THE HOLIDAY BAKE-OFF

MY THOUGHTS:

Lucy Carter is happy with her life until her boyfriend unexpectedly breaks up with her because he has met someone else.  How could this happen so close to Christmas? While she is sifting through her feelings and wondering where to go from here, she receives a phone call from her Grandmother asking her to return to the small-town of Star Creek.  She has suffered a stroke and needs Lucy to help keep her bakery going through the Christmas season.  Lucy doesn’t waste any time accepting the invitation.  Every year at the Christmas festival, the bakery competes in the Christmas Bake-Off.  Lucy must rely on Will Westerly, the bakery’s expert baker.  Lucy and Will spend hours in the bakery making delicious holiday treats.  Thanks to Will, Lucy’s heart begins to mend and she is loving her time at the bakery in Star Creek.  There is such a wonderful attraction between the two of them that may just make this the magical Christmas she needed.

The Holiday Bake-Off, written by author Lindsay Detwiler, is an amazing story of family, new friends and overcoming heartbreak.  I love, love, loved this story from cover to cover.  I loved every character in this book from Lucy, to Will to Grandma, and their heartwarming personalities had me feeling like they were family.  As I stepped into the bakery, I could smell Christmas.  With the scents of gingerbread, peppermint and chocolate wafting through the air, I never wanted to leave.  The sweet romance was perfect and this small-town Christmas heartwarming story, launched me into the holiday season.  Detwiler is a new to me author that propelled herself to the top of my auto-buy author list.  This unputdownable book is one I highly recommend.  I loved it!

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DESCRIPTION:

THE HOLIDAY BAKE-OFF
Author:  Lindsay Detwiler
Publisher:  Harpeth Road Press
Publication Date: October 17, 2024
Pages: 335
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Nothing can stop Lucy Carter from chasing her dreams until her boyfriend drops the bomb and tells her he’s leaving her for someone else. Complicating things, she gets a phone call from her ailing grandmother, asking her to return to the small town of Star Creek to help out with her beloved bakery. In the name of family loyalty, Lucy is forced to leave her aspirations behind.

Putting her turmoil aside, she’s ready to help, but is she up for the task?

The bakery competes in the Christmas bake-off every year at the annual Christmas festival. Lucy doesn’t know a thing about crafting the perfect dessert, and the festival is in less than a month. She also might have learned a little faster if the bakery’s newest employee and expert baker, handsome Will Westerly, hadn’t been so tough to deal with.

As the bake-off quickly approaches, it becomes clear that broken hearts don’t heal as soon as they thought, and big decisions will have to be made once the last cupcakes are served.

ABOUT LINDSAY DETWILER

Lindsay Detwiler is a romance author and a former high school English teacher. She is also the USA Today Bestselling author of The Widow Next Door with HarperCollins UK.

Lindsay's goal with her writing is to show the power of love and the beauty of life while also instilling a true sense of realism in her work. With her novels coming from a place of honesty, she wants her fiction to resonate with readers as candid, poetic, and powerful.

Inked Hearts, released in 2017 with Hot Tree Publishing, was named a Romance Times Top Pick. Additionally, Remember When, released in April of 2017, was named a Route One Reads Romance Pick by the Pennsylvania Center for the Book. She is also a USA Today Bestselling author with HarperCollins UK under the penname L.A.Detwiler.

Lindsay currently lives in her hometown of Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, with her husband, Chad (her junior high sweetheart); their six rescued cats; and their Great Dane, Edmund.

In addition to being a huge bookworm, Lindsay's also a fan of cruelty-free makeup, coffee, chocolate, Outlander, and shopping.

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THE LAST AGENT IN PARIS

MY THOUGHTS: 

It’s 1940 and World War II is in full swing.  Nazi soldiers have invaded the streets of Paris.  Noor and her family are forced from their home, the safest place for them to be is England.  Noor is determined to save her country from being over taken by the Germans.  She becomes a wireless operative in England and is quickly assigned to a spy network in her beloved Paris, her homeland.  As a member of the spy network she spends her time walking through the destroyed streets of Paris.  She risks her life everyday sending broadcast messages back to London.  But as members of her network are captured, her mission becomes even more dangerous.  There is a mole in the network and Noor doesn’t know who she can trust, but she does know she must carry out her mission to save her country, her family and survive.

The Last Agent In Paris, written by author Sharon Maas, is a phenomenal story of loss, survival and loyalty.  I immediately felt attached to Noor and her family.  I wept for them many times for what they went through.  This was such an amazing story that broke my heart an put it back together piece by piece.  I was amazed that this story was inspired by a true story, that in itself made me cry over and over again.  Once again I am astounded by the writings of Maas.  She had me overwhelmed with emotion,  page after page as I read through this book.   This is a book that definitely landed on my list of one of the best books I have read this year.  I will remember this book for a very long time.  I highly recommend this phenomenal read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

DESCRIPTION:

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

THE LAST AGENT IN PARIS
Author:  Sharon Maas 
Publisher:  Bookouture 
Publication Date: November 6, 2024
Pages: 462 
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As the bombs rained down on Paris, my family fled before the Nazis could take us. I never thought I’d see my beloved home again. But I’ve come back to fight for the people I love. And now, I’m the last agent standing. The freedom of the world rests on my shoulders. 

