Author: Jana

Happy Holidays from Forever! | Christmas Book Spotlights & Giveaway

Posted December 6, 2017 by Jana in Book Spotlight, Giveaway / 4 Comments

Celebrate the Christmas season with That Artsy Reader Girl and her bookish friends! 

Celebrate #ChristmasWithJana: Instagram ✦ Twitter ✦ Event Schedule

The lovely people at Forever, the romance imprint of Grand Central Publishing, are here to celebrate the holidays with us today with a pretty amazing prize pack giveaway for three of my readers! Read more about Long, Tall Cowboy Christmas by Carolyn Brown, Back Home at Firefly Lake by Jen Gilroy, Sugarplum Way by Debbie Mason, The Winter Wedding Plan by Oliva Miles, and Maybe This Christmas by Jennifer Snow below, and then enter to win a special Forever tote filled with paperbacks of them all!

Long, Tall Cowboy Christmas (Happy, Texas #2) by Carolyn Brown
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Nash Lamont is a man about as solitary as they come. That’s exactly why ranch life in middle-of-nowhere Happy, Texas suits him. So what the heck is he doing letting a beautiful widow and her three rambunctious children temporarily move in? Before he knows it, they’re stringing Christmas lights and decorating the tree… and he’s having the time of his life. But after everything he’s been through, Nash knows this kind of happiness doesn’t last.

Kasey Dawson thought she’d never get over the death of her husband. Nash, with his strong hands and infinite patience, is stirring something she hasn’t felt in a long time. Kasey knows the sexy cowboy isn’t telling her everything about this past, though. And she refuses to risk heartbreak all over again. But her kids have a plan of their own: Nothing will keep them from having a real family again-even if it takes a little help from Santa himself.

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Back Home at Firefly Lake (Firefly Lake #3) by Jen Gilroy
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She has a million reasons to leave.
Can he give her the one she needs to stay?

Cat McGuire’s return to Firefly Lake is turning into much more than she bargained for. Sure, she missed the crisp pine-scented air and the comfort of having her family around her. But being home makes her feel less like the successful single mom she is–and more like the awkward teen who never fit in. It doesn’t help that hockey-pro Luc Simard is back in town, too. Luc was her childhood crush, the hometown hero who never noticed her, and yet somehow he still makes her heart skip a beat.

Luc’s homecoming has been bittersweet. He’s lost his wife and his career, but there’s no better place to start over than Firefly Lake. Coaching the local kids’ hockey team makes him feel alive again, and he thinks his life is complete–until Cat arrives. The shy girl he always wanted to protect is now the gorgeous woman who’s stealing his heart and making him believe in second chances. But how can he convince Cat that Firefly Lake is where she truly belongs?

In the tradition of New York Times bestselling authors Susan Wiggs and RaeAnne Thayne comes an emotional story about finding love in the most unexpected of places from Jen Gilroy.

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Sugarplum Way (Harmony Harbor #4) by Debbie Mason
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Romance writer Julia Landon knows how to write a happily-ever-after. Creating one for herself is a whole different story. But after a surprising–and surprisingly passionate–kiss under the mistletoe at Harmony Harbor’s holiday party last year, Julia thought she might have finally found her very own chance at true love. Until she learns her Mr. Tall, Dark, and Broodingly Handsome has sworn off relationships. Well, if she can’t have him in real life, Julia knows just how to get the next best thing….

Aidan’s only priority is to be the best single dad ever. And this year, he plans to make the holidays magical for his little girl, Ella Rose. But visions of stolen kisses under the mistletoe keep dancing in his head, and when he finds out Julia has written him into her latest novel, he can’t help imagining the possibilities of a future together. Little does he know, though, Julia has been keeping a secret that threatens all their dreams. Luckily, ’tis the season for a little Christmas magic.

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The Winter Wedding Plan (Misty Point #2) by Olivia Miles
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All she wants for Christmas is a second chance . . .

Charlotte Daniels has made her share of mistakes, but now that she’s a single mom, she vows to do better–and that starts with a new career. Working at her sister’s event-planning company is just the fresh start she needs.

Kate Daniels has finally forgiven Charlotte for her betrayal, but forgetting it is harder. But as the holidays approach and Kate has her own wedding to plan, she has no choice but to turn to Charlotte for help to throw a high-profile client the holiday party of the season.

Charlotte leaps at the chance to redeem herself . . . until this irresistible client asks her to pretend to be his fiancée for the party. She knows their charade won’t come without consequences–not just for her fresh start with Kate, but also for her own daughter.

