#christmas read

[shesamreads]

Clumsy? Limbs sometimes do what they want? Flighty, but can hyper-focus like a motherfucker?

Sounds like Louisa has ADHD.

#SheSamReads #A Court of Sugar and Spice #Rebecca F. Kenny #Holiday Read #Christmas Read #The Nutcracker #Romance #Fiction #Retelling

[ash-and-books]

Rating:5/5

Book Blurb: Newly single lawyer Gwen Baker is hoping that a family Christmas—countryside, a mountain of food and festive films—will salve the sting of her career hanging by a thread and her heart being trampled on. Because everyone else has their life sorted: even Dev, her boy-next-door crush, is now a tall, dark and handsome stranger with a fiancée. She can’t help wishing her future was clearer.Then Gwen wakes up to discover it’s Christmas day all over again. Like Groundhog Day but with eggnog. And family arguments. On repeat.As she figures out how to escape her own particular Christmas hell, Dev is the one bright spot. He might be all grown-up but underneath he’s just as kind and funny as she remembers.Maybe, just maybe, her heart can be mended after all.But how do you fall in love with someone who can’t remember you from one day to the next?

Review:

Groundhogs day except make it Christmas. Gwen Baker is newly single lawyer and hoping that this holiday with her family will heal her... especially since her career is hanging on by a thread and her heart has been broken. When Gwen finds out that her boyfriend cheated on her with his receptionist and then proceeded to kick her out of their house things are not looking great.... and then there was the incident at work that has her on leave.... so spending time with her family in the countryside with beautiful mountains, festive food, and movies should be a great time right? Things take a turn for the worse when she wakes up to discover that she’s repeating Christmas day all over again... and again... and again. Now she has to  grant everyone’s wishes until she figures out whose’s wish will help her wake up to the next day. Throw in old family drama, a super cute neighbor ( who just happens to be your childhood crush). secrets, and so much fun and what you get is an excellent Christmas read! Seriously, I adored this one and think it’ll be the perfect book to add to your Christmas TBR!

*Thanks Netgalley and Harper 360, HarperCollins for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

#book review #bookish #book #christmas read #christmas romance

[heloisedaphnebrightmore]

Tis the Season for Revenge by Morgan Elizabeth

‘Heloise the book addict’ masterlist | Heloise’s map 

★★☆☆☆ — 2/5 stars

If you enjoyed this book, I’m happy for you, but for me, it was disappointing. I was heavily debating a 3-star rating, because 2 stars felt wrong, but I can’t give it 3 stars if I look at how much of the book I didn’t enjoy. You can also check my reading updates where I commented on specific parts of the book mid-reading.

What I expected: Revenge (see the title), pettiness, creativity, spiteful behaviour, cosy little romance, Christmas vibes, Legally Blonde type of story and an FMC similar to Elle Woods. 

What I got: Loads of “telling” not showing, mediocre romance, unnatural conversations, unnecessary and bland spicy scenes, cringy dirty talk, unmoving plot, not so intelligent FMC (Don’t you dare compare her to Elle Woods), whining, non-existent character “development”, a “mind-reader” MMC, insta-lust and insta-love.

What I liked: — The idea behind the revenge plot. — Kat, one of the side characters/best friends. — The ex (Richard), I hated him, but he was consistent and well-written as a terrible person. — The constant reassurance of equality between partners. — The (very few) sweet and romantic moments between characters.

What I didn’t like: — The execution of the revenge plot, in which the characters literally discussed their petty actions, aka what they have done to FMC (Abigail)’s ex, as they were remembering back to the day, basically in the form of telling, not showing. 

— The friendship. Both Kat and FMC knew Cami had issues but ignored it for years which even they admitted, so I guess kudos for that. 

— The mediocre romance and spice. At some point I wondered if I was reading Erotica because of the frequency of the spicy scenes which, of course, didn’t drive the already bland plot, rather felt like filling. And the romance was very mild, I expected more romance, less shagging, to actually see them grow closer, but that didn't happen. They did the deed and then fell in love somewhere.

