Christmas With Mr. Darcy

Christmas With Mr. Darcy

By: Victoria Connelly

AVAILABLE ONLY IN KINDLE EDITION

 

 

Purely Hall is about to come alive as it hosts a Jane Austen Christmas Conference with Dame Pamela Harcourt at the helm. The characters she wrote about in her Austen addicts trilogy come back to celebrate Christmas and their favorite author.

 

The house is decorated to the hilt. The atmosphere is set. However, there are a few hiccups in the planned conference. Guests things go missing, an unexpected guest shows up, and a health scare descends upon the attendees.

 

For readers of Victoria Connelly's Austen Addicts books (A Weekend With Mr. Darcy, Dreaming of Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Darcy Forever) will love revisiting these wonderful characters. I loved catching up with the characters I loved from the books. Catch up with sisters Sarah & Mia, from Mr. Darcy Forever. See which sister gets surprising news. Be there when Katherine & Warwick, from Weekend With Mr. Darcy, make a big decision about their future. And revisit Kay, Adam, and Gemma, from Dreaming of Mr. Darcy- my personal favorite.

 

This book was a great to cozy up with and spend a weekend in the England countryside- complete with snow. Jane Austen fans will love how much attention to detail has been taken in regards to the beloved author. 

Our Version of Elf on a Shelf

Many houses enjoy the Elf On A Shelf tradition. You buy the elf, give him a name, and he hides throughout your house. Adorable tradition, I have to say. Not so adorable was the price tag. I thought $30.00 was a bit much. So, my family improvised. 

Allow me to introduce to Dasher. His full name is Dasher the Dashing Reindeer. Much like the famous elf, Dasher loves to hide all over our house and my 2 girls love searching for him. My little Love bugs have a Grandfather who works at Bass Pro Shop and last year we got to visit him during the Christmas holidays. In the store, you can pick out a stuffed animal from a selection and have it filled. (Much like the whole Build A Bear set up.) We chose the reindeer since it was Christmas. It wasn't long before my creative side saw opportunity knocking on it's door, and Dasher the Dashing Reindeer was born. 

My girls immediately took to the whole idea. They LOVED him! My husband and I would hide him when they weren't looking and they would embark on a search. The giggles, smiles, and glee on their faces when they would find him was priceless. 

I worried they may have forgotten about him over the year, but I had nothing to worry about. When it came to putting up Christmas in our house, my oldest (6) was anxiously awaiting Dasher's appearance. My youngest (3) was quickly on board with the fun. In fact, that night slept with him.

Dasher the Dashing Reindeer has joined our list of beloved Christmas Traditions. I realize that one day my girls won't be as excited for his arrival. They may outgrow the whole hide and seek factor behind him. I'm not looking forward to that day and I hope it's several years away. For now, my household loves having Dasher as part of our Christmas memories.

Angels At The Table

Angels At The Table

By: Debbie Macomber

240 Pages

 

Summary:

Debbie Macomber has brought back her beloved Angels. Shirley, Mercy, and Goodness are back, and this time they have an angel they are training: Will. They take Will to New York City's Times Square New Year's Eve party where he inadvertently causes trouble. What could possibly happen when he has two strangers meet before they were meant to?

 

 

It's New Year's Eve and the party is in full effect at New York City's Times Square. Shirley, Mercy, and Goodness thought it was a good opportunity for Will to see the people he would be working with once he begins to answer prayers himself. What could possibly go wrong? Plenty when Will accidentally has 2 strangers meet. Lucie is in the process of getting her restaurant to open. Her mother has invested her life's savings into this venture and Lucie is feeling the pressure. Aren is a divorcee who has just moved to New York after taking a job at a newspaper. They bump into each other at midnight, share a kiss, and the connection is instant. Aren tells her that if she would like to pursue a relationship with him, to meet him at the top of the Empire State Building in a week. On her way to meet him, Lucie's diabetic Mother is taken to the hospital after a fall. Lucie never makes it.

