Christmas

Let the Bells Ring Out

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By Milly Johnson

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Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous’, Einstein said. Freud disregarded such nonsense: everything could be explained was his mantra; whereas Jung believed coincidences were a manifestation of a deeper order in the universe. Certainly, after Clifford’s ‘experience’ he was more inclined to believe in the magic of them. ‘Accept the mystery, Jane,’ he’d say. ‘I am a happier man for doing so.’

One of Milly’s specialties is telling the stories of women (and sometimes men) who are victimized and dominated by their (usually narcissistic) partners who finally see the light and find the strength to stand up for themselves and escape. Usually into the loving arms of another man (or woman) who is kind, strong, and worthy of them. Although I love Milly Johnson’s writing and eagerly anticipate these characters’ final victories and the comeuppances in store for their abusers, it’s all starting to get a little old. Let me put this feeling about this aspect of Milly’s books in context. I have read every Milly Johnson book at least twice and some several times. Even when I first started reading Milly some of her female characters (usually self-inflicted) plights were way too much for me. But sometimes as much as the designated doormat in her cast of characters frustrated and sometimes even infuriated me, the situation was usually balanced out in some way. For example, an epic take down of the abuser( The Yorkshire Pudding Club), or the woman (or man) having the epiphany fairly early on, and determined and committed to her escape route (The Queen of Wishful Thinking.) What I can’t abide is what happened in this one.

We follow a diverse group of English men and women who are struggling in their lives in some way and are traveling for Christmas. Due to a rather mysterious storm, they end up snowbound together on a luxurious private train. This is very similar in structure to Milly’s 2020 Christmas themed novel, I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday. We first meet Tom, the attractive owner of a Taxi service who is chauffeuring a beautiful and posh young woman, Elizabeth, to a Manor on the outskirts of Durham where she is meeting her fiancé and their two sets of parents for their annual celebration. It is apparent immediately that her relationship with her fiancé is not only unhappy but toxic. Jane is an elderly woman who has been recently widowed and missing her wonderful professor husband and happy marriage. Wherever she is going she is not looking forward to it. It is clear that those who remain in her life do not appreciate her. Grace and Frank are a married couple and we learn that something happened in their lives that turned Grace from a lovely woman to a cold, snappish, and sour killjoy who holds something against her very nice and warmhearted husband. “Roo”, or Ruby, is a lively young woman who seems a bit eccentric but nice. She is not a fan of Christmas and has suffered a recent setback. Tim is a middle-aged man who is grumpy and standoffish. He is a big guy with a white beard who ironically works at playing Santa Claus at Christmas. As they make themselves at home on the train, they are surprised and delighted that every luxury they could wish for, from accommodations, to food, to drink is theirs for the asking. As they get to know each other and each other’s stories even the least sociable and closed down among them start to open up. With the others’ help and advice they start to understand and come to terms with truths about what has damaged them and their lives. Paths forward to healing slowly reveal themselves to each of them. As the 7 castaways become friends they start to notice strange things going on in some of the train cars. They are not alone.

This was a likable and enjoyable book in many ways, and of course happy endings abound at the end in true Milly Johnson fashion. There were some twists and turns I saw coming a mile away, but a few I didn’t. Unfortunately, Two of the main women characters, Elizabeth and Grace, got me so frustrated and angry that I almost wished they had been left with the unhappy endings they deserved! Almost. The story is told, as in most ensemble type books and movies, by visiting each character as they contribute to the present day plot while their backstory is unwoven. Most if not all of Milly’s stories involve (heavenly?) enchantment to some degree, but this one, like her other previously mentioned holiday tale, is all about the Christmas magic.

As usual Milly weaves good stories around each of the engaging characters. They deal with grief, estrangement from loved ones, disappointment in love, unrealized potential, or greedy or rotten families. All written with plenty of Yorkshire dialect, humor, and a light touch. My first problem was that every single time we came to Elizabeth’s turn in the spotlight, it was one horror after another showing how badly she was treated by her horrible family, her horrible fiancé, and his horrible family. She reflects on their horribleness, clearly sees how she is being gaslighted and bullied, but still never wavers from going back to her toxic environment. Even as a clear path to living her dream in life and love unfolds before her! She acts like a lifetime of misery is preferable to rocking her boat. She comes to her senses at the last second but even then has to be driven away by the nice guy. We never see her stand up to confront her rotten family and fiancé. I imagine they were all kinds of gobsmacked and irate over her rebellion, but we never have the pleasure of reveling in their downfall. All we get is a glimpse of them in the rear view mirror as they are sprayed with the gravel of her getaway taxi. Not even an engagement ring-toss out the window.

