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cj_writes's review against another edition
1.0
It’s the holiday season so I was hoping for some cheesy holiday romance book but oh my god is this poorly written. I had to stop before I started throwing up from how horribly awful it is. Please stop inflating the ratings of these books based off of your favorite authors, I went into this hoping for a well written cheesy holiday novel, what I got was garbage.
readingwitherin's review
4.0
See reviews first on my blog
The Christmas Secret follows two main characters, Christine and Jason.
Christine is a single mom who has two children and is dealing with an extremely difficult ex-husband. Christine, like so many people, is struggling to make ends meet and throughout the book, we see her face many obstacles and come to terms with her ex-husband always being difficult with a little help from her friends who remind her of what is really important.
The other main character is Jason who is a very self-absorbed 20 something who has been living in the big city and has come home to work for his grandpa as he doesn’t have a job currently. While working for his grandpa he is kind of forced to start caring about others for a change and this is a bit of a struggle for him.
Overall I liked this book. This was a nice feel-good book and was such a nice change from all the chaos that I’ve been seeing everywhere recently. Seeing so many people come together for Christine and her kids were so heartwarming to see. All of the struggles that Christine was dealing with are extremely real and things that so many people struggle with especially this year, and it just helped me remind me and show me that giving and helping is such an important thing. I loved all the little side characters that she was becoming friends with and the kids were great as well.
The other main character Jason was one I really struggled with and one that I’m not sure would have been able to change so fast. We see him go from being this very self-absorbed guy to suddenly volunteering and getting to know everyone. It was nice to read, but compared to the realisticness of all the things that Christine was dealing with was just a little meh.
His part of the story didn’t take away from me liking and enjoying this book it just seemed a bit much.
I’m looking forward to continuing with this series and seeing how they all continue to connect through side-characters.
The Christmas Secret follows two main characters, Christine and Jason.
Christine is a single mom who has two children and is dealing with an extremely difficult ex-husband. Christine, like so many people, is struggling to make ends meet and throughout the book, we see her face many obstacles and come to terms with her ex-husband always being difficult with a little help from her friends who remind her of what is really important.
The other main character is Jason who is a very self-absorbed 20 something who has been living in the big city and has come home to work for his grandpa as he doesn’t have a job currently. While working for his grandpa he is kind of forced to start caring about others for a change and this is a bit of a struggle for him.
Overall I liked this book. This was a nice feel-good book and was such a nice change from all the chaos that I’ve been seeing everywhere recently. Seeing so many people come together for Christine and her kids were so heartwarming to see. All of the struggles that Christine was dealing with are extremely real and things that so many people struggle with especially this year, and it just helped me remind me and show me that giving and helping is such an important thing. I loved all the little side characters that she was becoming friends with and the kids were great as well.
The other main character Jason was one I really struggled with and one that I’m not sure would have been able to change so fast. We see him go from being this very self-absorbed guy to suddenly volunteering and getting to know everyone. It was nice to read, but compared to the realisticness of all the things that Christine was dealing with was just a little meh.
His part of the story didn’t take away from me liking and enjoying this book it just seemed a bit much.
I’m looking forward to continuing with this series and seeing how they all continue to connect through side-characters.
mrsgreenberg's review against another edition
4.0
There was a moment in this book where I was just heartbroken for the family. Knowing the formula of these books, I knew everything was going to be ok, but I realized that for many families, there isn't such a happy ending.
positivewoman2013's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 I liked it and I think I've seen the movie. How people connect in ways you might not expect.
katrenia's review against another edition
4.0
My favorite parts of these books are the scenes with Gloria and Miriam. Their friendship is priceless, and their banter makes me laugh.
mschrock8's review against another edition
4.0
Here we go: first Christmas book of the season to make me cry!
jbarr5's review against another edition
5.0
The Christmas secret by Donna VanLiere
Story follows a woman, Kristy with teo children and an ex husband who doesn't pay child support. She's sturggling through holiday season to not only support them but keep her job and kids watched while working at the department store.
Also story follows a man-a relative of the owner of the department store and he's not quite adjusted to the work he's asked to do.
She ends up losing her job, DCYF visits and things are not going at all. Things get worse before they get better.
Like how the story combines the same people and there is joy during the season... Jason has to find the woman he had fired because she saved Judy's life-but she had been late for work. Love hearing of GLoria's Place, such a worthwhile place and things they do for others there.
Amazing how everyone is connected, love hearing about the secret.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
Story follows a woman, Kristy with teo children and an ex husband who doesn't pay child support. She's sturggling through holiday season to not only support them but keep her job and kids watched while working at the department store.
Also story follows a man-a relative of the owner of the department store and he's not quite adjusted to the work he's asked to do.
She ends up losing her job, DCYF visits and things are not going at all. Things get worse before they get better.
Like how the story combines the same people and there is joy during the season... Jason has to find the woman he had fired because she saved Judy's life-but she had been late for work. Love hearing of GLoria's Place, such a worthwhile place and things they do for others there.
Amazing how everyone is connected, love hearing about the secret.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
mom2triplets04's review against another edition
4.0
What a great story. Great to have new characters experience love during the Christmas season. Love to see friendship develop more with old characters and the addition of children were so adorable. Also liked the appearance of old characters from time to time. Think I even cried once.
janikim's review against another edition
4.0
Fast and easy read. I really liked it but the ending felt a bit rushed.