The Mistletoe Promise by Richard Paul Evans

The Mistletoe Promise is the 4th book I've read from my lovely Christmas themed library haul and it is tied for first (first favorite that is)!!
After reading so many Debbie Macomber books I was actually nervous going into this one. It bugged me because this was one of the books I was most excited for and yet there I was...palms clammy, lump in throat, total nervous mess. I may be exaggerating some but only a little.
Anywho I picked it up anyway and as with the other books I finished this in a day. Why has it taken me so long to read these? Geesh.
The Mistletoe Promise follows Elise and Nicholas who are so freaking charming it hurts.
Nick notices Elise sitting alone every day in the cafeteria of their office building and he approaches her with an idea. From then until Christmas the two of them will for all intents and purposes become a couple. They will attend holiday parties together, partake in Christmas activities, he will send her a gift every day, and all expenses will be covered by him as long as she agrees. Elise who has been divorced and admits hasn't taken care of herself since, agrees to sign the contract and become a faux girlfriend for 2 months.
Through out their time together it becomes more and more clear how perfect the two of them are for each other but they also have dark spots in their past that need to be uncovered before the two can completely commit.
Elise is one of the best characters I've read about in a while and I truly enjoyed reading her. Nicholas is every girls dream. He's handsome, kind, charming and funny. He is so good to Elise and during the book I kept finding myself day dreaming about him.
If you're looking for a very sweet read that also has a little more oomph then I'd definitely recommend this one!

I have watched the movie and while I thought it was very cute I actively had to tell my brain to not compare it to the book. I was getting upset while watching it because they are so far a part it's silly. The book has a lot more substance and I felt like the movie took away the integrity of the story. However if you go into knowing they are completely different I do believe you'll enjoy it.


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Starry Night by Debbie MaComber

Last Thursday I reviewed Dashing Through the Snow and told you all about my lovely trip to the library and the beautiful Christmas display that convinced me to rent these magical books.
Starry Night was the first book that I decided to pick up because the plot reminded me vaguely of How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days. I mean very vaguely.
Our main characters are Carrie and Finn and oh my goodness do I love them so. Carrie is a columnist who is looking to start writing about things that she chooses - see why it reminds me of How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days? Her boss agrees to let her start writing whatever she wants if she scores an interview with Finn Dalton who is a notorious reclusive author.
Through a lot of investigation Carrie ends up figuring out how to find Finn and flies to Alaska to convince him to let her interview him.
However when the two meet Finn isn't exactly thrilled about her invading his privacy and isn't exactly pleasant at first. Obviously though they start to bond because if they didn't the book would royally suck. When Carrie goes to fly back home Finn kisses her and asks her not to write her article. From there the two have a whirlwind romance that is the sweetest thing ever and makes for a seriously enjoyable reading experience.
If you're looking for a book that is easy to read - I finished this in a day - and super cute then look no further book lovers I have found your next read.

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Dashing Through The Snow by Debbie MaComber

Last week I decided to take a trip to my local library and pick up some new reading material and when I walked in I saw the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. A Christmas section. The librarian in my town is an absolute genius and she always makes everything look so beautiful and this display was no exception.
Now my goal going to the library was to just pick up something I've been wanting to read for a while and I did find about 3 novels that I carried around. But when I started looking at the books she had put out I decided to put everything I'd already grabbed back and get the Christmas books. I've never really read books like these and when I looked outside it was snowing and beautiful and it just seemed right.
Dashing Through The Snow is actually the second book I read out of my haul and I finished it in a day as well as the first book. It was so stinking cute!
The book follows Ashley and Dash and their trip from California to Washington. Ashley is flying home to surprise her mother for the holiday and Dash is trying to get to Seattle for a job interview. However neither have a way to get there aside from the one rental car that is available. Dash offers to pay for everything if Ashley will let him tag along -she got to the counter first to get the car - and after some reluctance and a phone call to his mother to confirm he isn't a serial killer she decides to road trip with the good looking stranger.
Through out their trip the two end up adopting an abandoned dog, meet a man who swears he impregnated an alien, and oh one other thing - they're running from the FBI...even though they don't know it.
Ashley was so stinkin' cute and excited for everything you can't help but laugh at her and Dash even with his attitude is extremely lovable.
This book was absolutely adorable and I would definitely recommend it! I don't think it necessarily needs to be a "Christmas read" but it makes for the perfect winter book.