As Kate’s wedding draws near and Charlotte’s fake romance starts to feel more and more real, will she fall back into the mistakes of her past, or finally prove herself to Kate once and for all?

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Maybe This Christmas (Colorado Ice #3) by Jennifer Snow
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All wrapped up . . .

One more game. That’s all that stands between NHL star Asher Westmore and a major career milestone. But then his brother bashes him against the hockey boards, sidelining him for months. Over Christmas holidays, no less. If staying off the ice doesn’t drive him crazy, staying with his family will. The only bright spot amidst the mistletoe and twinkle lights: His best friend, Emma, is a physical therapist. And working out with her improves his body and his spirit.

One last time. Emma Callaway was in trouble the minute she and Asher added benefits to their friendship. How is she supposed to resist a funny, caring guy who makes her toes curl? Her heart was safe while he lived in a different state. Now that he’s back home recuperating, though, it’s only a matter of time before she blurts out her feelings. Emma’s only hope is that with a little holiday magic, she’ll get the best Christmas gift of all.

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Anna Bernard’s Favorite Holiday Movies & TV Episodes | Guest Post

Posted December 5, 2017 by Jana in Guest Post / 2 Comments

Celebrate the Christmas season with That Artsy Reader Girl and her bookish friends! 

Celebrate #ChristmasWithJana: Instagram ✦ Twitter ✦ Event Schedule

I’m excited to welcome Anna Bernard, publicity assistant at Bloomsbury Children’s, to the blog today to talk about her favorite holiday movies and TV specials. I spend the entire month of December watching Christmas movies and TV episodes, so I was delighted when Anna suggested this topic. I had completely forgotten how cute the Veronica Mars episode is, so I’ve got that on my list to re-watch that soon!

Anna’s Favorite Holiday Movies & TV Episodes

Peppermint mochas are wonderful, but they’re not what gets me in the mood for the holidays. A single holiday movie or TV episode, though, gets me pulling up my Spotify playlist “xmasssss” and putting up my ornaments! We all know about classics like Elf and Love Actually—at least, you should *insert side-eye emoji here*–but if you’re looking for supplemental holiday cheer, read on for my favorite movies and TV episodes for the season!

Veronica Mars

Though One Angry Veronica’s mystery is not quite as juicy as the previous season’s holiday episode, it is still pretty entertaining to watch Veronica lead a jury through a case in this 12 Angry Men homage. But it’s the last five minutes that make this episode one of my favorites. After hearing a close friend died, Veronica is all alone on New Year’s Eve. I probably shouldn’t spoil the episode entirely, so I’ll just say someone comes to the door, and I start tearing up.

Parks and Rec

I totally relate to the Parks Department’s panic over what to get Leslie—the most epic gift-giver ever—for the holidays. They eventually decide on a gingerbread replica of City Hall. When Leslie gets dropped by her campaign managers, though, the office decides to band together and help her campaign in any way they can: a truly great gift.

While You Were Sleeping

One Christmas morning, Sandra Bullock rescues a handsome stranger from being run over by the Chicago L Train—and the rest is fate! That is, if you consider fate to be pretending to be a comatose man’s fiancée when his grieving family makes an unfortunate assumption. Sandra Bullock is the queen of holiday movies (Practical Magic is my go-to Halloween watch), and this is no exception. Watching her fall in love with her new-found family is so lovely. Plus, she has these amazing ginormous sweaters, which I totally covet.

The Mindy Project

The Mindy Project is AMAZING at holiday episodes, and the Season 2 one might be the best. Back when Danny Castellano wasn’t a horrible jerk, just a curmudgeon-y jerk, he is Mindy’s Secret Santa. Throughout the week, he’s been giving her office supplies like a stapler and gauze, but his final gift shows his thoughtfulness: a choreographed dance to Aaliyah’s “Try Again”! Please view it here.

Gilmore Girls

Would this truly be my list if I didn’t include something from Gilmore Girls? Of course not! This is as Christmas-y as Gilmore Girls ever gets, except for Season 7’s Santa’s Secret Stuff, which I don’t like to think about (Season 7 doesn’t exist). Lorelai gifts Luke his iconic blue baseball cap and he makes her a sweet, disgusting Santa burger. And thus, a ship is born.

What are your favorite holiday movies and episodes? I’ve obviously seen a lot, so I need suggestions!

The Boyfriend Swap by Meredith Schorr | Book Review

Posted December 4, 2017 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Book Review / 2 Comments

The Boyfriend Swap by Meredith Schorr | Book ReviewThe Boyfriend Swap by Meredith Schorr
Published by Henery Press on November 7, 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Holiday - Christmas
Pages: 288
Format: ARC
Source: Author
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Is Christmas really the most wonderful time of the year? New Yorkers Robyn Lane and Sidney Bellows aren’t so sure.