I’m not going to dwell on Grace, but she was a stone cold b***ch to her kind, popular, and patient husband. Yes, they experienced a horrible tragedy together, but to Grace it was all about her. She blamed her husband for something completely out of any human control. Both women held on to their painful circumstances much too stubbornly for me. They continued on their roads to disaster despite almost miraculous escape routes being provided right in front of them. To add to my exasperation, I even started to despise poor Frank for putting up with Grace so patiently for so long. I have never given any of Milly’s novels less than 4 stars, but sadly, I couldn’t give this one more than 3 in the end. It was Dawn in Summer Fling, my least favorite character in my least favorite novel by the author, all over again. Kind of a bummer, actually.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

In a Holidaze

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by Christina Lauren

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I was expecting more from this, especially after I started reading it. The premise, in which our main character keeps going back in time until she get things right, had a lot of promise. But the two main characters turned out to be disappointments, and a disappointment together. The very large and crowded secondary cast had no one entertaining enough to carry a secondary storyline to fall back on.

Andrew, our heroine’s love interest, was too much of a paragon. Perfect face, perfect body, and perfect personality. There was no room for growth, or change for the better, possible for him.

He smiles, and Lord, if the sun doesn’t come out from behind the clouds. Dimples so deep I could lose all my hopes and dreams inside them. I swear his teeth sparkle. As if on cue, a perfect brown curl falls over his forehead. You have got to be kidding me.

You’ve got to be kidding me too. The description reminded me of those old comic book representations of Superman. And that can be fine if he is the knight in shining armor character who has to rescue a victimized or seriously flawed heroine from a heinous antagonist. But this heroine had just failed to launch and needed to grow up. Besides, no disrespect to Superman, but I prefer Clark Kent. The love story seemed jejune and more of school girl crush. Our heroine, called variously Maelyn, Maisie, Mae, or Noodle, is 26. She had decided she was in love with “Mandrew” at 13 and has since only saw him for one week a year. Hardly a strong foundation for an enduring love story. Honestly, it had all the makings of “Girl thinks she is in love with the guy who checks all the boxes, but her real connection is with the less obvious underdog.” I would have preferred it if the love story started with perfect Andrew but ended with his flawed brother Theo, minus the gross face licking incident.

I glare across the table at him, but he doesn’t look up. He tucks into his Lucky Charms like a hungover frat boy. Theo is a dick.

Lots of room for growth and change there! A slow realization that Theo had been misunderstood and had hidden depths would have been much more interesting and romantic. But unfortunately the author(s) saddled him with some serious no-nos that eliminated that possibility and any suspense of who she would wind up with, despite my hoping for a miracle.

The second big thing that didn’t track with me was the time travel/Groundhog day thing. It didn’t make any sense, and I’m not even talking about “why this particular girl?” Although that would have been nice to know! By the way, our heroine had never heard of this modern classic Romantic Comedy, which did nothing to endear her to me. I was ok with her having 3 trips only which stopped at the halfway point. She was always whisked back in time right before she was about to be killed or maimed (or seriously injured.) At first I thought the universe was trying to save her life. The first time, an out of control truck is spinning towards her and feet from crashing into her car. The second time she is about to fall down the stairs. The third time, a heavy tree branch is about to fall on her head. But when the fourth time a life threatening incident occurred, nothing happened. She assumes the universe is trying to warn her she did something wrong (why?), which she didn’t. In fact, it occurred right after she decided to do something very right and be honest with Theo about Andrew. And throughout the book, it never seems to hit her that the first incident that triggered “Groundhog day” could also have killed her and her whole family. This possible tragedy waiting to happen (again) is never acknowledged.

