Walking In A Witchy Wonderland by Juliette Cross

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I've been saving Walking in a Witchy Wonderland for my Christmas Eve read. This is listed as book 3.5 in the Stay a Spell series by Juliette Cross and is an anthology with 5 short stories! I am going to do five mini summaries for each story and follow with my thoughts as a whole! I was able to use this for the Winter's Kiss full length novel prompt. I also used this for the Banging Through the Snow prompt book that blends holidays.

Bewitch You a Merry Christmas

The first short story takes place shortly after Wolf Gone Wild (if I remember correctly). We see Alpha/Mateo wanting to spend some alone time with Evie but with family parties and holiday plans, she's always busy. Then Evie helps out a man that's been hexed by his witchy neighbor and Mateo accompanies her. Quick thoughts: Quick, sweet, sexy and I always love me some Evie and Mateo/Alpha.

Rockin' Around the Hexmas Tree

The second short story takes place shortly after Don't Hex and Drive. After a white elephant gift exchange with the Savoie sisters, Isadora ends up with a gorgeous ornament. When Devraj and Isadora have higher libidos than normal, they come to find out that the ornament has a love (really lust) spell! Of course it was meant to go to Violet for her to put up on their little tree at her tattoo shop with Nico. Quick thoughts: Even more sexy and Devraj can always get it.

Jingle Bell Jock

The third story is more novella length and really the bulk of the novel with about 100 pages. It takes place during Witches Get Stitches. We've met best friends Charlie and JJ they are part of the Savoie family. JJ is one of the head bartenders at their bar and Charlie is there a few times a week. When they go to a New Year's Eve party, JJ sees Charlie kiss a new boyfriend and suddenly finds it time to confront his feelings. When a few of the sisters talk with both JJ and Charlie separately letting them know that they belong together, JJ and Charlie both have to get past the fear of rejection and possibly losing their best friend. Quick thoughts: So heartwarming and the mutual pining was fantastic. It's Juliette, so there's so great scene and I love morning after shower scenes. Always so intimate and sweet!

You're a Mean One, Mr. Grim

The fourth short story takes place during Witches Get Stitches as well. Later on in that book we see Lavinia having issues with a grim called Gareth. This story is the prelude to their book and part of their first encounters. It's not their first meeting, but I think the 2nd and 3rd. They are competing to win a PR opportunity for a charity. Quick thoughts: I'm even more excited for Always Practice Safe Hex which should be out in June! I loved seeing more of Gareth and can't wait!

Jingle Spells

The final, and sweetest, story is for Nico and Violet from Witches Get Stitches. I can't remember which book, maybe their, but this story is set 2 years later. We get a hint that Evie might be pregnant earlier in one of the other stories and here we see Nico and Violet babysitting for the first time for Evie and Mateo! They had triplets and are about 15-months old. Quick thoughts: Is it too soon to ask for a spin-off for Savoie 2nd generation? But super sweet and with a little bit of steam!

Oh my gosh, I loved getting back to all of our couples from Stay A Spell and seeing some cute stories. I also loved getting to see JJ and Charlie get together and the teaser for Gareth and Livvy. I can't wait to read more from Juliette. She's one of my favorite authors and such a sweet person. I know I've raved about her before, but seriously, check her out. If you mainly read contemporary and aren't really into paranormal or fantasy, this is a great option to try. It's such a great blend with rom-com feels. Plus Juliette knows how to bring the steam. I can't wait to read more!

Have you read Walking in a Witchy Wonderland?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Walking in a Witchy Wonderland, Juliette Cross, 5-stars, 1 day, Paperback, 292 pages, published in 2021

Pleasures of Christmas Past by Lexi Post

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With the craziness of getting things wrapped up for Christmas, I went a few days without reading. When I finally had a chance to read a little before bed, I wanted to pick up something shorter and that would work for one of the two prompts I had left for Banging Through the Snow. One of the ones left was Snow Monster! which is a wintery non-human main character. There was the usual wintery animal and reindeer shifter books you see a lot of this time of year, but then I remembered seeing Pleasures of Christmas Past by Lexi Post. This is the first book of her A Christmas Carol series. I was also able to use this for the got for free prompt for Winter's Kiss.

