Farewell!

Everybody, the Christmas Reading Challenge blog is going into summer break and will be back with more Christmas books next season. Thank you so much for being part of this throughout the last two months and for all your emails, comments and support. I loved doing this, the reading and discussing about what I love so much ... books! Have a happy new year 2011 and I so hope to see you back here at the beginning of November 2011. In case, you wanna stay in touch and read about my reading and anything else I do over the year, you can find me here.

Happy Reading! Love and hugs, Sanna

Giveaway Winner!

I picked a winner for the giveaway, which can be found here.

Review: The Lakeshore Chronicles

Title: Fireside
Author: Susan Wiggs
Publisher: Mira
Pages: 410

Title: The Winter Lodge
Author: Susan Wiggs
Publisher: Mira
Pages: 408

Plot: Both books are part of the Lakeshore Chronicle series, which seemed to be perfect for me, because I am a junkie when it comes to romance series. I haven't read other parts of it and was planning to read a third book Lakeshore Christmas, but then skipped it. You'll see why pretty soon.

Fireside: Baseball pitcher Bo Crutcher is on his way into the majors, but then he has to take care of his unknown son AJ and everything changes,

Kimberly van Dorn was hired to smooth the rough edges of Bo's behaviour and to train him how to handle life as a baseball pro. She expected one of the to her well-known shallow athletes, but soon finds out that Bo is very different and willing to do everything for his son.

The Winter Lodge: Jenny Majesky and Rourke McKnight have a history, which they both try to ignore until Jenny's house burns down and she has no other place to stay then Rourke's. Although she lost all her belongings in the fire, she finds something, which might lead her to truth...and love.

I think ... First of all, I have to tell you, that I liked "Fireside" much more than "The Winter Lodge". I thought the characters were much more interesting, the love story very well-developed and believable and Bo's son AJ is a great kid. It is a funny, emotional, loveable and heart-warming story, although not really a Christmas book, but that was fine for me. I liked it a lot.

"The Winter Lodge" was , IMO, a huge disappointment. I just didn't understand what the whole fuss about hero and heroine was about, and why they act like immature kids over wide parts. All the time, I was wondering "Why's he saying this?" or "Why's she doing that?" and so on and so on. (Yes, I know that there are time shifts, not talking about that.) And believe me, I have no idea, why that particular title was chosen. There are some scenes in the winter lodge, but the text on the back cover and the title seem to have nothing in common with the book. I hate, when that happens. So, definately not a book for me.

And that's why I didn't find the motivation to grab the third book and read it. It's a fifty-fifty chance. Maybe I like it, maybe I don't. I usually prefer the first, when I read authors, whose work I have read before. Plus, I like my books steamy. It's not a criteria if I like a book or not, but I surely missed some heat between the sheets in these.

Have you read those? What do you think? About these in particular or the whole series?

Don't forget to be in the giveaway and read the Christmas novella written by April, Amanda and Emily!

The Christmas novella

With the help of Leetid, I finally managed to upload the novella at scripd.com. To read and/or for more information, please check out the Christmas Novella page above. Thanks.

Giveaway and problems

As promised, here is the Christmas giveaway! You can win a nice set of stationery, with a MisbehavinAngel calendar, two pencils and the lovely tape. All you have to do is leave a comment to this post. I appreciate followers, but that's not a criteria for the contest. Contest runs until December,25th midnight (German time). Good luck!

I also promised to publish the Christmas novella today, but I do have so many technical difficulties, that I have to wait until DH finds the time to help me out. I would love to offer it as a free PDF for download, but not even simple posting is working and I have no idea why. I hope you can read it as soon as possible. Just make sure to check in often and I am hoping to have it up and running by tonight. Happy Reading!

I'm late...

...with the giveaway and the publishing of the Christmas Novella, but I had problems figuring out how to post a free PDF download (still don't know) and haven't had a chance to make good photos of the giveaway. It will be online tomorrow. I promise.

Review: A Wallflower Christmas

Title: A Wallflower Christmas
Author: Lisa Kleypas
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 205

Plot: Rafe Bowman is supposed to marry Natalie, the daughter of Lady and Lord Blandford. Unfortunately, his good looks cannot bare the fact, that he is a rude American with a shocking reputation, who has to learn the rules of the London society. But then, four former wall flowers start their matchmaking and it turns out to be, that the bride-to-be won't be what Rafe expected.

I think... Ah, what a lovely read! I haven't read the other books in the series, which didn't bother me at all. I had no problems with the number of characters or the relationships to each other, cause it was well explained and in most cases obviously. Although, someone told me, I might have enjoyed it much more, when I would have read all books before.

I nevertheless enjoyed this book a lot. Lisa Kleypas has a great style of writing, a witty tone and the characters are amazing. Plus, this is a very christmassy story, which is exactly what I have been looking for for the challenge. A great historical read, although I am not a big fan of historicals. Happy Reading!

Just Wondering...

What else makes you as happy as books? For me, that would be coffee, cupcakes and my sewing machine. You?

source

Coming Soon!

I will be publishing the Christmas novella, which was written by April, Amanda and Emily next week from Monday to Friday and there will be another giveaway! Make sure to check in and not miss it!

Happy Reading!

Movie: Mrs. Miracle

Okay, I just read the book, which I thought was okay. And then, while switching channels, I stumble over this movie and I think, "Hey, that's Mrs. Miracle. I'll check that movie out." And so I did.

First of all, I have something to confess. It's a bit embarassing, but as we are among friends, I will share.

I have a crush. A huge crush. On James Van Der Beek. Dawson. Remember? Ah, the good old times. I used to watch with my room mate and a bottle of white wine every Saturday. Oh, how I loved it.

