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3.19 AVERAGE
3.19 AVERAGE
This is my first Debbie Macomber read, and while I was intrigued by the premise and anticipated being carried away into a winter wonderland enhanced with Christmas cheer, well... I wasn't.
For one thing Christmas is barely a feature of this story, despite what the cover would suggest. Pretty misleading... plus the puppies pictured there? There's one dog in the book. False advertising!
That's not really what bothered me though, as I still like the cover. It was the simple, repetitive writing and sappy, old-fashioned characters that turned me off! Debbie Macomber also has a habit of telling rather than showing, and in stating obvious things you could imply. This was basically instant love from the beginning, which meant little build-up and a gag-worthy happy ending. The character, Jack, was irritating, constantly hungry, and his bizarre behavior near the end was completely out of place with the rest of the book and left me scratching my head.
I was hoping for something engaging, somewhat funny, and more Christmassy but this one missed the mark. Recommendations for good holiday romance reads are welcome!
For one thing Christmas is barely a feature of this story, despite what the cover would suggest. Pretty misleading... plus the puppies pictured there? There's one dog in the book. False advertising!
That's not really what bothered me though, as I still like the cover. It was the simple, repetitive writing and sappy, old-fashioned characters that turned me off! Debbie Macomber also has a habit of telling rather than showing, and in stating obvious things you could imply. This was basically instant love from the beginning, which meant little build-up and a gag-worthy happy ending. The character, Jack, was irritating, constantly hungry, and his bizarre behavior near the end was completely out of place with the rest of the book and left me scratching my head.
I was hoping for something engaging, somewhat funny, and more Christmassy but this one missed the mark. Recommendations for good holiday romance reads are welcome!
A different romance, as in the first chapter came the proposal. After that the story moved as the female lead left to think about the future.
Josie Avery just graduated from culinary school. In a career-making break, a renowned chef hires her to help open his new restaurant in her native Seattle. The building won’t be ready until the fall so Josie takes a summer job cooking in a lodge in the community of Ponder, Alaska.
Palmer Saxon and Josie end up spending every waking minute together during Josie’s time in the small town. The night before Josie leaves for Seattle, Palmer proposes. Josie doesn’t completely shut him down but she doesn’t say yes either. They decide to pursue a long-distance relationship and re-evaluate later.
I’m not really the audience for this book but I wanted a Christmas-y audiobook. The options at my library were either this standalone romance or other romances or cozy mysteries that were roughly number 52 in a series. (Yes, that’s an exaggeration but not as much as it should be.) Standalone romance it was, even though I’m not really a romance reader.
This was cute enough but completely forgettable to me. Josie and Palmer literally relate their respective sides of the summer courtship while they’re preparing for their final evening together. The author didn’t show the relationship building so I just had to accept that they cared for each other. It was entirely predictable but other readers might like predictability in a holiday book.
My feminist hackles rose when it started to feel like Josie and the other women in the book were going to give up their own dreams and career plans for marriage. I must admit that I was placated by the ending though.
And really, who allowed a book about Palmer from Ponder to get published? I had to think about whether I was hearing information about the town or the man more often than you would expect.
The narrators overall did a great job. Laurel Rankin may have been a bit too earnest and Luke Daniels may have tried too hard to liven up a lackluster book, but those are fairly minor quibbles.
Romance readers and those who take comfort in familiarity and predictability will like this more than I did. It’s sweet enough and a quick Christmas read. I’m simply not the audience for this book so I shouldn’t have even checked it out from the library.
Palmer Saxon and Josie end up spending every waking minute together during Josie’s time in the small town. The night before Josie leaves for Seattle, Palmer proposes. Josie doesn’t completely shut him down but she doesn’t say yes either. They decide to pursue a long-distance relationship and re-evaluate later.
I’m not really the audience for this book but I wanted a Christmas-y audiobook. The options at my library were either this standalone romance or other romances or cozy mysteries that were roughly number 52 in a series. (Yes, that’s an exaggeration but not as much as it should be.) Standalone romance it was, even though I’m not really a romance reader.