Fairly early on, after the 3rd reliving of her cabin vacation, She actually learns the lessons she presumably is meant to learn, the secret to her being happy. She emails her boss and quits the job she hates, and is honest about her feelings for Andrew. But the penny doesn’t drop until almost the 80% mark.

I’ve spent years not trusting my ability to make decisions and quietly letting life just happen to me. It can’t be a coincidence that the moment I stopped being passive and followed my instincts, everything seemed to fall into place. I know what makes me happy—trusting myself. What a gift, right? I found happiness…
The only person whose expectations you have to live up to is yourself. When I thought it didn’t matter and no one would remember, I finally started living authentically. I quit my job. I was honest about my feelings. I went after what I wanted without fear.

I don’t know, it was all very confusing. But I won’t pile on about other things that bothered me.
The upshot is, that the premise could have been the foundation of a really good book with some depth and all sorts of interesting things going on, but the authors wasted it on what is only a light and frothy holiday (and pretty insipid) romance. It was like Christina Lauren purposely steered away from anything that could have made it substantial or really special.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

The Mystery on Judy Lane (Judy Bolton #13.5)

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by Beverly Hatfield

Judy sighed. I can’t decide if this mystery is interfering with Christmas or if Christmas is interfering with the mystery.

Before going to the third book in the Judy Bolton series, we take a short detour to celebrate the season, with The Mystery on Judy Lane, which is set during Christmas time. This book is a later addition to the series and was written by Beverly Hatfield who co-authored book # 39, The Strange Likeness (A Judy Bolton Mystery, #39).. It is set in 1940 between The Name on the Bracelet, in which Judy and Peter become officially engaged, and The Clue in the Patchwork Quilt, which sees the death of both of Judy’s grandparents, The Smeeds. Of natural causes, I hasten to add. So this one gives us an opportunity to see Judy and Peter as a newly engaged couple and their working relationship in Peter’s Roulsville office as attorney and secretary. It is also a fond farewell to kind hard-working Grandpa Smeed and loving but moody and somewhat intimidating Grandma Smeed.

The mystery involves the Pipers of The Unfinished House and Ruth Piper’s mother-in-law, Ella. Mrs. Ella Piper comes to visit Peter to sign her will, which seems to have some complications and mysteries attached to it. Earlier, while Judy was shopping for Peter’s Christmas present, she senses she is being spied on by a strange woman. What follows is a mystery involving the Roulsville Paper Mill, a land dispute, threats against Peter’s law practice, and finally criminal mischief in the form of rocks through windows. Why are Judy and Peter being targeted? Both Mrs. Piper and George the owner of the stationary store where Judy bought Peter’s present fall under suspicion, as well as Ruth’s cousins-in-law who are possible claimants to an inheritance. Interspersed with the sinister goings-on are the Christmas secrets and plans of Judy and her friends and family. We get to spend valuable time with the Smeeds when Horace and Judy are stranded there overnight during a snowstorm. Finally, with the help of Horace’s investigative reporting skills, Arthur’s inside information, Honey’s spying from George’s store, and Judy’s derring- do (and female intuition), all is solved satisfactorily for all just in time for Christmas. And of course, Peter helps too.

Though not written by or based on any input from Margaret Sutton, this book fits right into the series perfectly. Past mysteries are referred to and future mysteries and occurrences are foreshadowed, and sometimes quite poignantly. The writing style perfectly mirrors the original author’s and all of the characters’ personalities are faithful to her original creations. One can tell a lot of knowledge, love, and respect went into this one. Like Margaret, Beverly incorporated true events in her own life into this story. After reading this, Margaret Sutton’s daughter gave her blessing to its publication and asked Beverly to co-author The Strange Likeness which so successfully brought closure to the Judy Bolton series.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

The Talking Snowman (Judy Bolton #3.5)

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By Margaret Sutton and Linda Joy Singleton

The Talking Snowman by Linda Joy Singleton is an addition to the Judy Bolton canon based on an unfinished manuscript by Margaret Sutton. It was completed as a gift to the Judy Bolton author, who included some revisions when she was sent the first manuscript draft. Chronologically, It takes place at Christmas time between the third book and the fourth, so it is book number 3.5.

