Merry Christmas to all my readers! I hope today is filled with love, warmth, good food, wonderful books, and time with those who mean the most to you. And if today is hard for you, I’m sending you a big hug.
I’ve had so much fun sharing Christmas book recommendations and other festive content this month! I hope you’ve enjoyed it too.
Best wishes for a healthy and exciting New Year. See you in 2023!
Header photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash
Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison Where the lovelight gleams …
A pasture of dead trees. A hostile takeover of the Santa barn by a family of raccoons. And shipments that have mysteriously gone missing. Lovelight Farms is not the magical winter wonderland of Stella Bloom’s dreams.
In an effort to save the Christmas tree farm she’s loved since she was a kid, she enters a contest with instafamous influencer Evelyn St. James. With the added publicity and the $100,000 cash prize, she might just be able to save the farm from its financial woes. There’s just one problem. To make the farm seem like a romantic destination for the holidays, she lied on the application and said she owns Lovelight Farms with her boyfriend. Only … there is no boyfriend.
Enter best friend Luka Peters. He just came home for some hot chocolate, and somehow got a farm and a serious girlfriend in the process.
Well that was lovely. Anyone who throws together fake dating best friends on a Christmas tree farm deserves my undivided attention. And, B.K. Borison you got it! I will admit, I was worried about the hype but I needn’t have worried. This was lovely. Lovely, I tell you. As always, my main points are bolded.
1. Ok. Stella owns a Christmas tree farm that she and her mother, who passed away before the book began, went to when she was a child. It holds so many memories for her, so when it went up for sale she bought it. But times are tough. The farm is hemorrhaging money because everything keeps going wrong (or is it sabotage??), so she enters a content to try and win a cash prize and publicity from a famous social media influencer. Grrr… I am so tired of influencers. Like, SO tired. lol. But moving on. Stella lies on the application for the contest and claims her best friend, who she has been in love with for years, is her boyfriend. No big deal, she will rope him into pretending he is. And he is really, really good at it. Stella is super likable. She’s guarded, but she loves fiercely and protects those she cares about. Luka is a dreamboat. No complaints.
2. Speaking of Luka. He’s Italian and loves to cook Stella yummy pasta dishes, tidies up her home when he visits, and will drop everything at the drop of a hat to be there for her. Where do I get myself a Luka? And his mother, oh my gosh. I love his mom.
3. I love the other supporting characters who co-own the farm with Stella. They’ve got a lovely found family dynamic, and look out for one another. The three of them are such a supportive and loving unit. I’m excited to read their stories in the other books in this series. I also love the local sheriff. He’s taken Stella on as a daughter figure and is very quick to help her with whatever she needs. He watches out for her, and I loved that. The influencer, Evelyn, even won me over, with her down-to-earth personality and caring nature. All in all, it’s such a great cast of characters.
4. I loved the setting so much. The Christmas tree farm sounds magical and beautiful, and the descriptions of the scenery and the weather were breathtaking. I loved the small town, and how everyone knew everyone. It felt like such a friendly place to be.
5. There’s a bit of a mystery, with a couple tense moments, which really added to the story! There’s also a lot of depth surrounding the origins of Stella’s and Luka’s friendship and also how she acquired the farm, which grounded the rather light and fluffy main storyline.
All in all, I loved this. Lovelight Farms is just as sweet and cozy as its name, and I really enjoyed reading it. I got all the warm fuzzies and so much Christmas cheer. I can’t wait to read the other books!
You might remember my post from earlier this month, which featured Just Like Magic by Sarah Hogle. This book is chock full of humor, heart, and festive holiday spirit. It’s unbelievably whimsical, and I cannot believe it came out of Sarah Hogle’s mind. She’s so creative and such a great writer! Hall and Bettie will forever live in the part of my mind where it’s always Christmas. Bettie is a little grumpy and spoiled and couldn’t care much for Christmas. But then she accidentally summons the Spirit of Christmas himself, Hall, and they fall in love (of course). They both learn so much from each other, and end up being the missing puzzle pieces in each other’s lives. It’s a chaotic, heartwarming, pine-scented breeze of a journey towards love and I adored every sentence of it. Today Sarah Hogle is back on my blog, with some exclusive bonus content for Just Like Magic! Bettie and Hall have both written letters to Santa, and Sarah is sharing them with us today! If these letters don’t make you even more excited to read Just Like Magic (or make you fall even more in love with these characters), then I don’t know what will!
