The Gift

Book:  The Gift

Author:  Richard Paul Evans

Nathan Hurst hated Christmas.  For the rest of the world, it was a day of joy & celebration; for Nathan it was simply a reminder of the event that destroyed his childhood.  Until a snowstorm, a cancelled flight, & an unexpected meeting with a young mother & her very special son would show him that Christmas is indeed the season of miracles.
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Get to slide in one more book for the end of the year...

And what a book!

I love Richard Paul Evans - everything he writes & his books he puts out at Christmas.  I think this one is from last year (possibly 2 years ago) & I just put it in my pile & forgot about it & didnt want to read it any other time but around the Holidays.  I remembered this year, & was so glad I read it - I got through this book like like 2 days... would've one day if I didnt have to work (dang work!)

But this book is the story of a little boy, Collin, who has cancer & died & was brought back.  He remembered being on the "other side" & came back with some special powers.  He can "read" people & the kind of person they are.. & he also has a special "touch" about him that ends up causing sort of a riot. 

His mother, Addison, is a very strong, independant, woman & strong, single mother as she takes care of her children.  Collin's sister, Elizabeth is also such a realistic description of what a younger sister would be. 

And they run into Nat one evening at an airport when everyone is snowed in.  Nat couldnt let them sleep in the airport when he obviously can see that Collin is sick.  That night he offers his hotel suite to them - that night sets in motion their lives all connecting.  Especially after Nat is "touched" by Collin & his power that he has...

This book isnt a "Christmas" book really - but it will definitely warm your heart & make you smile, & most definitely will make you cry.

And its also really depicts how people are so wanting so desperately to put their faith into something....

One other character that I loved in this book is Nat's assistant, Miche - everyone should have a friend like this lady... love that in a book, you can have a male/female friendship that isnt anything other then friends... good to see!

I totally recommend it - anytime of the year!
My rating - 4 skeins

The Perfect Christmas

Book: The Perfect Christmas

Author: Debbie Macomber

What would make YOUR Christmas perfect?
For Casie Beaumont, its meeting her perfect match.  Cassie, at 33 wants a husband & kids & so far, nothings worked. She turns to a professional matchmaker.  He's Simon DOdson & he's VERY choosy about the clients he takes on.  Cassie finds Simon a difficult, acerbic know-it-all, & she's astonished when he accepts her as a client.

Claiming he has her perfect mate in mind, Simon assigns her 3 tasks to complete before she meets him.  Three tasks that are all about Christmas; being a charity bell ringer, dressing up as Santa's elf, & preparing a traditional turkey dinner for her neighbors (whom she happesn to dislike). Despite a number of comical mishaps, Cassie does it all - & she's finally ready to meet her match.
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Well, I'm sure you can figure out who her perfect match is....

Yes, you can pretty much tell from the first chapter who's going to be "coupled" up in this book, but it doesnt take away from the story.  I love Debbie Macomber's writing anyways & love her yearly Christmas books just because they ARE easy reads & just with the background of Christmas, its a fun read to take in during the season.

I did chuckle out loud - which is a good sign - at some parts of the book... & even gasped at surprises at some of the things that happened.  And I was smiling at the end of the book, pleased with the ending, & just because it was enjoyable to read.

While this isnt a literature masterpiece - it was perfect reading to do the week of Christmas...

& the only reason I'm not giving this a 4 is because the idea that the ONLY way you can have a PERFECT Christmas is to have the perfect husband & the 2.1 kids & the dog in front of the tree... I can let that slide because its a fun Christmas book - but I'm going to be honest, that did aggravate me a bit..

My rating: 3 skeins

Split Ends

Book:  Split Ends

Author: Kristin Billerbeck

She's armed with hot irons, sharp shears & a flair for color.
She's dangerous - truly bad news for bad hair.
And she's going to do whatever it takes to make a place for herself in the exclusive Beverely Hills salon.

Even if that means sweeping hair, emptying trash, scrubbing dummy heads, & making soy lattes for the stars that come in Yoshi's salon.

Even if it means hiding the fact that she's not really an up-&-comer from New York, but a drunk's daughter from small town Wyoming.

Even if it means ignoring her attraction to a tall, dark stranger in a fedora who just stepped off the elevator... & into her heart.

But can a talented hairdresser from the sticks really make it in image-obsessed LA?  And can she ever find true love & real success in a town that wrote the book on fake?
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The story of Sarah Claire moving to the big town & trying to make it was cute.  I liked the book has lots of pop culture modern references - but that means down the road, 10 years, people will laugh at some of the references...

It was refreshing to read a story of what seemed like a real character in how she talked & the things she said - & even more refreshing that in the story, Sarah Claire is a Christian & meets a Christian man, Dane...

Many characters from Sarah Claire, her cousin who she moves in with, Scott - the crazy LA hair dresser she's working for who will put her in the big leagues, Yoshi... her friends she left behind, the body builder she meets on the streets... all cute, easy characters... loved that Sarah Claire was a girl who loved old time movies & had an obsession with Carey Grant.  Ahh - the old romantic ways of life.  And she found a man who fell right into that & even more, agreed with taht old fashion sense of romance...

For me, the story was cute, but drug out a little... just alot of focus on some things that I thought they spent way too much time on, or a topic they'd keep coming back to.  I found myself at the end just wanting the story over so I could move onto the next book. 

My Rating: 3 Skeins... wasn't HORRIBLE - but not fantastic.. just OK.. so middle of the road...