Review: Homecoming in Christmas Falls by Ciara Knight

Book One in the Return to Christmas Falls series

Seven fabulous authors bring you this holiday romance series about a group of special friends returning to their hometown at the request of their high school mentor. Each book is a standalone, but read them all to fully enjoy the journey of these remarkable women and their emotional reunion with their mentor, an incredible woman who changes their lives and helps save a small town community forever.

My rating: 3 stars / I liked it

Synopsis

Eight years after fleeing Christmas Falls because of a high school prank gone wrong, Ashley Brooks receives a mysterious letter from her mentor asking her to come home. She arrives to face all she left behind—her family, her friends, and the rich boy she’d loved who would never date the girl from the wrong side of town.

Brent Donnelly, high school jock, brainiac, and dutiful son did everything right until the day Ashley returns to Christmas Falls. With one look at the girl who got away he questions all his life choices, including following in his father’s footsteps in the family business.

Faced with a potentially devastating decline of tourism in their hometown, Brent and Ashley must work together to save the magic of their town, but when Ashley discovers he still has feelings for her best friend she must finally face the real reason she left Christmas Falls—to try to heal her broken heart.


My Review

This book introduces readers to Christmas Falls and the girls who were friends there but have drifted apart. It focuses on Ashley and her relationship with Brent- which is sweet, but the miscommunication to create conflict was a little too melodramatic for me. It was interesting how much Ashley loved her friends but was afraid to reconnect with them. The author's writing style also wasn't my favorite- including run-on sentences and missing commas which would have made more natural pauses in the rhythm of the words. Overall it was a decent story and because the rest of the books in the series are by other authors, I kept on reading.

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)

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The rest of the books in the Return to Christmas Falls series

Link-up: Free / Bargain Books

Sharing the Love of Books
Enjoy our selection of New Releases / Free & Bargain Books this week

Authors please feel free to add your own books
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(any genre except erotica welcome)

This weekly link up is hosted by Beck Valley Books & these awesome book loving blogs...
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 Leels Loves Books
Tuesday
Celticlady's Reviews | First Time Mommy Adventures 
Wednesday
Beck Valley Books | Between the Coverz | Bookalicious Traveladdict
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Miki's Hope | Heidi Reads...
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Ebook Addicts | I Love Romance | Colorimetry | Futures
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3 Partners in Shopping | I Create Purty Thangs | Wishful Endings 

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Ali - The Dragon Slayer | Deal Sharing Aunt | Living Life With Joy

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(Strictly no Erotica please.  Steamy romance is fine but watch those covers people, in case any underage child is viewing it!)

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Midwinter's Eve Giveaway Hop!

Happy holidays! I'll be celebrating Christmas with my family and am super excited for the new year! It seemed like 2017 flew by, and I'm looking forward to some new starts and second chances... which leads me to the book I selected for this giveaway- Sweetbriar Cottage by Denise Hunter, one of my favorite authors of contemporary romance! Enter in the widget below and then hop along to some other blogs for more great giveaways! 

Synopsis

When Noah and Josephine Mitchell discover their divorce was never actually finalized, their lives are turned upside down.

Following his divorce, Noah gave up his dream job, settling at a remote horse ranch in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northern Georgia, putting much-needed distance between himself and the former love of his life. But then Noah gets a letter from the IRS claiming he and Josephine are still married. When he confronts Josephine for the first time in months, they discover that she missed the final step in filing the paperwork and they are, in fact, still married.

Josephine is no happier about the news than Noah. Maybe the failed marriage—and okay, the botched divorce—was her fault, but her heart was shattered right alongside his, more than he would ever believe. The sooner they put this marriage behind them, the better for both of their sakes.

But when Josephine delivers the final paperwork to his ranch, the two become stranded in his cottage during the worst spring snowstorm in a decade. Being trapped with Josephine is a test of Noah’s endurance. He wrestles with resentment and an unmistakable pull to his wife—still beautiful, still brave, and still more intriguing than any woman he’s ever known.

As they find themselves confronted with each other and their shared past, old wounds surface and tempers flare. But when they are forced out into the storm, they must rely on each other in a way they never have before. Josephine finally opens up about her tragic past, and Noah realizes she’s never been loved unconditionally by anyone—including him. Will Noah accept the challenge to pursue Josephine’s heart? And can she finally find the courage to trust Noah?

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Spotlight, Excerpt & Giveaway: A Mistletoe Kiss by Jennifer Faye

On Tour with Prism Book Tours

We're celebrating the release of

A Mistletoe Kiss

By Jennifer Faye

A perfectly sweet holiday romance to cozy up to the fire with!
Read an excerpt from the book and enter the giveaway below...

A Mistletoe Kiss

(Tangled Charms #2)
by Jennifer Faye

Contemporary Romance

ebook, 236 pages

December 19th 2017 by Tule Publishing

Jaded by love, Suzanna Simms has resigned herself to focusing on her art business. But with Christmas quickly approaching, she receives word that her family is returning to Marietta. And Suzanna failed to mention that her latest relationship had ended abruptly. Now she’ll have to admit to her family that she failed at love—again.

