Hello hello and happy 2024! I enjoyed a very fun and full holiday season with my family and definitely enjoyed cozying up with a blanket next to the Christmas tree to read. In December I read seven books of various genres. It was interesting to me that the full-fledged “Christmas” books I read I didn’t love, but a few of the non-Christmasy ones gave me the perfect cozy holiday feels. Others weren’t even remotely cozy or Christmas-y and yet I still enjoyed them sprinkled in among the other books this month. The variety this month was great! But I digress…
The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton
A powerful hurricane is headed to Florida, and thanks to the state’s slowly crumbling infrastructure and rapidly deteriorating weather patterns, Hurricane Wanda is going to wreak havoc and usher in a new era for society and survival. For one family in particular, the hurricane brings both devastation and new life, as their baby girl is born right in the middle of the storm. Named after the hurricane itself, curious and unusual Wanda grows up in a society that seems to be unraveling more and more with each passing year.
I read this story for a book club and it was an excellent choice for reading with others, as there was so much to discuss. The story is broken up into four parts: power, water, light, and time. Through alternating perspective chapters, we follow Wanda and her family as they navigate both the unprecedented hurricane and the devastating aftermath. This story was unlike anything I’ve read before! It was essentially the author imagining a potential future for our planet given our current context of climate change, and I found the whole concept to be really thought-provoking. I was captivated by the hurricane saga and intrigued with the imagining of the deteriorating world afterwards. I was able to read it pretty quickly; although there was a section in the middle where things got pretty slow for a while, it thankfully picked up again for me as I read on. There was also one piece of the plot that brought in a bit of fantasy and I wish that hadn’t been included, as it took away from how realistic the rest of the plotline felt. Other than those issues, I enjoyed the storytelling overall and I enjoyed that we saw different character’s perspectives as the world around them drastically changed. Bottom line: I was intrigued and challenged by the ideas in this story and I absolutely know I will be thinking about it for a long time so for those reasons, I do recommend it!
A Knights Bridge Christmas by Carla Neggers
Single mom Clare has just moved with her young son Owen to a cute little small town called Knights Bridge where she now works as a librarian. It’s there that she meets Logan, a busy ER doctor who lives in the city but has come back to Knights Bridge to help his grandmother Daisy as she transitions to assisted living. Daisy has moved out of her beloved Victorian house in town and makes a request to Logan: could he please decorate it for Christmas one last time? Unsure of how to do the grand old home justice, Logan turns to Clare for help and offers a chance to look through Daisy’s book collection for donations to the library in return. As the house comes to life under their hard work decorating, they discover an unexpected and growing attraction…but will they be brave enough to allow themselves to fall in love this Christmas?
I wanted a cute, easy, festive, Hallmark-y read and thought this would fit the bill. When I’m searching for a book using that criteria, I know there will likely be predictability and not a whole lot of deep character development, but this one felt a bit too easy for me. The characters had too little depth and the storyline was too repetitive and predictable. I wasn’t ultimately very invested or interested and I ended up mostly just skimming along. There were a few storylines I expected the author to dig deeper into and was disappointed that they just kind of got glossed over. All that being said, it’s still a pleasant, fairly clean read (a few swear words but no steamy scenes) and has a LOT of festive elements like Christmas decorations and ice skating and hot cocoa. It was also evident that this author has a series set in this town, as there were a lot of references to other couples that I’m sure are the main characters in other books, so if you’re a fan of this author and series, you’ll likely enjoy this book! It just didn’t quite hit for me and my Christmas-y mood.
