bellesmoma2021's reviews
973 reviews

Christmas With a Crank by Courtney Walsh is a super sweet, incredibly fun Contemporary Romance that totally got this reader into the festive, holiday mood! There is so much to love about this story. The characters are excellently crafted (but of course they are…Walsh always creates the BEST characters). Of the many characters, Olive is my favorite. She is absolute sunshine, but she is not saccharine or fake. Olive has faced some adversity in her very recent past and it’s holding her back, unbeknownst to her. At the very start of the story, Olive is a failed business owner who now finds herself juggling several part-time jobs trying to make ends meet. She is thrilled when a job opens up at her most favorite place ever — the local Christmas-tree farm. I love how the transformation of the beloved Christmas-tree farm mimics Olive’s own transformation over the course of the story. Olive is gifted with the ability to breathe new life and love and sunshine into a place or into people, and this is what she does, overtime, to the Christmas-tree farm. I think I love Olive because she reminds me of my best friend. Lara was uber-capable, super smart, brought ALL the fun, was incredibly loyal and genuine, and was massively creative. This is Olive in a nutshell. In addition to her personality, I also love Olive’s mental-health growth. Walsh has created a sunshine character who has to work through depression, but doesn’t even realize she’s depressed because her dominant personality is sunshine. Olive’s default is happy even when she is sad. I appreciate Olive’s journey from realizing her many nuanced feelings that reside underneath all her sunshine, to being OK with all those many feelings and sitting in them for a minute or two, to forgiving herself (read the story, you’ll understand what she needs to forgive), and then becoming the even awesomer (it’s a word, I promise) woman she was always meant to be. Olive is wonderful, and my absolute favorite aspect to this lovely story. As far as everything else in this story goes, I totally loved the storyline. I was hooked from page one and didn’t want to put the book down. I cheered for Olive and Lacey, Liam’s sister, the whole time. I so wanted their entrepreneurial dreams to come true. I also cheered for Olive and Liam to get their happily ever after. There’s is a slow-burn romance for sure, but the chemistry between the two is electric. And when they finally do admit their feelings, it’s the best. I sighed happy sighs and smiled big! See, I told you there’s so much to love about this story.

All in all, Christmas With a Crank is another home run by Walsh. I loved every minute of this delightfully sweet Contemporary Romance, and cannot recommend it enough. If you’re a fan of fun, swoony Contemporary Romances with depth and heart, then this is definitely the story for you.

Across the Ages by Gabrielle Meyer is quite the adventure! I loved every single second of this uniquely intense story. My most favorite aspect is the dive into history we readers get to take. All of Meyer’s Timeless novels have been time machines into history, but I feel like the historical detail in Across the Ages jumps off the pages in such a fun way. Simply put, I was transported in time…and learned SO much. I learned about pirates and preachers, gangster cops and the criminals they let slide, and the laws made to skirt around Prohibition and other criminal behavior. I had no idea about Minnesota’s sordid criminal history and the O’Connor Layover Agreement (essentially, it made Saint Paul a sanctuary city for criminals in the 1920s). It was quite evident early on in this tale that regardless of the time — 1727, 1927, or today — nothing is new. As long as there are people on this earth there will be humans striving to be good, humans being bad, and leaders to exploit it all. King Solomon was right when he said in Ecclesiastes that there is nothing new under the sun.

Of the very many topics and ideas discussed in this novel, the discussions in regards to hypocrisy and second chances resonated the most with me. When I was a teenager, one of the leaders from my church was relieved of his official duties. Why? Because his teen daughter got pregnant. I will never, ever forget the day our pastor, in front of the whole congregation, basically condemned this man because he couldn’t keep control over his own household. The man said he agreed with the pastor, but I always felt this was cruel. Shortly after, this man left the church. He forced his daughter to give up her child. This hurt the daughter deeply, and I feel like she never quite recovered. How the church reacted towards the man and his family was disgusting and totally not how Jesus would ever have dealt with the ordeal. The whole situation was a big mess. I always felt this was one of the cruelest moments in my church’s history. There was no grace, no mercy, no forgiveness. Just a tossing away like trash. It was the first time I realized that church and God were two different things. Similar issues arise in this story, but instead of condemnation and excommunication, Meyer treats us readers to an illustration of what genuine forgiveness and the grace of second chances could look like. It was refreshing, and honestly it brought me to tears. The illustration of second chances and how they build people back up was the absolute best part of this stellar story. The world would truly be a better place — a more God-like place — if we all reacted with grace and mercy rather than self-righteous indignation and pearl-clutching judgement.