Jessica has graduated from training to be a ghost of Christmas Past and is assigned her first case. As a social worker when alive, she is very excited to continue her line of work as spirit. Since it's her first case, she's assigned a mentor to watch over and help right anything that goes wrong. The mentor assigned is Duncan, a sexy Scot from the 1800s. They are both attracted to each other, but try to focus on the job. To make things even higher stakes, their are tasked with helping Holly, their boss's widow.

I really struggled with rating this. I feel like I'm going be sneaky and go with 3.5 stars but rounded up to 4 (since I technically read this in 2021 and hadn't started my new rating system yet). There was a lot that intrigued me and kept me engaged. I found the spirit guide system really interesting and wanted to learn more about it. We focus here on the Christmas Past spirits and there's just a little discussion about the other two existing. I also wasn't quite sure what to think about the way the magic(?) works. Some of it was overexplained and other parts weren't.

I also didn't quite feel the tension between Jessica and Duncan. It was steamy and the words were there, but it just felt more physical I guess. I just don't think I completely believe that they are going to be together forever in the afterlife. To get a little more positive, I liked the discussion of grief and regret and just coming to terms with your life. I think a lot of it was smartly dealt with, but at the same time there was also a little too much. We had to deal with the issues of Duncan and Jessica on top of them trying to help Holly and in a way their boss Cameron as well. I also wasn't quite happy with how Cameron was okay with pretty much ruining Jessica's view on her own life. I feel like he could've handled it better and not at the same time of putting both Jessica and his wife's souls at stake.

There's a lot that kept me interested in the story overall and I might pick up more books in the series. It didn't quite meet everything that I was wanting/expecting, but I'm also intrigued to see how Lexi's writing might evolve as she gets further in. It's not at the top of my list, but I'm glad I tried it. It definitely fit my mood better than the other options I was looking at.

Have you read Pleasures of Christmas Past?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Pleasures of Christmas Past, Lexi Post, 4-stars, 2 days, eBook, 216 pages, published in 2015

All I Want For Christmas Is A Cowboy by Jessica Clare

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After getting through a couple rereads, I wanted to pick up something holiday and new. I decided to stay with reading books I already owned in paperback and decided to pick up All I Want For Christmas Is A Cowboy by Jessica Clare. This is the first book in her Wyoming Cowboy series. I do also want to mention that about every other book in the series seems to be holiday/winter based. I was able to use this for the set in winter prompt for Winter's Kiss and I Smell Snow! (snow on the cover) prompt for Banging Through the Snow.

Cass is getting away from the city and headed up to her family's cabin in Wyoming. When she gets into a car accident at one of her last turns, Eli, a local cowboy finds her. A blizzard is happening and he takes her back to his ranch. When Cass awakens, she finds that she has lost her memory after hitting her head pretty badly on the windshield. Since they are trapped together, Eli takes care of her as best as he can while also running the ranch single handedly. They both are attracted to each other, but Eli doesn't want to take advantage and neither of them know for sure that Cass is single. As Cass heals and starts to get antsy, Eli lets her start helping him with his chores.

This was a great snowed in together full length novel. I really enjoyed Eli, the gruff cowboy. He was so caring for Cass, even when frustrated that he kept being pulled from his chores to take care of her. I also loved how he was very aware that he didn't want to take advantage of her or her situation and when things start to get steamy between them he left it up to Cass to really push for more. Usually I prefer for the man to be a little more dominant and make the move, but it really worked here.

I haven't read too many amnesia books, but I loved how it was handled here. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but the way that little things would come to Cass was really cool. Not just memories would come back, but things she was able to do. I also loved how she would test how something would feel and if it felt like her or not. She crochets and when she finds yarn, she just knows how to do it, almost like muscle memory. Another part I really loved, is Eli's reaction to the hat that Cass made for him. That scene just hits me and why I choose to make my gifts every year, no matter how stressful it gets. It just makes it all the better when the person you've made it for appreciates the gift and time and thought that went into it. There were a couple things that really bothered me though. First off was the beginning and subsequent conflict with Ken, Cass's employer's boyfriend. I just felt like there was enough drama with her boss and the car accident that Ken was unnecessary. I also was a little frustrated with how Cass got into an accident. Driving in a blizzard is enough to cause issues without her being distracted by her phone. I just didn't like the way it happened. Also, I didn't like that she didn't talk with Eli before heading back to New York. He even kind of gave her crap a little about just talking with him and they can work it out. She knew she was still missing pieces of information and I didn't like that. Everything else though, I enjoyed!

