Jan 1 2013
Dear Ms. Metzger, When I was scanning my memory for good Christmas stories to recommend here, I remembered reading two of your other holiday theme books but this one didn’t ring bells for me. Turns out that’s because though I have an older OOP paper copy, I’d never read it. Time to rectify that! “If(…)
Dec 24 2012
Dear Ms. DeWinters, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to get based on the blurb and excerpt. It sounded like there’s some dark past event that heroine Naomi is trying to face down but you kept it hidden through the into chapter that sets up Naomi and Zach as coworkers at some firm(…)
Dec 23 2012
Janine: We’ve all read Christmas stories which feature cynics whose hardened hearts soften during the holiday season. From Ebenezer Scrooge in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol to the Grinch in Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, such figures are not uncommon in holiday stories in or out of the romance genre. But they are almost(…)
Dec 21 2012
Dear Ms. Matlock, One of the first books I read when I was getting back into romance was one of yours: “If Wishes Were Horses” which I think helped cement my interest in more working class/down to earth characters. This is another one which starts evocatively with the image of a hard working people at(…)
Dec 21 2012
Bernard and the Genie (1991 BBC TV) Genre: Holiday Grade: Very cute While trying to decide on the next movie of this holiday season, I realized we were getting a bit top heavy with animation films. So a few are just going to have to wait until later. But what to review next? I wanted(…)
Dec 14 2012
Ziggy’s Gift (1982) Genre: Holiday Animation Grade: B “Love is the answer.” Ziggy’s Gift is a 1982 TV special about Tom Wilson’s cartoon character Ziggy and his dog Fuzz trying to do the right thing. Ziggy wakes up one morning and while getting ready for the day, first hears a TV reporter doing man-on-the-street interviews(…)
Dec 11 2012
Given that this is the holiday season, I thought it would be fun to gather a list of holiday recommended reads. Unfortunately the list is largely Christmas oriented, in part because there are so few non Christmas holiday stories out there. Leave your own recommendations in the comments so readers can refer to this list(…)
Dec 7 2012
Dear Ms. Jenkins, Ms. Perrin, and Ms. Smith: I’m a sucker for Christmas stories, and anthologies are a great way to try out new authors, so a Christmas anthology can be a double winner for me. While I’ve read one of the contributors to this volume before, but the other two were new to me.(…)
Dec 7 2012
Tokyo Godfathers (2003) Genre: Anime Dramedy Grade: B+ Looking for a Christmas themed movie that’s not gushy or overly sentimental? Or do you like anime? Then check this one out. Three homeless people, an abandoned baby and it’s Christmas in Tokyo. Ho, ho, ho. Gin – a middle aged man who takes refuge in drink,(…)
Dec 6 2012
I came to this holiday anthology in a non-traditional, non-festive way. During a Twitter conversation with another reviewer, I mentioned ménage scenes rarely raise my pulse. She suggested I read Anne Calhoun, an author I’d never heard of. I searched on NetGalley and this collection, Red Hot Holiday, came up. I downloaded it thinking at best(…)
Dec 5 2012
When looking around at the holiday offerings this year, I saw this anthology from Carina Press. It was a complete stab in the dark for me as I knew nothing about any of the authors and SF/futuristic usually isn’t my thing. Perhaps having no expectations allowed me to just read in the moment but I(…)
Dec 3 2012
Dear Ms. Raybourn: While waiting for the next “Lady Julia” mystery novel, I noticed that this little novella is on offer for the Christmas season. It’s not long, it’s not complicated and it’s not that different from any other Lady Julia story. If readers like this world and it’s people, it should be a nice(…)
Nov 30 2012
Die Hard (1988) Genre: Action Adventure Grade: B+ Three years ago I did a group review of some of my favorite Christmas movies. A number of you listed your own holiday standbys and for many of you “Die Hard” seems to top the list. When I was thinking about what movies to review this year,(…)
Nov 23 2012
Miracle on 34th Street (1947) Genre: Holiday/Comedy/Romance Grade: B+ “Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.” I had resisted watching this movie until now due to what I feared would be a schmaltz fest of gooey, sugary pulling of heartstrings. But when another movie I had tentatively selected as a(…)
Jan 2 2012
Dear Ms. Marvel, Why did I decide to try your novella? It sounded cute, it has a sorta Christmas-y theme, and …..well, that’s it, actually. Yes, I know it’s now after Christmas but it’s still the Holiday Season so I figure I’m still good. Right? Darcy Burkell and James Jones grew up together but both(…)
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