This was cute enough but completely forgettable to me. Josie and Palmer literally relate their respective sides of the summer courtship while they’re preparing for their final evening together. The author didn’t show the relationship building so I just had to accept that they cared for each other. It was entirely predictable but other readers might like predictability in a holiday book.
My feminist hackles rose when it started to feel like Josie and the other women in the book were going to give up their own dreams and career plans for marriage. I must admit that I was placated by the ending though.
And really, who allowed a book about Palmer from Ponder to get published? I had to think about whether I was hearing information about the town or the man more often than you would expect.
The narrators overall did a great job. Laurel Rankin may have been a bit too earnest and Luke Daniels may have tried too hard to liven up a lackluster book, but those are fairly minor quibbles.
Romance readers and those who take comfort in familiarity and predictability will like this more than I did. It’s sweet enough and a quick Christmas read. I’m simply not the audience for this book so I shouldn’t have even checked it out from the library.
When Josie Stewart takes a job in Ponder, Alaska for a temporary 6 months stint as a chef in a lodge she has no idea the life-changing adventures that choice will make. Josie meets, Palmer the local guide and the sparks fly between them. But Josie knows her heart lies back home and she has huge career prospects.
The adventure begins when Josie’s plans go array. What will happen between herself and Palmer?
I really enjoyed the story, it went off on little tangents that were unpredictable and I like to be challenged and kept on my toes as the reader. It keeps me interested and engaged. It brings a whole lot more to the reading experience for me.
Josie and Palmer were lovely characters to get to know. Ponder too becomes a character of sorts. It did make me want to visit Alaska and experience being cut off from the world. My only saving grace would be my books. I would have to take about ten suitcases. Plus pack up my Kindle too.
Although tag lined with the Christmas theme. It isn’t a Christmassy book as such, you could read it any time of the year and be very happy with the story.
I wasn’t a fan of Jack, I found him somewhat rude and demanding. I didn’t find him funny and I really felt he was an unnecessary distraction to the story.
Overall a lovely adventure to go on. I love Debbie Macomber’s writing and I am excited to read her back catalogue.
Debbie Macomber has the secret to writing a corker of a romance read down perfectly.
The adventure begins when Josie’s plans go array. What will happen between herself and Palmer?
I really enjoyed the story, it went off on little tangents that were unpredictable and I like to be challenged and kept on my toes as the reader. It keeps me interested and engaged. It brings a whole lot more to the reading experience for me.
Josie and Palmer were lovely characters to get to know. Ponder too becomes a character of sorts. It did make me want to visit Alaska and experience being cut off from the world. My only saving grace would be my books. I would have to take about ten suitcases. Plus pack up my Kindle too.
Although tag lined with the Christmas theme. It isn’t a Christmassy book as such, you could read it any time of the year and be very happy with the story.
I wasn’t a fan of Jack, I found him somewhat rude and demanding. I didn’t find him funny and I really felt he was an unnecessary distraction to the story.
Overall a lovely adventure to go on. I love Debbie Macomber’s writing and I am excited to read her back catalogue.
Debbie Macomber has the secret to writing a corker of a romance read down perfectly.
Needed something to listen to at work and got this as an audio book from the library because it was available and it was short. It also looked wintery, and it's getting to be that time of year. There were so many times I wanted to stop listening, though. The voice of the man used to read the male parts was absolutely grating, no matter the characters voice he was supposed to be doing. Every single one was horrible. It really affected the story. His voice also didn't pair up with that of the person reading the female parts. Her voice was fine. Sounded young enough to believably be 30ish. The man sounded old. Anyway, it was just bad.
Also, this was the most wholesome romance book I've ever read. I've read YA with more romance than this had. The characters were fully adults and were almost afraid to kiss each other. They were together for over 6 months and that was all they had ever done. It was weird. And the chemistry was awkward. I just didn't buy it. I haven't read anything else by this author, but this surely doesn't make me want to try any of her other stories. It was kind of a bummer. Next time I feel the need for something Christmas-y, I'll turn on Hallmark or Lifetime.