Judy is mystified when her snowman that she just built along with Honey and Peter Dobbs says hello to her father and tips his hat as he comes up the sidewalk. Later, the snowman repeats his unusual talent to Judy and Horace by telling them to go to the clothespin factory. There are no footprints in the snow to indicate someone is hiding behind the snowman. It is a good little problem. I know I was baffled. If it was a hidden walkie-talkie, how did he tip his hat? Meanwhile, there is some trouble brewing in town between two rival gangs, one from the blue-collar Industrial High, and the other from the more well-off and privileged Boy’s High School. It started off as a snowball fight, but things start getting really serious when rocks start to get thrown as well as snowballs. Benny, one of the Industrial High boys and a friend of Judy’s high-strung friend Irene, is arrested. When Judy’s mother is found knocked unconscious in a ditch and ends up in the hospital, it gets personal for Judy.

By the end of the book, the talking snowman is credibly explained, and the two groups of boys make friends when the truth comes out about who was responsible for the rocks and the feud getting started to begin with.

There was a lot to like in this. I liked the real hometown mystery rather than the FBI stuff of the later Judy Boltons. The local problem of rich boys and poor boys not getting along escalating to an actual riot was true to life and high stakes. The resolution made sense and was even exciting. Judy was smart and did some real detective work.

Part of the story concerning Mrs. Bolton had a lot to say about children taking their mothers for granted and even feeling a sense of ownership of them. A couple of times in the story Judy gets upset and concerned when she thinks her mother is hiding something from her or appears somewhere where she didn’t expect to see her. As if her mother didn’t have a right to be her own person. At one point, Mrs. Bolton flat-out tells her to mind her own business. It is only when Mrs. Bolton accuses her of treating her like a criminal that Judy realizes how out of line she is.

Many of Judy’s friends put in an appearance and their personalities and characteristics are on point. It nicely foreshadows her relationship with Peter. I found this just as good as the best of the Margaret Sutton-authored Judys.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Just Like Magic

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by Sarah Hogle

Bettie used to be a popular and successful internet influencer but has fallen on hard times. She is squatting in a dead woman’s abandoned ramshackle house near her rich and famous family’s home in Colorado. She bemoans that the woman only had a 24” TV, but will only drink Evian water because she “is not a plebe.” She is shallow, materialistic, and steals her neighbors’ Wifi signal and their electricity. Due to her poor decision-making and bad advice, she is a laughingstock on social media and flat broke to boot. Or I should say she was a laughingstock. Nowadays “Even my unpopularity isn’t popular anymore.” Most people think she is dead or in rehab when they think about her, which is never.

It’s Christmas and Bettie is dreading the family get-together where she will have to pretend to still be wealthy and successful. And what is she going to do for Christmas presents? One night, while drunk, she conjures up Hal, who is “The Holiday Spirit” personified by (somehow) playing Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas is You” backwards on vinyl. Hal is nice and pure, “a glowing unicorn untainted by all that is crass and vulgar.” His mission is to restore Bettie’s Christmas spirit by granting her every wish as long as, among other caveats, it is not damaging to history or cause harm to others. He is also very attractive. So far so good. I like a good redemption story and an unconventional hero.

Unfortunately, things started to go awry pretty quickly and I gave up at about the 25% mark. I skimmed through to the end. I made it past the Water Buffalo she wished into an enemy’s 4th floor Chelsea apartment building. And Hal explaining that the “number one most forbidden wish” would be to bring back the McRib when it isn’t in season. I think I started to realize I was probably going to DNF this when Bettie and Hal teleport to her grandparents’ “small gothic castle” her sinuses are filled with ice-cold eggnog and the song “Video Killed the Radio Star” becomes stuck in her head. These are the two side effects of teleportation, you see. I tried to give it another chance, but the incessant zaniness was exhausting. I can deal with wacky and eccentric in small doses but not unremittingly. It was contrived and disingenuous.

Sarah Hogle has an appealing narrative voice, which kept me reading her You Deserve Each Other despite my initial contempt for the heroine. But this one did not redeem itself although thankfully***spoiler alert*** the heroine did. Kooky is not always funny or interesting and, for me, it got old fast.

Thank-You to Net Galley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. Sorry.

