A Very Beery New Year by Jackie Lau

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With the end of February approaching, I went on a novella binge to finish the second board of Winter's Kiss. The first book I  picked up for the binge was the newest release of Jackie Lau's, A Very Beery New Year. This is a novella in her Cider Bar Sisters series and listed as being number 3.5. I applied this to the prompt book set in winter.

Kelsey is a bartender at Lychee, the Cider Bar where out friend group hangs out. She is also the cousin to Nicole, the heroine from The Professor Next Door. She has noticed a new patron that stops by every Thursday for a couple hours; he has a pint at the bar and reads. When she can't hold herself back from approaching him, Gerald is pleasantly surprised the bartender he's been crushing on seems interested. His family has pushed him to be more "sociable," hence his weekly bar reading. As they start to talk more and become friendly, they quickly realize that they both want more as the holidays approach.

This was such a great novella, I just wish it was a little bit longer. There were a couple time skips (smaller to me than a jump), but it made sense where placed. I also loved the natural progression of Kelsey and Gerald's relationship. It was also fun seeing more of PoPo, Kelsey (and Nicole's) tik-tok famous grandma. Even though this is just about 50 pages, we get everything that's prime Jackie Lau: good humor, food/beverage porn, good steam and a smile on your face. This was such a great holiday novella, but in case you are reading it out of season (like I did), it doesn't spend all of the time around New Year's. Like I mentioned, there are a couple time skips so we see more a larger time frame over the book. It end's on New Year's Even though, so it still hits the cozy holiday feels.

I was so surprised and happy to receive this in her newsletter late last year. It is available to buy online now, but I loved that she sent it out to her followers first. I was originally planning to read it earlier, but alas my reading slowed way down. It was a good little primer though since the fourth book comes out in the end of March. I can't wait and am always happy to read anything Jackie Lau publishes!

Have you read A Very Beery New Year?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: A Very Beery New Year, Jackie Lau, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 56 pages, published in 2021, indie published