Bingeworthy Books

Tag: holiday

  • Review: Finding Christmas by Jeannie Moon

    Looking for a holiday read?  Well, look no further!!  I’ve often said that you simply cannot go wrong with Jeannie Moon.  Last year, I fell in love with her Forever Love series and then discovered Tule Publishing and their holiday series- Christmas in New York.  (Four books by four different authors all connected).  Moon’s This Christmas was wonderful and holds a very special place on my very short list of holiday reads.

    Finding Christmas is set in the same town as last year’s This Christmas and we get to visit with a number of characters from the Christmas in New York series (yaa!).  On top of that, Moon introduces us to Maggie’s twin sisters and they are just begging for books to be written for them.

    Maggie is a really incredible character and Moon has given us a unique military veteran character to love.  As the popularity of wounded warrior books has increased, readers have been educated about the struggles of mentally and physically affected veterans.  While I’ve read a few female veterans, this may be the second one that is dealing with a mental and physical issue.

    As anyone who has had their body changed and or damaged in the way Maggie has, she is trying to figure out how to move forward in her life.  Before her injury she was an adrenaline junkie who loved being active and always on the move.  She has spent a great amount of time away from her family and is thrust into trying to figure out who she is now that she is not who her family is used to her being.  Not to mention, they want to take care of her and she does not want pity.

    Enter Will Fitzgerald.  I love Ms. Moon’s leading men. They are always so… scrumptious with a liberal sprinkling of sexiness and alphaness.  So yeah.  Will and Maggie have a general knowledge of each other after being in the same town for a few years.  Will was a young teacher at Maggie’s school when she was senior.  So on top of Will being fantastic, he has a few years on Maggie.  Don’t mind me, I love that older man thing.  (Seriously, it’s like 10 years…maybe)

    What he wanted was a partner.  Someone who wasn’t afraid of bumpy roads, but who welcomed life’s challenges.  Someone who didn’t keep score.  God knew, he wasn’t perfect, but he’d never believed love was about perfection.  Love was about embracing your partner’s imperfections, along with your with your own.

    They immediately click with each other and Will has a way of taking care of Maggie without making her feel like an invalid.  He manages to break through her wall and she finally realizes that it’s ok to let someone in, especially someone like Will. Now, is it all sunshine and roses?  HECK NO. Maggie is stubborn. I’ll leave it at that.

    Anyhoo, if you want a great holiday read, Finding Christmas is it.  Don’t forget to go back and catch up on the Christmas in New York series from last year.

    Mandy

     

    addtoGR

    Purchase Finding Christmas:

     

    Want to read the Christmas in New York series? (This is a GREAT binge reading opportunity, btw)

  • Release Review: This Christmas by Jeannie Moon

    I’m a bit of a Jeannie Moon junkie.  Recently, I read Ms. Moon’s The Second Chance Hero and that caught me up on all of her books.  To say that I was despondent would be an understatement.  Then, I found out that Ms. Moon was releasing a holiday novella and felt the heavens open up and smile down upon me.  (Dramatic much?)  So, I tracked that book down and thanks to NetGalley and Tule Publishing, I was able to read it and bask in the loveliness that is Ms. Moon and her writing.  (And now I’m stuck with no new Ms. Moon crack on the immediate horizon.  Hold me.)

    For a novella, this was a well rounded book.  I didn’t feel shortchanged and the story was fleshed out so well.  From the very beginning of Sabrina and Jake’s story which begins 10 years before, I really felt clued in to the depth of their relationship and exactly what was sacrificed by both of them when Jake left.

    Fast forward 10 years later, her daughter, Charlie (who I loved) is ten years old and Jake comes back to town and face to face with his daughter….that he did not know he had.  I ate this book up.  Nom nom nom.  I LOVED Jake and I loved the moments Jake has with his daughter, getting to know her.  Jake was meant to be a father.  Jake and Bree (Sabrina) were so sweet and I appreciated that there were no stupid back and forth games between them.  It was such a lovely story of the two of them rediscovering each other.  I loved the setting of the small town, Holly Point and her family home.

