Dear Santa - Debbie Macomber

Dear Santa by Debbie Macomber
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I've long wanted to read a Debbie Macomber book. This might not have been a great choice for my first. Or perhaps I'm just not the right reader for her books.

In Dear Santa, Lindy returns home for the holidays after a rough year on both a personal and a career front. After reviewing letters she wrote to Santa as a child, she decides to write another letter to Santa this year. Will this this new letter be answered in the same ways her childhood letters were?

I think that I just wasn't in the mood for the sacchrine sweetness of this book. So I think my rating and review are probably more a refleciton of me at the time and not necessarily the book. However, the book itself had issues with inconsistencies and a lot of redundant information (sometimes even the exact phrasing). The pacing of the story overall was off - weird time jumps and other parts that dragged. Hopefully some of these things were taken care of in a final edit (I was reading an advanced review copy).

I wanted to like Lindy, and maybe I did. She just wasn't as fully developed as I would have liked. None of the characters were, but I at least hoped to have a more complete main character. The romance part was okay. Quick but understandable.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an advanced copy to read and review. All opinions are my own.

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Comfort & Joy - Krisitin Hannah

Comfort & Joy by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Joy Candellaro is not feeling the Christmas spirit at all this year. A recent divorce and estrangement from her sister just has her wanting to avoid it all. An impromptu trip ends in disaster. Or does it?
Oh, this book. I wanted to love it. But I couldn’t. It was awful. Or perhaps the problem was me. I just expected too much out of my love for Kristin Hannah’s The Great Alone. Wow. Has she come a long way as an author since this book.
I expect to have to suspend some disbelief in my Christmas book reading. It’s a magical season and the books written for the season tend to have elements of magic or at least far-fetchedness in them. But this one was just beyond. I don’t think I have the capability to suspend my disbelief to the extent this story requires.
Then there were the more technical aspects of the book that drove me batty. The timing was off several times in the book. And the inconsistencies were crazy. I realize that some of the inconsistencies were due to the belief suspension elements. But some were just there because they weren’t caught in editing.
The character of Bobby grated on my nerves in so many ways. The way he was written, he acted and talked like he was a lot younger than 8. Perhaps that was due to the trauma he experienced. But even so, that was just a couple months prior. So I can’t see it being a full explanation. And that fact no one was concerned about him not being able to read at 8. What was that all about? He was just poorly written, I felt.
Had it not been a book for book club, I probably would have quit by page 50. I have some other of Hannah’s earlier books in my TBR list and piles. I hope they’re better than this one.

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Snowflakes & Coffee Cakes - Joanne DeMaio

I can't believe I didn't post this review on here when I read the book back in December.  It was a book club book, and my book club enjoyed my candid review.  :)

Genre:  Fiction; Christmas; Chick Lit

Pages:  209 pages

Publishing Date:  October 15, 2013

Rating:  1 out of 5 stars on Goodreads

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Reluctant to leave her cherished New England hometown after her sister's winter wedding, former journalist Vera Sterling makes a sudden decision. She takes what's left of her severance pay and invests it in real estate ... in one particular drafty colonial home and old timber barn set upon the pretty banks of Addison Cove. In that rough-hewn barn, she discovers a secret treasure left behind by the previous owner, the proprietor of the long-forgotten Christmas Barn gift shop.
While restoring her run-down, wood-sided home--its creaking floors, broken banister, and neglected widow's walk--that secret slowly unfolds like a bit of snowflake wonder, crystallizing hopes and dreams for many in this small Connecticut town. But mostly for Derek Cooper whose own tragic story has headlined Addison's news. And whom Vera has come to love.
When the first snowstorm hits during Derek's annual Deck the Boats Festival at the cove, residents become stranded. It is then up to Vera to not only bring the town together, but to mend one man's heart she fears she may have lost.
Snowflakes and Coffee Cakes is a heartwarming story, one that reminds us to look to winter's stars. Because snowflakes can grant very special wishes ... if only we believe

My Thoughts:

