winner of the prestigious 2020 Christy Award Book of the Year, a Booklist 2019 Top Ten Romance debut, and the winner of an INSPY Award. She's also the author of Yours Is the Night and Set the Stars Alight, a 2021 Christy Award finalist.

 

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | PINTEREST | INSTAGRAM | GOODREADS

 

 

Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory

 

Title: Royal Holiday

Author:  Jasmine Guillory

Narrated by:  Janina Edwards

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 6 hours and 53 minutes

Source: Checked out from the Kewaunee Public Library through Overdrive.  Thank-you

Have you ever traveled to a destination over the holidays?  My only travels have been to visit family in Michigan, Minnesota, or Indiana over the holidays.

Vivian Forest is excited to travel to England for the Christmas Holiday with her daughter Maddie.  Maddie is on a work trip to style a royal duchess. They stay at a cottage on the royal Sandringham Estate.  While there, Vivian meets Malcolm Hudson, the Queen’s Private Secretary.  The two have an immediate fun rapport that soon leads to romance.  How can they make their romance work living in two different countries?

I loved Vivian and Malcolm and I thought this was a fun and charming novel.  I also enjoyed that it was more realistic with both Vivian and Malcolm having important work that they enjoy that they are not going to throw away for a new romance.  Vivian is always thinking about the practical side of things, but can she also fall in love again?  I also enjoyed that these two were in their fifties and older than the protagonists in most romance novels.  They are both divorced. 

I also love the royal family and England so this was a perfect book for me.  The mysterious Duchess was never named, but it seems obvious that it is Meghan Markle.  I would call the steam level in this book a medium.

The Royal Wedding is the fourth novel in the Wedding Date series.  It worked as a standalone novel.  I need to read the rest of the books in this series.

Janina Edwards was a good narrator for this audiobook.  I listened to it while doing a lot of driving for work in November.  This is the December book pick for the Pageturners Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.  We had fun discussing it yesterday!

 

The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan

 

 

Title: The Christmas Bookshop

Author:  Jenny Colgan

Narrated by:  Eilidh Beaton

Publisher: Harper Audio

Length: Approximately 11 hours and 23 minutes

Source: Checked out from the Kewaunee Public Library through Overdrive.  Thank-yo

Have you ever shopped at a Christmas shop?  What about a Christmas Book Shop?

I’ve been to Frankenmuth Michigan over twenty years ago and it was filled with beautiful Christmas stores. I need to go back someday.  I’ve never been to a Christmas Book Shop, but I would love it.

In The Christmas Bookshop, Carmen has lost her job working in retail when the store she works at closes for good.  With no prospects in her town, she goes to live with her sister Sofia and her children in Edinburgh.  Sofia is a lawyer with a client who owns a book shop that is going to close.  Sofia hopes that Carmen can help the shop to make a profit over the Christmas season.  Carmen is not sure she can do it, but she decides to give it a try.  Along the way she meets two potential suitors.  What will Carmen do with life and which suitor will she chose?

Jenny Colgan is one of my favorite authors and I love her Christmas stories. I love that her stories often involve a woman down on her luck who manages to find out what her passions in life are and make a fresh start.  I love bookstores so reading about how Carmen is able to spruce up the store and reinvent it as a Christmas Bookshop was delightful.  I was also intrigued by the vivid descriptions of Edinburgh.  It made me really want to visit this city and see the architecture.  It sounds like a beautiful place to visit at Christmas.

I also loved that Carmen and Sofia were two very different sisters that didn’t really get along, but they are able to really understand each other and have a better relationship in this story.  I also loved Carmen’s relationship with her nieces and nephew.  I also loved the bookshop owner, Mr. McCredie.  I loved how his story slowly came together piece by piece. 

Eilidh Beaton was a soothing narrator who gave the characters a good voice.  Each character had a different voice from her, which I enjoy.  This overall was a very enjoyable and charming Christmas story.

The Sisters of Sea View by Julie Klassen (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

Do you have an auto-read author?  An author that as soon as they publish something new, you have to read it right away?  Julie Klassen is just such an author for me.  I was happy to be invited to be a part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour and to be able to post my review on the release day of The Sisters of Sea view.

The Summers Sisters and their Mother are left without a sufficient income at the death of their father.  Luckily for them, while their father’s estate was entailed away, he did manage to buy a house on the shores of Devonshire in Sidmouth, Sea View.  Sarah, the eldest, is determined to keep the family together and comes up with a plan.  Can they open their home to guests in order to stay together and make a living? 

Viola and Emily are twins.  While Emily loves the spotlight, Viola remains in the shadows wearing a veil.  She was born with a harelip which was fixed surgically.  She does not want to help with hosting visitors, so she starts to read to invalids for money.  Her first client is gruff man in his thirties who has returned with wounds from India.  Will she be able to see past his exterior to the man inside? 

Georgina is the youngest sister and full of fun.  She wonders what happened to her eldest sister, Claire.  Claire suddenly left to become a companion to an elderly aunt in Scotland.  Why have they never heard from her again?

I loved, loved, loved this novel.  I couldn’t put it down and it was pure joy to read it.  The setting was intriguing, and the characters were wonderful and fully developed.  I loved the sisters, their servants, and getting to know the people that stayed at Sea View.  The sweet romances that were started were also very romantic.  I can’t see what happens next.  This is the first novel in a planned series.

