My Favorite Holidate by Lauren Blakely - THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!!

 

Heads up - this review will contain spoilers.  

I don't think I'm giving much away by saying My Favorite Holidate has a happy ending.  I think that's a given.  I never write reviews with spoilers but this one I think I need to in order to give a proper review.

My Favorite Holidate  is my final read for 2025 and I did really enjoy the story.  Fable has just broken up with her boyfriend in the worst way - at Thanksgiving dinner she walks in on him getting it on with the caterer.  She's pretending it didn't hurt but it did.  To make matters worse her sister is marrying his cousin at Christmas time and they are both in the wedding party.

Wilder is Fable's billionaire boss.  He owns the football team she works for and much much more.  When Fable happens to be in the office when Wilder's aunt is trying to set him up she throws herself out there and says she's his date for the wedding.  Luckily Wilder is not upset and game to play pretend dating until the new year.

Even though I did enjoy this story here's where I feel I have to spoil things.  Things get hot and heavy between Fable and Wilder quickly.  But they both have such doubt that the other one likes them back.  Like so so much doubt.  It's in nearly every other sentence.  Here they are having very spicy sex together and still doubting how the other feels.  It was a little over the top - the doubt and the sex. 

Don't let that stop you from reading My Favorite Holidate.  I really did enjoy the story but I admit to doing a little skimming over some spicy scenes.  I was also happy with the ending.

The Holiday Mix Tape by Liberty Stowe

Erika with a K has just bombed a work presentation that she's not sure she can come back from.  When opportunity presents itself in the form of a mysterious invitation from her Aunt Josie to visit Kentucky.  Getting out of Chicago seems like a great idea right now.  It's Christmas and Erika needs a change of scenery.

What she finds in Blitzen, Kentucky is a town in desperate need of a new fire truck and some Christmas spirit.  With a town named Blitzen Erika quickly comes up with ideas for an old fashioned Christmas that might just save this town but first she has to get everyone on board with these ideas from an outsider.  

Erika also finds Kourt with a K in Blitzen.  Well she doesn't really find him as much as she hits him with her car but it's faith.  All the signs are pointing to the fact that they should be together but are they actually a match?  He doesn't seem interested.

At the beginning of this book was a warning that this book is spicy.  It almost scared me off as I don't love over the top spice.  Then I got hooked into the story and the characters.  No spice.  Then BAM - zero to 100 level of spice around 75% through.  It's spicy as in not suitable for young readers but not too bad and not too much.  Appropriate story amount of spice.  The one thing I did find different that I don't remember reading in other books is reading spicy scenes from a male perspective.  That was definitely different.

The Holiday Mix Tape is a great holiday read with just the appropriate amount of spice.  I definitely recommend it if you enjoy holiday stories.  Also, I will add that I really enjoyed the ending and it tied up very nicely.

Gifting Books for Children

I recently had the opportunity to go shopping for some picture books for a new baby.  It was so fun browsing through some of my old favourites.  I tried to go beyond the normal baby books as I figured this family might have a good collection of books already.  If you are looking for a book for a new baby or a Christmas gift for a young child the ones below are sure to please.  If you need any other suggestions please feel free to reach out and I'd be happy to recommend something.

My first choice was I Wish You More by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.  This is my ultimate gift giving book.  I will gift in place of a card with a personalized message inside.  I have gifted this book for so many occasions and it's also timeless - I've gifted it to babies, young adults headed to college and adults.  I love this book.  I swear when I worked at Indigo the sales of this book had to have gone way up because I recommended it to anyone that was gifting.  Might just be my all time favourite book.  Ever!

The Book with No Pictures by B J Novak.  Yes, that's B J Novak the guy that played Ryan from The Office aka my all time favourite TV show.  This book is hilarious.  When I read it to kids I play it off as really boring but they quickly figure out this book is all fun.  Try saying Boo Boo Butt to a room full of grade 3 students and that library isn't so quiet anymore.

Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney is another great choice.  I fell in love with Llama Llama books while reading them to my own kids.  Who doesn't love saying the word LLama?  Also, they are so cute!  As a knitter - they make great yarn too.  This is a fun story to read before bed.

Press Here by Herve Tullet is an amazing interactive story.  It's a book a child can really grow with and there are so many conversation points on each page.  Start with pointing out the different colours.  Move to counting the dots.  The story can feel like magic turning each page.

Sky Color by Peter H Reynolds is a book I think about often.  It's about a young girl that wants to paint the sky but she doesn't have a blue crayon.  Every time I see the sky with reds and purples I think of this book.  Also, I highly recommend every single one of Peter H Reynolds books.  They are all amazing.

Otherwise Engaged by Susan Mallery

 

Otherwise Engaged begins with Shannon checking out a wedding venue for her mom's, Cindy, upcoming wedding.  When they bump into another mother/daughter (Ava/Victoria) duo looking for a venue for a birthday party.   After a moment it's very clear that there is something going on between the two moms that neither daughter understands.  After an awkward amount of time has passed Ava explains that she was always supposed to adopt Shannon but Cindy changed her mind at the last minute.  This obviously brings up a lot of feelings and questions.