And then - wham! - there he was. Long lost, but still alive and oh so grown up. Hallelujah! So, definitely a reason to like the movie. I did. It felt like a mixture of Debbie Macomber's novel "Mrs. Miracle" and Nora Roberts' "All I Want For Christmas", but I liked it. The setting was nice, the actors great and the story heart-warming and Christmassy. What else do you ask for in a Christmas movie? A miracle? Yes, of course! Mrs. Miracle!

Happy Holidays!

Review: The Holiday Present

Title: The Holiday Present
Author: Johanna Lindsey
Publisher: Avon Romance
Pages: 466

Plot: In The Present, Johanna Lindsey gathers together her most popular creatures, the Malorys, for a memorable family Christmas and the surprising discovery of a long-ago love affair between the first Malory and a wild gypsy.

In Home For The Holidays, two rival hearts are united by a Christmas miracle that would do Charles Dickens proud.

I think... As you can see, I borrowed the summary from the back cover of the book itself. I was totally overwhelmed with the number of characters and was very thankful for the family tree in the beginning of the book. But then, it really bothered me that I had to look up who was who all the time and although, I finished the first novella, I didn't even start the second. I am not even sure, if it deals with the same family. I just didn't have the time and patience to deal with it.

So, I don't really have an opinion. It wasn't my book, but I am pretty sure, it has to do with the fact, that I didn't read the other books of the series. If you have, would you like to let us know? And how did you like this one? Please, help me out with this. Thanks.

Happy Reading!

Review: Secret Santa

Title: Secret Santa
Author: Sabrina James
Publisher: Point/Scholastic
Pages: 345

Plot: A game of Secret Santa at North Ridge High School has everybody guessing, who to buy gifts for and - more importantly - who to receive gifts from? Noelle likes Charlie, but Ryan likes Noelle. Celia likes Jake, but Froggy likes Celia. And then there are Lily and Amber and unfortunately, Amber is Charlie's Secret Santa. Weird? Nope, not at all.

I think... I am not a big reader of Young Adult fiction, but I liked this one. At first, I was a bit confused with all the characters, but got them sorted out after some pages. I like the setting and it really is a very Christmassy book. The writing is good and the story well organized. I liked the ending, even when it felt a bit rushed to me.

To sum it up, it was a nice read. Not a two-thumbs-up kind of story, but good for a nice evening with cocoa and a lovely book. Oh, and lovely is the cover, too. Very happy and holiday style. I like it! Happy Reading!

Review: The Bite Before Christmas

Title: The Bite Before Christmas
Author: Heidi Betts
Publisher: Kensington Publishing
Pages: 264

Plot: Three (very short) Christmas novellas dealing with vampires and Christmas. Can it even get better?


All I Vant For Christmas Connor loves Christmas. Everything about it. But his vampire siblings cannot stand the season. So he decides to take his friend's Angelina's advice and to have party planner Jilian to help him, who is mortal and has no idea how to deal with a family of vampires and how to celebrate the holidays with them.


A Vampire In Her Stocking Vivian is deeply in love with her boss Sean, who is ill and will be dying soon. He has no idea, that his attractive assistant is a vampire, who could easily give him eternal life. But Vivian refuses to change Sean, so her friend Angelina does what she thinks is the right thing to do. So one day Vivian finds a changed Sean on her couch with a red bow around his neck.


It's A Wonderful Bite Angelina and Ian are an item since forever. Angelina is waiting for a wedding band, which seems to be nowhere around. So, after having a nice Christmas evening with him, Angelina falls asleep and awakes in the middle of a nightmare. She and Ian both are mortal and he isn't at least a bit interested in her.

I think... This was a recommendation by a follower of this blog, who didn't finish reading. So, it wasn't really a recommendation, but a hint to read this book in case I wanna know something about how and why vampires celebrate Christmas. So, that's what I did. And I liked it. A lot. I am a huge fan of Heidi Betts' writing, so I do like this as well. She has a great way with words and I am all into vampires, so this was a good book for me. It's pretty steamy at some points and uses graphic language concerning the whole biting and bloody stuff. It's very Christmassy and celebrates the season with all there is...cookies, wreath making, trees, presents. It's all there. Two thumbs up!

Happy Reading!

Review: Falling For Christmas

Title: Falling For Christmas
Author: Debbie Macomber
Publisher: Harlequin Books
Pages: 425

Plot: A Cedar Cove Christmas 9-months-pregnant Mary Jo Wyse comes to Cedar Cove on Christmas Eve to meet the father of her child. But then, she finds out, he is not there and not interested in taking care for her or the baby either, so she is all alone and there's no room in the local inn. What to do? What Mary Jo doesn't know is, that the people of Cedar Cove are more than willing to help...


Call Me Mrs. Miracle The new seasonal help at New York's Finley's store keeps the business going. Mrs. Merkle (call her Mrs. Miracle) is not only a big help for junior store owner Jake, she is also great in doing a bit of matchmaking.

I think... I wasn't a big fan of Debbie Macomber's Christmas stories so far. That's totally different with this book. It's not one of my favorite books ever, but it was pretty good, IMO. I liked the second novella better, but just because it was more like Christmas for me. The first novella was a bit too much for me with the nativity scene and the birth and stuff. Oh, please! I nevertheless liked it. If you have the chance to read it, you should. It was one of the better holiday reads and no single parents involved! *g*

Happy Reading!

I know!

Yes, I am behind my schedule. Yes, I am still reading and alive. There is so much going on right now, I can hardly find the time to check emails and blogs. I'll be back to my former self soon. I promise!

Love and hugs, Sanna