Across the Ages is another home run Historical Romance. This story is a journey and I loved and valued every single second. I will miss these characters greatly. If you’re a fan of insanely good stories that keep you on the edge of your seat, then you will NOT want to miss out on this story!

America at War 2024-2026 by Pastor Mark Biltz is a unique and fascinating read. I read this book cover to cover over a four week period, slowly taking it all in (and there is A LOT to take in). Biltz discusses the times we are currently in based on God’s calendar — fascinating information in and of itself. He also discusses the significance of the many recent Blood Moons, solar eclipses, and lunar eclipses that have been in our skies lately. I found this information truly fascinating as all three entities are pretty uncommon, at least in regards to the sheer number of events we’ve been experiencing since 2014. After reading this information, it is abundantly clear that God is doing everything to capture our attention. Are we listening?!

I loved several aspects to this intense text. First and foremost, pastor Biltz floods this text with Biblical citations. All of his claims are supported with a ton of Bible. It is very clear that Biltz knows his Bible, and has a passion to share God’s Word with others. Another aspect to this text that I like are all the charts, graphs, and images. I am a visual learner, so these items really enhanced the information for me. Finally, I appreciate the ease at which Pastor Biltz explains his claims and sets up his evidence and explanation. The material discussed in this book is complex and deep. I’m talking a deep-dive into seriously intricate end-times information. But Biltz explains everything so simply and to the point. Anyone can read this book, and this book is for everyone!

America at War 2024-2026 is a unique religious text I highly recommend. Pastor Biltz gives the reader a lot of Biblical thoughts to chew on. If you’re intrigued by Biblical end times and prophecy, God’s calendar, astronomy and how God uses it to message to His people, and much, much more, then this is definitely the text for you!

I heartily enjoyed every second of A Matter of Honor by Laura Frantz. The Rose and the Thistle is one of my favorite Frantz novels, so I could not wait to read this sequel. I found the storyline to be totally engaging. This was another Frantz story I attempted to enjoy slowly, but finished in under 24 hours. Not only did the pages fly by, but I stayed up WAY past my bedtime reading. Ultimately, I was enchanted. Frantz beautifully transports readers back to 1739 Scotland. I felt like I was right there with Orin and Maryn. I rode across the merse with Orin, I could smell Lady Maryn’s famous roses, and I sat for some coffee in Wedderburn Books, Orin’s beloved bookshop. So much fun! As with all her novels, Frantz crafts uniquely wonderful and very believable characters. My heart hurt deeply for Lady Maryn. It’s truly unfortunate, but it seems like some people’s lot in life is to be perpetual mourners. This is true for Lady Maryn. All the loss this poor woman goes through — it’s really rough. I wanted to reach into the narrative and hug her. But she never loses herself. She never loses her hope. And she never loses her faith in God. Maryn is a truly remarkable character. And Orin — he’s a sweetheart. He was a sweetheart when he was a 7-year old in The Rose and the Thistle, and he’s a sweetheart of a man at 32 in this novella. I love his drive to escape the noise of London for the quiet of his native Scotland. I love his desire to bring literacy to his hometown so that his people can have a chance at a better future. And I love how he so desperately desires to protect and care for Maryn. Orin’s a sweetie of a hero in every sense. And it was so much fun getting to see characters from The Rose and the Thistle — 25 years brought a lot of change, so it was good to catch up!

There is much more I could say about A Matter of Honor. I didn’t even mention the sweet second-chance romance journey Orin and Maryn traverse (it’s SO good!). For a novella, A Matter of Honor sure does pack a punch! Suffice to say, I love this story and highly recommend it. If you’re a fan of excellent Historical Romances filled with endearing characters and timely themes, then A Matter of Honor is a story you do not want to miss.

Merry Kismet by Anneka R. Walker is such a sweet Christmas read. I devoured this story in less than a day and had SO much fun doing so. I’m a real sucker for a good second-chance romance, and Walker does not disappoint. My favorite aspect to this second-chance romance is that there is no hate. Brie, the hurt party, has ZERO anger or animosity towards Rockwell. She was definitely hurt by Rockwell, but she just loves him. Always will. Because of this, Brie is willing to give Rockwell the benefit of the doubt and hears him out. It was refreshing to read a second-chance story that included kindness, patience, communication, and genuine second chances. It was nice to read a story with no fighting, just fixing. I really like Brie and Rockwell. It’s so obvious from their first interaction that they’re meant to be together. They’re so cute! I had a lot of fun watching Brie and Rockwell maneuver through awkwardness, renewed friendship, reignited chemistry, and eventually love. Merry Kismet is the delightfully happy story I didn’t even know I needed. I’m walking away from this story one happy, smiley reader!