Claus:
First of all, the whole coal thing is cruel and unusual. Do you hate the environment? Do you want babies breathing in nitrates (or whatever’s in pollution)? That is certainly the impression you give when you fill monogrammed alpaca fur stockings with COAL. Why don’t you just light an endangered forest on fire! This horrific tradition of withholding gifts when people do not succumb to your impossible-to-achieve “be nice” standards is nothing more than glorified revenge. I expected better from you. By the way, have you met most people? Not everyone deserves to be treated nicely. Anyway, you can atone for your offenses against me and my ruined stocking (I’ll be awaiting a replacement–you can trim it with rubies and emeralds or whatever precious gems you’ve got on hand) by gifting me a few of the basics. This Christmas, I would like the below to be fulfilled/delivered. You can find the link to the candle in the linktree in my IG bio.
1. “This Candle Smells Like Dame Judi Dench’s Tonsil Stones” $815.00. Manufacturer’s warning: This item is non-heat-safe. Wick is decorative only: exposure to flame may cause hallucinations.
2. I want you to fill the Alexander McQueen on Rodeo Drive with eighteen inches of week-old motel coffee.
3. Twenty million dollars. Find a way to make sure I don’t have to pay any tax on it.
4. I would like my own island off the coast of southern California. I’m not picky, but there’d better be plumbing available, electricity, etc. as well as a fully-furnished home, guest home, and personal shopping plaza. It’s the least you could do. Please see my Pinterest board for decor inspiration, or leave extra money in the microwave and I’ll save you some time by doing it myself. Consider it a Christmas present from me to you.
5. Kindly relocate any coal you plan to send my way this year to my sister Athena’s and brother Felix’s stockings, in a loose, powdered form.
Cheers,
BH
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Dear Santa,
Hello! How are you doing? I hope the weather’s been to your liking up at the North Pole, and that the elves and reindeer have been keeping lovely company. It is an honor to finally be writing to you, via a sleepwalking gentleman in Bristol. I’m a Holiday Spirit, which means I do not have my own hands to write with or stationery to write on, so I don’t have many options beside persuading people to write on my behalf, while they are unconscious and more susceptible to magical influence. I hope you do not mind that his penmanship seems to be rather sloppy.
It feels ungrateful to ask for anything, because my life is perfect. Or, at least, it is nearly perfect. (I am quite happy with my purpose as a Holiday Spirit!) The one and only thing I would maybe like, if you don’t mind, if you have the time (no worries if not!) is to be corporeal. Only temporarily, of course. I am not complaining at all about the state of my being, which is invisible gas, because I’m aware I’m lucky to be sentient at all, and to have the extreme fortune to spread joy all over the world. It is an enviable position. However, I confess that after observing humans for…a very long time…I’ve been more and more curious lately about what certain sensations might feel like, as a human, and this curiosity has inflicted a fair bit of distraction. I think that if I could just have a physical form for a little bit, perhaps twenty-four hours (although I’d be happy with any amount you could provide), to ride a train, drink hot chocolate and finally find out what it tastes like, pick an apple from a tree, smell a book, roller skate, take a walk down a country lane, drive a mail truck, rearrange the kitchen sets at IKEA to make them not quite so matchy, call in to a radio station for advice, test the weight of an anchor (I feel like I could pick one up if I gave it a go), pet a fox, walk toward a bird and watch it fly away, put together a large salad, create a checking account, experience a kiss, and feel the crunch of autumn leaves under my shoes, I would satisfy my curiosity so that I would no longer think about such things. I’m sure I would not enjoy being a human, anyway. Who would want to be hungry all the time? And to eat a variety of sugary holiday treats all day long, if they wished to? Not me. I love being invisible gas. But just for this Christmas, only for the littlest bit, I’d deeply appreciate the opportunity to…not be.
I hope you can help, but if not, I completely understand. You’re under a lot of pressure this time of year. (And please let me know if there’s anything I can do for you!!)
All my best,
Gratefully,
With love,
You’re doing a wonderful job,
Hall
Just Like Magic by Sarah Hogle
Published by Putnam on October 4, 2022
Genres: Contemporary Romance — Christmas
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From the author of Twice Shy comes a sprightly Christmas novel, a rollicking romp through the absurdity of family holidays and the hope of new love.
Bettie Hughes once knew the comfort of luxury, flaunting a ridiculous collection of designer shoes and a stealthy addiction to CBD oils. That is, until her parents snipped her purse strings. Long obsessed with her public image, Bettie boasts an extravagant lifestyle on social media. But the reality is: Bettie is broke and squatting in Colorado, and her family has no idea.
Christmas, with its pressure to meet familial expectations, is looming when a drunk Bettie plays a vinyl record of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” backwards and accidentally conjures Hall, an unexpectedly charming Holiday Spirit in the form of a man. Once the shock wears off, Bettie knows she’s stumbled upon the greatest gift: a chance to make all her holiday wishes come true, plus a ready-made fiancé.
