Here at Chapter Break, we don’t always write a full review of every book we read. Well, now we decided to do these monthly wrap-up posts with roundups of our reviews this month and mini-reviews to fill in the gaps. Enjoy!
Mini Book Reviews
Santa’s Magical Key: No Chimney? No Problem! What a sweet children’s book for Christmas – especially for those in different housing situations. The myth of Santa always coming down the chimney to deliver gifts has been expanded in a lovely rhyming book with gorgeous illustrations. The rhyme follows a familiar and dear cadence of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” and even starts out with that sentence. Then the story tells us all the ways Santa can deliver gifts, and you don’t even need a chimney. You see, Santa has a magical key that lets him in anywhere! Even at a family member’s house – you don’t even have to be home. This is perfect for military families who move around a lot, and families who travel far to visit loved ones as we do over the holidays.
CHARM (Crave #5): Dang the long books! I’ll be lucky if I finish two books this month! Anywho. I definitely have feelings about this book! Chronologically, this should fall between book #1 and book #2. Yet, here we are, in release position #5. I’m not really sure what the whole point of that was? Sure, the epilogue clears up why we are reading this now. But that doesn’t mean I understand it any better. More chapters of Grace learning the truth about herself were not needed. I did appreciate how Grace and Hudson’s relationship develops over the course of this novel. And no whiney Jaxy Waxy is ok by me. I have other questions about the shadow realm though, like how do they have water bottles and electricity to charge Grace’s phone, but no cars? And why is everything purple? I’m all for purple don’t get me wrong. But I don’t think I’d want to live in a purple world. 3 1/2 stars for me. I didn’t hate it. Actually enjoyed more from Hudson’s POV. But also maybe I built it up too much? I keep going back to reading this book AFTER everything that took place in the previous 4 books.
HOMECOMING KING: Did I spend the entire day not moving from my couch reading this? Yes. Did I feel moderately guilty for not being productive. Kind of? I certainly enjoyed reading it, which mitigated some of the guilt. Cute holiday-ish romance. Gives us a good lesson where speaking your wants is crucial in a relationship. I appreciated Abby’s craftiness and Rex’s match making. My only complaint is that I could have used less repeated descriptions of how tall Abby is and how big Rex is. I got it the first time. Though this didn’t really detract from my enjoyment of the book!
The Lady and the Highwayman: I found this clever and original. Both characters are authors of Penny Dreadful novels and the author went so far as to include novels ‘by the characters’ in this book. It’s a 3 for 1 deal! Though, I will say it took me a few chapters to figure that out! There might have been more clues in the book than the audio. The class distinction between Elizabeth and Fletcher is noted, but luckily not an impediment to their relationship. Both mystery and romance transpire in the plot. Overall, enjoyable!
Books we reviewed this month:
- [3 Nov] Liberty Bell and the Last American by James Stoddard ★★★★
- [11 Nov] Targeted: Three Romantic Suspense Novellas by Lynette Eason, Lynn H. Blackburn, Natalie Walters ★★★★★
- [22 Nov] Connected - Discovering Your Inner Guides by Seema Desai, James Ballance ★★★★
- [28 Nov] The Aquamarine Surfboard by Kellye Abernathy ★★★★★
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Have a great December reading month.
Snapdragon recently posted…Character Stereotypes I don’t like in fiction
The book about Santa’s magical key looks charming, and perfect for so many families during the holidays! Happy Reading!