Robyn has always dated struggling creative types. For once, her parents would love her to bring someone with health insurance and a 401(k) to their Chrismukkah celebration. Her actor boyfriend doesn’t qualify. While across town, Sidney’s professional life already belongs to her parents. She’s an attorney at her father’s law firm and she works tirelessly to keep her love life private. If she brings her lawyer boyfriend to their annual Christmas extravaganza, her parents will have the wedding planned by New Year’s Eve.

A mutual friend playfully suggests they trade boyfriends for the holidays. The women share a laugh, but after copious amounts of wine, decide The Boyfriend Swap could be the perfect solution. This way, Robyn can show off her stable attorney boyfriend and Sidney’s high-society family will take no interest in her flakey actor beau.

It’s a brilliant plan—in theory. In practice—not so much. When Will turns out to be the boy-next-door Robyn crushed on hard throughout her teenage years, and Sidney’s family fawns all over Perry like he’s an Oscar-winner rather than a D-list wannabe, one thing is certain: The Boyfriend Swap might just change their lives forever.

The Proposal and The Holiday are two of my favorite movies ever, so I was really excited to read Christmas romance that was pitched to me as a combination of both. I think this comparison made me expect too much, though. And that’s nothing against the book, I just think I was wanting a Cameron Diaz and Jude Law kind of romance with the Kate Winslet and Jack Black kind of swoon. All things aside, The Boyfriend Swap had many cute moments, and it was fluffy which is always nice. I do wish there had been more Christmas in it, but I am the queen of Hallmark Christmas movies, so…

Robyn’s boyfriend Perry is described as a “D-list wannabe” actor. He’s a guy that Robyn cannot possibly bring home to her family, so she brings home Sidney’s lawyer boy toy of a boyfriend, Will, to get her family off her back. But… this guy ends up being Robyn’s lifelong crush. I really love the friends to lovers trope as well as the fauxmance trope, so I was definitely curious to see a combination of the two and how that would play out. I really liked both of them, particularly Will, and I think they’re very cute together. I enjoyed reading about their growing up years and the awkward memories they shared. They were definitely the highlight of the book for me.

Perry and Sidney, on the other hand, were a train wreck. In the book’s defense, though, I think they were supposed to be. This couple was so poorly mismatched. Perry is an egotistical jerk and Sidney is unlikeable. However, they were both using each other so I didn’t even feel bad for them. Perry was using Sidney for her father’s show business connections as much as she was using him for his irritating personality.

The Boyfriend Swap is funny. I enjoyed the banter between the characters, and I enjoyed the deeper issues I got to watch them all work through. Everyone learned something, and I’d like to think that everyone came away a better person for it.

So why the 3-star rating? Honestly, I think everything was tainted by the storyline. Both Robyn and Sidney were dating men they were embarrassed by. Even worse, Will and Perry were ok with it and went along with the plan to swap boyfriends during the time of year when you should want to be with those you care about. Even worse than that, one of the guys decided to fall in love with a girl who chose to lie to her entire family about who her boyfriend really was because she was ashamed of him. I would not want to be with someone who thought that kind of deception was ok, even if I was the tool they used to lie to their family with and not the actual person they were ashamed of. Does that make sense? But then again, that guy was dating someone just for the physical relationship and not the connection, so perhaps they’re made for each other. It just felt like a very immature storyline to me, and not very romantic.

This is definitely a case of the “it’s not the book, it’s me” syndrome. The writing is great. The humor is great. The characters were all dynamic and well developed. The story was unique and well thought out, it just wasn’t built upon a foundation that I agreed with. I really wish we had just gotten the basic second chance romance between old friends with Will and Robyn, and that Perry and Sidney and the swapping were left out. But I guess that takes away the uniqueness. I would have still eaten it up, though.

All in all, The Boyfriend Swap had enough cute elements and swoons that I am curious about some of Meredith’s other books, and look forward to picking up Blogger Girl sometime soon.

Christmas Songs Book Tag 2017

Posted December 3, 2017 by Jana in Book Tag / 5 Comments

Celebrate the Christmas season with That Artsy Reader Girl and her bookish friends! 

Celebrate #ChristmasWithJana: Instagram ✦ Twitter ✦ Event Schedule

Two years ago I created the Christmas Songs Book Tag, and I’ve had a couple requests to host it again this year, so here it is! The goal is to pick a book you’ve read this year that fits the theme of the Christmas song titles.

