Mistletoe Cottage (Harmony Harbor) by Debbie Mason

Mistletoe Cottage (Harmony Harbor) by Debbie Mason

"'Tis the seaon for love . . . Sophie DiRossi loved growing up in Harmony Harbor. But after fleeing in disgrace many years ago, it is the last place she wants to be. Left homeless by a fire, she's forced to go back to the small coastal town that harbors a million secrets, including her own. Sophie sees this secret reflected every day in her daughter's blue eyes-and she must keep it hidden from the only man she has ever loved.
Sophie's return is a shock for everyone . . . especially Liam Gallagher. The firefighter had some serious feelings for Sophie-and seeing her again sparks a desire so fierce it takes his breath away. Now Liam will do whatever it takes to show Sophie that they deserve a second chance at love, even if everything they've concealed threatens to keep them apart. In this special town at this special time of the year, Sophie and Liam can only hope for a little holiday magic..." 

If ever a book needed to come with a warning, this one should have.  The warning?  “Lies beget lies.”  And this book and this town was filled with them.  Everyone seems to have a big secret and/or lie following them around so I can see this as a fairly long running series.  And that may be a good thing because this was one of the most enjoyable books I have read in a very long time.  It is going to be interesting just exactly what everyone is hiding.

 Mistletoe Cottage might make you frustrated and even make you dislike Sophie a bit for not coming clean (but then it would be a different book), it may frustrate you that her daughter is, eventually, using her PTST as a sort of weapon.  (I can understand, it but I didn’t have to like it). You may become frustrated with Liam for not getting the help he needs (and for the author to not have delved into Liam’s issue a tad more).

You may need a scorecard to keep everyone straight -there are a lot of character’s and I mean a lot.

 I loved the biggest bomb that I never once saw coming.  Total shock!

 I loved that this book dealt with the issues like it was ‘real life’ and not a fictional novel. 

I loved this book…period.

*ARC supplied by publisher.

The Lullaby Sky - Carolyn Brown

Description
After seven years of misery and abuse, it’s all over—Hannah O’Malley is officially divorced. Hallelujah. It’s like every Christmas in her life all rolled up into one glorious day. Not only does Hannah get to keep her grandmother’s spacious old house, but she has full custody of her sparky five-year-old daughter. All Hannah has to do now is put the past behind her.
And now that she’s free, she wants to make a difference. With the help of her warm, close-knit circle of friends—including her high school crush, Travis Wilson—Hannah begins turning her home into a safe house for other women who’ve endured the pain she’s known. But even as life and laughter return to Hannah’s home, she’s haunted by the memory of her dangerously unstable ex. With a second chance at love on the horizon, Hannah must face down her past in order to let the sunshine back into her life.

When this author was new and fresh to me, I found that I loved her work. I was thrilled to read her newest work. However it might have been that it was what I was was choosing that kept me so happy. But the last few books I have read are so similar in theme that wonder why I am even bothering with reading them. I can tell exactly how it is going to proceed and end. 

The Lullaby Sky is the traditional 'Southern small town abused by rotten husband woman becomes strong but has a poop load of friends to help her recover and who stand behind her and a totally hot man who loves her - but 'secretly' story.

I don't remember the author using this much preaching in her last books - but I read so much that maybe she did and I just didn't notice.



*ARC supplied by publisher

The Chang's vs the World

 

Charles Wang is mad at America. A brash, lovable immigrant businessman who built a cosmetics empire and made a fortune, he’s just been ruined by the financial crisis. Now all Charles wants is to get his kids safely stowed away so that he can go to China and attempt to reclaim his family’s ancestral lands—and his pride.
Charles pulls Andrew, his aspiring comedian son, and Grace, his style-obsessed daughter, out of schools he can no longer afford. Together with their stepmother, Barbra, they embark on a cross-country road trip from their foreclosed Bel-Air home to the upstate New York hideout of the eldest daughter, disgraced art world it-girl Saina. But with his son waylaid by a temptress in New Orleans, his wife ready to defect for a set of 1,000-thread-count sheets, and an epic smash-up in North Carolina, Charles may have to choose between the old world and the new, between keeping his family intact and finally fulfilling his dream of starting anew in China.
Outrageously funny and full of charm, The Wangs vs. the World is an entirely fresh look at what it means to belong in America—and how going from glorious riches to (still name-brand) rags brings one family together in a way money never could.

This was a very unique and mind boggling book, and by unique I mean that if you love books that have a lot of passages that needs a translator but didn't have one, is full of shallow characters (that do grow a bit, but are still shallow) and seems to be written by a biased, prejudiced against 'white people' author - then this book might be right up your alley. This books description also promises that this would be a humorous book - no, not so much. The idea was a good one and that is why I picked this book - a rich family has to learn what it is like to be poor due to a bankruptcy and they need to do so on a cross-country trip. Spoiler, sort of>>>>does this book have a conclusion? Not really; at least not a satisfying one. In my opinion, it was more like the last episode of Newhart or the dream episode from Dallas (if you are old enough to remember those shows!) I started this book with my whole heart and full attention and ended up after about 40% just skimming a lot of it until something actually happened. Or until they switched back to English. ARC supplied by publisher