As I’m still working on writing up the reviews for the Christmas books I’ve read this year, I thought I’d just do a post sort of ranking them. They’re all very different and no doubt will appeal to different tastes, but you can read more of my thoughts in the full reviews, which, I’m hoping, I’ll be able to get up this week.
Mistletoe at the Manor & The Truth About Elves
Rating: 2/5 Stars
I was so excited for both of these, but unfortunately they just didn’t hit the right mark for me. Mistletoe at the Manor was my last Christmas book for the year, and compared to the others I’d read, I didn’t connect to the characters nearly as much as I would have liked. The Truth About Elves had similar issues, though in a very different story – I just didn’t really care about the characters we were following.
Christmas with Hamish
Rating: 3/5 Stars
I was all set to absolutely fall in love with this book, but the characters just weren’t interesting enough. The dogs were cute, but everything else felt a little too rigid. There was nothing that truly compelled me to care much about Verity, and Nikau was just really bland. Some of the scenes nicely hit that sweet factor, but the majority of it fell a little flat.
Christmas at Honeyford
Rating: 4/5 Stars
I really liked this one. It’s lovely to see a single mum as a heroine, and Tess really does everything she can for her son. It felt very different to Mistletoe, where Beth is also a single mother but doesn’t seem to be as involved. Sam is an artist and TV celebrity who, after being publicly humiliated, goes to Honeyford to try and avoid the spotlight, and hopefully reconnect with his creative side. These were characters I really liked, and it’s has that real sense of community often found in small town romances.
Humbug & #TheLeftoverBride
Rating: 5/5 Stars
I really liked both of these. Likeable characters, circumstances that don’t feel too contrived, and chemistry. It’s that additional spark that pushes a 4 Star into a 5 Star for me, and these two definitely had that. Humbug was more about Christmas than #TheLeftoverBride, but if you’re planning out your reading for next year, these two might just be worth it.
Unwrapping Words 