Paris, 1940. As Nazi soldiers march down the Champs Elysees, Noor’s heart is shattered. Her family is forced to flee their home to the safety of England, and as Noor watches the French coast disappear in the distance, she vows to do everything she can to stop Germany from devouring her beloved country.

Training as a wireless operative in England, Noor’s perfect French makes her the ideal candidate for undercover work in her beloved Paris, and she is soon assigned to an illustrious spy network led by a mysterious man named Prosper.

Day after day, Noor walks the treacherous streets of Paris looking for safe places to broadcast messages to London. But Nazi officers lurk around every corner, and Noor’s heart thunders in her chest as she evades detection, tightly clutching the briefcase containing her radio equipment. She knows it would take just one stop and search for her life to be over.

With each passing day her mission becomes more lethal as, one by one, her fellow agents are captured. Someone is betraying them, but who? And when Noor becomes the last agent in the network, can she keep the links with England alive, to help win the war?

ABOUT SHARON MAAS

Sharon Maas was born into a prominent political family in Georgetown, Guyana, in 1951. She was educated in England, Guyana, and, later, Germany. After leaving school, she worked as a trainee reporter with the Guyana Graphic in Georgetown and later wrote feature articles for the Sunday Chronicle as a staff journalist.

Her first novel, Of Marriageable Age, is set in Guyana and India and was published by HarperCollins in 1999. In 2014 she moved to Bookouture, and now has ten novels under her belt. Her books span continents, cultures, and eras. From the sugar plantations of colonial British Guiana in South America, to the French battlefields of World War Two, to the present-day brothels of Mumbai and the rice-fields and villages of South India, Sharon never runs out of stories for the armchair traveller.

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THE GIRL WITH THE RED RIBBON

MY THOUGHTS:

1939, Poland: World War II has begun and the Nazis are carrying out their orders.  They are approaching Poland without notice and people are fearing for their lives.  As they arrive at Ania’s house, she is the only one that flees.  She hides nearby and hears the cry’s of her family as they are taken away by the Nazis.  In that one moment Ania’s life had changed forever and will never be the same.  As she is trying to find a safe place to go, she comes across a group of others in her same situation.  Ania vows to destroy those that took her family from her.  She will stop at nothing to make sure they pay for what they did, not just to her and her family but to the thousands of innocent people they killed.

The Girl With The Red Ribbon, written by author Carly Schabowski is a phenomenal story of loss, love of family and surviving the worst of times.  I read this book as the tears flowed down my face, and my heart broke for Ania and her family.  This was such a horrible time and I am always amazed at the strength and resilience of those that endured life during this time.  Families ripped apart and still relentlessly helped those around them survive.  This unputdownable book is one that needs to be read with a box of Kleenex by your side.  Schabowski is a phenomenal author that draws the reader in to the story and never lets you go.  This wonderful book inspired by true events is one that I highly recommend. 

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

DESCRIPTION:

THE GIRL WITH THE RED RIBBON

Author: Carly Schabowski

Publisher: Boldwood Books
Publication Date: November 4, 2024
Pages: 314 
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1939, Poland: The teenage girl hears the gunshots before she sees the Nazis approach her home. Ania’s family don’t have time to run, but she does. Hiding nearby, she listens to her sister’s screams, as she strokes the red ribbon she keeps tied around her wrist and begins to plot her revenge…

When she comes across a group of misfits all rejected by the resistance, Ania realizes she alone has the power to unite them. Together, these outcasts will help her destroy each and every one of the people who took everything from her. Starting with a near-impossible plan to liberate prisoners from the notoriously brutal Lublin concentration camp…

The Nazis have no idea what – or who – they are up against. And they’re about to discover that nobody should cross a woman who has nothing to lose.

ABOUT CARLY SCHABOWSKI

Carly Schabowski worked as a journalist in both North   Cyprus and Australia before returning to Oxford, where she studied for an MA and then a PhD in creative writing at Oxford Brookes University. Carly now teaches at Oxford Brookes University as an associate lecturer in Creative Writing for first and second-year English literature students.

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THE CHRISTMAS COIN

MY THOUGHTS:

Amelia Collin’s loved to dance in the ballet, it was a lifelong dream of hers.  After a life altering injury that ended her career she has to decide what to do next.  She leaves her life in the city and moves to Connecticut.  She decides to buy an old farmhouse in the country, in the small quaint village of White Bridge.  She has a lot of remodeling to do and she is very determined to do it.  White Bridge hangs on to their holiday traditions, with everything from sledding to cutting down live Christmas trees.  This is exactly what she needs to get in the Christmas spirit. When she finds an old European coin in the dusty old attic of her farmhouse she wonders about the story behind it.  Benjamin Walsh is in charge of her remodel and soon finds out about the coin.  As the mystery of the coin comes to light, Amelia knows that everything happens for a reason and she is exactly where she is meant to be.

