Musings on Romance

Tag: Christmas (Page 3 of 4)

Merry Christmas!

I’ll be taking a few days off over Christmas and the new year but will be around on Twitter. Who knows? I may even get around to posting some 2017 Favourite Reads lists in January. That’s the plan anyway.

To everyone who has visited the blog, or chatted to me online, to my friends, to those I admire and those I wish were my friends (!), to all my fellow romance bloggers, to the awesome women of #metoo and to all those who #resist, I wish you the compliments of the season, peace, love and safety. To those who supported me after the passing of my stepdad this year, a special thank you.

For those who do Christmas, have a Merry Merry Christmas. To those who don’t, Happy Holidays. May you find laughter, love and joy in the coming days – and refreshment to keep being awesome next year. Thank you for your friendship, support and inspiration this year.

~ Kaetrin ~

 

November Round Up

Monthly Mini Review

HolidaySparksHoliday Sparks by Shannon Stacey, narrated by Savannah Richards – B  I read this novella in the Naughty and Nice anthology when it first came out (scroll down a bit to see the brief reviews).  Sometimes when I can’t decide what to listen to next a novella length story is low risk – this one was only a couple hours long so the time investment was small. And, I had fond memories of the story.  Chloe Burke is a web designer who lives in Boston but has come back to her small Maine hometown ot housesit for her parents in the weeks before Christmas.  Electrical problems lead her to electrician and all round hotty, Scott Quinn. They went to school together but he looked a lot different then (he was a nerd).  Sparks fly (heh) and they start a fling.  The conflict is that Scott is embedded in his hometown and Chloe is going back to Boston.  Given Chloe’s job, it has a relatively easy resolution once they are committed to seeing if the relationship holds to its early promise and it is perfect for a novella length story. It’s sweet, sexy and low angst and I liked it very much.

I hadn’t heard Savannah Richards narrate before.  She had convincing deeper tones for Scott and generally a pleasant voice to listen to.  However, there was one thing which bothered me and it’s very much a “it’s not you it’s me” thing – articulating it is hard because it is an aural thing.  The best I can do is to say there is kind of a lowering of pitch and a kind of … trailing off at the end of many sentences.  It bugged me a bit.  I’m sure others won’t notice it at all and others who do, won’t mind it but it’s the sort of things that I hear straight off and, over time, it gets a bit like fingernails on a blackboard to me.  Fortunately, it’s a short novella so I didn’t have time for annoyance to truly set in.  Honestly, the rest of the narration was very good.  I think I’m just fussy.

I’m sure I bought this as a stand alone – but my records don’t tell me if it was a special release.  All I could find at Audible today was the entire anthology.

BUY IT:
AUDIBLE

Continue reading

Her Holiday Man by Shannon Stacey

her holiday manWhy I read it:  I was provided with a review copy by the publisher via NetGalley.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads)  Christina Forrester is starting over. After a financial scandal sent her ex-husband to prison, she’s left raising her young son without any of the comforts of their old life. Budgets, coupons, lawn care—you name it, she’s learning to do it all on her own. Well, almost on her own—she’d be lost without Gail Broughton, the kind widow across the street. But when Gail’s son comes home, Christina’s vow to never trust a man again is put to the test.

Will Broughton left town because he was tired of being “that poor man” who lost his wife and unborn child in a tragic accident. But years have passed and, with his dad gone and his mom alone, it’s time to go home. Only his mother’s not alone. She’s taken Christina under her wing, and the beautiful and determined single mother awakens something in Will he thought was buried forever.

As Will and Christina are forced to spend more time together, feelings that are more than neighborly grow between them. And with Christmas coming and a child filling both houses with holiday cheer, it becomes nearly impossible not to embrace the joy—and the love—in their lives.

What worked for me (and what didn’t):  Oh, man! I needed tissues for this book.  Of course it has a HEA (it’s a romance after all) but Will has been through the wringer after losing his wife and their unborn daughter shortly before Christmas a few years before the story begins. He’s stayed away from his hometown at Christmas since then but, after also losing his dad suddenly six months before, he feels he needs to come home to stay and make sure his mother is okay.  When he’s doing things like going through his dead wife’s hope chest – well, let’s just say I had convenient dust in my eyes. Continue reading

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