This was STUNNING, INCREDIBLE, A MASTERPIECE!!! I was swooning while reading, because the content is so vividly DICKENS! Yes, the mashup of characters and real life acquaintances, and the setting, but also stylistically: The deft use of dialogue to further exposition; the tongue-in-cheek asides in the prose; the critical and the nostalgic descriptions of his haunts in London. But I am getting ahead of myself. This was a WONDERFUL book! If you like mysteries, Dickens the detective is biased but self-aware, and humble enough to rethink his hypotheses when presented with new clues, the story twists and turns like a good mystery should! And if you like classics, this book adopts the voice of the greats, it's superb!

The book addresses all of the major themes Dickens himself tackled in his writing, like the outrageous, volatile relationship between reputation and economic standing; or the importance of charity, kinship, and providing opportunities for anyone, of any class, to educate and better themselves; OR the emphasis that virtue and orthodoxy are not intrinsically linked, good people come from all varied walks of life!

While not supernatural, this book hits all the major acts of A Christmas Carol, too. There is the macabre opening, and investigation into the past of all major players, a focus on the present and what's at stake for everyone, a sad glimpse into the future if matters remain as they are, and a joyous Christmas conclusion where the lead's reputation is restored and he invests heavily in the happiness of his fellow men! Win win win win WIN!!! I love that this book IS A Christmas Carol without being a cheesy copy. It captured the spirit! And on occasion, pulled quotes from the master himself, doing this cute chicken-and-the-egg thing, where Dickens is living the words we know he will later write into his opus, which Heather Redmond will recreate into Dickens living the words and writing the - you get the idea.

The cozy details were so immersive, I loved all of the little period-accurate details! Unlike a lot of cozy mystery drivel out there, which rely solely on tea and cakes, THIS book pulled from history when setting a cozy scene. The hot potato vendor had me in stitches, I had no idea that was a thing! XD I loved every rich detail, and coupled with the descriptions of Dickens' own idiosyncracies - like his wanderlust, or his snackyness - I felt transported. I sank into this book, as if it were a hug from an old friend.

I loved the diversity in this book, too, and how Dickens wasn't classist, judging people by their actions towards their fellow citizens and not their birth. But fair warning, because it can be jarring if you're not expecting it: Even though he has respect for these people, the book is still written in period voice, and Dickens uses a lot of dated phrases to describe atypical people, be they neuro-divergent, or someone with dwarfism, or LGBTQA, or of Indigenous descent... There are even some unflattering descriptions of "the fairer sex" and how their comforts are to offer a hot meal at the end of the day and rooms full of laughing children. But anything said was said with the naivety of the time period, not malevolently. If you go looking to be insulted by the verbiage of this book, you will be. But if you respect that it's just being accurate for historical fiction, there's nothing cruel or judgmental intended in this book. The age old "The opinions of this character do not represent those of the author" warning label XD.

Long story short: READ THIS BOOK! It's fun, it's inviting, it's the perfect love letter to Dickens. What are you waiting for?!

This book contains a bunch of smug anagrams: Hidden Christmas lyrics, Christmas books, acknowledgements... It also contains AN INORDINATE AMOUNT OF METAPHORS!!!! BAD. METAPHORS! I cannot stress that enough, this book is fuuuuuull of baaaaaad writing that the author thinks is clever. You know what this book does NOT contain? A BELIEVABLE MURDER MYSTERY!!! Clearly, this person read a whole bunch of Christmas murder mysteries, and said, "Ooo, hold my eggnog, bet I could write one of those!"... She could not.

