Review: Flirting with Alaska

Flirting with Alaska by Belle Calhoune
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

1.5 Stars rounded up.

If you like super sweet romances, this book will knock your socks off. But when I say super sweet, I really mean saccharin sweet. Perhaps even cloyingly sweet. Everyone was just so perfect; the relationships were perfect, and even the Grandmother's dying was done perfectly and sweetly! Except for one scene at the beginning of the book, the rest of the book was filled with stilted characters, unreal interactions, forced dialogue, and pure perfection.

The author was very vague about many parts that were important and would have contributed a great deal to the story.

I don't mind telling you that I only made it to the 70% mark before I gave up on this.

*ARC was supplied by the publisher Forever/Hachette Book Group, the author, and NetGalley

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SYNOPSIS: "Can a notorious flirt prove to a small-town single mom that he’s more than his bad-boy reputation?

Caleb Stone isn’t ready to give up his Hollywood dreams. But after a disastrous run on a reality dating show paints him as an unapologetic player, Caleb needs a little time and space to regroup. Luckily, his hometown of Moose Falls, Alaska has both, plus a job helping his brothers run Yukon Cider. Even dialed down, Caleb’s flirtatious vibes are a hit at work, except for one woman who seems completely, totally, frustratingly immune to his charms—the gorgeous new photographer for Yukon Cider’s upcoming ad campaign.

Single mom Sophia Brand isn’t made of ice—resisting Caleb’s devilishly sexy grin is hard, especially when it’s so often directed her way. It’s just that she’s been burned by handsome smiles before. Now, she’s focused on setting a good example for her daughter, and that means not getting sidetracked by Caleb’s dazzling charisma . . . or his Hollywood abs. But as they work together on the campaign, Caleb and Sophia begin to let their guard down. Can he prove that beneath his playboy persona, Caleb is a leading man worthy of a starring role in Sophia’s heart?"

Review: Christmas with the Queen: A Novel

Christmas with the Queen: A Novel by Hazel Gaynor; Heather Webb
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a review of the Kindle version of this book.

This was a lovely novel set in the days of Queen Elizabeth II's first years on the throne. This book is really about how two people who met many years ago (on VE day) then lose touch with each other and meet up again when both of their jobs take them to Sandringham. Jack is one of the chefs, and Olive as a minor reporter for the BBC. The Queen and Prince Phillip really play secondary characters in this novel of love found, lost, and found again.

Olive, a single mother, has a secret, and we fret with her as she wonders if she should let the cat out of the bag. Jack is dealing with the unexpected loss of his wife yet finds that when he meets Olive again and spends time with her, he may have feelings for her.

It is a lovely, warm novel that is a tad slow in parts - especially in the first quarter of the book, but then grabs you and won't let you go until you've read every word.

*ARC was provided for review by the publisher Blackstone Publishing, Inc., the author's Hazel Gaynor; Heather Webb, and NetGalley.


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SYNOPSIS: "’Tis the season! The Crown meets When Harry Met Sally in the latest heartwarming historical novel from Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb, bestselling authors of Last Christmas in Paris, Meet Me in Monaco, and Three Words for Goodbye.

December 1952. While the young Queen Elizabeth II finds her feet as the new monarch, she must also find the right words to continue the tradition of her late father’s Christmas Day radio broadcast. But even traditions must evolve with the times, and the queen faces a postwar Britain hungry for change. 

As preparations begin for the royal Christmas at Sandringham House in Norfolk, old friends—Jack Devereux and Olive Carter—are unexpectedly reunited by the occasion. Olive, a single mother and aspiring reporter at the BBC, leaps at the opportunity to cover the holiday celebration, but even a chance encounter with the queen doesn’t go as planned and Olive wonders if she will ever be taken seriously. 

Jack, a recently widowed chef, reluctantly takes up a new role in the royal kitchens at Sandringham. Lacking in purpose and direction, Jack has abandoned his dream to have his own restaurant, but his talents are soon noticed and while he might not believe in himself, others do, and a chance encounter with an old friend helps to reignite the spark of his passion and ambition. 

As Jack and Olive’s paths continue to cross over the following five Christmases, they grow ever closer. Yet Olive carries the burden of a heavy secret that threatens to destroy everything. 

Christmas Day, December 1957. As the nation eagerly awaits the Queen’s first televised Christmas speech, there is one final gift for the Christmas season to deliver…