A Winter Wedding: My Review

A Winter Wedding (Whiskey Creek)

About the Book:

Kyle Houseman believes he'll never find anyone he could love as much as Olivia Arnold, who's now married to his stepbrother. Not only did he lose her, he's been through one divorce and has no desire to go through another. He's determined to be extra careful about the next woman he gets involved with—which is why he fights his attraction to the beautiful stranger who rents his farmhouse for the Christmas holiday.  

Lourdes Bennett is a country music artist. She's only planning to stay in Whiskey Creek long enough to write the songs for her next album—the album that's going to put her back on top. Her dreams don't include settling in a town even smaller than the one she escaped. But as she comes to know Kyle, she begins to wonder if she'd be making a terrible mistake to leave him behind…

My Comments:

If you can suspend disbelief, this is an enjoyable Christmas romance.  However, like many Christmas romances, it isn't very realistic.  Lourdes is from the town down the street, but she chose to come to Whiskey Creek so she isn't noticed.  Kyle is the landlord; when Lourdes moves in the heat doesn't work.  Instead of going to a hotel, she moves in with him.  Kyle is still carrying a flame for Olivia who also happens to be his ex-wife's sister (long story).  His ex-wife is crazy, and frankly I find their post-divorce relationship to be unbelieveable.  I liked Kyle, I liked Lourdes, and I enjoyed catching up with the whole Whiskey Creek gang.  I didn't like some of the sex scenes--they weren't terribly explicit but I didn't like the attitude embodied in them. I also found it hard to believe that a celebrity who was trying to lay low would have sex in a public place.  

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley.  Grade:  B

Children's Book Review: The Midwife of Bethlehem

The Midwife of Bethlehem

About the Book:

A beautifully illustrated telling of the Christmas nativity through the eyes of the women who may have come to help Mary give birth.

My Comments:

We always see the Nativity Scene with Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the angels and the kings, but realistically speaking, there was probably a midwife or perhaps a female family member around to help Mary during labor and delivery.  As noted above, this is the nativity story through the eyes of a first century Jewish woman.  She quotes Old Testament scripture,wondering when the Messiah will be here, and talking about what He will be like.  It is a wonderful way to tie together the Old and New Testament, but the dialogue comes across as a little unnatural.

The pictures in the book are beautiful and the story, of course,  timeless.  

I'd like to thank Rebecca Brown at Cadence Marketing Group for providing a complimentary review copy.  Grade:  B.

Mailbox Monday

Visit other Mailbox Monday Posts 

It's Monday and my mailbox was full when I got home.  The nice folks at Catholic Word sent me these books, which I will be reviewing later this month and all through November:

Catholic Word describes itself as " a one-stop resource for leading programs and religious titles from over 35 top Catholic publishers. For over 15 years, Catholic Word has built a reputation based on quality, personal relationships and a devotion to excellence in service."  The mission they espouse is "to build up the Church one soul at a time through top quality Catholic materials and resources. Wherever a person is on their faith journey, we offer real help to taking the next step closer to God. Our motto is to do the right thing, in the right way, for the right reason."  They claim to be "100% faithful to the teachings of the Magisterium".  

From My Archives: June, 2006

Once upon a time, many years ago I was a school teacher.  While I taught a lot of kids in those two years, only one name really sticks out in my memory.  In June, 2006 I was fortunate enough to run into this student, and I wrote about the encounter. 

While today this is mostly a book review blog, back in 2006 book reviews were the exception, not the norm.  This review of The DaVinci Code was one of my first.

I expressed my opinion about required reading.  That opinion hasn't changed.

I wrote about breastfeeding.

I wrote about a fast requested by our archbishop.