It’s that most frustrating time of the year!
Guests, gifts, meals…the number of things to keep track of can be staggering. If you’re anything like me, what you really want to do is curl up with a good book! Allow me to offer a few suggestions which take time and attention limitations into consideration.
If you’re in the mood for a bit of terror with your winter chill, THE GREY WOLF, by Louise Penny, provides a comforting reunion with the characters (Armand and Reine-Marie Gamache, among other residents of Three Pines,) millions have come to love. Of course, along with that sense of familiarity comes a bone-chilling tale. As often happens with Ms. Penny’s books, the story is left both partially resolved and nail-bitingly unresolved. Will next October’s THE BLACK WOLF answer all our questions? Only the gifted author knows for sure, and she’s making us wait.
Holidays bring families together, and the new book by Kate Storey, THE MEMORY LIBRARY, reminds us how meaningful those familial bonds can be. Ella has righteously kept her mother, Sally, at a distance for years, angry at her callous behavior when Ella was young. When Sally falls and needs help, Ella must leave her own cold marriage in Australia and return to London. Her forced proximity to her mother sheds light on secrets she never understood and opens her heart to love she had foolishly bricked away. I loved THE MEMORY LIBRARY (which pays tribute to the role of books in all our lives) and look forward to more from this talented writer.
For travel from London to the U.S., check out SNOW GOING BACK, the fun new romance from Emma Tallon. Lawyer Kate “accidentally” accepts a wedding proposal and then is relieved to be temporarily transferred to Vermont to unravel a complicated inheritance case. There she literally crashes into Sam, the deceased couple’s adopted son, and tries to make sense of the confusing intricacies of his family’s business. At first adversaries (with some wicked shenanigans), Kate and Sam end up working together to preserve a legacy and a way of life. Vermont at Christmastime is irresistible, especially when you’re tucked up under a blanket reading such a delightful tale.
If time permits, I recommend the magnificent BY ANY OTHER NAME by Jodi Picoult. We get the saying “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” from the immortal bard, Shakespeare. Ms. Picoult dares to ask, however, if a collection of work billions have revered over the centuries would be as well received had it been written by a woman. For that matter, can a play written by a woman today get equal attention to one written by a man? Ms. Picoult examines these questions in a dual-time strand story with two fantastic plots that kept me spellbound and eager to make time soon for a reread.
If you’re short on time and need a quick, sexy dive into Christmas merriment, the wonderful Kate Meader delivers with REBEL YULE. Erik and Casey both have delicious memories of a hot one-night stand, but unintentional mishaps and Erik’s secret face blindness have prevented a reunion. Spicy encounters, some engineered by the Rebel hockey team management, may, of course, help resolve the confusion, and Ms. Meader garnishes her story with mouthwatering descriptions of Swedish Christmas treats and holiday traditions.
And if you have time for only a short holiday read, check out my story, “Second Christmas Solstice,” and the other wonderful offerings in the fantasy-inspired LOVE IN OTHER WORLDS, edited by Tracy Cooper-Posey. In this world or any other, spending time with the people we love is the greatest gift of all.
Finally, romance readers and writers around the world are keeping a candle burning in their hearts this season for a writer who helped set in indelible ink the concept that was always true but seldom acknowledged: woman are strong, resilient, and worthy of love. Barbara Taylor Bradford published A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE in 1979, but her words and her creative stories resonate to this day with readers everywhere. Thank you, Barbara.
Meg's friends during her high school years all expected her romance novels to hit the shelves decades ago, but she foolishly allowed "serious pursuits" to get in her way. Now that her beloved children can feed, clothe, and most importantly, support themselves, she's free to turn her attention to her first passion - putting words to paper that capture your attention and make your heart sing in quiet joy. Her stories tell most frequently of second chances--in life, love, and sometimes even at rediscovering a soul-mate from a previous life.
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