My family started the month with Covid. Somehow we escaped the nasty virus for almost three years, but then it caught up to us. Let’s just say Covid stinks!
I am 100% blaming Covid if I don’t meet my 2022 reading goal. I was so tired I couldn’t hold a book, much less focus on the words on the page. Being sick cost me some good reading days.
Now that we’re better, I’m reading all the holiday romcoms!
Here’s what I read in November…
Next of Kin by Kia Abdullah
Leila receives a call from her brother-in-law asking if she can drop her nephew off at daycare on her way to work. When he calls a few hours later asking why Max isn’t at school, Leila realizes she’s made a terrible mistake. She’s left Max in the car. She’s charged with manslaughter and an intense trial follows. This legal thriller was good and definitely had some twists, but it was a bit slow building up to them. After taking so long for the build up, I felt like the ending was sort of blah.
A Season for Second Chances by Jenny Bayliss
Annie caught her husband of 26 years cheating (again) and decides she wants a new start. She rents a small flat by the sea much to the disapproval of the owner’s nephew. John is a grouch who wants to sell the property. Annie quickly falls in love with Saltwater Nook’s charm, the village community and the small cafe she decides to open on a whim. Despite his grouchy ways, Annie finds herself falling in love with John, too.
I absolutely loved Jenny Bayliss’ debut novel, The Twelve Dates of Christmas. I did enjoy this book, but not as much as her first. It felt a little too long at 429 pages.
Holiday Romance by Catherine Walsh
I really loved this book about Molly and Andrew – two friends who have been flying back to Ireland together for Christmas for a decade. This year a huge storm has them grounded and Molly is determined to get Andrew home to celebrate the holiday with his Christmas obsessed family. They suddenly find themselves under mistletoe at the airport and share a sudden kiss that changes everything.
Faking Christmas by Cindy Steel
This book started a little slow for me, but then I absolutely loved it! Olive is facing her first Christmas without her dad and with her mom’s new husband. When she learns her mom has invited her ex-boyfriend and his family to spend Christmas with her family at a lodge in Vermont she impulsively tells a little white lie – she’s not single. She’s dating Miles, the other English teacher who teachers at the high school where she works. The man she actually loathes (although her family doesn’t know that!) She’s not too concerned about her little white lie if it means her creepy ex will stay away, until Miles shows up at the lodge. She’s officially stuck faking a relationship to get through Christmas.
Merry Ex-Mas by Courtney Walsh
Marin has returned home for Christmas after eight years of being away; but there’s a catch to her sudden homecoming. She’s trying to get a promotion and filming a Christmas special in her festive hometown is bound to get her the job. Imagine her surprise when her ex-boyfriend opens her parent’s front door. The man that broke her heart. The reason she’s stayed away all these years. Marin’s determined not to let Max distract her from the reason she’s really home; but she soon discovers that Max still has her heart. Will she risk her career for love? Can she trust that he won’t break her heart again?