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In this article:
A Royal Christmas by Carlson
12 Dates of Christmas by Havig
A Return to Hawthorne House by Hunter
The Sheriff’s Guilty Bride by Ford
A Royal Christmas by Melody Carlson
3 STARS, Christian Christmas Contemporary Novella, My format: gift from my husband!
Goodreads Synopsis | Buy on BookShop
Adelaide thinks she’s living in a movie when she discovers that she is the long lost heir to the crown in Montovia. A little adventure might be fun!
Personal Review:
This book was just kind of meh. I know it was short but I would have loved a little more...personality, I guess, from the characters. The only person I really liked was King Max, Adelaide’s father.
Anton, the young member of Parliament tasked with greeting the new heir, and Adelaide, the American in a foreign land, were supposed to be attracted to each other but I never felt it. One time she thought, is he going to kiss me? And I thought, why would he? There was no chemistry.
There were also some contradictions in the story. Like Adelaide grew up poor but her mom made her take classical dance lessons as a kid? Or Adelaide has no family back home to speak of but she pauses to wonder what her family is up to for Christmas? The details could have been better thought out, in my opinion.
The bright side was that it was truly clean and nothing made me uncomfortable. The story itself is also pretty cute. It was just boring and the characters were not believable.
Content Warnings:
grief of parents’ passing, attempted abduction
12 Dates of Christmas by Chautona Havig
5 STARS, Christian Christmas Contemporary Novella, My format: paperback
Goodreads Synopsis | Buy on BookShop
Reagan, a cable movie production manager, is home for Christmas and, to her dread, is asked to speak at the school about her job. Alex, a high school science teacher, wants to have coffee with Reagan to catch up. Little does he know that Reagan remembers him as her arch nemesis and a date with Alex is the last thing she wants.
Personal Review:
I loved this book. All of it. Every part. The perfect contemporary Christmas novella. Chautona’s writing style takes a little getting used to but I am growing to love it.
I loved Reagan's quirky personality. She was adorable, innocent, full of energy, creative, and sentimental. She was such a great representation of a used-to-be drama nerd grown up to be a successful drama nerd.
Alex was so interesting. A nice, popular guy who Reagan thought was stuck up in high school, but it turns out he was just a good person who didn't know how to make some if his mishaps right.
Add in swapping apologies for dates and you have the absolute sweetest, melt-your-heart, Christian romance. It's books like these that help me to not even miss the Hallmark Christmas movie marathons I used to enjoy.
Content Warnings:
a couple of non-detailed kisses
A Return to Hawthorne House by Kristi Ann Hunter
4.5 STARS, 2 Regency Christian Novellas, My format: e-book
Goodreads Synopsis | Buy on BookShop
The first novella follows Duchess Hawthorne as she becomes Lady Blackstone. The second follows two of Lord Trent’s servants as he plays matchmaker.
Personal Review:
It feels good to have read every single Kristi Ann Hunter book. These novellas were like a sweet little cherry on top of a very elaborate sundae of regency novels. I enjoyed the two very different stories - the one of a stubborn widow finding love for the second time, as well as the one of young crushes turning to love. I very much appreciated seeing Lord Trent in both of the stories and enjoyed Miranda's antics in the first one.
Content Warnings:
none
The Sheriff’s Guilty Bride (Hope House Brides #2) by Malory Ford
4 STARS, Historical Christian Romance, My format: YouTube audiobook
Goodreads Synopsis | YouTube Audio
Liam takes his turn at requesting a bride from Hope House and gets to know and love Mara as a result.
Personal Review:
This was another cute and sweet read from Malory Ford. The YT audio was a little difficult to get into even though I enjoyed the story. But I'm enjoying the town and learning more about the Hope House that the mail-order brides are coming from. The woman who sends them each off with a wedding dress is adorable.
Perfect for a short, sweet romance audiobook. I again felt comfortable listening to this with my girls passing through the room.
Content Warnings:
claustrophobia, panic attacks
Have you read any of these books? Do any sound interesting to you?