Alaskan Holiday by Debbie Macomber

Publication: October 2, 2018

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Source: Publisher

Synopsis:

An uplifting Christmas tale, set in the Alaskan wilderness, about finding love where it's least expected--from the #1 New York Times bestselling author who's one of America's most beloved storytellers. 

Before beginning her new job as sous chef at one of Seattle's finest restaurants, Josie Stewart takes on a six-month position cooking at a lodge in an Alaskan lake town. It's only temporary--or so she thinks, as she becomes a valued part of the local community, falling in love with the people who call the Klutina Lake home. But one man, in particular, stands out among Josie's new friends: Palmer Saxon, a quiet, intense sword craftsman, whose very existence forces her to question whether her heart wants to return to Washington at all.

******

Palmer, a master swordsmith who lives in Ponder Alaska is contemplating settling down. He is quickly approaching his thirties and feels that the time might be right to finally find himself a wife. Luckily for him he meets Josie, a sous chef at The Caribou Lake Lodge. However Josie is a native of Seattle and her job in Alaska is temporary an ending soon when the lodge closes for the winter.

Josie is independent and is very dedicated to her work. She loves to cook and is great at taking charge. She manages to score a job working for a very famous chef in Seattle, but while she is waiting to start that job, she’s been in Ponder for six months working at the lodge.

Even though Josie and Palmer seemed cute together, I didn't feel connected to the characters. I would have loved to watch their relationship bloom from their first meeting up until the end of the story. I think because I never got the chance to see the relationship grow, that hindered me from feeling connected to the characters and also from being invested in their relationship/outcome. The romance was okay but it just didn't make me swoon. The author made it seem like Palmer was a little socially awkward, however seeing his interactions with not only Josie but Jack and other townspeople as well, I didn't get that feeling. So the way he proposed to Josie at the beginning of the story seemed slightly out of character, even if he isn't a “romantic". But by the end Palmer redeemed himself in my eyes. Everyone got their happy ending and I was happy. The Epilogue was perfect!

Interesting thing about this story is that it didn't feel very holiday-ish or Christmassy, despite the name. I wouldn't call it a Christmas romance since the holidays are a little glossed over in this story, but it does take place during Thanksgiving and Christmas. Alaskan Holiday is a light and fluffy contemporary romance perfect for readers who enjoy their love stories with HEA endings.

RATING: 2½-3 out of 5.

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Starry Night by Debbie Macomber

Publication: October 08, 2013

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Source: Publisher

’Tis the season for romance, second chances, and Christmas cheer with this new novel from Debbie Macomber. Carrie Slayton, a big-city society-page columnist, longs to write more serious news stories. So her editor hands her a challenge: She can cover any topic she wants, but only if she first scores the paper an interview with Finn Dalton, the notoriously reclusive author. Living in the remote Alaskan wilderness, Finn has written a mega-bestselling memoir about surviving in the wild. But he stubbornly declines to speak to anyone in the press, and no one even knows exactly where he lives. Digging deep into Finn’s past, Carrie develops a theory on his whereabouts. It is the holidays, but her career is at stake, so she forsakes her family celebrations and flies out to snowy Alaska. When she finally finds Finn, she discovers a man both more charismatic and more stubborn than she even expected. And soon she is torn between pursuing the story of a lifetime and following her heart. Filled with all the comforts and joys of Christmastime, Starry Night is a delightful novel of finding happiness in the most surprising places.

So I know that Christmas is officially over, but I still wanted to do a review on the book Starry Night by Debbie Macomber. Every year I say I want to do a review on a Christmas story, but I don’t think I ever do it. This year I actually got to read this book the week of Christmas. It turned out to be a really cute story.

The main character, Carrie Slayton works at a big newspaper writing the society page column. She feels like she can only do this for so long. And she's tired of going to all of the socialite parties with tons fakeness and attitudes of entitlement. She wants to report real stories with real people. So she makes a deal with her boss that if she is able to find the elusive Finn Dalton, a writer who wrote about his Alaskan adventures and she's able to interview Finn, her boss will let her pick her own assignments. Knowing that the chances of her actually finding this guy might be a long shot she takes a challenge anyways. She thinks that maybe she'll be able to other people other reporters have yet to do and she feels pretty confident in herself which I liked.

Finn Dalton is a man's man so to speak. He basically lives out in the middle of nowhere in the Alaskan wilderness. He enjoys the solitude. Being able to live off of the land. He works hard for what he has. But he is also extremely stubborn and has a big problems with seemingly women in general.

As far as the romance goes, it was was an okay romance. They fell in love extremely fast of course seeing as how they only spent less than three days with each other. There were some really cute and sweet moments between Finn and Carrie. Although at times I kind of felt myself rolling my eyes a few times while I was reading the story.  Some parts were a little bit cheesy at least in my opinion, but I still enjoyed reading it. Both Fin and Carrie struggled with their own insecurities and problems a little bit. But I enjoyed seeing them try and work through it. There were some obstacles in their way to true happiness, but that was expected.

All in all Starry Night was a cute and easy read. During the holiday season sometimes you need something cute that will get you in the Christmas spirit and this story fit the bill. Some parts of the story were a little predictable but I still enjoyed reading it.

If you are a fan of Christmas time stories and adorable romances then I would very much recommend Starry Night to you.

RATING: 3½ out of 5.

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Shadow Woman by Linda Howard

From Goodreads:

Lizette Henry wakes up one morning and makes a terrifying discovery: She doesn’t recognize the face she sees in the mirror. She remembers what she looks like, but her reflection is someone else’s. To add to the shock, two years seem to have disappeared from her life. Someone has gone to great and inexplicable lengths to keep those missing years hidden forever. But the past always finds a way to return.