Never Fall For Your Fiancée by Virginia Heath
Hugh Standish is in trouble. His lie to his mother about having a fiancée seemed innocent enough; after all, she lives in America, he lives in England, and his letters about “Minerva” have gotten her off his back about settling down. But now, she is on her way to visit and fully expects to meet his beloved Minerva. Hugh knows he is going to get caught in a lie, but when he steps in to help a beautiful young woman on the street and learns her name is actually Minerva, he gets another idea. He makes an offer too good to pass up for Minerva, who has been struggling to provide for herself and her two younger sisters. Getting paid to spend a few weeks pretending to be in love in a stunning English manor can’t be that hard, right? But as the charade goes on and High and Minerva spend more and more time together pretending to be in love, it stops feeling like an act and starts feeling like the real thing.
This book gives some Jane Austen-meets-Bridgerton vibes and was about what I expected. Hugh and Minerva are pretty likeable, and the overall storyline is predictably cute (leaning heavily into the fake dating and miscommunication troupes), but it also got pretty repetitive. Hugh is highly motivated by this one specific character quality he believes he inherited, and that gets old in the storyline and ultimately feels silly in the end. The setting is fun, some of the banter is enjoyable, the side characters bring a playful and interesting dynamic, and it feels slightly Christmas-y because it is set around Christmas time. I believe it is part of a series with each book centered around another sister’s romance but I don’t anticipate that I’ll read the rest of the series. There is one steamy scene, but it’s very easy to see coming and skip over if you prefer not to read those. Overall, this book was fine, a middle-of-the-road level read for me.
The Hike by Lucy Clarke
Liz, Maggie, Helena, and Joni have been friends for years. Though life has taken them all in very different directions, they still reunite for getaways together when they can. This year, it was Liz’s turn to pick a destination; since she’s currently stressed out by life and the state of her crumbling marriage, she suggests something different than their typical beach holiday: hiking in the remote mountains of Norway. Despite their hesitations, the others agree to come along and the group sets off for camping and hiking in the wilderness. What they don’t know is that there are secrets lurking everywhere along their journey and if they’re not careful, they may not make it out of the wilderness alive.
This book is a destination thriller that leans survivalist at times and I loved that it was such an escapist read. I felt like I had been transported to Norway and it made me want to travel and experience this gorgeous country for myself. I binged the entire thing in less than 24 hours – I couldn’t put it down! It’s not a twisty and jumpy thriller, but it is a compulsive, must-find-out-what-is-going-on page-turner. The characters all felt authentic and layered, each with likeable and dislikable qualities; I love that we see their own thoughts and feelings alongside their actions and can compare those to how they each perceive one another. The premise is interesting, the plot moves along at a good pace without feeling rushed, and it is satisfyingly dramatic without being scary. I didn’t quite love how everything wrapped up at the end, but I’m willing to overlook that because of how much I enjoyed the suspenseful ride throughout. Overall, it’s a solid thriller that I do recommend!
Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis
“On a snowy evening in March, thirty-something Noelle Butterby is on her way back from an event at her old college when disaster strikes. With a blizzard closing off roads, she finds herself stranded, alone in her car, without food, drink, or a working charger for her phone. All seems lost until Sam Attwood, a handsome American stranger also trapped in a nearby car, knocks on her window and offers assistance. What follows is eight perfect hours together, until morning arrives and the roads finally clear. The two strangers part, positive they’ll never see each other again but fate, it seems, has a different plan. As the two keep serendipitously bumping into one another, they begin to realize that perhaps there truly is no such thing as coincidence.”
This isn’t a Christmas read at all, but since it initially started in a blizzard it felt wintery and perfect for my cozy reading mood this month. It’s a sweet rom com with a bit of a Hallmark-y feel but I didn’t find it to be cheesy or cringey; I thought it was a fun read! I loved the premise and enjoyed Sam and Noelle’s characters and was absolutely rooting for them to get together. There are just enough side plots layered in to keep things interesting without distracting from the main storyline, and it does pull in some weightier topics like death, loss, and life’s challenges. I will say I had to give some leeway in the fate/realism department – there are a lot of coincidences with Sam and Noelle continuing to run into one another in some fairly far-fetched circumstances, but if you can accommodate that, it’s an enjoyable, feel-good read! I found it to be delightfully heartwarming and exactly what I was in the mood for snuggled up by the Christmas tree. It’s also pretty wholesome – it does have a bit of language but no steamy scenes. I definitely recommend if you want a lighthearted read with a bit of depth to it!
