First Chapter Review: The Ornament Keeper by Eva Marie Everson

 

I grabbed this novel as a Kindle freebie earlier this month.

BLURB: Award-winning author Eva Marie Everson wraps up a Christmas story of hope, love, and forgiveness just in time for the holidays. The Ornament Keeper, a contemporary Christmas novella, features Felicia and Jackson Morgan who are spending their first Christmas apart after twenty years of marriage. But a lifetime of gifted ornaments helps Felicia piece together the story of their marriage and the one mistake of unforgiveness she made before they said, “I do.” 

Can these memory-filled ornaments reunite this family before Christmas? Only time will tell.

COVER: Simple and seasonal. I love the color scheme. 

FIRST CHAPTER: When Felicia announces to her oldest child, Sara, that she has decided not to put up the Christmas decorations this year, she is met with resistance.

KEEP READING: I'm interested. I know what this book is about by the blurb, so I know what to expect. The opening chapter definitely sets the stage for tension. My only niggle is that the author describes the characters' actions in excruciating detail. I would prefer less detail to move the plot along. 

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B098PC1V1H
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ New Hope Publishers (July 4, 2021)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 4, 2021
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 1212 KB
• Purchase here!

This First Chapter Review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Oct 11

Welcome to It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday.

 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends. Hope you have a blessed day. This is the last day of the three day weekend for us in the States. I worked Saturday and have appointments today, but at least I took most of Sunday off to do my fall cleaning and decorating. No one will ever accuse me of being a decorating influencer, but I enjoy it just the same.

We had a nice week. I visited this great local farm and creamery for a realtor event on Thursday. 

On Saturday morning, the Lil' Princess and her father flew to North Carolina to check out UNC Wilmington. Theo was very lonely.

In addition to working, cleaning, and decorating, I got some baking and cooking in. 

German Apple Pancake

Cheesy Hamburger and Macaroni

As far as reading goes, I finished this one. Loved it!!! Look for my review here on October 19. 

I am part way through this one.

I also started this one. 

These are all next.

Who knows what the rest of the year will look like from a reading perspective. 

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists. 

Nothing in my physical mailbox, but I snagged this Kindle freebie.

Advertising executive Nick Wong enjoys living in Toronto. He loves late nights partying and taking women back to his penthouse. And so it is with great reluctance that he returns to his boring hometown of Mosquito Bay for Thanksgiving.

This year, however, is even worse than usual. His interfering parents and grandparents, frustrated with the lack of weddings in the family, have invited blind dates for him and his three siblings. Nick’s brother Greg has been set up with Lily Tseng, who just so happens to be Nick’s latest one-night stand, the one he can’t get out of his mind.

Although Nick has never been interested in settling down, Lily has him reconsidering. Perhaps he’s good for more than a single night of sex, dumplings, and bubble tea after all. But first, he has to get through this painful weekend with his family and convince her that she should be with him, not Greg…

That's it from my neck of the woods. Hope you have a great week.

Holiday Fiction: Frostfire Inn by Lia Garrett

Lauren Endicott is haunted by the injustice of a father sent to prison for a murder he didn’t commit. She never expected the novel she wrote about the case to become a bestseller, one in which a thinly disguised local senator was the actual murderer, and she certainly never expected to face the town’s outrage after the senator committed suicide. Most of all, she never wanted to hurt the senator’s son, Flynn Huntington, the boy she had loved from afar, the one she knew could never be hers. After the senator’s death, the town and the Huntingtons wanted her gone, and truth be told, Lauren was glad to go. She knew Flynn Huntington hated her, and that she would have to make a life for herself elsewhere.

Ten years later when Lauren is forced to come back to town for a short stay, she has no intention of confronting her past. She’s changed her name, colored her hair, and hopes no one will recognize her. To her shock, she immediately finds herself the focus of Flynn’s attention. He’s no longer a boy, and in any other circumstances she’d be dazzled by the handsome and sophisticated man he has become. He doesn’t recognize her, and is under the mistaken impression she is an employee at the local inn. Lauren finds herself right back where she was so many years before, dreaming of someone who can never be hers.

Should Lauren tell him the truth about her identity? Or should she walk away before she breaks both their hearts?

File Size: 371 KB
Print Length: 140 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publication Date: August 27, 2013
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B00EUF4ZWU

Purchase here for only $2.99