Let me dive in; spoilers ahead:

Bad Metaphors -
A metaphor is meant to evoke something in the reader, a sense or feeling that a straight-forward description of what's physically happening might not be able to finesse. The metaphor should match the tone of the writing, a sinister metaphor for a spooky scene, a delicate metaphor for a nostalgic scene, etc etc.
This author doesn't care about honoring tone or themes. Many of the metaphors are hokey Christmas ones, shoe-horning in phrases like, "As if stabbed by a sprig of holly." Many are silly personifications, lending a cartoonishness to the scene that wasn't intended. Many are extended and overexplained, whole paragraphs dedicated to painting a run-on metaphor, instead of enhancing the scene with a single, poignant phrase. Many misuse words or invent new phrases, forcing the reader to struggle through colloquialisms to find what the author MEANT to say. Almost all misuse sentence structure, which make the metaphors read incorrectly. I'll give you a made up example: "She was angry, buzzing with it, like the beads that rattle in a baby's toy." Ahem. The sentence structure suggests that the beads and the girl have something in common: They both buzz with anger. It does not suggest that the girl is rattled, and feels her anger as if she's being shaken. The correct structure ought to simply be: "Angry comebacks rattled around inside her." See? The word rattle does all the work, you already get the sense of someone being all shook up, without extra verbiage. If THIS author had chosen her VERBS more carefully, she wouldn't need to write clunky metaphors!!!

Bad Puzzles -
The author hid a bunch of anagrams for the audience, but they don't add anything to the reading experience. If anything, they detract from it. There is no reward, no twist reveal if you find all the anagrams. And, without a key, there is no way to find half of the anagrams, because anything can be an anagram if you scramble it around, we only have 26 letters in the English alphabet! I caught myself scanning for plausible anagrams instead of ACTUALLY reading the book, and then instantly gave up the author's game.
In the story, there are a bunch of anagrams hidden inside poems, meant for the cousins to solve. But most of the answers are special to Lily and Lilianna, so THE READER would never be able to figure them out without knowing the BACKSTORY of these two characters. There is no way for the reader to play along and solve the mystery. And therefore, it's a bore and a chore to skim over these passages, because you're not dissecting the clues, you're just waiting for Lily to tell you the answer.

Bad Messages -
I almost gave this book some credit, because it has positive LGBTQA representation, and I was really happy to see a diverse cast in this sub-genre. But I took those points right back, because there are so many other negative messages in this book XD.
1) Our "hero", Lily, is depressed and has suicidal thoughts. She is also accidentally pregnant. She refuses to listen to experts, and suppresses her baby with a corset, citing that, "If it was good enough in Victorian England, why shouldn't it be fine today!" She treats her baby like it's a chance at salvation: She'll be the mother she never got to have. YIKES! A baby can be a blessing, but it is also a major source of stress, AND an individual person with its own life to live. A baby cannot solve your problems if you are depressed or suicidal. A baby is not a therapist's tool, it does not exist for you to project your anxieties and "solutions" onto. And DEFINITELY don't take medical advice that's 100 years old!
2) There seems to be a running theme that you can't trust doctors/people of science, in this book. One man of science, a coroner, was bribed to overlook a murder. Another aspiring coroner IS himself an accessory to murder. A licensed psychologist is a mass murderer. Plus, the aforementioned dig at maternity doctors. I don't understand why this book, which is otherwise a love letter to academia, is snobby about science.
3) WHAT is up with Gray? Is he just supposed to be shy and awkward? Is he meant to be on the autistic spectrum? Was he more than verbally abused by his sister? I cannot get a beat on what his mannerisms are supposed to tell me about his person. And he says the CRAZIEST $#17, like that the dead are better listeners than the living O_O. He has serial killer, or serial killer's accomplice, written all over him. If he IS meant to be on the spectrum, I don't like the debunked stereotype that atypical people are dangerous and unfeeling. And if he's NOT on the spectrum, why are we never given a complete motivation for WHY he romanticizes death and aids serial killers?
4) The lesbian lawyer love interest who shows up at the beginning and end of the book. Listen, it's great that this book has a queer protagonist, and a queer "love" interest front and center. But a trope is a trope, cis or queer: Girlfriends are not trophies for having saved the day! They don't exist in a vacuum. Instead of literally boxing Isabelle the lady love into a hidden room until the finale, I wish the book had USED her throughout the story, so that we got to see hers and Lily's love rekindle and flourish.
5) The more family members that get killed off, the happier and freer our "hero" becomes. Listen, I get the theme, that family secrets and expectations can be a burden, and it's ok to shed them and be yourself. BUT you shouldn't underscore that theme by making your protagonist feel relieved after the mass murder of her entire family! XD

