“This is a heartwarming holiday read that I think everyone who loves romance should read.” – Shakespeare’s Wench Book Blog
What a difference One Christmas makes… celebration with family and the new man in her life at her annual Christmas Eve dinner. But the appearance of her arrogant ex-husband, Dean, dashes her hopes as he seeks a second chance.
Meanwhile, Irene’s adult children, Anthony, Gloria, and Jake, as well as her nephew, Christopher, are all caught in their own webs of romance and heartache.
Anthony yearns to warm the lonely heart of Ava, a barista in his mother’s coffee shop. Only she’s completely sworn off romance.
Gloria is determined to bring holiday cheer to her brooding neighbor, Lucas, and convinces him to be her fake boyfriend so she can make him see the light.
Jake thinks he’s found a woman he could finally commit to and works hard to gain the trust of her guarded young daughter, Josephine. Only he’s taken by surprise by a secret admirer.
As for Christopher, he tries to fight the attraction he feels to Jake’s girlfriend, Morgan, a woman he let slip away years ago.
Everyone’s set to meet at Irene’s traditional Christmas Eve dinner, where sparks are sure to fly. But with a little bit of the season’s magic, this Christmas might become one they will never forget.
This is Book 1 in The Celebrations Series of standalone books.
This story of five endearing couples yearning for love and facing significant romantic obstacles over the Christmas season will warm your heart and make you want to read it again and again. Click now on “Look Inside” to get started.
***Previously titled The Greatest Christmas Gift of All***
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IT is hot and sunny as I write this review and I can not help it….my soul aches for the colder weather and Christmas. This is a fantastic “movie” that plays out page after page. Has Hallmark grabbed it up yet for the holiday season??
There is no one front and center love story instead it is a family drama that plays out leading up the annual Christmas Eve dinner. The only obvious trope is Grown up Child, Gloria and her fake romance to avoid all of the why aren’t you married questions. Matriarch of the bunch Irene will have plenty of questions thrown her way as she deals with ex-husband and her new beau all while their three grown children and one nephew have their own romantic landmines to navigate during Holiday everyone feels pressured into enjoying.
But what is this Christmas all goes exactly the way everyone hopes for?
Told through Multi-points of view, starting with Irene.
Very satisfying contemporary romance to get you looking forward to the Holidays.
If you love tv shows such as “brothers & Sisters” and “Parenthood” you will LOVE this novel.
I really liked the idea of this book. However, I found it difficult to keep up with the all the characters and the plot line for each story. I found myself flipping back and forth to the character page or looking at the picture on my phone to remind me of who each person was in the story. It was really interesting how all the characters lives intertwined with each other. There’s a little something for everyone in this story: second chance romance, holiday romance, family restoration…it’s got it all.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Christmas ‘s magic will bring joy, happiness and love to Ava, Anthony, Lucas, Gloria, Jake, Emily and all the people’s life mingled in this tender and tough story. A story about second chances, forgiviness and true love.
4 Cranky stars
Well talk about a twisted web we weave!!! This book is full of emotions and twists. Each chapter seems to be about a different character or pair of and I found this a bit confusing until I worked out who was who. Basically it’s about a mother looking out for her children in the rollercoaster ride of LOVE!! She herself has been very hurt by her ex who now wants her back. Everybody seems to have a skeleton in their cupboard, that seems to appear at just the wrong moment to ruin that budding relationship. It’s also written on the countdown to Christmas. The book finishes on Christmas Eve at Irene’s (mother) traditional family meal. What a mess, will some be lucky in love or are some too damaged????
I loved each of the couples in this book there storylines are engaging and well written. The characters are engaging and well developed with plenty of chemistry throughout the pages.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Lovely and heart-warming! This is my first time reading anything by this author and I am so glad that I picked this book to be the beginning of a hopefully long relationship with her books!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
One Confusing Christmas
You know a book is going to have a lot going on if the author not only provides a character list showing the multiple interrelationships between them, but that list has 20 characters to follow! I found this book far too busy with too many characters to keep track of. Something interesting would happen in one person’s storyline, but we wouldn’t get back to that for several chapters. And, of course, that kept happening over and over. The relationships explored seemed too similar. With so many characters, I would have loved to have seen a variety of types of romances, but they all seemed to share too many commonalities. Some characters I certainly didn’t like, including ones that other characters eventually got together with. I’m not a fan of seeing bad heroes get the woman. All in all, I did not like this book.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
This is my first time reading something by this author and it definitely won’t be my last. It was a heartwarming story of five couples and their emotional journey to find true love. The story was heartfelt and touching and left me with a nice warm feeling afterwards. Don’t forget the tissues when you read this because it will surely take you on an emotional roller coaster ride. The author does a great nice job of bringing the characters and story to life and I liked how everything was tied together nicely at the end. If you’re looking for a feel-good book this is one I would definitely recommend.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Love a book based around Christmas! Makes for fun reading. Entertaining and charming story with witty dialogue. Great characters you will love to follow. Fun following the journey full of twists and turns. Imaginative and fun to read. Good read!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A family full of issues and romance during the holidays. Over a week, we meet the mother who has to deal with an ex I would like to strangle, children who each have a connection to make and a nephew who wants an ex girlfriend back. Lots of drama and fun times as well as this group navigates the upcoming holiday and all their intense feelings. You will not be able to put this book down and the ending is worth it. What a wonderful mini vacation into this world.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The first book in The Celebrations Series a well written story of one woman the trouble her family has with the woman they love, and hers with her ex-husband. I enjoyed seeing this story come together. This is a new Author to me. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I honestly wasn’t sure about this book when I first started reading it. The book opens up seven days before Christmas to Irene’s (mother/aunt) date being crashed by her ex-husband. Let’s just say that Dean came off as a selfish immature man baby and my opinion of him is still the same after finishing the book. The man honestly doesn’t deserve to be in the same room as his ex-wife let alone be given a second chance. I kept saying to myself kick his butt to the curb, slam the door in his face and tell him you’ll call the cops if he doesn’t get off your property. This dropped several stars off my rating initially. The book gained them back with the kid’s stories. They were much more enjoyable. I will put this out here that this family definitely has its fair share of disfunction. The book bounces between Irene, her children (Anthony, Gloria, and Jake) and her nephew Christopher. I figured it out fairly quickly and the author does give you a run-down of who is who before the story starts. This type of writing doesn’t bother me as long as the changes are clearly marked, and it’s done smoothly. I think this book did a good job of that but it’s something that does irritate some people so I thought that should be put out there. This is a fairly angsty, emotional read so if you’re looking for lighthearted fun filled Christmas read this won’t be for you because it does take your emotions on a bit of a roller coaster ride. I recommend it if you like emotional reads and don’t mind the bouncing to the different characters.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.