I had a lot of fun getting back to Jessica Clare. I haven't read her in a while and binged a lot of her works when I found her Billionaire Boys Club series. This is probably my favorite billionaire romances of the ones that came out around that time. She also writes under Jill Myles and Jessica Sims. I have read quite a lot of her backlist under all three names and she is one of the few authors I have a backlist checklist for. I'm not sure if I'll pick up more of the series this month since they aren't all holiday based, but we'll see where my mood takes me!

Have you read All I Want For Christmas Is A Cowboy?

Bookishly Yours

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: All I Want For Christmas Is A Cowboy, Jessica Clare, 4-stars, 1 day, Paperback, 283 pages, published in 2018

Banging Through the Snow Wrap Up

 I was hoping to be able to finish this up earlier so you could see my wrap up before it ended, but I'm cutting it close again. I had one prompt left since the weekend before Christmas, but all the books I was looking for to fit it I just wasn't in the mood for. Overall though I had fun trying some new books and was happy that I was able to double up with other readathons that were going on at the same time, the Historical Romance Readathon and the Merry + Bright Readathon. I was also able to count books for the Winter's Kiss reading challenge.

The readathon is running from December 6th through December 31st! It's hosted by the ladies that do the But Do They Bang? Book Club, Melissa, Jacque and Beth. In case you missed my tbr, check it out for more ideas for prompts! Above is the blank bingo board and below is my finished! I'll be going through each prompt and the book I used for it starting from the top left hand corner and going row by row. I'll also link the songs I used from my story reviews. If there isn't a link, my review will hopefully be up soon and I'll add the link as they get posted!

⛄ I Smell Snow! (Snow on the Cover) - All I Want for a Christmas is a Cowboy by Jessica Clare
Song: Distance by BoA

⛄ Characters Exchange Gifts - Tempting Mr. Weatherstone by Vivienne Lorret
Song: For the First Time by Kangta

⛄ Snow Monster! (Wintery Non-human Main Character) - Pleasures of Christmas Past by Lexi Post
Song: Merry Christmas (To the One I Used to Know) by Kelly Clarkson

⛄ Trapped in a Snowstorm (Only One Bed) - Loving the Mountain Man by Adriana Anders
Song: Like a Dream by Trax

⛄ A Book That Blends Holidays - Walking in a Witchy Wonderland by Juliette Cross
Song: Winter Wonderland by Brett Eldredge

⛄ Red or Green Cover - Any Rogue Will Do by Bethany Bennett
Song: 1, 2, 3 by f(x)

⛄ Hot Chocolate (Steamy, Warm & Cozy) - Daring Miss Danvers by Vivienne Lorret
Song: Diamond by Girl's Generation

⛄ Naughty or Nice in the Title - One Naughty Christmas Night by Janet Berry
Song: Last Christmas by Shinee

⛄ Small Town Romance - The Front Runner by Elsie Silver
Song: Amazing by The Grace's Dana & Sunday

So originally I was going to diversify the songs I used from my favorite albums. Then it turned into using one of my tops, the SM Town Winter album from 2011. Oh my gosh I can't believe that it's 10 years old already. Anyways, it's one of my favorite holiday albums and the promo song, Santa You Are the One by Super Junior has been my go to December ring tone since it came out. But Super Junior are my boys so I might be biased. I really wanted to use a song from the Muppet's Christmas Carol for Pleasures of Christmas Past, but instagram didn't have any of the songs available. Then I remembered Kelly Clarkson had a song on her new album that had the line "dancing with a ghost." I went with that and then of course I had to use Winter Wonderland for Walking in a Witchy Wonderland. I ended up going with Brett Eldredge's version since he's one of my favorite country artists!