Bad Plot -
So here's where we get mega-spoilery. About halfway through the book, I realized we hadn't gotten the usual locked-room mystery rundown of backstories and motivations for all of the characters. Everyone was...there. Some... want a house. Some don't. And despite being related, and having the sympathy or mental faculties to attempt to get their way with persuasion, bribery, blackmail, etc., INSTEAD everyone resorts to murder. Immediately. No buildup or provocation. The bad guys murder for personal gain. The good guys murder to save the day. Murder is status quo with this fam XD. I know it's in the title of the book, but... I didn't feel like the crescendo was earned. Everyone started at I WILL MURDER FOR THIS, so.... It wasn't a shock when somebody made good on it.

By the end, I tried to retrace the plot to figure out if the motivations for WHY people murdered were clear... No. XD No, they were not. By my understanding, the initial problem was: Siblings Edward, Lilianna and Marianna are all part of a board or trust or something and co-own their childhood home. Everyone is living together and raising families in this one house, despite having cottages and other out-buildings on the property. No one is strapped for cash or space. Edward wants to turn more than a few rooms into a hotel with office space. Lilianna doesn't, though she has no plans to do anything else with the property, either. Edward THREATENS TO MURDER HIS OTHER SISTER, MARIANA, AND HIS NIECE, LILY, if Mariana doesn't out-vote Liliana for hotel/office. From the get-go, Edward is ready to solve creative differences WITH MURDER! There is no backstory for Edward as to why, no gambling debts, or condescension for his mother and sisters' artsy academic lack of ambitions... The answer for why he's suddenly greedy for more income, and a monopoly on the family finances, is....*shrug*.

Edward doesn't wait to see if Mariana was swayed by his threat. He just kills her XD. He comes up with a plot to make it look like she slit her wrists, and he is seen by multiple witnesses as he concocts fake blood to plant at the scene of the crime. Why not actually slit her wrists, and leave her in a bathtub? Who knows! BUT THEN, for no explained reason, he changes tactics at the last second, and attempts to hang Mariana. He fails, she flees, he strangles her outside in the cold. Then, to make it look like she failed to hang herself - and slit her own wrists as a secondary attempt on her own life - he cuts her arms. Only, she doesn't bleed, because it's cold outside. SO THEN he gets the fake blood to plant at the scene... Did you catch that Catch-22? He made fake blood to cover the fact that she wouldn't bleed in the cold BEFORE he knew that he would need fake blood to cover the fact that she wouldn't bleed in the cold...
He didn't need to murder her. He didn't need to murder her this way. And the author couldn't even keep straight what his evil scheme was.

Edward brags and confesses to Lilianna. Lilianna attempts to reopen the investigation, but the police deny her claim. Lilianna tells her suspicions to her girlfriend and.... a girl her daughter's age who grows up to become the family lawyer?... Weird choice, Aunt L. Why not tell Lily, whose mother was just murdered?
It is unclear in which order things happened next. Lily is adopted by Aunt Lilianna, and taken away from the house. The house IS renovated for hotel and office space. Lilianna kills Edward in a car "accident", as revenge. The hotel/office closes. Did Lilianna stay in the house after Edward confessed - trying to prove his guilt, while he reshaped their home and reaped the benefits - and then fled the scene of HER crime? Or, did Lilianna flee (fearing Edward), kill him, inherit the home and business, and then... shut it down? Benefit from it for a few years, then shut it down? (Also, at some point during this dosey-do, Mariana built a secret music room in the game room to avoid the hotel/office workers.... even though she's...dead....)
Lilianna couldn't get justice, so she got revenge... and then sank the family's prospects! XD She didn't move back into the house, she didn't re-renovate the hotel/office into something of her choosing, she didn't sink income into restoring the house for her children (or her favorite niece). The murder was cathartic for her, so, I guess that's something. But why doesn't she spare a thought for Edward's children (Rachel, Ronnie and Tom), her poor orphaned niece and nephews? Why doesn't she pity them as much as she pities Lily? Doesn't she realize that she's become the monster she sought to destroy?

