I have read both of Karen’s other Christmas books and loved them so I was so excited about this one. Before I get into how good the story was, I do have to say that I was amazed at the number of errors in wording and punctuation in this book. I am really glad that this story was beyond good because that was the reason I was able to overlook the errors. It did however slow me down a little when words were accidentally left out or the wrong word was used. Anyway now that we have that little tidbit out of the way, I can tell that if you like Hallmark style movies then this is the book for you. It has all the elements it needs to be turned into a Hallmark Christmas movie. When you first meet Riley who is the main female character, she comes off a little rough around the edges but once you know her back story it makes complete sense why she is a little tough on the outside. Luke, the main male character, on the other hand is all gentleman. He is definitely one of those guys you can see as the hero of a story. Also if you have read Karen’s previous novels then you’ll remember the whole Christmas camp idea. I have to say every time I read about Christmas camp, it makes me want to go to one. With all that being said, I just want to make sure I reiterate that in spite of the errors I would still totally recommend this book to anyone but especially those who love good Christmas books.
Review of “This Secret Thing” by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
I made the mistake of not checking what genre this book fell into because I had read books by this same author before under Marybeth Whalen and loved them. And when I got the book, it had a scripture in the front so I was still not aware of the quality it would end up being. While I finished the book because I really hate to start a book and not finish it, I was very disillusioned by the fact that an author I had read before and loved could write something with the amount of curse words that this book had. While it didn’t have the worst curse word in it, it had enough that I was shocked this was the same author who wrote “The Mailbox”. I personally did not enjoy this book.
Review of “Nothing Short of Wondrous” by Regina Scott
This is my second book I have read by Regina Scott and it is also the second book in her “American Wonders Collection”. Even though this is the second book in a series, you by no means have to read the first to be able to read and enjoy this book. They are in no way dependent on each other. The first one was set in the Grand Canyon in 1871. However, this book is set in Yellowstone National Park in 1866. They are the same series because they are both set in wondrous places of the United States. As with the first book in this series, A Distance Too Grand, this book also has a strong female main character who holds her own as well as the military. Regina Scott does an excellent job of describing her characters and bringing them to life. She also does an excellent job of describing the world to which the characters live and interact. The romantic dynamic between the main female character, Kate Tremaine, and the main male character, Lieutenant William Prescott, is outstandingly good especially because she tells it from both points of view. If you like to read historical romance novels, then I would say that you would definitely enjoy this book. And if you have not read one before, then this is a good one to read for your first.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in order to give a honest review.
Review of “Point of Danger” by Irene Hannon
Do you like to solve puzzles? Irene Hannon does such a great job of having several possible suspects to her crimes that it definitely feels like a complicated puzzle. Several people have possible reasonable motives in this book so you start to wonder if there is more than one suspect working together. Because of this, I am so drawn in and captivated by this story that it is hard to put it down. I will say that there are some topics in this book that lots of people will have strong opinions on or may bring up bad memories for some so if you are someone that gets upset when reading about difficult topics then this book may not be for you. There is also to me an underlying theme of the enemy coming after someone the more they try to do the right thing.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in order to give an honest review.
Review of “Wrapped Up in Christmas” by Janice Lynn
Because this book was published by Hallmark and the cover did not look bad, I was hoping this book would not have cuss words or graphic physical scenes. I was so glad I was right about that. This book was such a great Christmas book. I will say though that it was a little frustrating to see that the main male character’s name was spelled wrong in more than one place and I remember one other typo that made the sentence read funny though it was easy to figure out what it should have instead. However, all that being said I would still recommend this book. Also, it is such a good story that all the typos aside it is well worth reading especially if you like good Christmas stories.