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Sleigh Bells on Bread Loaf Mountain
6.0
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Christmas isn’t fashion editor Roxanne Hudson’s style, but when she finds herself snowed in with...
Adult Contemporary Romance Seasonal
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2324 KP) rated Mrs. Claus and the Evil Elves in Books
Oct 6, 2022 (Updated Oct 6, 2022)
Evil Elves Complicating Christmas
April Claus is thrilled that, for her second Christmas as Mrs. Claus, she is able to host her friend Claire at the North Pole. However, on top of the normal holiday chaos, there are new challenges. The reindeer are on strike. Someone scares the crowd at the annual ice sculpture contest with a drone-deer. And April’s friend Jupiter is worried about her boyfriend. Can April juggle all of this with her normal Mrs. Claus duties?
Obviously, there is quite a lot happening here. It’s all balanced perfectly with plenty of action and twists in the mystery to keep us engaged the entire time. April leads a cast of charming characters, and I enjoyed the growth in some relationships. The fantasy setting is wonderfully realized. I love getting lost in this world, and I can only imagine how much fun it would be to read this in December. Then there’s the humor. Claire’s reactions to some of the things she sees are priceless, and there are other great moments, too. Yet the more serious themes and elements work as well. If you have yet to start this series, you are in for a treat. Fans will find the Christmas spirit here no matter when they pick up the book.
Obviously, there is quite a lot happening here. It’s all balanced perfectly with plenty of action and twists in the mystery to keep us engaged the entire time. April leads a cast of charming characters, and I enjoyed the growth in some relationships. The fantasy setting is wonderfully realized. I love getting lost in this world, and I can only imagine how much fun it would be to read this in December. Then there’s the humor. Claire’s reactions to some of the things she sees are priceless, and there are other great moments, too. Yet the more serious themes and elements work as well. If you have yet to start this series, you are in for a treat. Fans will find the Christmas spirit here no matter when they pick up the book.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2324 KP) rated Shock and Paw in Books
Dec 13, 2024 (Updated Dec 13, 2024)
Murder During an Electric Christmas Season
This December, the Daybreak Island Chamber of Commerce is planning several events, hoping to draw visitors during the off season. Maddie James is trying to focus on running her cat café for a change, but she finds herself drawn into the drama surrounding the events, especially the decorating contest. But when a murder happens, Maddie really jumps into things, especially with her best friend one of the suspects. Can she figure out what is going on?
I’m glad we got a second Christmas entry in this series. As always, it was fun to visit the characters again, although I do feel like some of the minor characters are hard to keep track of. The pacing in this book was off. Yes, everything came into play once the murdered happened, as I figured it would, but it wandered around quite a bit on its way there. Still, I was really caught up in the second half, and the suspects kept me guessing on the way to the logical climax. I also enjoyed the Christmas spirit we got in addition to the murder and mayhem. Fans of the series will find this puts them in the holiday mood.
I’m glad we got a second Christmas entry in this series. As always, it was fun to visit the characters again, although I do feel like some of the minor characters are hard to keep track of. The pacing in this book was off. Yes, everything came into play once the murdered happened, as I figured it would, but it wandered around quite a bit on its way there. Still, I was really caught up in the second half, and the suspects kept me guessing on the way to the logical climax. I also enjoyed the Christmas spirit we got in addition to the murder and mayhem. Fans of the series will find this puts them in the holiday mood.
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Lark! The Herald Angels Sing
10.0
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Away in a manger, asleep on the hay, Meg Langslow finds a little gift. For four previous...
Jonathan Donahue recommended Tales Of Witches, Ghosts and Goblins by Vincent Price in Music (curated)
Crazy Days of Christmas
6.0
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Lucy Stephenson is facing a Christmas nightmare. Her bistro, 'The Town Mouse', is in a bad...
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated To All the Boys I've Loved Before in Books
Dec 20, 2018
I picked this up mostly because the trailer for the Netflix adaptation looked AMAZING. It's the first book in a trilogy, and I really want to read the other two now! Lara Jean is the middle daughter in a house of three daughters, being raised by their widower father. The relationships between the four of them play a large part in the book, as they are all adjusting to the eldest daughter being away at college. Everyone's roles are changing, and in the middle of that, Lara Jean's private love letters get mailed to the boys she wrote them to, throwing her love life into chaos as well.
I loved almost every character in this book - even Lara's troublemaking best friend has a good heart. I definitely need to watch the Netflix show now, because I really want to see how Chris - aforementioned best friend - is represented!
The family scenes around Christmas really tugged at my heart - Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, and the author absolutely NAILED the nostalgic, slightly dreamy, loving holiday atmosphere.