TWENTY YEARS LATER Lilianna becomes paranoid that someone else in the family is going to get revenge on her for what she did to Edward. She decides, "Hey, the house is mine, I COULD give it to Lily, restore what ought to have been her inheritance, make right Edward's wrongs; it's high time Lily knew the truth about what happened to her mother, and who might be a threat to her next... OR, I could create a Hunger Games gauntlet, where the cousins scramble against each other to claim the inheritance, and I just hope and pray that Lily fights her way to the finish!" The entire premise for the "game" is ridiculous! Why did she wait 20 years to bring Lily into her confidence? Why did the mysterious revenge-seeker take 20 years to make a move against Aunt L? Why did Aunt L suddenly become suspicious that her life was in danger? Why did she leave her confession and the fate of the estate up to chance, instead of marshalling allies and evidence FAST to protect her and her loved ones from harm? Nothing about the premise for the ENTIRE BOOK makes ANY sense! If anything, Lilianna machinated a scenario where the cousins were MORE likely to murder for opportunity.

Spoiler alert, Tom, Edward's son, does exactly that: Goes on a murder spree to gain the inheritance. Like his father before him, he has no motives either. Revenge against Lilianna is one thing. But murdering his own brother in order to get an old house in need of repair? There is no family fortune or business. Tom isn't shown to be someone in debt, or with big dreams. What is the POINT?! And, to achieve his goal, he enters an incestuous alliance with his cousin Sara, and their canoodling on the premises almost gets them caught multiple times! WHY THIS?!?! Why the incest subplot? And why are the villains not smart enough to keep their paws off each other for a few days? Tom did not need to seduce Sara, Sara already had a grudge against her mom/Aunt Lilianna. So WHY does he?!?! And Sara and Tom seemingly kill off their siblings just because they would have helped Lily. But Lily didn't want the property! If Tom and Sara had done NOTHING, and Lily had won the game, Lily would have handed the win over to SOMEONE ELSE gladly! Tom could have sweet-talked his brother into sharing the bounty, an easy mark. In fact, as the previous generation proved, this property is big enough for multiple households; the cousins could have easily split the bounty, but instead the people with the fewest dependents and weakest ambitions fought to have a total monopoly. WHYYYYY?!?!?! Murder and incest were SO unnecessary to getting what they want.... But what is it they want?!?! Money? Property? Bragging rights? To burn it to the ground as a comeuppance against their treacherous elders? It's never spelled out! Why do Tom and Sara do anything they do?

At no point does anyone call off the game on account of MURDER. And even though they know a serial killer is slinking around the property, nobody investigates the hotel rooms, or the cottages and other out-buildings, for potential clues/hiding spots. Isabelle the lawyer, the one with all of the confiscated cellphones, is informed of what's happening but does not call for help. Occasionally, she pops out of hiding (with superhuman speed and with real-time knowledge she shouldn't have while locked in her secret bunker) to protect Lily, but no one else. BUT, the minute the gauntlet is over and Lily has definitely won the deed, Isabelle THEN calls the police. Except, you know, everyone's dead by then. XD So, Lily and Isabelle stroll the grounds, happy and excited about their future prospects at Murder House. Umm, excuse me dears, this is a MAJOR crime scene! You're all suspects, and going straight to jail. Do not pass go, do not collect $200 dollars. XD

Everyone is greedy, selfish, stupid, and senseless.