I loathed this book. I would have quit it was it not a book for book club. I generally don’t finish and review a book that I dislike this much. But, alas, book club. 
I do wonder if my negative reaction to it was based on me being too cynical. Or just the wrong book at the wrong time. Both those things are possible. So perhaps take my review with a grain of salt. 
I was looking forward to this book. I like cozy Christmas tales. Both the title and premise were cute. Unfortunately, it didn’t go past that for me. 
The storyline was disjointed and jumpy throughout. I could get no clear sense of time – how much had passed, one event in relation to previous events, etc. – unless it was specifically stated. Otherwise the timeline was confusing, especially as many section breaks were present when there wasn’t a change of scene or anything. The voice of the whole book just seems off. I kept checking verb tenses to see if that was the issue. I don’t think it was. There was just no consistency or flow. 
I didn’t like any of the main characters. Okay, maybe I could have liked Vera’s sister, Brooke, if she were more developed. They were just all so…I don’t know. Their motivations were beyond me and their musings boring. Was Vera so clueless and unaware of her surroundings that she really needed warnings to see dogs and people that were right in front of her? Could Derek be any more sullen and withdrawn? He blows hot and cold while Vera just hangs on, chasing him around. The characters don’t even talk in real ways. 
Then there is the suspension of disbelief required for so many scenarios. It was presented that Addison was a small town. But no one knows anyone else? And Vera hadn’t ever come home or talked to any of her family in the past 5 years to know what a big deal Deck the Boat is to the whole town? And let’s talk about how Derek has been working on Vera’s house for months yet she doesn’t have his phone number until she goes over to his apartment. How in the world does Vera come across the article on the daughter when searching for Christmas trolley information? There is never indication there is a connection between the two at all. So, it would be weird for that article to show up with Christmas trolley search terms.
Overall, there was too much introspection – of all the characters. Introspection on snowflakes and winter and stars and…everything. The analogies and metaphors were over the top as well – eye roll inducing.
The book stated it was her “red plaid pea coat” EVERY SINGLE TIME Vera put on or had on her coat. Absolutely like nails on a chalkboard for me.
But, hey, a lot of people *really* liked this book. In fact, most in my book club rated it 3 or 4 stars (I would have said -5 but 1 is as low as Goodreads goes). So, don’t take my word for it. Read some more reviews…or just read the book. You might like it even though I didn’t.

The Christmas Wedding - James Patterson & Richard DiLallo

Synopsis from B&N: The tree is decorated, the cookies are baked, and the packages are wrapped, but the biggest celebration this Christmas is Gaby Summerhill's wedding. Since her husband died three years ago, Gaby's four children have drifted apart, each consumed by the turbulence of their own lives. They haven't celebrated Christmas together since their father's death, but when Gaby announces that she's getting married—and that the groom will remain a secret until the wedding day—she may finally be able to bring them home for the holidays.

This was pure fluff. Which sometimes (more times than not) I’m okay with. I guess I just expected more from James Patterson.

Gaby is a likeable character but nothing special. Her family all has issues (drug abuse, job loss, major medical issues) but, for some reason, those things are all glossed over. They’re not dealt with in any semblance of a realistic way.

The “mystery” groom was really no surprise.

I do have to say, I read the large print version. And sometimes I like to do that because then I feel like I’m making progress faster.

But can I talk about the cover? The bride on the cover is wearing a traditional wedding gown and doesn’t even look like she is near 50 years old. Gripe.

If you’re looking for a good Christmas read, I’m sure there are better ones out there.

A Chritmas Carol and Other Christmas Stories - Charles Dickens

I’m sure that most of us are familiar with A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. That was our December book club book. Some of us had read it before; others had not. We all professed a love for the Muppet version.


That being said, I was not aware that Dickens had written two other “Christmas” stories. They were included in my book and are entitled The Chimes and The Holly Tree. And, after muddling through them, I see why they’re not well known.

While I enjoy Dickens’s imagery in A Christmas Carol and can make it through some of the drearier parts because I know what’s coming, The Chimes was just plain creepy. I have no understanding of what the point really was and what the moral was (if there happened to be one). And it was far creepier than Marley’s ghost.

The Holly Tree wasn’t as creepy (although there was mention of murderous inn keepers) but was kind of just a nice story.

Over all, I would say the “Other Christmas Stories” were quite the disappointment. However, A Christmas Carol is always a good read.