Season's Readings

 

Christmas is just a few weeks away and even though I don't love the cheesy books that seem to get published around this time of year, I do seem to find room for a couple of them every year. Despite the fact that I might not pick them up at any other time, they are a perfect pick for a time of year already jam packed with events that leave not enough time for leisure reading.  

Mary Kay Andrews is one of my auto-buy/auto-read authors. She's written a ton of really fun novels that are usually published each spring, but she has also written The Santa Suit (2021) and Bright Lights, Big Christmas which was published this fall.  

Kerry's family owns a Christmas tree farm in North Carolina, and in order to help her brother while their dad is recovering from a heart attack, she heads to New York City to help run their yearly Tolliver Farms Christmas tree stand that is open in the Big Apple.  This is a short little novel that packs quite a bit into it- romance, Kerry's search to find herself, some feel-good holiday neighborly love, and a fabulous setting.

I read - and enjoyed- One Day in December by Silver when it was published a few years ago.  I still need to pick up Silver's other books, but her most recent one, A Winter In New York, provided just the right amount of entertainment for me this past weekend.

Iris moves to New York City to start over after a bad breakup.  She is still grieving the death of her mother as well, and finds some comfort in visiting places her mom talked about when she was first out on her own in the Big Apple.  But when Iris comes across a place selling gelato she realizes that not only is it the same place as the one her mom took a picture of, their gelato recipe is the exact same recipe she uses, handed down to her from her  mother - and a secret that the gelateria owner and his family have never given anyone.  Iris becomes entangled with this family, falling in love with Gio, the owner's nephew.  But there are plenty of secrets in this book besides just a recipe for a dessert. I loved every single reveal, the steamy romance and another book set in New York City during the holidays.

I have a few other holiday books that are on my stack, but I'm feeling pretty good that I managed to already enjoy two so early in the month. I have so many books I'd like to read before 2023 that this might be the only Christmas stories I read until next year. What new holiday stories do I need to add to my TBR?