BAAAAAAD WRITING from cover to cover! If you're in the mood for a hate read to tackle ironically, be my guest. Otherwise, do NOT let this pretty cover fool you. I wish I could get my time back. ;__;

I was again pleasantly surprised by the responsible messages of this series. This book dealt with honesty as a foundation for a relationship, and the importance of wellness (mental, emotional, or physical) taking precedence over romance. Sometimes, people could make a good match together, but only if they're being honest with themselves and taking care of the themselves first. Otherwise, couples could simply be in the right place at the wrong time.

But this installment in the series was sloppy XD. There were whole chunks that proved that the author hadn't properly edited. Passages that basically read as, "Meh, I'll add something here later," and then she never did. The intimate scenes were generic, copy and paste from any romance novel. The plot was confusing, and a little dumb: Delphine lies to her family about being a shifter, and somehow that protects her mom? I couldn't follow why Delphine did what she did. The minute her brothers out her, her whole nuclear family reassures her that they love her, and that the conflict was all in her head. So... I don't really care that Delphine caused her own problems, then everyone told her how special she was and the problems evaporated, let's go eat croissants.

Not that the whole book was lazy or senseless. Delphine - a pacifist, or at least an avoider of confrontation - dealt with legitimate issues, like learning to set boundaries, to respect herself, and to surround herself with allies instead of toxic relations... STILL XD the book boils down to: Hey, a hot guy I just met told me not to talk to my family anymore, so I quit my day job and moved in with him! LIIIIKE.... Her internal struggle that was setup was great, but her finding resolution in Hardwick's arms didn't QUITE stick the conflict resolution well enough XD.

Plus, the turn-around for Delphine and Hardwick's love story happens SO fast. The only reason they start trusting each other is because they bone. And two people who DON'T trust each other shouldn't be boning. You see the Catch-22? Yes, they promise to learn and grow together, but there's not enough foundation for why they even like each other, as people, beyond, "Well, they were nice to me, and no one's been nice to me in a long time."

Not the best, not the worst. A bit of Christmas fluff.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would XD. I mean, it's definitely imperfect: typos, over the top reactions from suspicious boyfriends, and the "romance" scenes are really porny XD. REALLY. But the romances were also sweet, and the respect for polyamory was really nice. Most importantly, I liked how this book highlighted homelessness, and how easy it is to become working poor in America. There is a stigma that being homeless is somehow a sign of laziness or other vice, and that's simply not true. A person can work, have good work ethic and big ambitions, have zero addictions, and still... Honestly, if you skip the sexy scenes and just read about this poor girl trying to survive paycheck to paycheck without feeling humiliated, it is a really really sweet read. All three men understand her needs for space and dignity, and don't push to "rescue" her, while still offering support. I still think Brianna was TOO stubborn in the end, she had more of a support network than most and could have done more to alleviate her financial stress XD. But I get it, I get the heap of responsibilities and anxieties making a fool of all. Even if it was campy and porny at times, I'm glad this book told a story that needed to be told. Respect is important! ^__^

Sooooo CUTE!!!! A new Christmas classic! I wish I had had this book growing up. Mega Roald Dahl vibes from this one. Yey for being inclusive, representation matters!!! And the illustrations are gorgeous. Hollywood, pay attention, make this book into a movie! This book demands to be seen and heard: it's full of enchanting, physics-bending sites, melodious rhymes, and the most British onomatopoeias XD. And at it's core is a charming, heart-warming tale about feeling different or excluded, loving yourself, having faith in yourself and others, and spreading kindness instead of hate. Everyone everywhere has the capacity to give love and fuel dreams.
Thank you for being a warm glass of milk and a bag of cookies disguised as a book, Christmasaurus. We needed you. :D

A sweet enough book about being smart and brave, and honoring the traditions and history of Hanukkah. A little corny, a little shoe-horned; not as fun to read as The Latke Who Wouldn't Stop Screaming. But a nice bit of representation, of which there is far too little.