— The plot was supposed to be revenge turned romance, but it was just constant exchange of bodily fluids. As I said above, where did they fall in love? When did the feelings grow? 

— The dirty talk was cringy, it didn’t sound like the MMC was a 42 year old adult, rather a horny teenager. This, specifically, bothered me to the point I skimmed through the spicy scenes. It wasn’t attractive.

— The mind-reader aspect of the MMC and useless FMC. No communication, literally MMC had to pull each and every little bits out of FMC. Which I would have understood if it was only at the beginning, but it was a constant issue throughout the story. This would have been a good way to show FMC opening up and initiating real communication, but no, MMC had the weight of the whole plot on his shoulder, and he didn’t even know about it.

— The constant reassurance the FMC needed. It’s not healthy to move on so quickly after a 4 year long relationship, nor is it okay to not see the forest from the tree for 4 years. I get it, there are people like that, it is a real thing, but it was incredibly... frustrating.

— The conversation between characters felt incredibly unnatural most of the time. 

— The writing style literally brought me out of the zone and confused me. As characters were in mid-conversation, it literally cut off so the FMC could have a one and a half page long thought process about something that happened the day before. By the time she went back to continue the conversation, I forgot what the conversation was about and with who. 

— Lastly, the name-mentions drove me crazy from the MMC. Naranja, I understood, because it was significant, but “baby” and “babe” were mentioned a total of 66 and 13 times. At one point, 7 times on one single page. Rubia was mentioned a total of 43 times whilst Naranja was mentioned a total of 23 times. To add to that, her name, Abigail, was mentioned a total of 65 times and that is after I have removed every part where he was thinking about her or talked to someone about her. So, to sum it up, the MMC used nicknames a total of 145 times and her name a total of 65 times, repeating these words a total of 210 times... too repetitive for my taste. You can ask a question or reply to something without calling someone on a nickname or their name. It's not that hard. 

Overall, this book just wasn't for me.  (Ignore my grammar mistakes, I'm exhausted...)

#heloise reads #heloise the book addict #morgan elizabeth #tis the season for revenge #bookish #books #reading #bookblr #booktwt #booktok #bookstagram #contemporary romance #christmas read #spicy #smut

[juiche]

a moment of peace before the whole world shatters 😇

#do you ever cry while touching your pinky to a strand of your besties unruly hair #I call this aesthetic “warm angst” :'D #geto taking the pining to the next level #I imagine this takes place after the big village event #but before gojo finds out about it #just geto taking a moment to say his farewell to the life as he knew it #christmas present for my satosugu obsessed buddy @kymsys who lovingly made me read the manga at gunpoint. I hate you (affectionately) ❤️ #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #satosugu #stsg #satosugu fanart #stsg fanart #gojo satoru #geto suguru #jjk fanart #anime #fanart #digital art #art #artwork #gojo fanart #geto fanart

[cemeterything]

are we still doing this because i have a late submission

#🐉 #this is less about fan content and more about that awful lazy one size fits all #'10 years later theyre happily married with a cute little nuclear family' trope #because ive read some genuinely incredible fics about characters who would Not fucking have kids #ending up with accidental pregnancy scares or child acquisitions that get treated with all the nuance #and thoughtful handling they deserve #but also. i reread one of my favourite fics yesterday and when one character jokingly brought up the idea of children #and the other reacted with genuine visceral disgust and said what hideously awful parents theyd be #i lit up like a fucking christmas tree

[lunaslittlelibrary]

The Twelve Days of Murder by Andreina Cordani

Find the truth. Solve the murder. Never reveal your secret. Twelve years ago, eight friends ran an exclusive group at The Murder Masquerade Society. The mysteries they solved may have been grisly, but they were always fictional – until their final Christmas puzzle, when one of the group disappeared, never to be seen again. Now, the remaining members receive an invitation to a reunion masquerade,…

