Fiction Friday - Festive edition

Christmas, a time of good cheer and plenty of feel good books to read.

I had a long list of books I wanted to get to this year but I didn't manage even half of them. In fact there were some that I was really looking forward to that never got opened and a huge pile from last year (2014) that still never got read. But I did read some excellent stories with the warm and fuzzies galore.


Winter Wonderland (Minnesota Christmas #3) by Heidi Cullinan. One of most eagerly anticipated books of the year. I was sitting on this for weeks but refused to let myself open it until 1st December. 5 stars for the book and 5 for the series. Please say there will be more... Winter Wedding, anyone?

The Winter Spirit by Indra Vaughn. A warning to all. Read the Blurb, or at least glance at the cover. Either would have given me the inkling that the love story was with the ghost *facepalm* No wonder I wasn't feeling the relationship in the first part of the story, I had the wrong MC. Once I got back on track I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

One Holiday Ever After by Tere Michaels (Goodreads Author), Elle Brownlee (Goodreads Author), Elizah J. Davis. Three stories in one book here. Holiday Roommates - 4.5* Delightful./Holiday Sanctuary - 4* Very cute./Holiday Homecoming - 4.5* Gorgeous. Honestly I know the average of the 3 stories is closer to 4 than 5 but the stories are such an amazing collection of sweet, Christmasy goodness that I couldn't give them anything less.

The Working Elf Blues by Piper Vaughn. Throughly charming. And apparently I have a soft spot for stories set in the North Pole!

If Only in My Dreams by Keira Andrews. Road Trip. Former friends to enemies to lovers. What's not to love.

What Happens At Christmas by Jay Northcote. A veritable pile of tropes, brilliantly executed.

An Angel in Eyeliner by Hunter Frost. This was a pleasant surprise. A new to me author. And a sweet story.

Talk Turkey (Sleigh Ride - 2015 Advent Calendar) by Bru Baker. I didn't buy all of the Advent this year. But I did pick a few that were either by favourite authors or got decent reviews from the first few readers. And I think I was hungry when I wrote my review on Goodreads!

Personal Shopper by Tere Michaels. Cute with a twist.

Christmas Miracles of a Recently Fallen Spruce (Sleigh Ride - 2015 Advent Calendar) by Brandon Witt. The last line is perfect.

Grateful (Sleigh Ride - 2015 Advent Calendar) by Kim Fielding. If there is ever a time of the year to believe in love at first sight it's Christmas.

Midwinter Night's Dream (Unwrapping Hank #2) by Eli Easton. I had my issues with this book, more so than any other on the list, but I still enjoyed reading (most) of it. More details of my issues in the Goodreads link.

Humbug by Joanna Chambers. At 48% I was firmly in the 'I hate this MC' camp. And then a miracle happened...

Loving Blitz (North Pole City Tales #4) by Charlie Cochet. An obsession with the North Pole, I tell you. It's the only explanation.

Magic & Mistletoe by Annabelle Jacobs. No angst. Not a jot.

A Fortunate Blizzard by L.C. Chase. I started the month on a 5 star read and ended on one too. I sobbed my way through a lot of this book. Highly recommended but tissues may be required.

I read more, a total of 32 books over the month. I dnf'd none (in the spirit of the season I skimmed rather than dnf'd), although two were deleted from my Kindle immediately after finishing (can you guess which ones I skimmed, then). The remainder were satisfactory to good reads, with a coupe that would have made it to this list with a bit more backstory and a couple more chapters.

All in all a successful month of reading.