I had a lot of fun and was able to read a few books that wouldn't normally be on my radar thanks to the more unique prompts. I think my favorite read would be The Front Runner. It was an anticipated read for me, even though I only had a couple weeks of anticipation. I can't wait for the next book and hope that Elsie doesn't get any setbacks and we get it in March! I can't wait to see what the ladies do next for both their book club and future readathons!

Did you participate in Banging Through the Snow?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

One Naughty Christmas Night by Janet Berry

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After finishing The Front Runner, I didn't want to get into a book hangover. Since I was still in a cozy feeling, I wanted to pick up another historical romance. Nothing was really sounding good, so I went through some newer releases that were holiday based that would have naughty or nice in the title for Banging Through the Snow. I ended up finding One Naughty Christmas Night by Janet Berry. I was also able to use this for the hot cocoa prompt for the Merry + Bright Readathon and new author prompt for Winter's Kiss.

Victoria and Heath have been best friends since childhood. Their parents are friends and being the youngest of each group of children they were commonly left together growing up. Every Christmas Heath's father hosts Christmas festivities. After being jilted earlier in the year, Victoria is feeling left on the shelf and doesn't want to marry except for love. Heath also wants a love match and they both lean on each other for support. When they are reading in the library one day, Heath's older brother and wife sneak in for a tryst. Victoria and Heath hide and the sounds of Heath's brother and his wife getting intimate cause their desires to rise. When they both give in and kiss, a new door has opened between them. When Victoria approaches Heath for passion lessons now that she's a spinster, their relationship starts to change.

This was a cute and quick novella. I didn't look too much into this before I started reading outside of it being a childhood friends to lovers regency holiday novella. I hadn't ever heard of Janet Berry before and was intrigued by the premise. Unfortunately, it didn't quite meet my expectations. There were bright spots in this for sure and it had a lot more steam than I expected. That was a definitely a pleasant surprise. My enjoyment was kind of hindered though by the writing. It wasn't bad, but it felt newer. There were a few times where the same thing would be reiterated in the same sentence, but in a different way. It also got a little bit repetitive at times. It also felt a little bit rushed in the non-steamy scenes. I would've been completely okay to have closed door or fade to black or even just casually mentioned that they got together again last night to have more development outside of the bedroom. I don't know, it just was missing something for me.

If you are looking for a quick, steamy, historical holiday novella, certainly give this one a try. I did enjoy it and am interested to read something full length from Janet Berry to see what she can do with more pages. I'm still glad I picked it up and it's always fun to find a new indie published historical romance author.

Have you read One Naughty Christmas Night?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: One Naughty Christmas Night, Janet Berry, 3-stars, 0 days, eBook, 133 pages, published in 2021

The Front Runner by Elsie Silver

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After getting through my book club books and the Historical Romance Readathon, I knew I had to finally pick up The Front Runner by Elsie Silver. I sped through the rest of the series last month and was so happy to see that The Front Runner would be out December 3rd! This is the third book in her Gold Rush Ranch series. I was able to use this for the prompt book Shelby made a post about for Winter's Kiss, The Grinch (enemies to lovers) prompt for Merry + Bright and small town romance prompt for Banging Through the Snow.

Mira is the veterinarian for the horse ranches nearby and also friends with Billie and Violet. While she doesn't have the disdain for Stefan Dalca that Billie does, she does recognize he doesn't always make the best choices. When a mare passes giving birth at Gold Rush Ranch and shortly after a foal dies on Stefan's ranch, they want to try to get the mare and foal together to save the foal's life. Stefan proposes to take Mira on three dates and they make a deal. As Mira learns more about Stefan and who he really is the attraction for him she's held back starts to boil over.

Oh my gosh, this book. I couldn't put it down and only did because I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. I loved the tension between Stefan and Mira. And the things that Stefan would say, oh gosh. So freaking hot. I loved seeing past the façade that Stefan perpetuates and how strongly he loves the people he lets in. There's a lot in his backstory and holds onto a lot of guilt, even when he probably shouldn't be feeling guilt for it. We also get to see DD's first colt (DD is the main horse in Off to the Races). Speaking of, I want to give a trigger warning for pet death. We see the aftermath of a red birth of a foal that doesn't make it. We aren't quite connected to this foal like other horses in the series, but I wanted to mention it because it's really sad. There's also talk about a mare dying. So DD's colt loses his Mom and they are looking for a mare to try to take to him so he can get the nutrients he needs. When Mira shows up at Stefan's ranch to help, but is late she has the idea to try to fit the colt with the now childless mare. Thankfully she takes to him and Stefan ends up naming him Loki.