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#Andreina Cordani #Christmas read #cosy muder mystery #murder mystery #recommend #The Twelve Days of Murder

[booksteacupandreviews]

Faking Christmas by Kerry Winfrey - Heartwarming and Fluffy Christmas romance

Faking Christmas is a delightful, heartwarming, entertaining, and fluffy Christmas romance with hate-to-love and fake marriage tropes. Faking Christmas Other Books I read by the Same Author –SynopsisReview of Faking ChristmasGet Faking Christmas Here Faking Christmas by Kerry Winfrey Publication Date : September 26, 2023 Publisher : Berkley Read Date : October 9, 2023 Genre : Romcom /…

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#Berkley Books #Book Blog #book blog feature #Book blogger #Book review #book review blog #Books Teacup and Reviews #Christmas read #fake marriage trope #Faking Christmas #forced proximity trope #hate to love trope #Holiday Romance #Indian Book Blogger #Kerry Winfrey #reviewer

[libertyreads]

Book Review #79 of 2023--

Snowed In for Christmas by Sarah Morgan. Rating: 3 stars.

Read from June 17th to 19th.

Christmas in July June is still making so much progress. There’s actually a small glimmer of hope that I’ll be able to read every book I put on my TBR for this year’s Christmas in July. Is my goal to read fewer books in the year of 2023 shot to hell now? Yes. Of course it is. But I’m never going to regret reading a bunch of Christmas books right at the start of summer. I need something to help me survive until Christmas time. Now, about this book... I went into it expecting a holiday romance, but I would argue that this isn’t a holiday romance. It’s definitely a book that takes place at Christmas and it definitely has romantic pairings (all of the siblings in this family end up paired up by the end of the book), but the romance was so lack luster in this one. I feel like this is General Fiction with small doses of romance. And it just happens to take place in the lead up to Christmas which means reading about Christmas traditions and the decor but not a lot more than that.

This has actually been one of my favorite Christmas in July June reads that I’ve enjoyed the most so I’m really not trying to rag on it too much. Something that I felt the author did really well was the characters. Everyone felt unique and realistic for me. They all had their own backstories, their own problems, their own motivations. And they all had their own ways of dealing with a nosy grandma and a mom that couldn’t help but interfering. And there is definitely a Christmas vibe to the story. In nearly every chapter we hear about this charming cabin they end up snowed in at and we see them get into the Christmas spirit by doing some Christmas baking or talking about Christmases past. That was all a lot of fun and it really made me want to go to a cabin for Christmas.

The way this one was written was a bit much for me. I’ve never been a fan of General Fiction. Here it felt like the author was trying to do too much in too few pages. We were focused on the family as a whole instead of following two specific characters. So all of the romances felt too quick (three couples getting together and/or fixing a relationship while other plot lines worked themselves out around them) and, while all the characters were distinct, it felt like it softened their edges a little too much. This writing style just isn’t for me so I can’t really blame the author for that. I’ll just have to avoid reading any more of their books in the future since I know it doesn’t really click with me.

Overall, I would give this book 3 stars, the romance 2 stars, and the Christmassiness of it all 3 poinsettias.

#book review #book reviews #snowed in for Christmas #Sarah Morgan #books read in 2023 #2023 reading challenge #goodreads challenge #goodreads #booklr #bookblr #bookstagram #bookish #christmas in july #christmas in june #christmas book #christmas books #christmas reads #christmas read

[lotus-pear]

"i haven't worked you like a dog yet, as promised"

#merry christmas bsdumblr i'm a little late #here's my present to you all #okayyy queer.. that's enough.. you've only known this boy for what.. two days? #OLD ART STYLE OH MY GOD HOW IVE MISSED YOU😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 #i actually haven't read the fifteen manga yet i think i should go do that #anyway hoshikawa fed us well fr best christmas present i could've asked for #bungou stray dogs #bungo stray dogs #bsd #chuuya nakahara #nakahara chuuya #dazai osamu #osamu dazai #soukoku #skk #lotus draws

