Top Ten Tuesday/ Recent Reads

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by thatartsyreadergirl with a new topic every week.

December 7: Freebie

I had the idea to share the current books I read since it’s the holidays, and I have been reading novels for the season. Every December, I try to read as many novels as I can with the theme of Christmas. Not only because I try to reach my yearly goal, but it does the trick for my mental health.

Goodreads Blurb:

Cadence Greer’s plans for a happy-ever-after are quickly derailed when her fiancé runs off with his secretary a week before their wedding. Homeless, jobless and jilted, she escapes to Grass Valley, Oregon, where she finds herself employed as a housekeeper and cook to seven cowboys on a sprawling ranch.

Trey Thompson is a well-respected pillar of the community, running a successful ranch with his brother. All he wanted was someone to cook his meals and keep the house clean. When he hires Cadence Greer for the job, he gets more than he ever planned on, including a sassy little red-headed orphan.

Come spend Christmas in Grass Valley at the Triple T Ranch, where mistletoe hangs abundantly and holiday magic is in the air.

Goodreads Blurb:

Donald Willows is dying but has one last item to check off his bucket list. Hopefully, the enticement of winning his house and the magic of the holidays will lure in just the right person!

Holly Kirby was a bit shocked when she read the ad. The winner of the Christmas contest would receive a house! Knowing this might be some sort of scam, she still can’t help but imagine all the wonderful things she could do with a beautiful house on Nantucket. Holly decides to go ahead and enter, hoping that the Christmas angels will bring her a miracle.

Jack Anderson immediately knew something was wrong with his grandfather after reading the ad for the Christmas contest. Maybe it was time to take a break from work and pay him a visit. Somebody has to talk some sense into him! Only, when he gets there, he realizes Grandpa’s plan is already in full swing.

Goodreads Blurb:

While promoting her next novel, a Christmas love story, author Riley Reynolds is caught off guard when she’s asked during a live national television interview how she can write about romance when she still hasn’t found “the one” herself. Scrambling for an answer, she quickly answers that she has had great love in her past and that love inspired her novels.

Little does she know that this one offhanded remark will turn her world upside down. Three of her ex-boyfriends see the interview, and each, believing she’s talking about him, shows up for her Christmas Camp book event at the Christmas Lake Lodge, determined to rewrite his happily-ever-after with her!

Over the festive weekend, Riley’s old boyfriends compete to win her heart, pulling out all the stops while planning the most romantic Christmas dates on the planet. Despite herself, Riley starts falling for each guy— again—but for different reasons. As Riley revisits each relationship and discovers more about herself, she embraces the magic of Christmas and finally finds true love and her own Christmas ever after.

Goodreads Blurb:

A kiss is just a kiss…

Unless it’s under the mistletoe.

Ellie Smith is determined to make up for Christmases past by spreading holiday cheer throughout the Bar V5 dude ranch, but tech “bah, humbug” billionaire, Josiah Whittaker, refuses to bask in the spirit of the season.

Unwilling to let the geek-to-gorgeous Josiah win, Ellie plans to give him a Christmas he’ll never forget. But after a simple kiss under the mistletoe, Ellie and Josiah both start questioning everything. Can Christmas really bring the gift neither one of them were expecting: true love?

Goodreads Blurb:

Rylie Durham is used to dealing with all sorts of people and situations in her role as a Child Life Specialist at a local hospital. Why, then, does Zach York bring out the worst in her? After all, he’s there to donate toys to the children she loves. Could it be that she sees a kindred spirit in him? Rylie knows a thing or two about hiding a bruised heart from the world… and the danger inherent in blaming God for the hurt. With December’s approach, Rylie enlists Zach’s help for a special undertaking – a Christmas formal for one of the pediatric units. As they work together on the project, she hopes to show him that, even when it’s painful, love is worth the risk.

Goodreads Blurb:

Two days before Christmas, single mom Blythe Mason is stunned when her car is not at the mechanic’s shop where she dropped it off.

Her surprise soon gives way to panic when they figure out that an employee gave her car to the wrong person and it is now five hundred miles away. All the Christmas gifts that she’d carefully budgeted out for her children since July were in the trunk.

Zayden Crile can’t believe his employee made such a huge mistake. And of all people it had to be his former sister-in-law. She’s still upset that his brother ran off with the nurse, leaving her with two small children. She has struggled, and to make things a little easier Zayden takes care of her car as a favor. He certainly never intended to make a mistake which could ruin Christmas for his niece and nephew.

Forced to ride together to get her car, Blythe starts to see Zayden in a new light and realizes that maybe she married the wrong brother. Could one honest mistake patch a new family together?

Goodreads Blurb:

When a veterinarian traveling to a remote European village to volunteer at an animal shelter during the Christmas holidays gets an unexpected first-class upgrade, she meets a charming stranger in the airport lounge who may or may not be the country’s crown prince.

This sweet holiday royal romcom novella has Love Actually vibes, a baby sloth-loving Prince Charming, a snowy Christmas Eve at London’s Heathrow Airport and more!

Goodreads Blurbs:

When Mia Tempesta goes into labor during a snowstorm on Christmas Eve, she stumbles into Will Jackson’s cherry packing shed. As a war widow, she’s lost everything–her husband, her home, and her job. But when Will, a caring stranger, delivers her beautiful baby boy into her arms, she has hope for a brighter future.

After being betrayed and dumped by his long-time girlfriend, Will’s dreading the holidays, but when he helps deliver Mia’s son on Christmas morning, he gains a renewed purpose in life. The beautiful Mia and her child tug on his protective heart strings and he finds himself longing to help. They fight their growing attraction–Will’s on the rebound and Mia is still grieving. Will their reckless passion end in heartbreak?

Can two damaged hearts find healing and happiness? One Christmas baby might just be the miracle they need to love again.

Goodreads Blurb:

Madison Rand runs Rand Solutions, an unusual and very helpful agency in the beautiful town of Silver Maple, New York. The police inform her that her highly qualified, specialized employees are targeted by a professional killer and being picked off, one by one. To save their lives, she closes down her business, sends them all away, and retreats to a friend’s cabin at Star Lake to figure out who is after them and why.

Danger follows her to the cabin in the woods at Star Lake, where an old ghost from her past reappears on Christmas Eve, hellbent on revenge, and the madman tracks her through the underground caves at the lake.
Shots are fired. A body drops to the ground. Is it Kyle Miller, the love of her life, who followed her to the cabin to propose on Christmas Eve?

The air is thick with treachery and deceit. The body count is rising and old friendships are put to the test. But Madison Rand believes in miracles, especially at Christmas time.

Amazon Blurb:

A delightful Christmas story, the first in a new series by Patrice Wilton, NEW YORK TIMES best seller.
Jennie Braxton and her two small children are traveling to Philadelphia for Christmas with her family. Car trouble lands them in a magical town called Heaven, PA. Everything about this sweet place seems too good to be true, especially Nick Ryan, a local chef with a heart as big as her own. His sensual smile tempts her from mourning the loss of her dear husband, to look into the future. Can her dreams of finding happiness again come true, or will her heart hide safely in the past?

Alex