Loki is the freaking cutest ever and I loved the relationship that formed between Loki and Stefan. So freaking cute and broke my heart when Stefan would get worried about him. I also loved getting to learn more about Mira. She's half Indian and I loved how Stefan stood up to her family. The connection between them was just everything. There's more drama that I don't want to spoil, but I love how much that Stefan loves Mira. They were just completely drawn to each other. Also, we know Billie from Off to the Races and how Stefan tried to underhandedly buy DD from her. She has hated him since then, but her grudge did bother me a little bit here. I just felt she took it a little too far, even for her. I did like that she came around and started to back off for Mira.

We also get to meet Stefan's younger sister Nadia there was a blurb in the back of the book that she is getting a book and it's potentially coming in March. I can't wait and am so intrigued on who she's going to be paired with. I can't wait to see what Elsie does next and am so freaking excited. Seriously, read this book, read this series, join Elsie's newsletter and follow her everywhere. I am officially obsessed!

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: The Front Runner, Elsie Silver, 5-stars, 1 day, eBook, 313 pages, published in 2021

Loving the Mountain Man by Adriana Anders

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The December prompt for the Smart Women Read Romance's patreon exclusive review was Winter. The book that won the poll was Loving the Mountain Man by Adriana Anders. This is the 3rd book in her Love at Last series. I was able to apply this to the Winter Wonderland (white on the cover) prompt for Merry + Bright, facial hair prompt for Winter's Kiss and trapped in a snowstorm (only one bed) prompt for Banging Through the Snow.

Christa drives up to a holiday party at her boss's cabin in the mountains. When she arrives and finds out that she wasn't notified that the party was cancelled and he makes unwanted advances to her, she escapes. When driving back down the mountain quickly, she hits some black ice and ends up going over a cliff. Before her car can completely hit the bottom, she gets saved last minute by another cabin owner Micah. He takes her home and they call the police and her family. When a blizzard shows up overnight, she's stranded with the burly mountain man until the roads become passable. Micah is a recluse after serving in the army and losing one of his legs. He hasn't had much contact with women and feels a pull towards Christa that he hasn't felt in years.

As I mentioned before this is the third book in her series. I have not read the first two and didn't have time to squeeze them in with all the readathons and challenges I participated in. This read well as a standalone and I don't think that it connects too much to the other books outside of Micah maybe being friends with the heroes. Maybe? I'm still not sure. Anyways, this is also the first book I've read by Adriana Anders. Loving the Mountain Man was a quick instalust read. It was cute and there was a lot going on, but I wish that either it was longer or didn't take too much on. We have the sexual assault on Christa, Micah's a disabled veteran, Christa is plus size (or more normal size) and then we have the stress of her surviving death and being snowed in together. 

I think that Christa and Micah had good chemistry when they were getting intimate, but I did want more emotional development between them and more conversations. This is a hard one to rate for me. I'm thinking maybe a 3.5-star but rounded up to 4. I just was felt wanting in the end and don't know if I believe in the HEA. Yes the HFN, but not the HEA. There just some times when we were being told and not shown. I also wanted some recognition of the fact that she was so turned on as apart of the adrenaline/aftereffects of almost dying. She mentions that's partly why she's into him, but not in the way that I felt it should've been addresses. Or at least also factored in. But it was good.

I would definitely be interested in trying more of her works. It looks like the other two books in this series were novellas that were added to and rereleased, so I don't know how different I'd feel about those. I know she has a suspense series that some booktubers I follow liked, so maybe I'll try those. I'm always happy to try a new author and while this was set at Christmas, it wasn't super Christmas-y. If you're looking for a holiday set novella that isn't fully holiday based, certainly give this one a try. I had a lot of fun during the live review and can't wait to see what books get chosen next year!