To All The Boys I've Loved Before was a cute, sweet read, and really my only negative thing to say about it is the ending left me hanging! Which is part of why I really need to read the other two books, so I suppose it was a good strategy. But man I hate cliffhangers!
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
I loved almost every character in this book - even Lara's troublemaking best friend has a good heart. I definitely need to watch the Netflix show now, because I really want to see how Chris - aforementioned best friend - is represented!
The family scenes around Christmas really tugged at my heart - Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, and the author absolutely NAILED the nostalgic, slightly dreamy, loving holiday atmosphere.
To All The Boys I've Loved Before was a cute, sweet read, and really my only negative thing to say about it is the ending left me hanging! Which is part of why I really need to read the other two books, so I suppose it was a good strategy. But man I hate cliffhangers!
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Violent night (2022) in Movies
Dec 27, 2023
A Ton of Fun
The 2022 “Christmas” movie VIOLENT NIGHT was mis-marketed a year ago as ads made it appear that this was just another “slasher” flick, when…in fact…it is a fun action flick that settles the DIE HARD Christmas movie debate once and for all.
Compared to VIOLENT NIGHT, DIE HARD is not a Christmas movie for VIOLENT NIGHT (which is a DIE HARD knock-off) is MOST DEFINITELY a Christmas Movie, but instead of former Cop John McClane thwarting bad guys, it is SANTA CLAUS.
Yes, you read that right, Santa Claus.
Director Tommy Wirkola got the idea for VIOLENT NIGHT when watching another Christmas Classic - HOME ALONE. He thought that the traps Kevin sets up for the crooks would really do some physical damage to people and decided to make a movie that did just that…add a dash of “Die Hard with Santa Claus” and…voila…you got yourself a fun action flick.
David Harbour (STRANGER THINGS) hits just the right notes as a burned out Santa Claus who just wants to get through the night, but when he is stranded in an isolated compound (when his reindeer are scared away by gunfire) he must decide to stay and help or stay out of the way.
Jon Leguizamo (MOULIN ROUGE) is the “Hans Gruber” of this piece - a mercenary named SCROOGE and he is a “good enough” villain. While Leah Brady is “charming enough” as the little girl that Santa decides to help. All the rest of the hostages and mercenaries (including CHRISTMAS VACATION’s Beverly D’Angelo) are underwritten “cannon fodder” for the action that takes place.
And…that is just fine as this is an action/comedy flick, so the enjoyment lies in the creativity that Santa (and others) use in dispatching the bad guys. Candy Canes, Christmas Stars, Ice Skates and…yes…SnowThrowers are all used to the advantage of the good guys (and the ultimate demise of the bad guys).
It’s not going to win any Oscars, but Violent Night is a fun “anti-Holiday” action film that the older folks in the crowd will enjoy later at night after the kiddo-s go to bed.
Letter Grade: B
7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
P.S.: Violent Night is streaming for free (with your Amazon Prime subscription) or you can rent or own it in many of the usual ways.
Compared to VIOLENT NIGHT, DIE HARD is not a Christmas movie for VIOLENT NIGHT (which is a DIE HARD knock-off) is MOST DEFINITELY a Christmas Movie, but instead of former Cop John McClane thwarting bad guys, it is SANTA CLAUS.
Yes, you read that right, Santa Claus.
Director Tommy Wirkola got the idea for VIOLENT NIGHT when watching another Christmas Classic - HOME ALONE. He thought that the traps Kevin sets up for the crooks would really do some physical damage to people and decided to make a movie that did just that…add a dash of “Die Hard with Santa Claus” and…voila…you got yourself a fun action flick.
David Harbour (STRANGER THINGS) hits just the right notes as a burned out Santa Claus who just wants to get through the night, but when he is stranded in an isolated compound (when his reindeer are scared away by gunfire) he must decide to stay and help or stay out of the way.
Jon Leguizamo (MOULIN ROUGE) is the “Hans Gruber” of this piece - a mercenary named SCROOGE and he is a “good enough” villain. While Leah Brady is “charming enough” as the little girl that Santa decides to help. All the rest of the hostages and mercenaries (including CHRISTMAS VACATION’s Beverly D’Angelo) are underwritten “cannon fodder” for the action that takes place.
And…that is just fine as this is an action/comedy flick, so the enjoyment lies in the creativity that Santa (and others) use in dispatching the bad guys. Candy Canes, Christmas Stars, Ice Skates and…yes…SnowThrowers are all used to the advantage of the good guys (and the ultimate demise of the bad guys).
It’s not going to win any Oscars, but Violent Night is a fun “anti-Holiday” action film that the older folks in the crowd will enjoy later at night after the kiddo-s go to bed.
Letter Grade: B
7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
P.S.: Violent Night is streaming for free (with your Amazon Prime subscription) or you can rent or own it in many of the usual ways.
