Christmas Reads

Hi everyone, I hope you are all having an amazing day and staying safe. I don’t often read books set at Christmas and honestly I think this year was the first time I actually read a holiday related book but I have recently came across a few that actually sound quite interesting so thought I would discuss them here.

The first is Wrapped Up in You by Talia Hibbert. I’m really loving the Brown Sisters series by Talia so when I found out about this one I knew I had to add it to my TBR.

William Reid is nothing special, except for his billion-dollar acting career and his, you know, face. (Apparently it’s a good one.) Winning “Sexiest Man Alive” was nice but, this Christmas, he has more important goals in mind… like finally winning over his best friends little sister, the supper smart and kinda scary Abbie Farrell. When a blizzard leaves Will and Abbie alone at Grandma Farrell’s house (if bunking with 27 pets counts as “alone”), it’s the opportunity to pull off a Christmas miracle. Convincing clever, frosty Abbie to give Will a change will take more than mistletoe, but hiding his lifelong crush on her is no longer an option.

Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur. A w/w holiday romance with fake dating, need I say any more.

After a disastrous blond date, Darcy Lowe is desperate to stop her well meaning brother from playing matchmaker ever again. Love – and the inevitable heartbreak – is the last thing she wants. So she find and says her latest set up was a success. Darcy doesn’t expect her lie to bite her in the ass. Elle Jones, one of the astrologers behind the popular Twitter account, Oh My Stars, dreams of finding her soulmate. But she knows it is most assuredly not Darcy… a no nonsense stick-in-the-mud, who is way too analytical, punctual, and skeptical for someone as free-spirited as Elle. When Darcy’s brother – and Elle’s new business partner- expresses how happy he is that they got it off, Elle is baffled. Was Darcy on the same date? Because… awkward. When Darcy begs Elle to play along, she agrees to pretend they’re dating to save face. But with a few conditions: Darcy must help Elle navigate her own overbearing family over the holidays and their arrangement expires on New Year’s Eve. The last thing they expect is to develop real feelings during a fake relationship. But maybe opposites can attract when true love is written in the stars?

Next is The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan. If the cover isn’t enough to draw you in then a book taking part not only at Christmas but in a bookstore surely will.

When the department store she works in closes for good, Carmen has Perilously little cash and few options. She doesn’t want to move in with her perfect sister Sofia, in Sofia’s perfect house with her perfect children and her perfectly organized Edinburgh life. Frankly, Sofia doesn’t exactly want Carmen there there either. Her sister has always been sarcastic and difficult. But Sofia has yet another baby on the way, a mother desperate to see her daughters get along and a client who needs a retail assistant for his ailing bookshop, so welcoming Carmen might still have some benefits for everyone. At Sofia’s behest, Carmen is thrown into the daily workings of old Mr McCredie’s ancient bookshop on the streets of the old dark city. Can she use her design skills to revamp the store and bring it back to popularity in time to benefit from Christmas shopping traffic? Can she choose between bad boy literacy rockstar Blair and quite Quaker student Oke? Will she heal rift with the most important of all: her family.

And the last Christmas book to draw my eye is The Mistletoe Motive by Chloe Liese. This is another Christmas story set in a bookshop with an added enemies to lovers romance, how can I say no.

He loathes the holidays. She loves them. She’s full of festive cheer. He’s brimming with bath, humbugs. Besides unreasonably seasonal names, the only thing Jonathan Frost and Gabriella Di Natale have in common is a healthy does of mutual contempt. Well, that and the same place of employment at the city’s most beloved independent bookstore, Bailey’s Bookshop. But when the stores owners confess it’s dire financial state Jonathan and Gabby discover another unfortunate commonality: the imminent threat of unemployment. With the Bailey’s request to minimize expenses, win new customers and make record sales dancing in their heads Jonathan and Gabby conclude – barring a financial Christmas miracle- one of them will soon be cut from the payroll. Neither of them are willing to step down from their position, so they strike a bargain: Whoever has more sales in December gets to stay on in the new year; the loser will resign. With a lifetime’s worth of festive tricks up her sleeve, Gabby should easily outsell her nemesis, except the unreadable Mr Frost’s every move seems purely designed to throw her off her game. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Gabby’s deceptive ex won’t quit pursuing her, and her anonymous online friend suggests they take a break. Worst of all, as the the pressure mounts to save the bookshop and her job, Gabby meets a new, tender side of Jonathan. Is this the same man she’s called her cold-hearted enemy? Maybe he’s got a motive she just can’t figure out – or maybe Jonathan Frost isn’t as chilly as she once thought. Maybe Jonathan and Gabby already know – and love – each other in ways they never thought possible.

The Nutcracker by Alexandre Dumas. One of my favorite movies to watch at Christmas time is Barbie and the Nutcracker, I’ve loved it since I was a kid and would love to see the Ballet, and of course read a book on the story.

The nutcracker doll that mysterious godfather Drosselmeyer gives to little Marie for Christmas is no ordinary toy. On Christmas Eve, as the clocks strike midnight, Marie watches as the Nutcracker and her entire cabinet of playthings come to life and boldly do battle against the malevolent Mouse King and his armies. But this is only the start.

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Do you have any holiday books you want to pick up?? Have you read any of the above??