This book was excellent!!! It read like a mashup between The Santa Clause and a buddy cop parody movie XD! I love the idea that Santa Claus is a charity organization that offers a variety of social outreach programs for families in need. The ending was a liiittle saccharine, but I mean.... it's a Christmas story, so... But mixed amongst the levity and happily ever after were REALLY really poignant moments addressing anxiety, seasonal depression, the stress of winter on those with meager means, parental guilt, marital stress from miscommunication and martyrdom - layers and layers and layers of human truths, light and dark. This book was beautifully written, I feel like I had a highlight on every page XD. I almost cried near the end, I was so wrapped up in the message about providing the warmth you want to see in the world. Someone will have a problem with it, I'm sure, especially the ending, which seems to say, "Anxiety is a state of mind that you can talk yourself out of and just CHOOSE to be happier!" Somebody's not going to like that XD. But for a Christmas story, I thought it was marvelous!

This book was painfully stupid. It's not a murder mystery, despite the dead body in the prologue. You cannot solve the whodunnit without the withheld backstory, the reveal of which the author will tease you with for 200 pages. There is too much telling instead of showing, too much redundancy, as you reread the same scene over and over from multiple PoV internal monologues. No dialogues, and no proper scenes where the reader has to sift through body language or scenery for clues. None of it, the author spoon feeds you ever bite, you get information when she gives it... And in the end, what you learn isn't an interesting tragedy or revenge plot, it's more of an episode of Jerry Springer. And EVERYONE has the same marital structure and stress, everyone is dealing with physical abuse and a cheating husband, it's bizarre how many times the archetypes repeat themselves. Every single woman in this book is unsympathetic, regardless of the cheating spouses, they are all vain and shallow. I don't care about the circuitous thoughts of self-serving people. No one in this book deserved to be read about. Don't bother.

This was such a sweet, swoon-worthy book! I'm so proud that it exists! Many "romance" novels get kink representation wrong, and actually parrot bad, abusive relationship advice to the audience. But THIS book was wise and responsible with its representation. Jon and Cooper are caring, attentive, careful, respectful... I could go on XD. I really really REALLY liked the representation in this book.

I liked the subplot (secondary theme?) too about not stereotyping gay people or queer culture. I loved everything Jon had to say about confronting offensive behavior with firm boundaries and kind instruction, and being true to himself by being kind even when others are not. It wasn't his responsibility to educate someone ignorant, or to endure derision, but he made the choice to be better than the things that hurt him, and to put forward the kind of warmth he wants to see in the world. Jon may have that cliche "Sleigh all day *Z-snap*" vibe, but he's a wonderfully nuanced character, and I'm so happy his message is out there, dear readers.

Now credit where credit is due XD. But this book was not without its eyeroll moments. The Cinderella concept was cute, but the whole setup had me playing Romance Novel Bingo: Car dies on a snowy road; Hottie brings Stranded back to a lovely log cabin; Mismatched lovers bond over skating and cocoa, yada yada yada. And maybe it's a little bit preachy of me, but I found the CONSTANT Scooby Doo references infantilizing, which I don't think was the kink the author was going for. Innocent, merry, full of wonder, maybe. But not a literal child, despite the fact that Jon's previous relationship was with a "Daddy" XD. I think the book could have done without those Scooby Doo boxers. Gave me flashbacks to The Mister (thank you for ruining Sponge Bob, E.L. James). Just SOME moments that made me aware, "Oh, this is a book, I've seen this before..." which took me out of the moment.

Full disclosure if you couldn't tell from the tags: This IS an explicit book, there are very detailed sex scenes. If you're not into that, this might not be the meet-cute for you. BUT I hesitate to throw this aside as "just" an erotic novel. I think it's very thoughtful, romantic, emotional, has a strong message... Jon and Cooper aren't flat archetypes, they feel like real people. There's nothing vapid about this book, it's a smart, heartfelt look at two people who have been hurt learning to heal and bringing out the best in each other. So, if you ARE into THAT, please don't let the eroticism deter you from a great romance.

Merry Christmas, Jon and Cooper!!! Thanks for making my holiday merry and bright!

What a hot mess