 

A year later has Lucie's restaurant open and widely successful. Aren is restaurant critic writing under a pseudo name. Anxious to right the wrong he name, Will and the Angels go to Earth to help things along. On the night Aren reviews Lucie's place, they all add a little extra of things to the food. It backfires and he gives the restaurant, and the chef, a scathing review. Lucie has no idea Aren is the reviewer and Aren has no idea the restaurant is Lucie's.

 

Once the two meet again, things pick up where they left off. However, reality hits Aren first. He lives in a constant state of fear for what will happen when Lucie finds out he was the one behind the horrid review. Eventually the truth is discovered and Aren's fears become truth. Lucie breaks it off with him. Good thing 3 Angels and a trainee are on the case.

 

The Angels are the stars of the book. They find a way to ruin a perfectly good meal, further complicating their jobs. They enjoy a Broadway show- until they decide to put their own "touch" to it. And I'm not saying who was responsible for taking a camel out for a mini walk amongst New York City, but it does happen.

 

Angels At The Table  is another delightfully charming Debbie Macomber creation. This book is a great Christmastime read. You will have a great time meeting the characters and laughing at the hi jinks these Angels get into. Curl up, get comfy, and see what happens when you read Angels At The Table.



Christmas At The White House

Christmas At The White House

By: Jennifer B. Pickens

 

Christmas is that special time of year when our lives get a little more sparkly and colorful. Stores decorate their windows and displays go from ordinary to amazing; homes get decked out with decorations of all kinds. The White House is no exception when it comes to Christmas decorating spirit. Christmas At The White House takes you behind the scenes to see how the most wonderful time of the year comes to the most famous house in the country.

 

Within it's pages, you'll learn how some the most beloved White House traditions were started. Find out which Presidency (mostly the First Lady) is responsible for introducing the Candlelight tours, the gingerbread house, and others. You'll get to learn how the Official White House Christmas Tree is chosen, and which President even dressed up as Santa himself.

 

This book is packed with wonderful tidbits from each Presidency it covers. I loved reading how Jacqueline Kennedy had American Citizens submit ornaments that were put on the trees on the first 2 floors of the White House. Or how, during the Ford years, the ornaments were handmade by the family. In fact, they even printed up instructions to pass out so families around the country could do the same since the economy was so bad at the time.

 

Christmas At The White House was a treasure and joy to read. I loved it!

Today's Shadows by Becky Melby

WOW was all I can say to summarize this book up...This was filled with page turners...ones which had me at the edge of my seat *wishing I could read faster however wanting to read slower so the book wouldn't end!*

This all starts with Heather Conrad who decides to take her boss up on the offer of house-sitting her new house while she goes away on a business trip, while also leaving her to take care of her 6 year old daughter "Izzy." Since Heather has been her personal assistant, she was very close to the daughter so while it was an inconvenience at first, she pleasured the company of the little vibrant girl. This house was not only big and huge, they soon find out that it is also filled with stairways and passages and hidden doors! I found that very intriguing! I would be so fascinated to live in such a house that not only a history, but a story! And this story was a doozie! 

Thinking Heather was being followed by a strange man, a security guard come to their rescue at a local coffee shop. Both Heather and Ryan actually start to hit it off and she opens up to him and starts to reveal her past...at the same time, Izzy was a little determined little girl. She decided to explore the house on her own. While getting lost through stairways she stumbles on an old chest - one that contained some stories of a maid working in that house prior to the Titanic sailing. The stories are then told at the same time -> In the perspective of Maggie the servant, then back to Heather and Izzy. Ryan, Heather, Izzy and Maggie have all experienced sadness in their life, but I will tell you this ending makes all that sadness worth while! This story takes you places, both good and bad that leave you feeling an array of emotions! The ending to this story really makes it complete :) 

I LOVED IT! I will definitely be buying this book when it does come out as well as I look forward to reading more books written by this author!!