Have you read Loving the Mountain Man?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Loving the Mountain Man, Adriana Anders, 4-stars, 1 day, eBook, 236 pages, published in 2019

Any Rogue Will Do by Bethany Bennett

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The fourth and final book I read for the Historical Romance Readathon was Any Rogue Will Do by Bethany Bennett. This is the first book in her Misfits of Mayfair series and covered the prompts green/red on cover, in a series, new to you author, clinch cover, rogue in the title, rec'd to you, lady heroine and book you own. I was also able to apply this to the Winter's Kiss prompt green on cover, Merry + Bright prompt Baby It's Cold Outside (dual perspective) and Banging Through the Snow Prompt red or green cover.

Charlotte, aka Lottie, is returning to London from her country home. Her father has started to come out of mourning and has decided it's time for her to marry. He arranges for her to marry friend's second son, but she is not in agreement. She has until November to find another acceptable husband. When there's an accident on the way, she runs into Viscount Amesbury, Ethan. He was a suitor during her first season, but ends up ruining her with a nickname. As they continue to run into each other, they propose a fake engagement to at least get Lottie's father to stop pushing the horrible man he wants her to marry.

Oh my gosh, this book was so wonderful. I mentioned this during my wrap up, but I own this because I heard good things about the second book, West End Earl, and picked it up at Walmart. When I got home and realized it was book 2 in the series, I immediately added the first book so I would have them both. I pulled this as a secondary option for my readathon tbr. Someone commented on my post and mentioned that they really loved this and that the hero was Scottish. I immediately raised it up in my tbr and when I saw it would be a book that would give me a bingo, I knew it would be my last book for the readathon. Even though this isn't a Christmas book, it at least gives the vibes with a green and red cover!

But about the book. First off, this is Bethany Bennett's debut novel and that just blows me away even more. I absolutely adored Ethan. He was so sweet and pining for Lottie. I loved how he kept putting her first, at first due to his guilt but at the same time knowing and trying to ignore the attraction he's had for her from before. Lottie was such a great heroine. I feel like a lot of the more recent historical romances push the feminism threads more than needed and it almost becomes the focal point to the story and not the romance. While there is that here, at the same time I enjoyed how Lottie immediately regrets pushing Ethan away and tries to make it up to him. They both agree to come to a compromise to be in a healthy relationship but also give her what she wants in life. It didn't bother me as much here outside of that I wish that her father wasn't as against Ethan. That would be my only downside of the books was that her father was an antagonist on top of the villain of the guy he's trying to marrying her off to. Then that leads to her breaking up with Ethan and I just didn't like that as the extra conflict. It just felt like a little too much for the final conflict, but I did like how it also forced Lottie to really open up to Ethan and figure out what she really wanted.

I really enjoyed this book and immediately pulled West End Earl. I want to pick it up soon and am so intrigued by who Cal is going to be paired with. I have an idea, but I don't want to read the blurb before going in. I am so happy to find another new author and am excited to see how her writing is going to grow and evolve. Such a great debut!

Have you read Any Rogue Will Do?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Any Rogue Will Do, Bethany Bennett, 5-stars, 1 day, Paperback, 352 pages, published in 2020

Daring Miss Danvers by Vivienne Lorret

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The 2nd book I read for the Historical Romance Readathon is Daring Miss Danvers. This is the first book (outside of the prequel novella) for Vivienne Lorret's Wallflower Wedding series. This counted for the prompts in a series, wallflower, book you own and clinch cover. I also read applied Daring Miss Danvers to the Winter's Kiss board 1  prompt fake dating, Merry + Bright Readathon prompt Elf on the Shelf and Banging Through the Snow prompt hot chocolate (warm, steamy and cozy).

Emma is the straight-laced daughter of two peerage turned artists. After her parents were snubbed after her father starting painting those not in the ton, they've been pushed out. Emma has fought against the prejudice and tries to be the perfect debutante to not bring further shame upon her family. Oliver, Viscount Rathburn, has been friends with both Emma and her brother for the longest time. His grandmother has froze the inheritance he was supposed to receive upon gaining his majority, but has put several conditions on it's receival. The most recent is to marry someone that she approves. Emma is the only one so Oliver proposes a fake-engagement scenario to her parents. They whole-heartedly agree and Emma agrees to help. When they seal the agreement with a kiss they become aware of each other in a new way and are forced to face the feelings that they've been denying.