[oh-gh0st]

i heart these rivals so much. maybe they'll kill each other. maybe they'll kiss. maybe they'll make ou

#ghost's doodles #lego monkie kid #lmk #shadowpeach #lmk sun wukong #lmk macaque #sun wukong #six eared macaque #love how these two show how different my art tends to be. either wholesome cute stuff or Absolute shitposts #i need them to do stuff to each other Really bad you guys have no idea #on another note for those who read these tags: i am making shadowpeach plushies #who knows how long those will take... but im sure i can get everything patterned right before they come in after new years #im so freaking excited!!!! #merry christmas btw. shadowpeach fans get a tasty treat lol #also the second shadowpeach was in ref to a twit trend going around. it got 2k+ likes..................

[vulcan-moon]

happy holidays from garfield and miku (:

#my art #digital art #fanart #garfield #miku #hatsune miku #vocaloid #garfposting #christmas #originally planned to print these as cards for friends but uhhhhh #depression hit read bad bc this is the first christmas im spending all alone #and its a Very bad time of year for me lol #so i just did not finish it until today #and its too late to get cards printed now so #yeah #anyway enjoy lol #portfolio

[michalsstoryadventures]

Resting Scrooge Face

Started reading: December 15, 2022

Finished reading: January 7, 2023

My rating: 5 stars

(Spoilers below the cut, so proceed with caution!)

This story was a little slow to start, and I was a little confused how the story would go with the description. It became clearer in the first chapter, as opposed to the introduction.

I picked this up because I wanted to read a Christmas romance, and it definitely delivered. Two people who seemingly hate Christmas are in the same small town, surrounded by people who love the season and want them to be a part of the holiday cheer festivities. These two are adamant in their hatred of Christmas, however, and it’s only exacerbated by the other’s presence in town. Honestly, this screams Hallmark movie.

The pair send each other anonymous letters signed “Resting Scrooge Face” and “Ho Ho No.” The mailman delivers their letters, and he’s the only one (seemingly!) who knows the real identities of the two parties involved.

The chapters are brief and have some concentrated action and dialogue. However, the places where we can read the letters the pair are actually sending each other tend to be slower. It got to the point in one particular chapter that I had to set it aside and stop reading for a bit. It never got to the point where I got turned off by either of these, so it felt like I could keep reading.

By the end, I was absolutely in love with the story. It was worth having to trudge through a sort of slow introduction and long string of letters. 

Honestly, what sealed the deal for me was when she asked to meet “Resting Scrooge Face.” AND HE AGREES!!! But she doesn’t find out until after she (Nola/Ho Ho No) runs into him (Caleb/Resting Scrooge Face) where he works at his dad’s hardware store. He shows up at her doorstep with the paint she wanted (after dropping it and spilling it all over himself AND the floor), offers to help her paint, and refuses to take no for an answer. He’s kind and cordial throughout the time, even making her reminisce about the past. They just open up to each other and joke around. It’s really sweet. When Caleb leaves, Nola is torn because she realizes she’s really catching feelings for Caleb again while already having feelings for Resting Scrooge Face.

It was at the hardware store that Caleb realized that Nola was Ho Ho No, when she handed the distinct gold envelop to Arden, the town’s mailman. Hence why he drops the can of paint he struggled to open to mix for Nola. Arden waits for Caleb to clean up, mix a new paint can for Nola, and write a response. The response comes to Nola while she and Caleb are painting in her house she’s renovating.

This story was similar to You’ve Got Mail, one of my absolute favorite movies, and I think that’s why I enjoyed this story so much. Like, I loved that Caleb found out who she was first, not unlike Joe Fox, and I love that both Joe and Caleb work to get the woman they want to fall for them by essentially not taking no for an answer. Joe keeps popping up around Kathleen and keeps the interactions lighthearted and fun (more or less). Caleb spends the time painting with Nola talking and joking with her, leading to some vulnerability. And both Nola and Kathleen are torn between who they want more and are relieved when it’s Caleb/Joe.