Also this movie was turned into a Hallmark movie but I will say they changed A LOT so if you've seen the movie or you plan on watching it just be aware of that.

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Holly Jolly Christmas Tag: Get To Know Me

1. Favorite Christmas Movie?
Christmas Every Day!!

2. Are you on the Naughty list or the Nice list?
Oh I'm on the nice list for sure.

3. Show us an embarrassing Christmas photo.
I don't think I have a super embarrassing one, at least not one I could easily show you all.

4. Have you ever had a White Christmas?
Yes. Every year lol.

5. Do you start your Christmas shopping on Black Friday or wait until the last minute?
I've never been Black Friday shopping but I don't always wait until the last minute.

6. If you could be in any Christmas movie what would it be?The Santa Claus and i'd be Bernards wife.

7. When does your family put up your Christmas tree and who decorates it?
Well at my parents we put it up the day after Thanksgiving and we all decorate it. This year it was my mom, dad, brother, his gf, best friend/brother, and my son and I.

8. Is your tree real or fake?
Fake.

9. Peek at gifts or be surprised?
Surprised of course!

10. If you could be under the mistletoe with anyone, who would it be?
Aaron Rodgers!

11. Does your family have a special holiday recipe you like to help make?
Every year we make sugar cookies but all the special recipes are things my mom makes and we just enjoy ;)

12. Are you a pro-present wrapper or do you fail miserably?
Oh I fail bad haha.

13. Have you ever gone caroling?
Not that I remember.

14. What tops your tree? A star. 15. Do you make New Years Resolutions? Do you stick to them? I've made goals and some I do in fact stick to!

TV Tag

1. Favorite shows? Oh gosh, there are so many that I love. I tend to binge a show and then become totally obsessed HOWEVER my all time top 5 are... -1. One Tree Hill -2. Friends -3. The OC -4. Gilmore Girls -5. Greys Anatomy

2. Favorite genre? I love comedies like Friends, New Girl, Will & Grace and stuff like that. But I mostly watched dramas and reality.

3. Least favorite show? I don't really have a least favorite show.

4. Most re-watched show/favorite show to binge watch? Friends.

5. Do you prefer watching things week-by-week or binge-watching? I'm a binge watcher like I said earlier. Sometimes I will watch shows as they come on but very rarely.

6. Favorite television characters? -Chandler Bing -Lorelei Gilmore -Seth Cohen -Brooke Davis -Schmidt

9. Show you fell out of love with? I've kind of lost some of my love for Scandal and Walking Dead which makes my heart sad.

7. Favorite television ships? Luke and Lorelei, Haley and Nathan, Chandler and Monica, Nick and Jess, hmm...Seth and Summer fo sho.

8. Show you could never get into? I tried watching Stranger Things but just haven't gotten into it yet. YET! I would like to try again sometimes.

