emmiemerereads's reviews
190 reviews

After losing nearly everything except a run-down hotel in the divorce from her cheating husband, romance author Anais is working to clean the hotel up and sell it as quickly as possible. Next door to the hotel is a bar run by Noah, who makes the job difficult with his demands. Working with her cousin Manon, Anais’ vision of turning the hotel into a book-lover’s retreat is peppered with issue after issue, including the discovery of a mysterious, sealed-off set of rooms. As she peels back the layers of the hotel, literally and figuratively, what she finds may change her life forever.

This official description does not do this book justice. While the book takes place around Christmas time, I wouldn’t say it’s really a Christmas book. Instead, it’s an ode to the great Parisian literary history, and a testament to the strength and fortitude of women everywhere. 

In another book, the setbacks Anais had to face before we even met her could have led to a weaker character. Instead, she was strong and determined and I felt proud of her from the start. No disrespect to Anais but Manon was the best character in the book, far exceeding her sidekick status. She was lovable, funny and tough, not letting anyone—any men—get away with nonsense. Even Anais’ agent Margaret came to be a powerful female character, exhibiting qualities many of us would find admirable. And of course, the  there were the women in the lost history of the hotel—the strongest and most amazing of all. 

I found the writing smooth and lovely. I was engaged right away and never lost attention. I even found myself getting excited as hotel renovations came to fruition, as if I was there myself.

Admittedly, I know little about the literary history of Paris, and reading this book made me want to learn more. Anais and other characters travel through Paris visiting places of significance, which I’m not sure are fiction or not.  I was hoping there would be an author’s note about that piece (there wasn’t) but I’m sure it’s easy enough to find out. It’s been years since I was in Paris and this book absolutely made me want to book a flight right away. 

I enjoyed this book more than I anticipated, and look forward to reading more by the author.

Boring

Maryam (heading to her sisters’ wedding) and Anna (traveling to meet her boyfriend’s family) are strangers seated together on a plane. After revealing their deepest secrets to each other and an emergency landing due to a winter storm, they find themselves stuck in the obscure town of Snow Falls. With Maryam’s family and a host of characters stranded with them or living in the town, the two women spend the next week learning more about each other and finding their true selves.

The story takes place in December 2000, when Christmas, Hanukkah, and Ramadan and Eid all coincided. Of the three holidays, Christmas is the least prominent in the book. The town is decorated for Christmas but there’s little focus on it. On the other hand, Maryam and her family are Muslim and the authors (specifically Uzma Jalaluddin) detail fasting during, and observing Ramadan, as well as celebrating Eid, which marks the end of the month-long Ramadan. Anna grew up celebrating both Christmas and Hanukkah. The book (this time co-author Marissa Stapley) gives attention to the lighting of the menorah and the true meaning of the holiday. 

This book hit home for me, unexpectedly but absolutely in a good way. I am Jewish, my husband is Muslim, and we recognize both religions in our house, including celebrating holidays of each. The authors gave great care to being true to the holidays while recognizing the story as a fictional rom-com. I found the rituals to be touching and true. I really loved not just the characters’ observances of the holidays but how others were curious, authentically wanting to learn about the meanings and customs.

Ultimately this book isn’t about  holidays or any religion. At its heart, this is a book about acceptance and inclusion, kindness, authenticity, empathy and truly, truly respecting others.

Moreover, it’s about being true to who you are and showing yourself the same respect you give to others. Both Maryam and Anna grapple with their identities, the former with expectations and pressure from her family and the latter with how her life/family struggles define her. 

There also are powerful themes of family throughout the book. The family we are born into, family we are made to be part of, family we marry into, and family we find in the friendship and love of others.

Maybe it’s the cynic in me but the idea of this random town that is so accepting of all religions, genders, partners, etc., felt unlikely and I kept waiting for something bad to happen. (Duh, this is a rom-com; nothing that bad happened!) 

That being said, the idea of being stuck in this idyllic Christmas village of the nicest people ever, keeping the nonsense of the world at bay, sounds absolutely amazing, and I spent a good deal of time getting lost there. 