Not to mention the little twist at the end ;)

If you read this, let me know what you think/thought by replying to this post!

#spoilers #finished reading #2023 reading challenge #christmas read #short story #book rec #bookworm #book recommendations #book journaling #book review #kindle reading

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 5/5

Book Blurb: Thanks to her thriving art career, Miriam Blum finally has her decoupaged glitter ducks in a row—until devastating news forces her to a very unwanted family reunion. Her beloved great-aunt Cass has passed and left Miriam part-owner of Carrigan’s, her (ironically) Jewish-run Christmas tree farm. But Miriam’s plans to sit shiva, avoid her parents, then put Carrigan’s in her rearview mirror are spoiled when she learns the business is at risk of going under. To have any chance at turning things around, she’ll need to work with the farm’s grumpy manager—as long as the attraction sparking between them doesn’t set all their trees on fire first. Noelle Northwood wants Miriam Blum gone—even if her ingenious ideas and sensitive soul keep showing Noelle there’s more to Cass’s niece than meets the eye. But saving Carrigan’s requires trust, love, and risking it all—for the chance to make their wildest dreams come true.

Review:

A artist with a traumatic past returns home to her family after her beloved relative died... only to discover romance and an inheritance she never expected. Miriam Blum is just about to open up her own store, after striving and slowly building up her career as an artist she’s finally going to have her own store. However, just as she is getting ready to open she receives devastating news, her beloved great-aunt Cass has passed away and left Miriam part-owner of Carrigan’s, her (ironically) Jewish-run Christmas tree farm. Miriam’s plan is to just sit shiva, avoid her parents, and then leave Carrigan to the other co-owners.... except things never go as planned. Miriam has been away from her family for 10 years, after finally escaping the abuse of her father and her emotionally distant father. She is now forced to face all her old emotional hurts... as well as the happy memories as well. Along the way she meets Noelle Northwood, the grumpy farm manager who wants nothing more than to get Miriam out. Despite the sparks between Noelle and Miriam, both of them start off on the wrong foot as Noelle believes that Miriam doesn’t deserve all the love from her family as she ran away from them for 10 years and she doesn’t want Miriam invading her space... and yet the more they both get to know each other the more they begin to soften to each other and fall. both Miriam and Noelle have complicated lives and past hurts, but working together to keep the farm going and to create a future for this Christmas Businesses both of them will begin to fall for one another. This was a sweet and super cute fun Christmas rom-com. I had so much fun reading it and think it’s just absolutely adorable.

*Thanks Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing), Forever for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

#book review #bookish #book #christmas read #christmas book #christmas rom com #christmas in july #christmas book rec #lgbtq reads #lgbtq books #sapphic books #sapphic rom com

[pencilscratchins]

whats more powerful, the metaphysical force of all space time or two besties with one braincell [ID in alt]

#doctordonna #doctor who #14th doctor #donna noble #fan art #my art #art #my fan art #long time no post huh?! #im getting back into things #i have 2 jobs went through a break up now im just trying to find any time for things i enjoy #and what i enjoy right now? #doctor who christmas special #YEAH THIS IS PRETTY TOPICAL #read: from almost 2 months ago lmao

[expelliarmus]

#mine #doctor who #dwedit #david tennant #matt smith #peter capaldi #ncuti gatwa #karen gillan #arthur darvill #🫡 #2 gifsets today to make up for me not being able to make any yesterday!! #i think i'm just only gonna be giffing from the giggle until the christmas special is out lol #ok now do i have time to watch the pjo episodes before going to sleep... #OR do i finish reading the star beast and then start on wild blue yonder #DECISIONS #good night friends!!!

[aiweirdness]

dalle3 will help you learn the reindeer

"Please generate a grid with illustrations of each of Santa's reindeer on plain white backgrounds, with the name of each reindeer printed clearly below it."

#ai generated #dalle3 #chatgpt #christmas #reindeer #if you read out the small text beneath each name you will read their True Names and summon them