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kathydavie's review against another edition
5.0
First in the Friday Harbor romance series based on an island outside of Seattle. The couple focus here is on Mark and Maggie with Holly as the catalyst.
My Take
A tragic start for a delicious end! Kleypas sets a village scene where everyone knows everyone else and tucks in a fairytale of a toy store and the tragedy of loss. Together, it comes up as a tale of love and gain.
The Nolan brothers have no idea what a great family life can be like while Maggie knows nothing else even if it still leaves her lonely.
I love this paragraph:
Oh, I want the fairy dollhouse...it sounds too cute for words. Then there's the old Victorian the brothers begin fixing up, building ties between each other.
I so enjoyed the banter Sam brings to it as he teases Mark about his attraction and the unexpected approach used for seduction — too funny and sweet. And Renfield...oh, man, how can you not love someone who wants a Renfield!
Yes, it's clichéd, but, oh-so-sweet. I almost want to start reading it all over again.
The Story
It's their sister's death that dumps young Holly on two single brothers. Brothers who had vowed never to marry...not after their home life growing up!
Now, it's instant family and neither Mark nor Sam have a clue. Except for the one phrase in Victoria's note: "Just start by loving her...".
The trauma of losing her mother has caused Holly to clam up and it's been six months since Holly has uttered any word at all until she meets the magical Maggie.
The Characters
Victoria Nolan is a single mom doing so well with her daughter Holly. Her brother Mark has started up a coffee roasting business, Sam is developing Rainshadow Vineyard, and their not-so-happily married brother Alex intends to pave the entire island.
Maggie Conroy has been a widow for the past two years and recently opened the Magic Mirror on San Juan Island. Elizabeth works for Maggie and knows everyone on the island.
Shelby is Mark's girlfriend over on the mainland.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a very Christmasy Friday Harbor with the lines of pleasure craft outlined in white fairy lights and colored ones along the shore with the snow-capped mountains rising up behind the intervening firs. The sky blends from a blue-purple to a soft red-violet and out again onto the waters.
I liked the touch of the Christmas star in the sky forming the dot of the i in Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor. A perfect title for its conclusion.
My Take
A tragic start for a delicious end! Kleypas sets a village scene where everyone knows everyone else and tucks in a fairytale of a toy store and the tragedy of loss. Together, it comes up as a tale of love and gain.
The Nolan brothers have no idea what a great family life can be like while Maggie knows nothing else even if it still leaves her lonely.
I love this paragraph:
"Something happened to you, they discovered, when you were given the unconditional love and trust of a child.Everytime I read this, it makes me cry...
You wanted to deserve it.
Oh, I want the fairy dollhouse...it sounds too cute for words. Then there's the old Victorian the brothers begin fixing up, building ties between each other.
I so enjoyed the banter Sam brings to it as he teases Mark about his attraction and the unexpected approach used for seduction — too funny and sweet. And Renfield...oh, man, how can you not love someone who wants a Renfield!
Yes, it's clichéd, but, oh-so-sweet. I almost want to start reading it all over again.
The Story
It's their sister's death that dumps young Holly on two single brothers. Brothers who had vowed never to marry...not after their home life growing up!
Now, it's instant family and neither Mark nor Sam have a clue. Except for the one phrase in Victoria's note: "Just start by loving her...".
The trauma of losing her mother has caused Holly to clam up and it's been six months since Holly has uttered any word at all until she meets the magical Maggie.
The Characters
Victoria Nolan is a single mom doing so well with her daughter Holly. Her brother Mark has started up a coffee roasting business, Sam is developing Rainshadow Vineyard, and their not-so-happily married brother Alex intends to pave the entire island.
Maggie Conroy has been a widow for the past two years and recently opened the Magic Mirror on San Juan Island. Elizabeth works for Maggie and knows everyone on the island.
Shelby is Mark's girlfriend over on the mainland.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a very Christmasy Friday Harbor with the lines of pleasure craft outlined in white fairy lights and colored ones along the shore with the snow-capped mountains rising up behind the intervening firs. The sky blends from a blue-purple to a soft red-violet and out again onto the waters.
I liked the touch of the Christmas star in the sky forming the dot of the i in Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor. A perfect title for its conclusion.
agnesgailx's review against another edition
2.0
This is my first Lisa Kleypas book, and I have to say I am sort of disappointed. Maybe I chose the wrong book to start with.
While Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor is supposed to be a heartwarming tale, I did not feel my heart warming up very much. I guess the author did what she could given that this novel is pretty short, but I felt that everything was too rushed. I didn't really have time to take in what was happening, not that there was much happening in the first place. There wasn't a lot of time to truly develop the characters and form a really solid plot. Sometimes the story would just cut off and move on to several days later. I couldn't even feel the chemistry between Maggie and Mark. Everything was so cheesy and generic it reminded me too much of a Hallmark movie.
I guess this book just works mainly as an introduction to Friday Harbor. It's less of a story, more of an introduction. I sure hope the other books in this series are better. I expected to love this book, but it just didn't happen.
While Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor is supposed to be a heartwarming tale, I did not feel my heart warming up very much. I guess the author did what she could given that this novel is pretty short, but I felt that everything was too rushed. I didn't really have time to take in what was happening, not that there was much happening in the first place. There wasn't a lot of time to truly develop the characters and form a really solid plot. Sometimes the story would just cut off and move on to several days later. I couldn't even feel the chemistry between Maggie and Mark. Everything was so cheesy and generic it reminded me too much of a Hallmark movie.
I guess this book just works mainly as an introduction to Friday Harbor. It's less of a story, more of an introduction. I sure hope the other books in this series are better. I expected to love this book, but it just didn't happen.
zaza_bdp's review against another edition
3.0
C'est un roman plutôt court (14 chapitres seulement) qui se lit vite. Un petit roman sympathique, le genre qui vous met un peu de baume au coeur, mais pas le genre qui vous emporte et vous bouleverse.
Mark est adorable dans ses rapports avec Holly, c'est attendrissant de voir l'attachement qu'il développe pour cette petite nièce qu'il recueille. C'est un homme responsable, prudent et pragmatique qui voit les choses de manière très cartésienne.
Il devient rapidement un vrai papa poule, comme son frère Sam qui lui aussi s'attache (plus qu'il ne l'avait souhaité au départ) à cette fillette.
Le côté sombre de Mark (une enfance difficile, on en saura plus dans le T2 avec Sam, le frère n°2 de la tribu) et le côté brisé de Maggie (qui a perdu son mari 2 ans + tôt) n'ont pas été exploités suffisamment à mon goût. De même, Holly retrouve la parole trop rapidement je trouve (au vu du résumé, je pensais que la gamine serait plus longue à apprivoiser).
Les frères sont vraiment touchants lorsqu'il s'agit du bien-être de leur protégée, ces papas ours ne savent pas toujours comment s'y prendre mais ils sont pleins de bonne volonté. Je repense notamment à un passage qui m'a fait exploser de rire : les frangins veulent cuisiner un bon dîner pour leur 1er Thanksgiving ensemble. Sauf qu'ils font exploser la dinde dans le four, et comme c'est un four de compet', celui-ci se verrouille automatiquement et se lance dans un auto-nettoyage. Et voilà les pauvres Nolan privés de dinde!
La romance entre Maggie et Mark manque singulièrement de peps, c'est trop plat à mon goût. Ils se tournent autour un long moment, et puis d'un coup le roman est terminé !
Parce que j'ai vraiment préféré le T2 à celui-ci, ce sera un 3/5
Mark est adorable dans ses rapports avec Holly, c'est attendrissant de voir l'attachement qu'il développe pour cette petite nièce qu'il recueille. C'est un homme responsable, prudent et pragmatique qui voit les choses de manière très cartésienne.
Il devient rapidement un vrai papa poule, comme son frère Sam qui lui aussi s'attache (plus qu'il ne l'avait souhaité au départ) à cette fillette.
Le côté sombre de Mark (une enfance difficile, on en saura plus dans le T2 avec Sam, le frère n°2 de la tribu) et le côté brisé de Maggie (qui a perdu son mari 2 ans + tôt) n'ont pas été exploités suffisamment à mon goût. De même, Holly retrouve la parole trop rapidement je trouve (au vu du résumé, je pensais que la gamine serait plus longue à apprivoiser).
Les frères sont vraiment touchants lorsqu'il s'agit du bien-être de leur protégée, ces papas ours ne savent pas toujours comment s'y prendre mais ils sont pleins de bonne volonté. Je repense notamment à un passage qui m'a fait exploser de rire : les frangins veulent cuisiner un bon dîner pour leur 1er Thanksgiving ensemble. Sauf qu'ils font exploser la dinde dans le four, et comme c'est un four de compet', celui-ci se verrouille automatiquement et se lance dans un auto-nettoyage. Et voilà les pauvres Nolan privés de dinde!