Victoria has always known she was adopted.  She's the maid's daughter.  What she's never understood is why her mother doesn't seem to love her.  Why they've never got along.  Victoria has made it her life's mission to do the opposite of what would please her wealthy mother.  Instead of college she became a stunt woman but secretly she's writing a manuscript.

Shannon has a wonderful relationship with her mom, Cindy.  If anything maybe a little too close.  They dress the same and celebrate their birthdays together.  It's quite shocking to think her mom once thought about not keeping her.

The story unravels with each woman coming to terms with their life choices and the daughters dealing with the emotional impact of it all.

Otherwise Engaged is a really good story and a unique plot that I hadn't read before.  There's a scene near the end that I can't say too much about but I don't think I'd be so dismissive and forgiving about.  The only other thing I thought was a bit strange as there is really no presence in the story of Cindy's fiance.  He's not crucial to the story line but I thought he could have been brought into a few scenes similar to Shannon's fiance.

A Merry Little Lie by Sarah Morgan

 

A Merry Little Lie is the story of a group of women coming together for Christmas.  First, there's Becky, she's nervous about coming home because she thinks she made a fool of herself at her twin sister's recent wedding.  She's barely spoken to her since the wedding and how is she going to make it through the holidays without making a fool of herself.  Rosie, the other twin, is newly married to Declan.  They only just got married and they've already hit a rough patch.  How will they keep up the charade that their marriage is perfect for days in front of her parents and grandparents scrutiny.

Also, the twins brother, James, has an announcement to make this holiday and he said to plan a party and have champagne ready.  He must be engaged they all think.  He's bringing his new girlfriend Hailey home for the holiday.  Then there's Jennifer their mother.  She's been trying so hard to make this the most perfect Christmas for everyone but especially for Hailey, as she grew up in an orphanage and never had a real Christmas before.  She's also worried about everyone including her newly retired husband. 

A Merry Little Lie is probably my favourite Christmas book I've read so far this year.  I could not put this book down.  There was so much going on that I was constantly wanting to know how this was all going to unravel.  This is not a predictable Hallmark story.  I've only read one other Sarah Morgan book but I have a couple others on my shelf and I think I'll have to check out more because I really enjoyed this story.

Christmas People by Iva-Marie Palmer

 

Jill is at the end of her rope.  She's working at a high end arcade in LA when she dreams about writing movies.  Every call from her agent has so much hope and every call ends a little more hopelessly.  The most recent call her agent says she's got one last change to make it - write a heartfelt movie (basically our equivalent to a Hallmark movie.  But with zero love life happening how is she supposed to be inspired to write about love and Christmas.  She gave up on both of those years ago when her and her boyfriend broke up on Christmas Eve three years ago.

When Jill's mother calls wishing she'd come back home for Christmas she really can't come up with any excuse not to.  But once home trying to avoid family, ex-boyfriends, past crushes and her old best friend is enough to push her to drink way more than she's used to.  Jill soon finds herself past out on a Santa Claus sleigh setup in a park.  When she wakes up she finds herself in the middle of a heartfelt movie of her own.  What's the lesson she's supposed to learn here in this new world and how the heck is she supposed to get back to real life?

Christmas People is a fun Christmas read with great characters and in true Hallmark fashion - a happy ending.  I typically don't like books with aspects of the book that don't seem real enough but with Christmas books I can tolerate a little make believe.  But I liked the way the story unfolded that despite her being in a Hallmark movie there was still a great story line.  If you are a Hallmark lover like me be sure to pick this one up.  Also, I loved the cover.

You Make it Feel Like Christmas by Sophie Sullivan

 

Yes, it's October and I'm in full Christmas reading spirit already.  I think Hallmark movies are starting this week.  Christmas eve is about 10 weeks away.  I'm in the holiday spirit and this book sure helped the mood.  

You Make it Feel Like Christmas mostly takes place over the week of Christmas holidays.  Maise is excited to spend holidays with family and friends.  They've got all the traditional fun planned and even better her brother's husband's best friend just bought a Christmas tree farm and that's where they are all staying.

The only thing bringing Maise's Christmas spirit down is her mom who's always on her to go back to college.  Her mom thinks her photography job isn't a real job even though Maise is very good at her job and her mom can't convince her she's not.  Also, Maise's just discovered the guy she had a one night stand with a few months ago is her host's brother! 

Maise quickly discovers her one night stand is no other than Nick King - a famous hockey player and that he had a very good excuse for leaving before she woke up that morning - his mother passed away.  Maybe she's willing to give him a second look after all.  

I know romantic hockey novels are a big thing right now and if you enjoy that style you will definitely like this novel.  I really enjoyed the story despite not being a hockey lover.  Despite the Christmas title the whole novel doesn't take place over Christmas and I think this story could be enjoyed any season.