The Christmas Coin, written by author Lindsay Gibson is a phenomenal story of healing and starting a new beginning. This festive story is every bit as wonderful as her previous novels.  She is wonderful at pulling the reader immediately into the story and never letting go.  I was so heartbroken for Amelia and her injury and then I cheered her on to find a new light of peace and hope in her life.  I enjoyed the mystery of the story behind the coin, what an amazing storyline.  I read this unputdownable book in one sitting and it will stay in my heart for a very long time.  I loved everything about this enchanting and phenomenal book.  This time slip novel is one that I give a ten star rating and I highly recommend it.  It would make for a wonderful Christmas gift.

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DESCRIPTION:

THE CHRISTMAS COIN
Author:  Lindsay Gibson
Publisher:  Harpeth Road Press
Publication Date: October 29, 2024
Pages: 313
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Professional ballet dancer Amelia Collins is blindsided when an accident results in a career-ending injury.

With no other options but to start over, she leaves city life behind to remodel a country home in the quaint village of White Bridge, Connecticut. She buys a sprawling 1870s farmhouse on five acres, complete with a large barn. Running on nothing but hope, she moves in only weeks before Christmas.

White Bridge’s irresistible holiday traditions—sledding under twinkle lights, a ride on the holiday express train, and cutting down a live evergreen at the town’s tree farm—put Amelia in the festive spirit. Adding to the magic, she discovers an old European coin with a story while loading some boxes into her attic. A story that might upend everything.

Especially when single dad Benjamin Walsh finds out about it. And when she learns he’s in charge of her remodel, she isn’t quite sure how the holiday will go…

ABOUT LINDSAY GIBSON

Lindsay’s first book, her memoir, Just Be: How my Stillborn Son Taught Me to Surrender, won the Book Excellence finalist award in 2018. She has been featured in Elephant Journal, Green Child Magazine, and Self Magazine.

 

Lindsay now writes emotional romantic fiction, full of heartfelt love, good friends, and family, sprinkled with humor and tender warmth, where her characters discover that love is the reason for everything. Her debut romantic fiction novel The Christmas Promise with Harpeth Road Press, set in a charming New England town at the holidays is now available.

 

When not writing fiction, she is working on her exclusive weekly newsletter Love is the Reason about all things love, food and healthy living. She spends the rest of her days chasing her three daughters around their hometown in Connecticut and hanging out with her Irish husband whose brogue still makes her blush.

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Lindsay is available for book talks, speaking engagements and interviews both online and in person

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STUCK TOGETHER

MY THOUGHTS:

It is love at first sight, well at least for Annie.  Penn and Annie are total opposites.  When the storefront is vandalized, Penn offers to share his shop space with Annie.  She needs to keep her business going and she accepts Penn’s offer.   They never seem to agree on anything.  Penn is going home for Christmas and he has to take a girl home with him or his parents will set him up with someone he knows he won’t like.  Penn asks Annie for the favor of acting as his girlfriend when he goes home for Christmas.  She feels like she owes him a favor, so she agrees.  But it turns out to be a big mistake…or does it?  How can she possibly be falling for him, they are nothing alike?

Stuck Together, written by author Lily Joseph is a wonderful romantic comedy with plenty of festive cheer.  I loved the mystery of tracking down the vandal who destroyed the storefronts.  I really enjoyed Annies character, and I loved how she did everything she possibly could to help her parents.  This lovely, magical and festive read is one that I recommend.

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DESCRIPTION:

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Rating: 5 out of 

STUCK TOGETHER

Author: Lily Joseph

Publisher:  Bookouture

Publication Date: October 29, 2024 

Pages: 370 

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The hate is real. So is the chemistry.

Annie is heading into the holidays alone. And as a confirmed singleton, she decides to open a shop selling the kind of treats every single woman would want to find under the tree. After all, who doesn’t like to get a 'Premium Sensual Lifestyle Product' for Christmas, right?

Penn is in a bind. He needs to come home for Christmas with a girl, or his parents will set him up with someone ‘suitable’. Nothing is too good for the Honourable Peregrine Burton-Edwards after all. But that’s not what Penn wants. He just wants to sell vintage records in his shop and meet a nice, normal girl.

The first time Annie and Penn meet, Annie feels a flutter in her chest – he’s tall, dark and handsome, with cheekbones you could sharpen a blade on. So when he offers to share the shop with her to save on rent, she gladly accepts.

Huge mistake… Annie and Penn are poles apart and butt heads at every turn. But with the holidays looming, Penn will soon need to ask for a big favour, and Annie, with no plans to speak of, is the only girl who can help. As the arguments get more heated, so do the sparks flying between them. Will they put their differences aside and come together? And could it be for more than just Christmas?

ABOUT LILY JOSEPH

Lily Joseph is a romantic fiction writer from North East England, a setting which appears regularly in her writing. Her work has been shortlisted for the Lindisfarne Prize, an award for northern authors. She lives in North Yorkshire with her partner, two teens and two cats, none of whom are interested in books whatsoever. At least the cats have an excuse.

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