But as the wiles of magic lose their charm, Bettie finds herself set off-kilter by Hall’s sweet gestures. Suddenly, Bettie is finding her heart merry and light. But the happier she gets, the shorter Hall’s time on earth grows. Can Bettie channel the Christmas spirit and learn to live with goodwill toward all men? Or will her selfish ways come back as soon as the holidays are over?
These letters are so perfect, right? Have you read Just Like Magic yet?
If not, there’s still time before the holiday season ends!
Maybe ask Santa to bring you a copy? I’m pretty sure he wants to anyway.
Banner photo by Artboard Studio on Unsplash
A Christmas Spark by Cindy Steel Snowed in at a cabin with the most infuriating man in the world. I may take my chances with the wolves...
When my best friend found out I’d be alone over Christmas, she hooked me up with a week stay in her family’s cabin in Idaho. I was on a publishing deadline for my latest book and was really looking forward to a cozy week by the fire, cuddled up in flannel pajamas with my laptop and hot chocolate.
Alone.
So imagine my surprise when I arrived at the cabin during a blizzard, and found it already occupied. By an all too familiar face and a fine pack of chiseled abs. Even though it had been ten years since I’d last seen Chase, he had no problem picking up exactly where we left off. I had a big problem with it.It didn’t matter what he threw at me—the old nickname, the teasing, his charming grin, or even those chiseled abs (did I already mention those?), I refused to let him get to me after…the incident. Nope, not me. I was made of stone.
Unfortunately, I’m beginning to understand that when you strike Chase against stone…you get sparks.
★A Christmas Spark is a closed-door romantic comedy full of heart, sizzle, witty banter, and one tiny swear word, but swoony kisses are as steamy as it gets!
I love, love snowed in romances, so when I stumbled across this book last year while looking for some fun Christmas reads I knew I had to have it even though I’m not the biggest fan of enemies to lovers. In this story, the enemies part comes from back in high school when Chase said some hurtful things about Penny. She still feels that pain, whereas he has no recollection of ever saying anything. I think the fact that only one of them saw the other as an enemy is why the trope didn’t bother me. I do wish these two had talked it out way before now, though, because 10 years is a long time to feel that kind of pain over a thing your dumb brother’s best friend said as a teen. But then we wouldn’t have a story, would we? And honestly, if I put myself in Penny’s shoes I’d still be hurt 20 years later and definitely wouldn’t have said anything to Chase about it, so who am I to talk? High school is rough. I know I came out a little traumatized. I really enjoyed how they handled working through it, though, and Chase’s treatment of the situation warmed my heart. The boy has grown up. And he’s gotten himself some abs.
I loved the setting of the cabin. It sounded so cozy and remote, with all the snow and the cold nights under blankets. I’d love to be stranded in that cabin, and I’d really love to be stranded in it with Chase. I loved the banter, the antics, and the Christmas. It’s such a short, short story that I really can’t say much more without spoiling anything! There’s some super swoony moments and some tender discussions and I enjoyed all of it. Many feelings. Cindy’s writing is great, and I can’t wait to read more of this series!
Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is a special one for the holiday season, and one that allows us all to spread a little cheer during this week leading up to Christmas.
List the top 10 books you’d love to receive from Santa and include a link to your wishlist so that people can grant your wish. Make sure you link your wishlist to your mailing address or include the email address associated with your ereader in the list description so people know how to get the book to you. After you post, jump around the Linky and grant a wish or two if you’d like. Please don’t feel obligated to send anything to anyone, and if you’d rather just post your list and not include a link to your wishlist that’s ok too! Here are my top ten bookish wishes (my wishlist link is down below)!
Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison
Faking Christmas by Cindy Steel
A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross
Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas
A Mistletoe Romance by Jillian Walsh
Deck the Halls With Love by Lorraine Heath
The Christmas Letters by Jenny Hale
Baggage Claim by Juliana Smith
A Not-So Holiday Paradise by Gracie Ruth Mitchell
Later On We’ll Conspire by Kortney Keisel
Here is the link to my Amazon wishlist. It’s full of many titles that I’d love to read someday!
I love the boost that comes with seeing people happy, especially during Christmastime so please let me know if you grant any wishes or if Santa delivers a surprise to you!
If you’re not participating in TTT this week, please link your wishlist in the comments so people can still come grant a wish of yours!
What’s one book you really hope Santa brings you this year? And, of course, since Santa is magic and capable of making the impossible happen, feel free to share your pie-in-the-sky wishes as well!
I wish you and those you love a very merry Christmas and a happy holiday season!