Enter Sergeant Jake Hamilton, a new resident to Marietta and Suzanna’s next door neighbor. He’s not looking for anything permanent, he’s just passing through Marietta for the Christmas season, hoping to keep to himself. But when Suzanna’s family mistakenly assumes that Jake’s her boyfriend, he agrees to continue the charade.

Suzanna is certain she’s immune to his rugged good looks and sexy smile until they find themselves standing under the mistletoe. When Jake finds her kiss sweeter than her sugar cookies, he knows he’s in trouble. But it’s too late by then… the Christmas charade is on.

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Excerpt

There was something in the air…

Change was coming to Marietta.

Or more than likely it was a bit of wishful thinking.

Tomorrow was the first of December, when the Christmas frenzy kicked into high gear. Suzanna Simms usually found this to be the most fabulous time of the year. But this year, she just wanted the holidays to quietly pass her by. She rushed into the kitchen. Her gaze immediately moved to the clock on the microwave. It blinked "PF." Power failure. Apparently the power had gone off last night just long enough to reset all of the clocks in the house, including her alarm clock.

A glance at her phone let her know she only had two more minutes before she was late for work. That never happened to her. She hated to be late for anything. And today they were switching the autumn decorations for Christmas ones at her jewelry/craft shop, Tangled Charms.

Suzanna grabbed the coffeepot and poured it into her mug. She’d never make it through the morning without some strong caffeine. She glanced in the kitchen cabinet for the lid. Suddenly the hot liquid scorched her skin. She righted the coffeepot. Setting it aside, she rushed to the sink. As cold water soothed the burn, she assured herself there was definitely something amiss in the air.

Meow.

She glanced down at Pixie. “Hey, girl. I didn’t forget you. Honest.”

Murr.

The black-and-white six-month-old kitten rubbed affectionately over Suzanna’s legs. Suzanna bent over and scratched behind Pixie’s ear. When Pixie wasn’t testing her boundaries, she was the sweetest furbaby. And she wanted her breakfast. First, Suzanna sopped up the coffee from the countertop. And then she placed a bowl containing canned cat food on Pixie’s mat. Satisfied that her morning chores were complete, Suzanna slipped on her coat and red scarf.

With her coffee in one hand and her oversized purse slung over her shoulder, she rushed out the door of her townhouse. A gust of icy cold air rushed past her. She snuggled deeper in her coat. December had blown in with a distinct chill. And so another blustery winter was about to descend upon Marietta, Montana.

She was halfway down the sidewalk when she spotted movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head to find a big—make that a ginormous—brown-and-white Saint Bernard running toward her. Its ears flapped as it ran and its jowls did the same. The closer it got, the bigger it seemed. Why couldn’t it be a Chihuahua or a Yorkie?

The breath caught in Suzanna’s throat as her palms grew clammy. Please stop.

She took a step back. There was no way she was going to outrun that dog. It let out a deep bark. Woof-woof.

And then all two hundred pounds or so of the dog was standing in front of her. She stared at it and it stared back at her with big brown eyes.

She should say something—do something, but panic had her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. And her heart felt as though it were lodged in her throat. She’d been afraid of dogs since she’d been bitten when she was young.

She should look around for someone to help her, but she didn’t dare take her gaze off the dog. The dog began sniffing her shoes and her jeans. What was it thinking? The dog circled her—

“Rufus, what are you doing?” asked a male voice.

The dog glanced up. Woof!

Once the dog ran to the man, Suzanna relaxed her stiff muscles and glanced over at the man.

“Don’t worry. He won’t hurt you.” The man sent her a friendly smile as the dog sat down next to him.

It was cold out, quite literally, and here this man was strutting around outside in a short-sleeved black T-shirt. It clung to his muscled chest, broad shoulders, and bulging biceps. She swallowed hard and struggled to recall what she’d been about to say.

Her gaze lifted up and up. My he’s tall. At least six feet of muscle. His jawline was chiseled with some scruff on it. His hair was short—like military short. And his eyes were blue. Not just blue. But a sky blue, the kind that she could get lost in for hours. He was quite a sexy package.

“You must be my new neighbor.” The townhouse next to hers was up for rent. She just hadn’t realized anyone had moved in.

About the Author

Award-winning author, Jennifer Faye pens fun, heartwarming contemporary romances with rugged cowboys, sexy billionaires and enchanting royalty. Internationally published with books translated into nine languages. She is a two-time winner of the RT Book Reviews Reviewers' Choice Award, the CataRomance Reviewers' Choice Award, named a TOP PICK author, and been nominated for numerous other awards.

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Tour Giveaway

- 1 winner will receive an ebook of SPRINKLED WITH LOVE and a $10 Amazon eGift Card
- 4 winners will receive an ebook of SPRINKLED WITH LOVE
- Ends December 23rd

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