This is my first time reading either author and I’m definitely going to look for more from both. Collectively, the writing was easy reading with good character development and great imagery. So much credit to them for co-authoring and making the book seamless. If you didn’t know there were two authors, it wouldn’t be obvious from the writing. Keep reading for the authors’ conversation at the end. I found it insightful and I came away more appreciative of their work.

Wow did I underestimate this book!  While I have about 23 novels brewing in my head and chapters of several others written(ish), I am far from being a novelist. That, plus being overwhelmed at just the thought of Aristotle’s teachings, I figured this would be interesting to skim through at the most. 

Instead I found the writing easy and simple to understand, without being patronizing. I appreciated the author’s humor and applaud any non-fiction that includes multiple uses of the f-word. The book had a conversational flow and I get the sense reading from the author is much like talking to him.

I was pleasantly surprised to find this was not simply a translation or regurgitation of, Aristotle says. It’s a truly thoughtful book that takes Aristotle’s teachings as grounding for writing, and reconstructs them for the rest of us. I came away with intelligent, well-developed tips that I can actually see being put into practice. I especially gravitated toward the ideas around organization, form and structure.

I won’t go so far as to say reading this book is going to turn me into the next great novelist, and I’m positive that wasn’t the author’s intention. But I do think it could help me hone my craft and maybe be a better writer in the end. I also came away with a list of books to read, the top of which is Aristotle’s “Poetics,” translated of course.

Coming in at a smooth 96 pages, this book is completely manageable. I’d recommend to anyone wanting to improve as a writer. 

I’m truly thankful to author Douglas Vigliotti and Love Book Tours for a free physical copy of Aristotle for Novelists. All opinions are my own.

What a fun book! This is not your typical rom-com. Yes, there are meet-cutes, and yea there are the standard features of a best-friend, a misunderstanding between the main characters, exes who get in the way … BUT Clare Swatman gives it a fresh spin with a Sliding Doors-esq tale.

Main character Bea is fleeing London for New York. In one version, she goes and in the other she stays. The book alternates storylines with each chapter. As we moved through and the two lives were crossing over, I had a little bit of a hard time keeping track of which version I was in. However that was easily solved by me just writing it down!

Swatman is a great writer, and while the concept is not a new idea, she absolutely made it her own. I was never bored and stayed engaged throughout, especially with the supporting cast of characters. Really she could pick any of Bea’s friends and write a whole book about them!

I hate to say it but I didn’t love Bea. Without giving any spoilers I wished she was a stronger woman, more independent, and absolutely more aware of her actions. That being said, I admired her dedication to her family.

I adored Bea’s BFF Mia, and friends Michael and Henry. I’d lean on the strength of friendships and family as a major theme of this book; another being the importance of staying true to yourself.

My major takeaway is that perhaps dreams are what we make them, and not the other way around.

I’m not big into romance books and first gravitated toward this because I love Christmas. Unfortunately, other than the timelines each taking place in December, it’s not really a Christmas book. But I’m glad I read it and definitely want to read more from the author.

*I received a free, digital copy of Last Christmas as part of a readalong from Boldwood Books. All opinions are my own.

Had to return to the library!

If you haven’t read this book, it’s the adult fiction Hanukkah book you’ve been waiting for! 

Rachel is a nice, Jewish girl, the daughter of a well-known rabbi, and has a merry and bright secret: she is a best-selling author who writes Christmas books under a pen name. Tasked with writing a Hanukkah novel, she looks for inspiration and instead comes face-to-face with her first love/frenemy Jacob.
Rachel also is battling another secret that controls her whole life, and one she shares only with her closest family and BFF. She’ll have to trust Jacob if she wants to find her inspiration, and along the way maybe she’ll find her true self.

I loved this book right from the get-go. As a Jewish woman who loves Christmas so much, I connected with Rachel right away. Jean Meltzer’s writing is so easy with great flow, but not dumbed down. Rachel and Jacob are both great characters with surprising depth, and the supporting cast are wonderful in their own ways. But it was the humor that hooked me. I laughed throughout and found it entirely enjoyable.

This book spins the typical holiday rom-com, but truthfully I don’t know how much non-Jews will appreciate it. Being Jewish certainly isn’t a requirement(!) but it helps to understand and appreciate much of the context.