One of my favorite parts of reading this were all of the fun call-backs to Jane Austen.  At first when Mr. and Mrs. Elton showed up as guests, I thought they shared the names of Austen characters.  Then I was pleasantly surprised to discover they were the characters from Emma by Jane Austen.  You can read the novel not knowing this and be fine, but it makes it extra delightful for fans of Jane Austen.  The theme of five sisters and their mother trying to find their way after the estate is entailed is straight from Pride and Prejudice.  It felt like the Bennet sisters and their invalid mother, except they were in a better place with owning Sea View.  This story also shared a “ruined” sister.  The characters were completely different than Pride and Prejudice, but I loved the call backs.

I highly recommend The Sisters of Sea View if you love Jane Austen, regency romance, great character driven stories, or just a great book overall.

Review Copy from Bethany House as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour.  Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

QUICK FACTS

·       Title: The Sisters of Sea View

·       Series: On Devonshire Shores (Book 1)

·       Author: Julie Klassen

·       Genre: Historical Romance, Regency Romance, Inspirational Fiction

·       Publisher: ‎Bethany House Publishers (December 6, 2022)

·       Length: (448) pages

·       Format: hardcover, trade paperback, & eBook 

·       ISBN: 978-0764234262

·       Tour Dates: November 28 – December 12, 2022

 

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Some guests have come for a holiday, others for hidden reasons of their own . . .

When their father's death leaves them impoverished, Sarah Summers and her genteel sisters fear they will be forced to sell the house and separate to earn livelihoods as governesses or companions. Determined to stay together, Sarah convinces them to open their seaside home to guests to make ends meet and provide for their ailing mother. Instead of the elderly invalids they expect to receive, however, they find themselves hosting eligible gentlemen. Sarah is soon torn between a growing attraction to a mysterious Scottish widower and duty to her family.

Viola Summers wears a veil to cover her scar. When forced to choose between helping in her family's new guest house and earning money to hire a maid to do her share, she chooses the latter. She reluctantly agrees to read to some of Sidmouth's many invalids, preferring the company of a few elders with failing eyesight to the fashionable guests staying in their home. But when her first client turns out to be a wounded officer in his thirties, Viola soon wishes she had chosen differently. Her new situation exposes her scars--both visible and those hidden deep within--and her cloistered heart will never be the same.

Join the Summers sisters on the Devonshire coast, where they discover the power of friendship, loyalty, love, and new beginnings.

 
VIDEO INTRODUCTION TO THE SISTERS OF SEA VIEW BY JULIE KLASSEN

https://youtu.be/EZDjSuBtFEU

 

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR JULIE KLASSEN

https://austenprose.com/2022/11/09/an-exclusive-interview-with-julie-klassen-author-of-the-sisters-of-sea-view/

 

ADVANCE PRAISE

·       “Jane Austen fans will delight in this nimble series launch…Klassen excels at weaving her various story lines, each emphasizing the colorful qualities of her characters and allowing them the space to shine. Readers will be eager for the next installment.” —Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)

 

PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF JULIE KLASSEN 

• “Julie Klassen delights with a winsome love story…” —Publisher’s Weekly, on A Castaway in Cornwall
• “I couldn’t put it down! It you are a historical fiction fan you need this one on your radar! It was a spooky delight full of heart. ”—Anne Mendez, The Lit Bitch, on Shadows of Swanford Abbey
• “…a wonderfully engaging novel full of intriguing characters and storylines. I highly recommend it and can’t wait for more in the series.” —Laura Gerold, Laura’s Reviews, on The Innkeeper of Ivy Hill

 

PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY | BOOKSHOP | GOODREADS

 

AUTHOR BIO

Julie Klassen loves all things Jane—Jane Eyre and Jane Austen. Her books have sold over a million copies, and she is a three-time recipient of the Christy Award for Historical Romance. The Secret of Pembrooke Park was honored with the Minnesota Book Award for Genre Fiction. Julie has also won the Midwest Book Award and Christian Retailing’s BEST Award and has been a finalist in the RITA and Carol Awards. A graduate of the University of Illinois, Julie worked in publishing for sixteen years and now writes full time. She and her husband have two sons and live in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota.

 

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | PINTEREST | INSTAGRAM | GOODREADS

 

The Twelve Topsy-Turvy Very Messy Days of Christmas by James Patterson and Tad Safran

 

What is the funniest thing that has happened to you at Christmas?

One of my favorite Christmas stories is that when my eldest son Kile was one almost two, he was very excited to come downstairs and discover all of the toys under the tree. He was so excited, he ran down again the next morning only to discover that Christmas only comes once a year.  Also that same year before Christmas there was a large crash and he and our cat ran out from the living room.  We still don’t know what happened, but the Christmas tree was ruined.

The Twelve Topsy-Turvy Very Messy Days of Christmas is a funny new Christmas novel.  It is the November selection of the Brenda Novak Book Club.   While I read all of the Brenda Novak Book Group selections last year, I have not been as successful this year.  I’m glad that I was able to read this one in November.

Henry is a professor who lost his wife five years ago.  He and his children, Will and Ella, have been struggling since then.  Henry is trying to hang onto his job, while Will and Ella just want to have a Christmas again.  They decide to create a fake dating profile for their dad and find a likely candidate, Ms. Truelove.  Ms. Truelove starts to send mysterious presents to their home in the twelve days leading up to Christmas that follow the Christmas song, The Twelve Days of Christmas.  This wreaks havoc on the family and home, but through it all, will they discover what is the most important thing of all?  And how will they get Ms. Truelove to stop sending the gifts?

I thought this was a very fun book, but it was also heartwarming in it’s look at how a missing family member can impact your holidays and life.  It was also about how to move on.  I would call this a zany Christmas fantasy novel.  It did make me think about the song The Twelve Days of Christmas much more.  Why would someone’s true love really give you all of those gifts?  They are crazy gifts!!

Book Source:  Kewaunee Public Library