If you’d like to join the fun, leave a link to your post in the Linky below and I’ll come visit! Since I’ve already done this I’m going to limit my answers to the books I read this year, but you can feel free to choose whichever books you’d like!

 

1. “All I Want for Christmas Is You”: Favorite bookish couple.
Audrey Rose Wadsworth and Thomas Cresswell from Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco

2. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”: Name a book where a character is away from home (school, vacation, etc.).
Hunted by Meagan Spooner.

3. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”: Name your favorite “little” book (children’s book, short story, novella, etc.).
Little Elliot, Big Fun by Mike Curato

4. “Santa Claus is Coming to Town“: What book(s) do you hope Santa brings you this year?
Flame In the Mist by Renee Ahdieh, Air Awakens by Elise Kova, and The Ends of the World by Maggie Hall.

5. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”: Which book turned your nose red (made you cry)?
Unless you count crying from boredom (Wintersong by S. Jae Jones and Beautiful Storm by Barbara Freethy) then I’ve got nothing this year!

6. “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”: Your favorite book/kind of book to read during the holidays.
I really love reading Christmas romances during this time of year, as well as wintry fantasy novels. So far my favorite Christmas romance has been Miracle on Fifth Avenue by Sarah Morgan.

7. “We Three Kings”: Your favorite trilogy.
Under the Never Sky trilogyMy favorite trilogy… I’m going to have to go with all-time favorite instead of 2017 favorite because I haven’t read any books that are part of a finished trilogy this year. Veronica Rossi’s is one of my very favorites.

8. “Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow”: A character you would love to be snowed in with.
Joshua Templeman of The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. He’s funny, broody, swoony, and he knows how to take care of you if you’re sick.

9. “Last Christmas”: A book that seriously let you down.
The Crown’s Fate by Evelyn Skye (I’m so sorry!!).

10. “White Christmas”: An upcoming release you’re dreaming about.
The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis-Graves. I cannot WAIT for this one. I’m also REALLY excited for the next book in Kerri Maniscalco’s Stalking Jack the Ripper series. OH. And King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo! And Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson!! So many great books are coming out soon!

Christmas vector created, in part, by freepik – www.freepik.com

Handmade Holiday Cards by Andi | Book Blogger Guest Post (+ Giveaway)

Posted December 2, 2017 by Jana in Giveaway, Guest Post / 11 Comments

Celebrate the Christmas season with That Artsy Reader Girl and her bookish friends! 

Celebrate #ChristmasWithJana: Instagram ✦ Twitter ✦ Event Schedule

Welcome to Andi of Andi’s ABCs, who is kicking off this fun month of festive book reviews and guest posts! I’ve always loved Andi’s blog as well as the fun cards she posts online, so I was really excited when she offered to talk about her cards and make a holiday set for my readers! The giveaway will end in time for you to mail them out to your friends and family this month.

I’m so excited to take part in Jana’s, Bookish Little Christmas. This is Jana’s 6th year doing this feature and my first time guest posting.

For those of you that don’t know me I’m Andi from Andi’s ABCs. In January my blog will be 5 years old (no, I really can’t believe that!). Andi’s ABCs is my baby where I blog about my love of YA books, romance books, and my love of accessories and clothes. But I have another hobby that I fell in love with over a year ago and brings use to my post for Jana: Cards by Andrea S..

When Jana was looking for guest posters I knew I was going to bring my love of card making to her blog so here I am.

When sitting down to come up with a design I decided I wanted to do something simple. I flipped through my stamps and found three sets I wanted to use. These sets by no means go together but they ended up really working for the look I was going for.

I wanted to keep the card simple and use traditional holiday colors. Once I settled on Altenew’s Rouge and Silver Stone, and Gina K.’s Grass Green I was really excited to see how this card set would turn out.

Using my favorite black ink, VersaFine Onyx Black, I stamped the sentiment and the tree. I liked it without anything else, but I knew there was some sparkle that was needed. I scoured my stash and found some clear sequins which were the perfect addition.

And I finished the card off with a holiday sentiment.

If you want to see more cards like this that I have created check out my Etsy shop HERE. I have a variety of holiday and everyday cards available.

But this set; this set is for one of you. I’m giving away all 6 of these cards I made for readers of That Artsy Reader Girl’s blog. Sadly the giveaway is US only. Sorry international peeps, shipping is just too expensive at this time. The giveaway will end at 11:59EST on December 9th.

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A huge thanks to Jana for having me. This was a lot of fun!

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Do you send out holiday cards to your friends and family? Do you enjoy receiving them?