12. What are you currently watching? This Is Us, Greys, Riverdale...I've been rewatching The OC lately too.

10. Cancelled too soon? My So Called Life!

11. Guilty pleasure show? Reality trash.

Ex's & OMG's Review: Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

Heather:
So like anyone who read The Fault in Our Stars I have been waiting patiently for John Green to come out with a new novel. When he finally announced Turtles All The Way Down was coming, I anxiously counted down the days for it's release. Now I admit I went into this book having very high hopes because, well I mean TFIOS was such a powerful story and remains one of my all time favorite books ever...how could this one not be just as good. So I started chapter one and quickly found my self with this deep dread that I had built my expectations too high. Before you start to hate on me let me explain, we open with Aza the main character and instantly learn that she has some deep issues of Anxiety and OCD that kinda takes control of her and gets a bit dark at times. She often refers to her life as a book or movie that someone else is writing. Her best friend Daisy, which seems to the opposite of Aza, had me questioning how these two are friends because they seem a little mismatched. As I continued I realized that through the course of their very stormy relationship they really are best friends. Okay now it took me a while to get through the first half of Turtles which center around Daisy who convinces Aza to help her investigate the disappearance of a fugitive billionaire in hopes of collecting the hefty reward from finding him. Daisy remembers Aza knows the billionaire's son Davis, whom Aza soon falls for which kinda halts the girls whole detective angle. Once the book picked up a little I found it hard to put it down. I needed to know how it ended. Most of the story is told from Aza's perspective which takes away the other characters a bit but the deeper we dive into this girls mind we see the often dark way she views the world and everything around her. Though a bit uncomfortable at times to see what she goes through while battling her anxiety and OCD it is a refreshingly honest account of what it really is like for someone who has these issues to deal with. I suffer from both of these as well and could actually relate to what Aza feels and John Green did such an amazing job at making me fell her pain. I was also pleasantly surprised that the ending of this story is actually pretty upbeat. This is definitely John's darkest book so far and I really hope everyone takes the time to read it, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Kayleigh:
My turn! :)
First I want to say that I am so thankful to Heather because she actually purchased me a signed edition of this book and when I got it I actually jumped. I have always wanted a signed John Green book and now I have one, so thank you again Heather!!
Since Heather has given you the gist of the plot I'm just going to tell you how I feel about it. I do agree that it was on the darker side but I actually felt like Looking For Alaska hit some darker points for me. So I think if you like a little more grit then you'd enjoy this one. I do agree that the ending was more upbeat than say...oh TFIOS...but I didn't really like it. I mean I guess in life things aren't always resolved and people don't always stay - and he did leave it open ended for two of the characters to reunite some day - but sometimes I read specifically for a happy ending. Although it is a John Green book so probably not the right choice for that.
Like Heather, I couldn't get into it at first. I too had built up this TFIOS love in my head and it was hard for me to not feel the same for this book. But as I continued I kept getting more and more attached to Aza. That girl goes through some serious minutes guys and imagining that there are people out there who go through these things break my heart. John Green always has a best friend in his books that are usually some of the best parts of the book but I was not a fan of Daisy for probably 75% of the book. I will say though that once her and Aza actually TALKED I got a different perspective for her and ended up really caring for her. I also loved Davis, I thought he was a fantastic character. He was so patient and sincere with Aza and I absolutely loved that.
John Green has this way to make you completely invest yourself in his stories. You don't even know that it's happening, it just does.
I would recommend this book if you are a fan of John Green and if you like more grit to your stories.

Buy Turtles All The Way Down Here:
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Book Blogger Test Tag

1. What are your three book pet peeves?
Cover changes, height differences, killing off characters I love and adore - that's directed at you John Green.

2. Describe your perfect reading spot.
In a super comfy chair with a blanket and pillows.

3. Tell us three book confessions.
I tend to buy books in bulk, I've only paid full price for one hardcover book ever, I have books all over my house - anywhere you can put a book I have one there.

4. When was the last time you cried reading a book?
Hmm...let me take a quick look at my Goodreads...I think I teared up in Under The Lights by Abbi Glines.

5. How many books are on your bedside table?
There are currently none on top but underneath there are about 8.

6. What is your favorite snack while reading?
I like snacks so whatever I'm feeling in that moment.

7. Name three books you'd recommend to everyone.
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

8. Show us your favorite book shelf.
Unfortunately I am not home atm so I cannot.

9. Write how much books mean to you in 3 words.
They mean everything.

10. What's your biggest reading secret?
I don't think I really have a reading secret. Sorry. :O