Rating: 1 out of 5.

March 21, 2022

The Clue of the Broken Wing (Judy Bolton #29)

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by Margaret Sutton

“I dozed off and didn’t wake up until I heard those police sirens.”
“Then what?,” asked Judy. “I don’t suppose you knew they were coming to arrest me?”
Peter grinned. “I should have known it. Past experience should have taught me that something was bound to happen. You enter a queer old house. The police arrive. You vanish. It all adds up.”

The cheer of the kitchen had vanished. Like the rest of the house, it was suddenly filled with ghosts. Their names were fear and suspicion and guilt. Prejudice was there, too, and panic that drives a person who runs away.

Like many of Margaret Sutton’s books, this one has some dark elements in it which reveal her social consciousness. Although those children reading it in the ‘50s or even today may not have picked up on these, an adult reading it today surely does.

A little girl, afraid of a temperamental and harsh mother’s punishment, runs away from her in a department store and is helped by a woman who finds her at a bus terminal. The little girl tells her she is alone in the world and the woman takes her with her while visiting her estranged mother who is neighbors with Judy Bolton. Her mother disapproved of the man she married, who is poor, and will not accept him. She tells her mother that “Anne” is her own little girl in hopes that when she dies (she has a terminal illness) her mother will not try to take her real daughter away from her husband and his mother. Anne is happy with her loving grandmother but still thinks of her real family and misses them.

The book picks up a year later with Judy and Peter traveling to New York City at Christmas time to visit her friend Irene, her husband Dale, and her daughter, little Judy. When they get to Irene’s address, they are surprised to find Irene’s house is razed to the ground and an apartment building in its place. She goes across the street while Peter, tired from his long drive, takes a nap, to find out what happened to Irene and her family. It is the home of the Lakes, the same family that lost little their little girl and believes, along with the police, that she is dead. They suspect that Judy is part of a gang that kidnapped their daughter “Sukey” for reasons I won’t go into here, and the adventure begins when the witch-like Mrs. Lake locks Judy in an upstairs room and calls the cops. Plus we have the mystery of what happened to Irene and her family. They soon find out that Irene and Dale moved out to Long Island and didn’t tell Judy and Peter because Irene wanted it to be a “surprise.” It was a surprise all right. Irene is a real dingbat among other things, but after we get past that bump in the road, she turns out to be a valuable partner to Judy while she tries to help the dysfunctional Lake family against their will.

While the ending results in a happy reunion between the Lakes and their girl, Mr. And Mrs. Lake’s behavior throughout the book has been alarming, to say the least. While their actions are smoothed over at the end, we can’t help but be concerned about their parenting skills and can only hope for the best as far as the fates of their younger children. (Polly, their oldest, seems to have escaped their negativity and is remarkably likable and well-adjusted.) Margaret does a good job balancing the bleakness of the Lakes with the cheerful Christmas celebrations at the Meredith’s new home. (when they finally find it.) Despite the loose ends, I think it’s one of her best. **4 1/2 stars**

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

January 8, 2022

The Joyous Season

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By Patrick Dennis

“Daddy always said that Christmas is a joyous season when suicides and holdups and shoplifting and like that reach a new high and that the best place to spend the whole thing is a Moslem country.”

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A cross between Cather in the Rye, Parent Trap, and the Eloise books, I think it’s one of the most hilarious novels ever. It is certainly the most hilarious novel I’ve ever read. Set in 1960’s Manhattan, narrated by a VERY precocious and smart-mouthed (but nice) 10 year old, this book is a delight from start to finish. His take on the antics of the adults in his and his eccentric younger sister’s lives during his mother and father’s break up and ultimate reconciliation commences during a disastrous family Christmas. It’s not a Christmas book-Don’t let that scare you away.
For Cripes Sake.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday

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By Milly Johnson

I don’t want to get back to reality, said Robin inwardly. He felt protected here in this odd little inn. It was as if it was enchanted, like the Beast’s castle when Belle walked in and found all the luxury food waiting for her. He wouldn’t have been at all surprised if clocks and candelabras had started dancing around the room singing “Be Our Guest.”