    Thanks to Ms. Moon, I also discovered a new publisher, Tule Publishing.  New publisher means new authors!  Guess what?  There’s a series that this book is a part of and they are set in NY also.  Some in NYC (which… I LOVE LOVE LOVE New York City and I’m sucker for any book set in the city.)

    •The recommended reading order is below but they can stand alone.  Ms. Moon’s book contains a prologue and Ms. Blount’s contains an epilogue.  These actually went live Monday night and I’ve already bought the other 3 (99 cents for a VERY limited time).  My plan is to read them soon and share my thoughts about them with you.

    Christmas in New York series
    Book 1: This Christmas by Jeannie Moon
    Book 2: All I Want for Christmas by Jennifer Gracen
    Book 3: A Light in the Window by Jolyse Barnett
    Book 4: Goodness and Light by Patty Blount

     Purchase This Christmas:

     ❃ Goodreads // Amazon  ❃

     

     All I Want for Christmas by Jennifer Gracen

    All I want

    Cassandra Baines almost has it all: a flourishing career as one of the youngest English Lit assistant professors at NYU, an apartment in a city she adores, and a close circle of lifelong girlfriends that are like sisters. The only thing she doesn’t have is someone special to share it with. She’s been married to her work since Sean McKinnon broke her heart seven years ago.

    Musician and bar owner Sean McKinnon keeps busy – too busy for a love life. He blew it with Cassie all those years ago, and no one has held a candle to her since.

    But then one fateful night, of all the people in New York City, Cassandra walks into his bar, and he’s drawn to her as strongly as ever. She wants nothing to do with him, but he’s not going to give up so easily.

    Can a bit of New York Christmas magic help two people take a second chance on true love?

     

     ❃ Goodreads // Amazon ❃

     

     A Light in The Window by Jolyse Barnett

    LightintheWindow

    Adirondack girl-in-transition Jade Engel comes home to recharge after ending a career she never truly wanted, but soon realizes she’s in danger of also being swept off her feet by the boy-next-door, her former best friend, Ben Stephens. If only he’d stop kissing her every time she falls into his arms.

    Everything local celebrity Ben Stephens ever wanted is in Starling. Then Jade comes home after an eternity away and sends his simple world into a tailspin. He’s determined to pursue her—the one girl who got away. But when their friends-with-benefits arrangement blows up in their faces, will they have the courage to put their pasts to rest in order to forge a future together?

     

    ❃  Goodreads // Amazon ❃

     

     

     Goodness and Light by Patty Blount

    GoodnessandLight

    Thirteen years ago, two teens met on the ramp to Ground Zero, on a cold and snowy day, strangers bonding in a moment of grief. The boy pressed a crystal snowflake ornament into the girl’s hand and disappeared into the crowd, unaware that his simple act of kindness saved her from the guilt that threatened to consume her.

    Since losing her mom, Elena Larsen hasn’t set foot in New York City — until now. Agreeing to help her sister prepare for her baby’s birth seems like a good way to spend Christmas and Elena vows not to let the monstrous guilt that weighs on her heart ruin everything. But those plans go awry when she meets Lucas Adair, a man whose own grief and guilt just might rival her own.

    When Elena discovers Lucas is the boy who gave her that crystal snowflake all those years ago, she can’t accept it as the sign Lucas believes it to be. For her, it means only one thing — even beyond the grave, her mother can never forgive Elena for breaking her heart.

    For Lucas, New York is hallowed ground that he can never leave. He spends his days working in the Financial District and his evenings volunteering and it’s almost enough to help him forget what he did. Lucas knows better than to make plans with a woman who will soon be leaving, yet can’t help himself. There’s something about Elena that pulls him in. He doesn’t put much faith in signs but even he starts to believe Elena is his absolution. Now, he only has to convince her.

    ❃  Goodreads // Amazon  ❃