Happy Monday Everyone!
This last week has been so crazy busy, that I was honestly worried I wouldn't have time to do any book reviews for my blog.
Last Tuesday I had a big work meeting to organize, I came down with a nasty cold, I had a bunch of training sessions I needed to try and get finished, and our staff Christmas party is coming up in a couple of weeks, and this is my first year organizing it.
All in all, I feel like I've barely had a spare moment to breathe lately, and when I have, I've been trying to get a chunk of my Christmas shopping done, and give my house a much needed deep cleaning.
So I'm going to be downright honest and admit that I haven't truly found myself in the Christmas spirit much lately, and I really wanted to see that change. Christmas is my favorite time of the year, and I hate when I get so busy that I forget to take the time to remember that.
On Saturday I finally had some time to sit down and curl up with a book, and so I decided to read a Love Inspired Christmas story to attempt to get myself back into the holiday spirit. And today, I'd like to share what I thought with all of you about this sweet holiday romance.
A Mom For Christmas by Lorraine Beatty:
Publisher: Harlequin
Publication Date: October 18th, 2016
Source: Christmas gift
Synopsis:
Christmas Reunion
Noah Carlisle is surprised to see first love Beth Montgomery back in Dover. Beth left their small Mississippi town—and him—years ago for a ballet career. Now the only female in Noah's life is his daughter, and he won't risk their future for a temporary reunion with Beth. Home to rehab her knee, Beth counts the days to resume her career—until she sees her long-ago beau. Celebrating Christmas with the handsome man and his adorable child, Beth wonders if the dreams worth chasing were always right in her own backyard. Can she stay and be Noah's second chance and his daughter's Christmas wish—a gift-wrapped mom under the tree?
My Review:
From its description, A Mom For Christmas sounded like exactly my type of read. A Love Inspired Christmas story about a second chance romance, an adorable nine year old girl, a festive small town, and ballet. This was one of the books I was most excited to receive for Christmas last year, and I couldn't wait to dive into it this past weekend, and see if it lived up to my expectations. While I did still enjoy it overall, unfortunately it wasn't quite as amazing as I had expected, and that's mainly due to the problematic male main character.
Beth and Noah were best friends as children, and this continued until their high school graduation. She offered him her heart on the night of their high school graduation, and he rejected her. Similariy, she was the best friend he'd ever had, and yet she left for her fancy career with a New York city ballet company without even telling him goodbye. Both moved on with their lives; her with her career, and him with his wedding, the birth of his daughter, and his subsequent divorce. Due to circumstances outside of their control, they both soon find themselves back in their hometown of Dover, Mississippi, and are reluctant to admit that the old feelings are still simmering below the surface. Noah's adorable nine year old daughter Chloe takes an instant liking to Beth, and her talented dance career, however Noah is hesitant to allow the two of them to spend any time together, as he's yet to forget the fact that Beth's devotion to her career surpasses anything she may feel for friends or family. However, this holiday season the two of them will discover that God's plan unfolds in mysterious ways, and He knows us better than we could ever truly know ourselves.
Lorraine Beatty has woven a beautiful story about redemption, misunderstandings, and discovering what's truly important in life and love. Beth was exactly the kind of heroine I was hoping for, and the way she goes above and beyond to help those around her while using her God given talent of ballet was refreshing and enticing to read, and definitely warmed my heart. I also loved Noah's daughter Chloe, and the way she continues to want to see the best in everyone, even her career obsessed mother who continuously lets her down. The many numerous secondary characters like Noah's Gran, Beth's mom, and Jen, the director of the local Christmas pageant all added an extra element to the story, and I enjoyed all of their moments.
However, my enjoyment of this beautiful story was hankered by the attitude of Noah himself. He's very set in his ways, and refuses to see the other side of the story. Inside he's locked his heart away from anyone other than his daughter and grandmother, and refuses to have any association with the arts after Beth left him for ballet, and his wife left him for a career in television. His beliefs have carried over to the way he raises his daughter, and it takes him way too long to see reason. He's a martyr from page one in the story, and consistently talks Beth down, breaking her heart in the process. The reader sees the amazing change that takes place in Beth's heart throughout the course of the story, and yet Noah continues to think the worst of her right up until its almost too late to come back from it. I'm sorry to say that this was one romance I couldn't bring myself to root for, as I couldn't get over the horrible way that Noah treats Beth continuously over and over again. I still really enjoyed this holiday story overall, and I liked many elements of it and would recommend it, but I only gave it a three star rating, instead of the four star rating it probably would have been if I hadn't had the issues I did with Noah's character.
Thanks so much for reading guys! I hope your week's off to a great start, and I'll see you all again on Wednesday.
This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owner.
