Holiday Reads | Dashing Through the Snow by Debbie Macomber

Dashing Through the Snow by Debbie Macomber

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, October 2015

Genre: Fiction, Christmas

Pages: eBook, 256 pages

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary (from chapters.indigo.ca):

Ashley Davison, a graduate student in California, desperately wants to spend the holidays with her family in Seattle. Dashiell Sutherland, a former army intelligence officer, has a job interview in Seattle and must arrive by December 23. Though frantic to book a last-minute flight out of San Francisco, both are out of luck: Every flight is full, and there’s only one rental car available. Ashley and Dash reluctantly decide to share the car, but neither anticipates the wild ride ahead.

At first they drive in silence, but forced into close quarters Ashley and Dash can’t help but open up. Not only do they find they have a lot in common, but there’s even a spark of romance in the air. Their feelings catch them off guard—never before has either been so excited about a first meeting. But the two are in for more twists and turns along the way as they rescue a lost puppy, run into petty thieves, and even get caught up in a case of mistaken identity. Though Ashley and Dash may never reach Seattle in time for Christmas, the season is still full of surprises—and their greatest wishes may yet come true.

Review:

Imagine trying to get home for the holidays only to be told that you CAN'T book a seat on the flight?! We aren't talking about 'can't' as in there aren't any more available, we are talking 'can't' as in there are RED FLAGS on your name and the government won't let you fly. However, you don't know this and have no idea what is going on so you just find alternate arrangements.

To me, I thought this was such a wonderful and unique was to kick off a novel. It was gripping in that you didn't know why or what Ashley had done to find herself on the no fly list but it was also very entertaining as she looked for alternate means of transportation. I loved the characters... Ashley and Dash were both prickly yet lovable and I thought they were written very well.

I feel like I flew through this book... must be a sign of how much I enjoyed reading it. It was a quick, fun, Christmas (season) read and I found myself smiling along many times throughout the story.

Holiday Reads | Twelve Days of Christmas by Debbie Macomber

Twelve Days of Christmas by Debbie Macomber

Publisher: Random House, October 2016

Pages: Hardcover, 240 pages

Genre: Fiction, Christmas

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Summary (from chapters.indigo.ca):

Friendly and bubbly, Julia Padden likes nearly everyone, but her standoffish neighbor, Cain Maddox, presents a particular challenge. No matter how hard she’s tried to be nice, Cain rudely rebuffs her at every turn, preferring to keep to himself. But when Julia catches Cain stealing her newspaper from the lobby of their apartment building, that’s the last straw. She’s going to break through Cain’s Scrooge-like exterior the only way she knows how: by killing him with kindness.

To track her progress, Julia starts a blog called The Twelve Days of Christmas. Her first attempts to humanize Cain are far from successful. Julia brings him homemade Christmas treats and the disagreeable Grinch won’t even accept them. Meanwhile, Julie’s blog becomes an online sensation, as an astonishing number of people start following her adventures. Julia continues to find ways to express kindness and, little by little, chips away at Cain’s gruff façade to reveal the caring man underneath. Unbelievably, Julia feels herself falling for Cain - and she suspects that he may be falling for her as well. But as the popularity of her blog continues to grow, Julia must decide if telling Cain the truth about having chronicled their relationship to the rest of the world is worth risking their chance at love.

Review:

Short and sweet story that follows the typical pattern of books that are centered around the Christmas season. Have you ever watched the shows 'Extreme Couponing' or 'House MD' and can pretty much say how the episodes will break down? Well, I find that Christmas stories are the same way. Two unlikely people find themselves together and quickly and unexpectedly fall in love, only to be torn apart by some random/horrible situation. Then, either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, they come to their senses and end up realizing that they are destined for happiness together. However, knowing that, I still reach for all things holiday novel in the month of December EVERY SINGLE YEAR!

Twelve Days of Christmas is just that... your typical Christmas story but when you remove the anticipated story-line it breaks down to some pretty annoying characters who I found myself in a love/hate relationship with. Julia was so sweet she made my teeth hurt and yet, I found her somewhat charming and perhaps even a girl after my own heart. Cain, on the other hand, was a jerk... through and through and I found myself disliking him, and his bi-polar personality, more as the book went on. Honestly, the only character that I truly liked was Bernie, the kinda-creepy, grandfather... and he was barely in the story so not sure what that's saying.

 As a lifetime blogger/vlogger, I found some of Julia's super-stardom to be a little too much for my liking but knowing that it was the purpose of the whole story, I was able to forgive it... to a point. 

Overall, I found the story fun and enjoyable, even with the dodgy characters and crazy blog stats, and it still brought a smile to my face as I read the last page. Basically, it did as I would like any December Christmas novel want... got me in the holiday spirit.