Christmas from the Heart by Sheila Roberts
Olivia’s passion is running her nonprofit, Christmas From the Heart, and she relies heavily on the generosity of donors to be able to provide relief and comfort to struggling families in her area. When she learns her charity lost a large and long-standing donor, she is furious. Guy Hightower feels he did what needed to be done; his company may be large, but prior mismanagement has meant that they need to try to cut what they can and save the company from crumbling. He never expects to meet the woman who sent him all the angry emails after he cut off her funding, but when his car breaks down as he passes by her small town, the beautiful Good Samaritan who rescues him from the side of the road is none other than Olivia. He quickly gives himself a fake identity, and as he’s stuck in town for a few days, Guy gets a first hand look at Livi’s life and charitable work, and Livi gets to know “Joe”, a good-hearted, thoughtful stranger who she finds herself falling for. But when the truth about him is revealed, will they be able to continue their growing feelings for one another?
This is another one I thought would be perfect for curling up by the tree and getting in the Christmas spirit. The potential with the storyline was there! But the execution was off for me. Unfortunately I did not connect with the characters or their romance. I think the biggest problem was I didn’t find the main character to be likeable. Livi was meant to come across as a kind, generous do-gooder but in actuality I thought she came across as entitled, gold-digging, and even rude at times. I could not fit her behavior after being turned down by one donor with how someone who actually runs a charitable nonprofit would act. Plus the lie with Guy’s true identity went a little too long, and the subsequent chapters after that revelation felt really disjointed. Despite all the lies and personality shortcomings, I was being told how the romance was unfolding and the characters were falling for one another, but as the reader I wasn’t actually feeling it at all. I wanted to like this one, but it just fell flat for me and I skimmed just to finish. Bummer!
One Last Gift by Emily Stone
Ever since she was a young girl, Cassie has been given a special Christmas gift from her older brother Tom: a scavenger hunt created just for her. This year, he has promised her it will be the best one yet, but then he tragically dies right before Christmas. Lost for months in her deep grief, Cassie struggles to just make it through her days until one day, she is given an envelope with Tom’s handwriting on it. She knows it is the start to the scavenger hunt and her last communication from her beloved brother. In order to complete the hunt, she will need to rely on her closest friends, and that includes Tom’s best friend Sam. Though Sam is hardly recognizable from the younger version of himself she once loved, he is the only other person who feels Tom’s loss like she does. As Cassie works her way through Tom’s last scavenger hunt, she also begins to work up the courage needed to accept the final gift he has left for her.
Oooph, this book got me good! It’s hard to describe because it deals with such a heavy plotline but somehow isn’t a distressing read. Granted, I have not lost a close family member like Cassie has, so perhaps those who have would find it harder to read, but I thought the author did a great job navigating loss and giving space for the heartbreak while balancing other aspects of life. Obviously, grief is a huge part of the book, but I think it’s done in a way that manages to not be completely heart wrenching and sad. You feel the sorrow, you empathize with the characters, but you also feel joy and hope with them. I loved seeing Cassie’s confidence grow throughout and I was always rooting for Sam to get his act together. I will say, it’s partially a (closed door) romance but not a banter-y, laugh out loud rom com. Instead it’s a touching story of growth, friendship, support, love, and showing up for one another through all of life’s challenges. It is centered around the scavenger hunt, which is a Christmas gift, but the rest of the book is not Christmas-y at all. Even so, it was a perfect choice as a deeper holiday read. It tugs on your heart, it makes you smile, it just brings out emotions and ultimately is uplifting. I loved it!
Whew! That’s it for last month, now bring on all the 2024 reads! As always, if you have any great recommendations, send them my way!
simplify the chaos 