Merry Kismet is a wonderful Contemporary Romance I highly recommend. If you’re looking for a highly engaging, totally endearing, super sweet Christmas romance that will leave your reader heart happy, then this is definitely the book for you!

DNF
This book is not my cup of tea.
Open-door sex scenes, not for me.
The storyline is ok.
The writing is not my style. Not very smooth. I found myself rereading sentences to try to grasp all the many details the author includes.
This story is just not for me.

The British Booksellers by Kristy Cambron is utterly astounding. I loved every single second of this heart-wrenching, breath-stealing story. The pacing is absolute brilliance. It mimics the time-line of history. At the beginning, and through the middle of the story, things are happening, but slowly. There’s this frustrating tension. You know something is coming. You know that something is going to be bad. By about the 1/2-3/4 marks, my skin was crawling with anticipation. Then the bombs started falling. And falling. And falling. I couldn’t breathe. I was so stressed and so worried for all these characters I had slowly come to love. I was 100% a participant in this story and I loved it. The characters in this story are golden. They’re human and relatable and frustrating and lovely and secretive and open-books. They perfectly exemplify the human condition when the current world condition is fraught with fear and anxiety and guilt and shame and worry. I loved the dual time-line and getting to see our main characters, Charlotte and Amos, in both periods. Their journey to love was painful and arduous to say the least, but I cheered for them. I truly did. And Eden, Charlotte’s daughter, I loved her. I love how she is a peacemaker and a fighter. And then there is Will. He’s meant to be the villain, but he worms his way into the reader’s heart and does not let go. I grew to love Will the most. What a uniquely good man! This book is amazing. What is does to the reader’s heart is memorable and lasting.

The British Booksellers is a story I will not soon forget. I loved this story and I am so sad my time with these endearing characters is over. If you’re a fan of well-researched, well-written Historical Fiction filled with humanity and heart, then this is definitely the story for you.

One Foggy Christmas by Kortney Keisel is a deeply emotional, highly engaging, unforgettable story. I sobbed. Not like I teared up a little. Nope. I sobbed. This story wrecked my heart, but in a great way. I also laughed, though. And I sighed super happy sighs. I cheered for Nash and Sadie the entire time. Yes, I wanted to throw the book at the wall, but I also wanted to hug it. Nash and Sadie’s story is real and raw and beautiful. I will not soon forget this romance.

On April 25, 2012, I suffered a traumatic brain injury. For 2 1/2 days prior, I had been leaking cerebral fluid, which caused bleeding into my brain. This, in turn, caused damage in the short-term memory and language sections of my brain. It took 2 years to physically recover and about a year or so to relearn all the words and concepts I had lost. I will never be 100%. I still get debilitating migraines that steal my words and leave me weak, and I have permanently lost about 6 months-1 year of short-term memories, but I am 1000% better today and so grateful to God for bringing me through all this trauma. The scariest part of the whole ordeal was losing emotions. It’s difficult to explain, but it’s like the part of my brain that feels love and joy and happiness disappeared. I know those feelings with my brain, but I no longer feel them with my heart. I tell my husband he’s the luckiest husband on earth because every single day I choose to love him. I know this sounds crazy. I actually never talk about my TBI because when I admit to people that I no longer feel love and joy and happiness, people get weird. It’s not that I can’t feel anymore. I still feel frustration and anger and pain. Those feelings surge through me. But the place where love, joy, and happiness resides feels empty. There’s a moment in One Foggy Christmas where Sadie is talking to her therapist after her TBI, and the doctor says, “The brain is such an unknown organ, and each traumatic brain injury is different. It’s hard to project how your recovery will go. This memory fog might last a few days or months, or it may always be like this. We just don’t know” (157). This is absolute truth. We are all different. We all have different brains. Even if we were to get injured in the exact same way, our brains would handle things differently, uniquely. I’ve been married to my brilliant, handsome, wonderful husband for over 13 years now, and I cannot tell you anything about our wedding. Those memories happened too close to my injury and are lost to me forever. I know I got married. I see the pictures, and my husband tells me about the night. But to me, it never happened. Unlike Sadie in this story, I can remember my husband. The doctors believe it’s because I knew Robert long enough before I was injured that he couldn’t disappear in my mind. But in all other ways, I truly related to Sadie. Reading the parts of her story after her accident were really difficult for me. All of her frustrations and fears were mine 12 years ago. This book was like a mirror being held up to me, and it forced me to deal with some things. In this, One Foggy Christmas was the therapy session I didn’t know I even needed.

