10 Dec 2014

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Three Book Review / Sheila Roberts (Snow Globe, Nine Lives of Christmas and On Strike for Christmas)

Discover an unforgettable holiday treasure in Sheila Roberts’ heartwarming tale of love and laughter, magic and miracles, friendship and coming home… 
 
On a blustery afternoon, Kylie Gray wanders into an antique shop and buys an enchanting snow globe.  “There’s a story behind that snow globe,” the antique dealer tells her.  The original owner, he explains, was a German toymaker who lost his wife and son right before Christmas.  When the grieving widower received the handcrafted snow globe as a Christmas gift, he saw the image of a beautiful woman beneath the glass—a woman who would come into his life, mend his broken heart and bring him back to the world of the living.  For years, the snow globe has passed from generation to generation, somehow always landing in the hands of a person in special need of a Christmas miracle.

Kiley could use a miracle herself.  This year, all she wants for Christmas is someone to love.  A hopeful shake leads her on an adventure that makes a believer out of her. When Kylie shares the story of the snow globe with her best friends—two women with problems of their own—they don’t believe it.  But they’re about to discover that at Christmastime, sometimes the impossible becomes possible and miracles really do come true.


Published:     2nd December 2014
Publisher:  Piatkus
Author Website:  Click here
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand Alone
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher
 

My Review

What I loved about this story...
I really enjoyed this story.  Just the thought that you had a magical snow globe that helped people discover their true desires and hopefully try to make it come true.  This was a short read but enjoyed it immensely.  What I liked the most was the fact that this story concentrated on three characters, one being Kylie who finds the snow globe in an antiques place and follows their journeys as they each 'take their turn' having the snow globe.  This is such an inspirational read, making me want to believe that every miracle can come true this Christmas if you believe...

What I was not fond of with this story...
This is probably going to be same comment with all three of these books but unfortunately, for me, the characters were not rememberable.  I was reading this book in two chunks in one day, once in the morning and once in the evening and I did find that when it came to sit down to read in the evening, I could not remember much about the characters.  But that being said, this is a really great story and I enjoyed reading it.



Two people are about to discover that when it comes to finding love, sometimes Christmas magic isn’t enough…sometimes it takes a pesky orange cat named Ambrose. When a guy is in trouble, he starts making deals with his Creator…and Ambrose the cat is no exception. In danger of losing his ninth and final life, Ambrose makes a desperate plea to the universe.  He’ll do anything—anything!—if he can just survive and enjoy a nice long, final life. His prayer is answered when a stranger comes along and saves him—and now it looks like he has to hold up his end of the bargain.

The stranger turns out to be a firefighter named Zach, who’s in need of some serious romantic help. If Ambrose can just bring Zach together with Merilee, the nice lady who works at Pet Palace, it’s bound to earn him a healthy ninth life.  Unfortunately for Ambrose, his mission is a lot harder than he ever thought.  Merriliee is way too shy to make the first move on a ladies man like Zach, and Zach thinks he’s all wrong for a nice girl like Merrilee.  Now it’s going to take all of Ambrose’s feline wiles—and maybe even a good old fashioned Christmas miracle—to make them both realize that what they’re looking for is right in front of their eyes.


Published:     2nd December 2014
Publisher:  Piatkus
Author Website:  Click here
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand Alone
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher
 

My Review
What I loved about this story...
This was such a great quirky story I could not stop myself from smiling most of the way through this one.  Some of the story is told from the perspective of Zach who finds himself taking in a stray cat, Ambrose.  However, some of the story is told from the perspective of Ambrose the stray cat.  Ambrose was saved from being eaten by an angry dog and Zach saves him.  Ambrose makes a deal with his creator that as he is nearly at the end of his nine lives he has to make a difference.  He decides that Zach is the person he needs to make a difference to.  Having made himself at home in Zach's house, we see him plot to try and get rid of Zach's nasty girlfrield and try and set him up with someone else.  I really enjoyed following the story from this perspective and made me smile a lot. 

What I was not fond of with this story...
As with the book above, I read this book also in two chunks and the problem I had with not remembering characters was the same with this book.  It might have been my frame of mind at the time of reading but when sitting down to read the second half of this book I did struggle with remembering the characters (except Ambrose of course!).

At Christmas time, it seems as though a woman's work is never done. Trimming the tree, mailing the cards, schlepping to the mall, the endless wrapping - bah humbug! So this year, Joy and Laura and the rest of their knitting group decide to go on strike. If their husbands and families want a nice holiday filled with parties, decorations, and presents - well, they'll just have to do it themselves.

The boycott soon takes on a life of its own when a reporter picks up the story and more women join in. But as Christmas Day approaches, Joy, Laura, and their husbands confront larger issues in their marriages and discover that a little holiday magic is exactly what they need to come together.





Published:     2nd December 2014
Publisher:  Piatkus
Author Website:  Click here
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand Alone
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher
 

My Review
 
  
What I loved about this story...
This was a good read.  Although this book is my least favourite of the three I liked the message this book was giving.  That people should not take their other half's or families for granted, especially throughout the Christmas period.  One person should not be shouldering all the responsibilty for Christmas events as it is one of the biggest events for families in the year.  This book did a good job and putting the message across that people should work together at times like this, which makes for a happier Christmas. 

What I was not fond of with this story...
Although this story was enjoyableto read, this was the one that I liked the least out of the three.  Aside from the fact that I had the same problem above with the not remembering characters when I picked this up a second and third time, I found that the amount of characters and different scenarios happening in this book I did find it hard to keep up with what was happening with each family and have to admit that I did get a bit confused near the end.  
















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