BookLoverAmanda

  Twas the Knife Before Christmas by Jacqueline Frost - 4 Stars  (Book 2 in the Christmas Tree Farm Mystery Series) What another great book in this series! I am working my way through this one and really enjoyed it y'all! Solid clean cozy mystery series with a smidge of romance. Here we continue to see Holly from book one "up to her jingle bells in holiday shenanigans" as the synopsis says. When a body turns up in a dumpster behind Caroline's Cupcakes, the store's owner is the main suspect. Holly helps out at the cupcake place so she is trying her luck at clearing Caroline's name. We see Sheriff Evan back with his budding romance with Holly too, which I love.  This one is full of holiday charm and Christmas cheer yall! Pick it up. Goodreads Review:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6841531477 Amazon:  https://amzn.to/4grtZMd *Amazon links are affiliate links and a commission may be earned on items purchased from these links.

  Book Review: Hope for the Hero by Mandi Blake - 3 Stars This one is part of the Heroes of Freedom Ridge series. I have loved all of the Mandi Blake books I have read so far, but this one wasn't quite my fav. I just didn't connect to the couple as much and wished their enemies to lovers was a bit less of them fussin with each other for so long.  We have Tessa and Adam - Tessa wants to get a job at her brother's security company and when she gets the job, her and Adam are working together and he is so grumpy lol. His boss says he needs an assistant to help him since he works a lot but they do not get along whatsoever. They eventually come to care for one another but it just wasn't a fav. While I liked the faith portions with Adam as he tried to figure out his beliefs as he worked through the emotions of his mother passing away years ago and his Dad not being around, I wanted more from the romance itself. I also wish Tessa was a bit more compassionate about what Adam was...

  Guarded by the Hero - Mandi Blake 4 Stars  Cute, quick Christmas read from Mandi! We are in Freedom Ridge with Heath Mitchell, who served in the Marines but now spends time as the head of security for the Freedom Ridge Resort. He meets a friend of his sister and she becomes a client who needs protection as he is the bodyguard like figure. Claire has some things from the past that resurfaces and he has to help protect her. They grow close together and the rest is history. Enjoyed this one pretty well. As usual, Mandi has good faith elements and sweet clean romance. Goodreads Review:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6926059884 Amazon:  https://amzn.to/3BzhfnQ *Amazon links are affiliate links and a commission may be earned on items purchased from these links.

Cabin Crush by Kasey Stockton - 5 Stars  Another new favorite Christmas read y'all! I loved this one so much. We have friends to move, brother's best friend, forced proximity, cabin at Christmas time, family elements, all the things you want in a cute romance for Christmas! We see Rachael, who has had a crush on her brother's best friend Max forever. The story starts from their past experience kissing under the mistletoe when she she was humiliated at a christmas party. Cut to many years later and Max has always had a girlfriend since then...until now at the family cabin this Christmas. He tells Rachael his secret he needs to tell his family this season and there are a lot of flirty moments between them as they start to get closer in a way they never have before as just friends.... Read if you love: 🎄Friends to More 🎄Childhood Crush 🎄Brother's Best Friend 🎄Cozy Christmas Vibes 🎄Family Bonding 🎄Festive Traditions 🎄Sweet Romances 🎄Heartwarming Ending 🎄The Grinch ...

  Silent Night, Holy Night by Colleen Coble - 3 Stars All is Calm, All is Bright was more of a fav for me here but this one had two novellas for the Rock Harbor series. The first novella is Silent Night. Bree and her search and rescue dog Samson follow the trail of a troubling mystery into the snowy forests of Rock Harbor. We see her and her husband Kade preparing for Christmas guests when word arrives that a parachuter has disappeared in the North Woods, along Lake Superior's icy shore. Bree and Samson plunge into the search. I really didn't connect with the characters in this one and it did not feel like a mystery - it was more so their infertility journey and adoption discussions etc. Very odd novella for me I would rate this one 2 star. Didn't feel Christmas to me at all either unfortunately but I liked the second one more. The second novella is Holy Night. We see a phone call derail a Christmas wedding....Leia and Bane are looking forward to their Christmas wedding on ...

  All is Calm, All is Bright by Colleen Coble - 3.5 Stars rounded up to 4  I liked this overall but wish it was a bit more christmas-y.  The first one, All is Calm was probably my favorite and most engaging one. In that one, we have Brendan and Lauren. We are at Bluebird Ranch, a place Brendan always considered a little piece of heaven. They have a ranch that pairs children with horses, run by one of his old Marine friends. He is recovering from a job injury and is back at the ranch to spend Christmas healing. Lauren was a 17 year old foster kid when she was at Bluebird Ranch years ago and it was the safest place she knew. Now she is on the run from a murder investigation where she was a witness - she takes her horse (who was going to be put down falsely accused) and runs to the ranch where she feels safe. She meets Brendan and he is very suspicious of her actions and past. Romance blooms when they start working together and the rest is history. I liked this first one bec...