Imagine being able to feel the Christmas spirit every day? Well Mandy does. She works year round in a Christmas store and even swears she's seen Santa...and yes, she's an adult. But she still believes. It's given her quite a few hard times in the past, but the kids all love her. She has an amazing personality that I fell in love with as well.

Jake is a bit of the opposite. He's all numbers and business and logic, but something about Mandy just grabs him and won't let go. They have an amazingly sweet romance. It was perfect for the holidays with just a bit of heat and a lot of heart.

I loved the city of Tall Pine and discovering all its little Christmas secrets and traditions right along with Jake. I really want to go visit - seriously - this place sounds awesome.

Wow! Sounds like I loved this one. Then why only three stars? The ending was not good. It just sort of stopped. Big old climactic scene that has been building up for a couple chapters, and then ... poof ... wrap everything up in a page and you're done! UGHHH!!!!!!

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

This isn't your typical divorce story. Instead of being devoted to dissecting the relationship, it's devoted to watching Rose blossom and grow on her own as she "redesigns" her life after finding out her husband's horrible secret. Somewhere along the line, Rose has lost who she is. Watching her find out what makes her tick again was great.

This wasn't all sunny though. There were a lot of struggles, some deep soul searching accompanied by tears, and new friends that need to find their direction as well. Rose builds some amazing new relationships and gains old ones back again. This was not a depressing or woe is me style story. But a story of a woman taking her life back and learning to love it again.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

This was such an amazing Christmas-time romance. Thea is a great heroine, a spinster and bit of a book nerd - she was just up my alley. When she finds a baby - a real one - in the church's manger scene she has no idea the mystery she's about to be caught up in. When she confronts who she thinks the father is - she really isn't expecting the sparks to fly like they do.

Gabriel is intrigued by the vicar's sister and her fiery personality. They seem to be so opposite, but when it really comes down to it, they both want the same thing. They want to find who left the child and make sure the child is taken care of. This search takes them to some pretty interesting places - and underneath a lot of mistletoe!!

Mistletoe can be a dangerous thing. Feelings start to happen and then suddenly you find out you might be falling in love. Thea's physical response to Gabriel is perfect. It's just what I needed from an older regency woman who has been "put on the shelf." Their romance was a great one - built on shared interests and experiences, and it grew over time into something wonderful.

The mystery of the baby will be solved, but it is a little bittersweet in the outcome. Be prepared for some surprises, because not much is as it seems when it comes to the search. There's a bit of excitement and danger as well that added a very nice touch.

Did not finish - could not get into any of the stories. Yes, stories. There are actually three in this book although you'd never know by reading the back blurb. Very repetitive and poor dialog.

Fairies are not always bright shiny things. Even the Seelie can have their darkside. I love that Debbie Herbert kept her fairies a bit sinister. They are tricky and conniving and look down on anything outside of the Fae. This includes the changeling, Kheelan, and the human girl, Skye.

Kheelan was amazing. He was just the right amount of dark and brooding with a bit of wistfullness about him when it came to his human family. He's instantly enthralled with Skye the first time he sees her and isn't surprised to find out that she's something a little special.

Skye on the other hand, wasn't quite as strong a character for me. She was very well-rounded and I loved her reactions to finding out about her true past, and she had a bit of a goofy, humorous side to her personality that Kheelan was definitely missing. They made a great combo and are a pretty good example of opposites attract and all.

The fairy realm was still one of wonder and enchantment - but it was a world at war. The Seelie were looking for a savior and the Unseelie were looking to stop a savior. There's a good dose of excitment and battle of sorts in the pages. My only complaint was the ending. It was, in theory, a very satisfying conclusions. But it lost some of the gritty edge that I had really enjoyed throughout the story and got just a tad bit sticky sweet in comparison.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

I've been looking forward to Wren's story for awhile now. I love her character and I love elves - so it was a great combo. Her quest to find the long lost elves takes quite a few twists and turns until she finds her lucky break - the hag that finally has many of the answers she's looking for, but it only gets more dangerous and exciting from there.

When she finds the island the elves have retreated to, it isn't anything she expected. Taken over by demons, she is forced to discover some very hard truths to find her way there safely. She meets some really great creatures along the way and I loved learning about them and what they were and how they came about being there. Each has it's only very important part to play in her quest - even if their parts aren't entirely clear at first.