In reading the description of this book and right up to about the 20% mark, I thought I knew where this one was going to go. It starts out as a fairly typical Milly Johnson. She really likes to have 3 stories going at once. In this one, 3 couples get lost during a terrible snowstorm two days before Christmas and end up together in a deserted but charming inn (Which is magical. Of course.) One couple, once passionately in love, is meeting to sign their divorce papers after years of acrimony. They are tired of fighting, have new partners, and just want to move on with their lives. Couple number two is the head of a large company who is accompanied by his unappreciated PA who has been in love with him for years. The last couple is a very happy gay couple who have been together for over 30 years.

I settled down to enjoy the journeys of at least several characters who had to learn, grow and break out of self-destructive patterns in order to find fulfillment and happiness. Of course, finding happiness would also mean finding true love with the obvious person as well. Well, all did not go according to plan. I am happy that Milly has grown out of her usual formula that all of or most of her early books incorporate, as delightful as most of them were. It became pretty obvious pretty early on, that the love stories were not going to follow the usual romantic comedy playbook. For one thing, Two halves of the prospective couples were so unlikable, almost toxic, that I was rooting for the people they would naturally be paired up with to run far and fast in the opposite direction. To make it more confusing, One of the prospective love interests was already in a very happy and healthy relationship albeit “off-screen”. So It was not predictable how all this was going to play out, romantically speaking.

Don’t worry. There are happy endings in this one and a love story or maybe two by the end. But it does not go how you think it would at the beginning. Turns are taken and there is some suspense up to the final climax. And that is a good thing. Once again Milly delivers a satisfying, touching, and amusing story. As always, it was very English. The title is based on a popular British Christmas song that is virtually unknown in the United States. And a dose of Jane Austen-love never hurts.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

June 21, 2021

How to Find Love in a Bookshop

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By Veronica Henry

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It’s a question of whether you want to live, breathe, sleep, and eat books for the foreseeable future.” “It’s how I was brought up.” “Yes, but you won’t be able to float around plucking novels from the shelf and curling up in a corner.” Andrea laughed. “Every time I went in, your father had his nose in a book, away with the fairies. That’s not going to work. You’re running a business. And that means being businesslike.”

Yay! Andrea tells it like it is. Thank goodness, her friend Emilia, who inherited the bookshop from her beloved father took her advice very seriously and understood she had to run the shop like a business that had to get out of debt and make a profit and not like it was a lifestyle choice.

While Emilia is attempting to keep her bookshop in business both because she loves it and as a tribute to her late father, we meet 6 couples who find each other or re-find each other because of it. Hence the title. Emilia also has a romance of her own, and we learn about her father and her dead mother’s story. The only one that really engaged me was the story of Alice, the sunny energetic daughter of the lord and lady of the local manor. She is soon to be married to the wrong man. Will she realize her mistake in time and recognize that her lowly estate gardener is her perfect match? Alice and Dillon’s story had some real drama and suspense. And in a book full of sweetness and sweet romances, it was the most romantic, I thought. The other stories filled the pages nicely, but ultimately were a little tame. The complications were resolved pretty easily with a little gumption and communication.

This was a well-written book full of likable people that you want good things for. It was lovely. Their happy endings were more than even they probably could have imagined in their wildest dreams. In fact, it was a little too fairytale especially the bookshop part. If a bookshop can be a Mary Sue, this was it. But you know what? Sometimes that’s OK. And I also got a new author that I want to try out of the experience.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

July 15, 2021

Trading Christmas

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By Debbie Macomber

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This was a typical latter-day Debbie Macomber, unfortunately. In this case, the movie was better thanks to the charm and the appeal of the actors. And instead of the wacky charm of the movie character of Faith, we have a nice woman, with absolutely nothing compelling, or interesting, or amusing about her. Same with all of the other characters. Very stale. The actual plot had a lot of promise. Some scenes were mildly amusing but could have been laugh-out-loud funny.

Debbie’s tone with the reader is like a kindergarten teacher with her 5-year-olds: over-explaining, keeping it simple so we understand, and repeating constantly lest we forget. It’s almost insulting. It’s too bad because she used to be one of the best. Many of her old Silhouette Special editions were worth rereading several or more times.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

December 14, 2018