Also, this was the most wholesome romance book I've ever read. I've read YA with more romance than this had. The characters were fully adults and were almost afraid to kiss each other. They were together for over 6 months and that was all they had ever done. It was weird. And the chemistry was awkward. I just didn't buy it. I haven't read anything else by this author, but this surely doesn't make me want to try any of her other stories. It was kind of a bummer. Next time I feel the need for something Christmas-y, I'll turn on Hallmark or Lifetime.
Why was I not surprised that she chose to abandon her education and career to move to bumfuck Alaska with her?? SWORDSMITH??? husband??
I grabbed this audio book because it was short and new. I've never read Macomber. Story was cute.
Recently it seems as if I have a had a love/hate relationship with this author's work. This book falls somewhere in the "meh" zone. I didn't dislike the book but I didn't love it either. The story seems a bit cliche with a big city woman falling for a small town (or in this case middle of nowhere in Alaska) man. It was a bit of awkward reading at the beginning and I feel like the story really didn't get interesting until almost the end.
The beginning of this story had me checking my Kindle to make sure I hadn't accidentally skipped pages. It seemed as if the story had started before the book began. These characters had already developed a relationship during the six months they knew each other prior to the beginning of the novel. Somehow, this made me feel left out. I also felt like the pace of the story was off and it didn't have a nice flow to it. I was almost left wondering if this wasn't an early book from this author that had been released again after getting a new cover.
As to the characters, well Palmer seemed a bit too awkward and I really didn't find myself enamored of Josie. Jack was a character I just wasn't sure about. While he seemed like someone I could grow to like, some of his actions were just too over the top. There isn't a large cast of characters in this book either which made finding ones to connect to a bit difficult.
All in all, this was an ok story. However, I think I would recommend any of the author's other Christmas novels over this one. While it had a cute cover and a good premise it just wasn't one of my favorites from Macomber.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and was not required to write a review. All opinions are mine.
The beginning of this story had me checking my Kindle to make sure I hadn't accidentally skipped pages. It seemed as if the story had started before the book began. These characters had already developed a relationship during the six months they knew each other prior to the beginning of the novel. Somehow, this made me feel left out. I also felt like the pace of the story was off and it didn't have a nice flow to it. I was almost left wondering if this wasn't an early book from this author that had been released again after getting a new cover.
As to the characters, well Palmer seemed a bit too awkward and I really didn't find myself enamored of Josie. Jack was a character I just wasn't sure about. While he seemed like someone I could grow to like, some of his actions were just too over the top. There isn't a large cast of characters in this book either which made finding ones to connect to a bit difficult.
All in all, this was an ok story. However, I think I would recommend any of the author's other Christmas novels over this one. While it had a cute cover and a good premise it just wasn't one of my favorites from Macomber.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and was not required to write a review. All opinions are mine.
You really can't go wrong with a Debbie Macomber novel. When I think of holiday reads, I instantly think of Debbie Macomber. Thus the reason when I saw this new book I wanted to read it.
The characters and the storyline are really good. While, Josie and Palmer don't spend a lot of time together; it just goes to show you that sex is not always required to make a great book. Although, Palmer was acting kind of like a jerk and being childish when he was ignoring Josie's texts. He is lucky that he did not totally ruin his chances with Josie before it was too late. Both Josie and Palmer did have some help in the form of friend, Jack. Maybe not the best help but well intended help. Speaking of Jack, he kept me laughing. His insatiable appetite and not so subtle nudging.
As I stated, I loved the characters and the nice storyline. It made for some good reading. Once, I started reading I couldn't stop. This book is the perfect one to snuggle up by the fireplace and read. It really will get you into the holiday mood.
The characters and the storyline are really good. While, Josie and Palmer don't spend a lot of time together; it just goes to show you that sex is not always required to make a great book. Although, Palmer was acting kind of like a jerk and being childish when he was ignoring Josie's texts. He is lucky that he did not totally ruin his chances with Josie before it was too late. Both Josie and Palmer did have some help in the form of friend, Jack. Maybe not the best help but well intended help. Speaking of Jack, he kept me laughing. His insatiable appetite and not so subtle nudging.
As I stated, I loved the characters and the nice storyline. It made for some good reading. Once, I started reading I couldn't stop. This book is the perfect one to snuggle up by the fireplace and read. It really will get you into the holiday mood.