The elves themselves have quite a few secrets to hide - none of which are good. As Wren discovers the truth of why they left and what they have done since, she's faced with a crisis of conscience about helping them return to their old world. Brilliantly written, I was on the edge of my seat as it all unfolded.

There's a lot of great epic moments of heroism from just about every person in the story. Terry Brooks isn't afraid to let Wren's friends steal the spotlight for their moment in the sun and a chance to save the day. There were some sad moments and a few of the characters I've grown to love do not make it through the book - but that only made me love those characters even more.

Again, the only downfall was that I wish I could see what the other main characters from the previous books were up to while Wren was on her quest. We get bits and pieces, but I feel like their stories could have been merged a bit more so they weren't "forgotten" when their story wasn't being told.

- See more at: http://hotofftheshelves.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-elf-queen-of-shannara-by-terry.html#sthash.TO2egO3N.dpuf

OK - we're moving in the right direction again, although with the sudden reappearance of the DPI I was a little thrown. I think I've seen them eliminated two or three times now, but I guess they are the cockroaches of evil agencies and you just can't seem to get rid of them. We also get another visit from the Order of Athena - which was really fun. I wish they had been more of a presence throughout the series, I really enjoy their lore and history.

Lilith and Ethan have a lot more in common than we first realize. Both are "orphans" that were raised in some crazy strange compound meant to brain wash people. But they somehow resisted and escaped. OK - sounds like a fantastic beginning. But it gets a little too crazy and out there (even for a vampire romance) about half way through.

Ehtan and Lilith have a ton of trust issues - partly because Lilith doesn't remember much of of anything at first and then misinterprets a lot after that. But also because Ethan is keeping all sorts of stuff from her. I got very frustrated at both of them several times.

Overall this was a very exciting read. We got to briefly see the original vamps and I always like seeing them. I just wish they didn't come in to save the day and then disappear all the time. The romance didn't quite make it for me though - they just never seemed to sit right.

This is one the most detailed historical fictions I have ever read. That is a good thing and and a bad thing. It's good because the story is really brought to life and the world Emery Lee creates is vibrant and alive. It's a bad thing because, since I don't know tons about the Georgian period, there were things I just didn't quite understand. It seemed like everyone had three, if not more, names and at times it was hard to keep track of them all.

I really enjoyed watching Phillip maneuver his way through the gaming tables of England. I think I learned more about how to cheat at dice and cards in this book than anything else. Susannah, on the other hand, isn't quite as good at the game. But she wants to learn - and while Phillip teaches her they fall in love. Sound like a romance? While it has a lot of romantic elements - this is definitely not an historical romance.

Lots of twists and turns that eventually take us back to the story in book one of the Georgian Gamesters. Very well rounded and well written. I hope to see more about this world soon.

I love rock star romances - but I don't think there was enough rock star in this one for me. Still a very enjoyable romance, but it was far more cowboy than I had originally expected. This is more of a prodigal son returning home type of story. We don't get any of the glamour and glitz that I've come to love from rock star stories.

What we do get is a really sweet story of high school love coming full circle to hit both parties upside the head, telling them to get on with it already and fall in love again. Brent is trying to find his lost muse and get back to his roots. Staying with his best friend from high school and his little sister are just what he thinks he needs - until he realizes just how much DJ still means to him.

DJ thinks Brent is just a spoiled super star that doesn't know the value of hard word. I loved watching her lay into him when he did something wrong. She's a very strong female character that really knows how to make her cowboys jump. She's perfect from Brent, but just needs to put some past demons to rest before she can realize it.

What I liked best about this was that there wasn't really a "bad guy" in the story anywhere, and that neither character had some horrible character flaw to get over. It was just a matter of Brent and DJ realizing they were at the right place at the right time to finally make it work. (I still wanted some more rock star though.)

Little Mouse's Painting has been a big hit in our house - read at least once a day and sometimes more. Little Mouse and his friends discover that not everyone sees things the same way and that different perspectives will give different impressions. The illustrations are beautiful and are works of art on each page. I wish this version was still in print so I could add it to our home library. If your library carries it - you will not regret checking it out.