This last week has been so crazy busy, that I was honestly worried I wouldn't have time to do any book reviews for my blog.
Last Tuesday I had a big work meeting to organize, I came down with a nasty cold, I had a bunch of training sessions I needed to try and get finished, and our staff Christmas party is coming up in a couple of weeks, and this is my first year organizing it.
All in all, I feel like I've barely had a spare moment to breathe lately, and when I have, I've been trying to get a chunk of my Christmas shopping done, and give my house a much needed deep cleaning.
So I'm going to be downright honest and admit that I haven't truly found myself in the Christmas spirit much lately, and I really wanted to see that change. Christmas is my favorite time of the year, and I hate when I get so busy that I forget to take the time to remember that.
On Saturday I finally had some time to sit down and curl up with a book, and so I decided to read a Love Inspired Christmas story to attempt to get myself back into the holiday spirit. And today, I'd like to share what I thought with all of you about this sweet holiday romance.
A Mom For Christmas by Lorraine Beatty:
Publisher: Harlequin
Publication Date: October 18th, 2016
Source: Christmas gift
Synopsis:
Christmas Reunion
Noah Carlisle is surprised to see first love Beth Montgomery back in Dover. Beth left their small Mississippi town—and him—years ago for a ballet career. Now the only female in Noah's life is his daughter, and he won't risk their future for a temporary reunion with Beth. Home to rehab her knee, Beth counts the days to resume her career—until she sees her long-ago beau. Celebrating Christmas with the handsome man and his adorable child, Beth wonders if the dreams worth chasing were always right in her own backyard. Can she stay and be Noah's second chance and his daughter's Christmas wish—a gift-wrapped mom under the tree?
My Review:
From its description, A Mom For Christmas sounded like exactly my type of read. A Love Inspired Christmas story about a second chance romance, an adorable nine year old girl, a festive small town, and ballet. This was one of the books I was most excited to receive for Christmas last year, and I couldn't wait to dive into it this past weekend, and see if it lived up to my expectations. While I did still enjoy it overall, unfortunately it wasn't quite as amazing as I had expected, and that's mainly due to the problematic male main character.
Beth and Noah were best friends as children, and this continued until their high school graduation. She offered him her heart on the night of their high school graduation, and he rejected her. Similariy, she was the best friend he'd ever had, and yet she left for her fancy career with a New York city ballet company without even telling him goodbye. Both moved on with their lives; her with her career, and him with his wedding, the birth of his daughter, and his subsequent divorce. Due to circumstances outside of their control, they both soon find themselves back in their hometown of Dover, Mississippi, and are reluctant to admit that the old feelings are still simmering below the surface. Noah's adorable nine year old daughter Chloe takes an instant liking to Beth, and her talented dance career, however Noah is hesitant to allow the two of them to spend any time together, as he's yet to forget the fact that Beth's devotion to her career surpasses anything she may feel for friends or family. However, this holiday season the two of them will discover that God's plan unfolds in mysterious ways, and He knows us better than we could ever truly know ourselves.
Lorraine Beatty has woven a beautiful story about redemption, misunderstandings, and discovering what's truly important in life and love. Beth was exactly the kind of heroine I was hoping for, and the way she goes above and beyond to help those around her while using her God given talent of ballet was refreshing and enticing to read, and definitely warmed my heart. I also loved Noah's daughter Chloe, and the way she continues to want to see the best in everyone, even her career obsessed mother who continuously lets her down. The many numerous secondary characters like Noah's Gran, Beth's mom, and Jen, the director of the local Christmas pageant all added an extra element to the story, and I enjoyed all of their moments.
However, my enjoyment of this beautiful story was hankered by the attitude of Noah himself. He's very set in his ways, and refuses to see the other side of the story. Inside he's locked his heart away from anyone other than his daughter and grandmother, and refuses to have any association with the arts after Beth left him for ballet, and his wife left him for a career in television. His beliefs have carried over to the way he raises his daughter, and it takes him way too long to see reason. He's a martyr from page one in the story, and consistently talks Beth down, breaking her heart in the process. The reader sees the amazing change that takes place in Beth's heart throughout the course of the story, and yet Noah continues to think the worst of her right up until its almost too late to come back from it. I'm sorry to say that this was one romance I couldn't bring myself to root for, as I couldn't get over the horrible way that Noah treats Beth continuously over and over again. I still really enjoyed this holiday story overall, and I liked many elements of it and would recommend it, but I only gave it a three star rating, instead of the four star rating it probably would have been if I hadn't had the issues I did with Noah's character.
Thanks so much for reading guys! I hope your week's off to a great start, and I'll see you all again on Wednesday.
This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owner.
Comments
Post a Comment