Strange memories soon begin to surface and, along with them, some unusual skills and talents that Lizette hasn’t a clue about acquiring. Sensing that she’s being monitored, Lizette suddenly knows how to search for bugs in her house and tracking devices in her car. What’s more, she can elude surveillance—like a trained agent.

Enter a mysterious and seductive stranger named Xavier, who claims he wants to help—but who triggers disturbing images of an unspeakable crime of which Lizette may or may not be the perpetrator. With memories returning, she suddenly becomes a target of anonymous assassins. On the run with nowhere to hide, Lizette has no choice but to rely on Xavier, a strong and magnetic man she doesn’t trust, with a powerful attraction she cannot resist. As murky waters become clear, Lizette confronts a conspiracy that is treacherous and far-reaching and a truth that, once revealed, may silence her and Xavier once and for all.

**************************************

“Turning back to the mirror, she fought through confusion and terror, studying this new person as though she were an adversary rather than …rather than what? Or, who? This didn’t make sense. Her breathing came in swift, shallow gulps, the sound distant and panicked. What the hell was going on? She didn’t have amnesia. She knew who she was, where she was, remembered her childhood, her friend Diana and her other coworkers, what clothes were in her closet and what she’d planned to wear today. She remembered what she’d had for dinner the night before. She remembered everything, it seemed— except that face. It wasn’t hers.”

-Linda Howard, Shadow Woman: A Novel

What would you do if you did not recognize the person looking back at you in the mirror? One morning Lizette Henry wakes up, takes a shower, and is ready to start her day when she looks into the mirror and does not know the face of the woman staring back at her.

Lizette attempts to figure out the missing pieces of the puzzle. But it is hard because there are two years of her life that are missing from her memory. With the help of Xavier, her ex, she starts to remember some things from her past.  But why and how did Lizette loose her memory in the first place?

What I liked:

Lizette is a tough, determined, and smart woman. It is not easy to get her to back down, and she is willing to do whatever she must in order to find out the truth. Even though Xavier in a relationship with Lizzy at the time, he was still supportive and protective of her. He was willing to help her no matter what. Once Lizzy and Xavier finally came together, it was nice to see how well they worked and interacted with each other. I wasn’t completely sold on their “strong” love connection, but it was nice to see Lizzy and Xavier happy together.

What I didn’t like:

Once Xavier enters the picture, she first thinks that he is out to hurt her, but she quickly starts to remember their past and trusts him completely. (Perhaps a little too quickly for me)  It was a little disappointing that Lizzy and Xavier did not spend very much time together in the story. I wish I could have experienced their journey of falling in love.  The story was told with mostly Lizzy’s POV with Xavier’s POV showing up occasionally along with some other characters to take note of.

Final thoughts:

I have not read any other books from Linda Howard, so I cannot compare this with her earlier works, but Shadow Woman was a book that was easy to read and fun to watch as the events with Lizzy unfolded.

There was a good amount of suspense, twists and turns that I liked. I had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

** I received this book from Random House/ Ballantine Books in exchange for nothing, but my honest review. Thank you!** 

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A Dangerous Inheritance by Alison Weir

“We had none of us girls been born to inherit a crown, and yet it has overshadowed us all our lives— and blighted them. I thought once that it would be a wonderful thing to be a queen, to wield power and wear the coveted diadem— but I know differently now. Tangling with princes rarely brought anyone anything but ill-fortune and grief.” – Alison Weir, A Dangerous Inheritance: A Novel of Tudor Rivals and the Secret of the Tower

A Dangerous Inheritance is a fascinating story told from the alternating points of view of Katherine Grey and Kate Plantagenet. With a time difference of less than 100 years between them; Katherine in the year 1553 and Kate in 1483, these two young royals lives become connected when they try to investigate the mystery of the two miss Princes in the Tower; bothers Edward V of England and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York.

The novel starts with Katherine Grey just receiving word that her sister Lady Jane Grey, a Queen for only nine days had just been executed. 

In 1553, Katherine at age 12 and Jane, age 16 were married in a double ceremony. Katherine married Henry Herbert and Jane married Guildford Dudley; men that their parents Lady Frances Brandon and Henry Grey chose hoping that the marriages would prove to be advantageous for the whole family. It was not. A plot developed for Jane to take over the throne and become Queen, and she was…for nine short days until Mary takes over the throne and Jane was imprisoned. Both Katherine and Jane become unwilling pawns caught up in the schemes of their parents who were vying for power and the throne.  Their lives were not their own, decisions were made for them, yet they were the ones who paid a high price for those decisions.

As for Kate Plantagenet, she is the illegitimate daughter of King Richard III. Kate begins to hear rumors swirling around about her father being involved in the disappearance of the two Princes in the Tower. She has great faith in her father and believes he had nothing to do with their disappearances.  She despises hearing these negative this against King Richard III and because of this she sets out trying to uncover what really happened.  

This is the first novel I have read from Alison Weir, and I hope it will not be my last. The novel was well written and pretty easy to follow along with everything.  The characters and their story are intriguing and a bit sad at the same time, especially since they were real people. The mystery with the princes adds a nice layer of suspense and I found myself not wanting to stop until I found out what happened. Having said that though, I think the novel would have been just as good without the mystery of the two princes.  But it was an interesting and I think effective way to intertwine these two young women from different time periods.  It was a long read, but an entertaining and enjoyable one nevertheless.

Rating: 3½ out of 5

** I received this ARC from Random House/Ballantine Books via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review. Thank you.** 

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