I really loved this story. Such a great mix of friends-to-lovers, fake-dating and mutual pining. I loved seeing both perspectives and how much they noticed about each other. I also loved that they both constantly were still finding out new aspects of each other and became insatiable. Especially Oliver; he just wanted to see the core of Emma and get her to open up to him completely. If I were to be really strict with myself, maybe this is closer to a 4.5-star rating, but the way that I feel when I read Vivienne Lorret's writing just gives me more excuses to round it up to 5.

I did think that the final conflict was a little stereotypical, but at the same time the way it was resolved was not. Spoilers incoming: Emma hears a rumor that the actress that was Oliver's former mistress ran away with a man with a lot of money. Since at this point Emma is still under the impression that Oliver only received his inheritance after marriage, she worries that it was Oliver. Even more so since he was cold in the morning because he wants her so bad to say she loves him. (Nevermind he hasn't quite said it yet either.) I loved that it wasn't drawn out. Emma came home, he was there and was open about where he was all day. Emma trusts and believes him and it's not made into a bigger deal than it should've been. I just loved that it didn't follow the typical plot line.

Back from spoilers! I did glance at the other two books in the series and it looks like we are focusing on Emma's other two friends in their needlework club Merribeth and Delaney. I wasn't sure if her brother would have a book or not, but I did see a Mr. Danvers on my shelf as well. When I pulled it to find the names he is book two in The Rakes of Fallow Hall series. That's a series I haven't read yet either and am happy that I am reading these in order. I think I might reread the ones I already have and just go through her backlist in order. It might take a bit, but maybe I can get through everything by May 24th. It was recently announced that that'll be the release date of book 4 in her Mating Habits of Scoundrels series and I've already preordered it! I can't wait!

Have you read Daring Miss Danvers?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Daring Miss Danvers, Vivienne Lorret, 5-stars, 3 days, Paperback, 288 pages, published in 2014

Tempting Mr. Weatherstone by Vivienne Lorret

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The first book I read for the Historical Romance Readathon was Tempting Mr. Weatherstone by Vivienne Lorret. This is the first book in her Wallflower Weddings series and was originally released in the Five Golden Rings anthology, and how I read it. It covers the prompts takes place during winter, non-titled hero, in a series, clinch cover and book I already owned. I was also able to use this for the first board of Winter's Kiss covering the holiday novella prompt. For Banging Through the Snow it applied to characters exchange gifts.

Penelope is feeling worn and after her sister heads home for the holidays is left feeling lonely. She has been feeling melancholy lately and is finally coming to terms that she's in love with her best friend Ethan. They have been friends and neighbors since childhood after their families connected by sharing in grief. Ethan is a second son and very meticulous. He tries to keep everything in it's place and likes knowing what things will happen when. After Pen decides to change her life and mentions going on an adventure (to gain some distance from Ethan and hopefully get over him), his regimented life is thrown into chaos.

Oh my gosh. This was the prefect way to start the Historical Romance Readathon and I've missed Vivienne's writing. There's something about it that just hits what I want and need from a historical author. I loved the mutual pining on both sides, although there's more angst from Pen since Ethan fights his feelings. I think the childhood friends-to-lovers trope was really well done and worked perfectly for a shorter book. I was immediately drawn in and was able to connect with the characters fairly quickly. Also, I could really relate to Pen when she's talking about the handkerchiefs she embroiders for Ethan every year. Since I usually try to just make present for Christmas and not buy much (outside of assisting Santa with stockings), I really understood and empathized with her. Even though she's not expecting a gift in return, sometimes it's hurtful when appreciation isn't expressed; especially when it's a gift for someone that's seen or knows the amount of time and care that went into it.

This little novella had me smiling and tearing up and was just the perfect read to get me into a historical mood. I'm so happy to finally be reading more Vivienne Lorret and am hoping that I can get through the rest of her backlist next year. I'll definitely be picking up book 1, Daring Miss Danvers, next for the readathon and can't wait to read more. If you are looking for a modern historical romance author and are frustrated with a lot of the newer releases, definitely give Vivienne Lorret a try. She's one of my favorites!