La romance entre Maggie et Mark manque singulièrement de peps, c'est trop plat à mon goût. Ils se tournent autour un long moment, et puis d'un coup le roman est terminé !
Parce que j'ai vraiment préféré le T2 à celui-ci, ce sera un 3/5
book_concierge's review against another edition
3.0
Audiobook read by Tanya Eby
From the book jacket: One little girl needs a family. One single man needs a wife. Sometimes it takes a little magic … To make dreams come true.
My reactions
So, I knew going in that this was a cheesy holiday romance. Still, I have to admit that it was a fun read. The relationship between Mark, who has become guardian of his niece, 6-year-old Holly, after his sister died, and Maggie, the young widow who owns an old-fashioned toy shop, builds slowly, from September through Halloween, Thanksgiving, and finally Christmas Eve.
Despite the promised “magic” there isn’t much of it here … unless you count a child’s belief in fairies and Santa Claus as magic. But that’s okay. The “magic” of the central relationship is enough to entertain the reader.
Tanya Eby does a fine job performing the audio version. The voices she uses for the different characters are believable – even the little girl, Holly. Good pacing and clear diction.
From the book jacket: One little girl needs a family. One single man needs a wife. Sometimes it takes a little magic … To make dreams come true.
My reactions
So, I knew going in that this was a cheesy holiday romance. Still, I have to admit that it was a fun read. The relationship between Mark, who has become guardian of his niece, 6-year-old Holly, after his sister died, and Maggie, the young widow who owns an old-fashioned toy shop, builds slowly, from September through Halloween, Thanksgiving, and finally Christmas Eve.
Despite the promised “magic” there isn’t much of it here … unless you count a child’s belief in fairies and Santa Claus as magic. But that’s okay. The “magic” of the central relationship is enough to entertain the reader.
Tanya Eby does a fine job performing the audio version. The voices she uses for the different characters are believable – even the little girl, Holly. Good pacing and clear diction.
writer595's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
aimee_amina's review against another edition
3.0
Mark & Maggie | Single Dad | M/F | Book 1
A very sweet, good natured, inoffensive holiday read. By no means the best book I’ve ever read, but I smiled the whole way through and don’t regret a moment reading it.
Smut is barely smut though, level 1
A very sweet, good natured, inoffensive holiday read. By no means the best book I’ve ever read, but I smiled the whole way through and don’t regret a moment reading it.
Smut is barely smut though, level 1
nitzanschwarz's review against another edition
4.0
This was absolutely adorable. Holly was so cute, Maggie was sweet and intuitive, Mark serious and broody in the best of ways, and best of all... no angst! :D
jackiehorne's review against another edition
2.0
The outline of a novel, rather than a novella. And sappy to boot.
cstaude's review against another edition
4.0
Classic Kleypas..... A touching story since it involves a little girl and a dog. Found it ended too soon, but since I started this series in the middle, I know it continues in Rainshadow Road. I liked the chemistry between Maggie and Mark and appreciated the way Kleypas developed them with their past troubles and trials. A fun read.
diana_acc's review against another edition
3.0
Solo había leído a la autora en historias de género romance histórico, y aunque este libro tiene pocos capítulos, es un gran cambio a la hora de leer, parece escrito por otra persona.
Es bastante cortito y la historia en parte un poco apresurada, y aunque no le encuentro mucho sentido al título, está pasable.
Holly acaba de perder a su madre hace menos de un año y ahora vive con dos de sus tíos que no tienen una buena referencia de lo que es una familia, además de que ahora ella ha decidido no hablar.
Y en un día de compras por una juguetería local conocen a Maggie, la propietaria, quién es joven y viuda, y con paciencia hace que Holly diga algunas palabras.
Espero mucho de los hermanos Nolan, se que no me van a defraudar.
Es bastante cortito y la historia en parte un poco apresurada, y aunque no le encuentro mucho sentido al título, está pasable.
Holly acaba de perder a su madre hace menos de un año y ahora vive con dos de sus tíos que no tienen una buena referencia de lo que es una familia, además de que ahora ella ha decidido no hablar.
Y en un día de compras por una juguetería local conocen a Maggie, la propietaria, quién es joven y viuda, y con paciencia hace que Holly diga algunas palabras.
Espero mucho de los hermanos Nolan, se que no me van a defraudar.