Sadie and Nash’s story isn’t just about a horrific injury that wreaks havoc on their lives. It’s also one of the sweetest, most endearing love stories I’ve ever read. And it’s not just a sweet and endearing second-chance romance, but it’s also a second-chance familial-love story, too. That sounds odd, I know. But one of the issues that Sadie has to work through is her broken relationship with her parents. How do you fix a broken relationship with your parents when you don’t even remember that something had been broken? As much as I loved Sadie and Nash’s journeys (yes, plural) to love, I equally loved Sadie’s reconciliation journey with her parents. Seriously, this book is deep. It’s way more than just some sappy, happy Christmas story. But it’s also a happy Christmas story. LOL! Kortney Keisel is just that amazing a storyteller!

One Foggy Christmas is AMAZING. It definitely will be on my top-ten reads of 2024, and for sure it’s on my re-read stack. I truly loved every single moment and every single thing about this poignant story. If you’re in the mood for a Christmas Romance with endearing and flawed characters who feel very real and relatable, for a love story you won’t soon forget, for a story that tackles real-life issues then this is the story for you. Purchase a copy ASAP. You will NOT be disappointed you did.

I purchased a copy of this novel in eBook form from Amazon.com on November 4, 2024 in order to review. I am under no obligation to leave a positive review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

A Christmas at Hotel del Coronado by Kathleen Denly packs a punch in only 180 pages. First, it’s a sweet second-chance romance. Eleanor and Thomas grew up together and were first loves, but life got in the way and separated these two innocent friends. At the start of this story it’s been two years since Eleanor and Thomas have seen one another, and both are working under some seriously flawed misunderstandings. I appreciate how Denly maneuvers her main characters through active communication to illustrate that a lot of misunderstandings can easily be solved through talking and listening. My favorite aspect of this story is the journey Eleanor and Thomas took to become actual good friends again. Yes, the romance piece is lovely, but it’s the getting-back-to-friendship that I liked the best. This story is also a fantastic history lesson. I loved the attention to historical detail. It is very clear that Denly did her homework (and then some) with this story. I love that one of the prominent characters in this short story is based on a real-life woman. That will always be cool to me as I feel it adds such great depth and reality to the storyline. I really loved feeling like I was in San Diego in the late 1890s. Denly does a superb job of crafting her setting and transporting readers to this unique time period. And, lastly, there’s the murder mystery. I genuinely had no idea whodunit. This kept me turning pages well past my bedtime as I just had to discover who the bad guy is. See, for a novella, this book packs a ton into a small chunk of pages and I loved every minute!

A Christmas at Hotel del Coronado is an excellent Historical Romance novella that I highly recommend. If you are in the mood for a good mystery, for an endearing second-chance romance, or to be transported back in time, then purchase a copy of this story today. You won’t be disappointed you did!

But He’s My Roommate by Annah Conwell is my favorite story in the But He’s a Carter Brother series. I have genuinely loved and enjoyed each story in this series, but I connected with But He’s My Roommate the most. Conwell’s characters in this story are truly heartfelt, endearing, and realistic, and they wheedled their way into my reader’s heart BIG time. I love Evie and fully understand her drive to isolate herself and her child from the mean ol’ world. I totally get why she wants to build ironclad walls around her poor, battered, broken heart. If I were in her place, I would do the exact same thing. Evie is strong, though, and she won’t stay down long. She just needs to regroup. Her newborn son, Beckham, needs her to be strong, and that is what she will be. At this point, Maverick bursts onto the scene and breathes new life back into Evie. She fights it hard, but Maverick is one of the most patient, kind, marshmallow-y heroes ever. He is the best! I love how immediately protective he is of Evie and Beckham. He is so cute with Beckham. I also really like how he gives Evie a sense of actual power by training her in boxing. Yes, it’s a way for Maverick and Evie to grow closer as a couple, and it does allow for some fun, flirty moments, but it mostly empowers Evie to feel more in control both mentally and physically. I loved it! This is one of those stories where I was cheering for the hero and heroine the entire time. I’m leaving this story, and this series, smiling big time.

But He’s My Roommate is a wonderful conclusion to what has been a superb Contemporary Romance series. If you’re a fan of highly engaging, totally endearing, joy-filled stories that will make your reader heart happy, then you’ve got to read any and all of the books in the But He’s a Carter Brother series. You won’t be disappointed you did!