Have you read Tempting Mr. Weatherstone?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

    STATISTICS: Tempting Mr. Weatherstone, Vivienne Lorret, 5-stars, 0 days, paperback, 96 pages, published in 2012

Banging Through the Snow TBR

Update: Wrap Up is posted!

 Happy Sunday!

I've recently gotten away from posting things on Sundays since my reading has gone down, but for the time being I've had quite a few wrap ups and tbrs to get through so I'm trying to get those posted on non-review days. Last September and October I participated in the Bang in the Night Bingo. It was hosted by Melissa, Jacque and Beth who host the But Do They Bang? book club. They are hosting the bingo on their discord again, so please reach out to any of them to get an invite. I'm not super active in the discord, but love lurking in the recommendation threads!

Anyways, they are hosting a shorter winter bingo called Banging Through the Snow! It will run from tomorrow, December 6th through the 31st. Since it is a shorter time frame and smaller board, they are only allowing one book per prompt this time around. Below is the blank bingo board (in story format). If you'd rather, they also have a square version and a story template for reviews. On the review template they are once again having a space for theme songs. This time I'm going to choose songs from my go-to Christmas and Holiday playlist.

As usual, I'll have my list of ideas below. During the same time will be a couple other readathons, so some of those reads will hopefully work here as well. If you haven't seen those tbrs, I have the Winter's Kiss challenge that runs through February 28th and the Historical Romance Readathon will run this weeks as well from December 6th through the 12th. I also will be casually trying to meet the prompts for the Merry + Bright Readathon which runs December 9th through the 15th. The tbr for that is scheduled to be up on Tuesday, so keep an eye out for that one as well. My list here will try to focus on ideas that weren't already (or will be) discussed on those tbrs, but there might be a little overlap. Let's do the thing!

⛄ First off, the Smart Women Read Romance exclusive patreon pick for December has been chosen. The winner of the winter themed recommendation poll was Loving the Mountain Man by Adriana Anders. I know for sure this will count for at least trapped in a snowstorm.

⛄ For Holiday blend, this was trickier for me to come up with an idea for. Then I remembered that there a book that recently came out where the heroine is Jewish but hiding from her family that she's a Christmas author. The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer sounds super cute and I'm thinking this will be my choice for that prompt.

⛄ For some of the more holiday based reads, I have quite a few more options. Willa Nash just recently released a trilogy of holiday novellas called Holiday Brothers. They can cover multiple of the prompts. For other recent holiday releases I was also thinking about Nick and Noel's Christmas Playlist by Codi Hall. It also sounded super cute and I love friends to lovers.

⛄ For some older holiday options, I had a few more ideas. One is to read the rest of Tiffany Reisz's Men at Work trilogy. I read Her Halloween Treat a couple months ago and really enjoyed it. I think the 2nd and 3rd books are set around Thanksgiving and Christmas. I received Dating Mr. December by Phillipa Ashley in paperback in the early 2010s when my local library was holding a city scavenger hunt/convention. I still haven't read it yet. I also checked my tbr on goodreads and found a couple other holiday books that I'm interested in and that's Studmuffin Santa by Tawna Fenske, The Stocking Was Hung by Tara Sivec and Kissing Under the Mistletoe by Marina Adair.

⛄ For the snow monster prompt, I actually have a couple ideas. I have on my kindle the multi-author series A Winter Starr that has alien reindeer shifters. I also remembered reading Blitzen's Fated Mate by R.E. Butler a couple years ago, but it wasn't marked as read on goodreads. I have very vivid memories of reading it or something very similar, but couldn't find anything on my read shelves. Not sure if it was that or not, but the entire series is an option. For a non-reindeer shifter option I also found North of Need by Laura Kaye. Based on the blurb the hero is a snowman that comes to life (but gets a human form, so not quite full on monster). I also recently found Pleasures of Christmas Past by Lexi Post wich is a romance with the ghost of Christmas Past.

Once again too many ideas. It helps that this reading challenge at least runs through the end of the month. I'll reassess what prompts I have left after Christmas and should be able to get a blackout. I'm excited for a lot of these options and am trying to push through my crafting as quickly as possible so I can get some good reading time this month. We'll see how it goes though.

Are you participating in Banging Through the Snow?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