I'm back with more reviews for you! I finished my reread of Harry Potter at the end of the year, and throughout that reread, I didn't do book reviews since I'd already read the books. Instead I wrote a post about new things I learned or noticed. But now I'm back to my typical reviews. I hope these help you pick your next read! Why I picked itI got A Season to Celebrate by Fern Michaels last year for Christmas from my husband's grandmother. I waited until the Christmas season to read it, because I'm a strict believer in the "no Christmas before Thanksgiving" rule, and it turned out to be a pretty good read for the Holiday season! summaryA Season to Celebrate is an anthology of four stories, each with the themes of Christmas and love. In Christmas Homecoming by Fern Michaels, an Air Force soldier comes back home and meets the new single mom in his small Texas town. An Unexpected Gift by Kate Pierce follows a father who's made his share of mistakes in life and is just thankful that his kids didn't follow in his footsteps, or grow to hate him for what he did. When a lifelong friend runs into some trouble, Billy Morgan is ready to help. Donna Kauffman's Christmas in Blue Hollows Falls, a young woman with a freshly broken heart starts to fall for yet another cute guy with an accent. Though she doesn't want to make the same mistakes again, he helps her start allowing herself to make decisions outside of the original plan she had for her life. And lastly, Holiday Homerun by Priscilla Oliveras follows an immigrant from Puerto Rico who refuses to get in a relationship with baseball players because her brothers' games and baseball careers always came before her and she's ready for a change. Yet when an injured player and philanthropist sets his sights on her, she finds it hard to not fall for him. what I likedI really enjoyed the anthology. I honestly can't remember if I've ever read an anthology before…But I liked the shorter stories that all followed the same themes. And the short stories were perfect for the holiday season when Corgan and I were traveling a lot. It made it pretty easy for me to read a story every couple of days and get through it quickly, and since they were short, I didn't have to remember too much of the plot when I was busy or didn't have time to read for a couple of days. Out of the four, I think my favorite was Holiday Homerun. I felt like the story was relatable in the fact that I know quite a few women who, early in life, said they would "never date a…" - you fill in the blank (for my family and friends, it was often "I'll never date a farmer!"). Then they find the perfect man who just happens to be… a farmer. Or a baseball player. Or whatever that occupation was that she was so adamant against. I feel like when we grow up in one setting, though we may dislike portions of that life and not want to live the same way we did growing up, we still gravitate toward those things because it's what we know (also, I think God just has a sense of humor). I've got to give it to the authors, because even in the short hundred pages or less of each of their stories, they were able to pack a lot in! I was able to follow genuine and believable characters with real problems who had to personally develop throughout the story. what I didn't likeThat being said, I'm going to be honest and say that reading these stories was very similar to watching Hallmark Christmas movies. For many, Hallmark Christmas movies are ridiculously cheesy and oh-so-predictable. Yet, despite those often-used characteristics, there are a lot of people out there who consider Hallmark movies a guilty pleasure (yes, I am one of these people). I'd say these stories are the equivalent, just in book form! So if you aren't a fan of cheesiness or want something a little more…well…realistic than a Hallmark romance, this book is not for you. Overall Impression 🌟🌟🌟I give this book 3/5 stars. It was definitely a nice winter-y read, perfect for the holiday season, especially with the different short stories that made up the anthology. But I'm just not sure if I'm going to pick this book up again any time soon. I guess time will tell, but for now: 3 stars, liked it, may not read again.
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AuthorJust sharing my passion of reading through my passion of writing. Archives
May 2020
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