Always, in December by Emily Stone

Title: Always, in December

Author: Emily Stone

Publisher: Dell 2021

Genre: Romance

Pages: 416

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Every December, Josie posts a letter from her home in London to the parents she lost on Christmas night many years ago. Each year, she writes the same three words: Missing you, always.But this year, her annual trip to the postbox is knocked off course by a bicycle collision with a handsome stranger--a stranger who will change the course of Josie's life.

Josie always thought she was the only one who avoided the Christmas season, but this year, Max has his own reasons for doing the same—and coincidence leads them to spending the holiday together. Aglow with new love, Josie thinks this might be the start of something special.

Only for Max to disappear without saying goodbye.

Over the course of the next year, Max and Josie will find that fate continues to bring them together in places they'd never expect. New York City. Edinburgh. The quiet English countryside. And it turns out, Max had every reason to leave and every reason to stay. But what does fate hold for Josie and Max as Christmas approaches again?

CW: Death

I grabbed this one to add to my holiday romances, but it ended up being a lot heavier than I thought it would. Ultimately, this is a book about grief. Josie spend an entire year really wrestling with the grief of losing her parents on Christmas Eve as a child. But then she’s left once more when Max disappears and then reappears at various events. I kept waiting for the big drop to happen and it does, but right at the end. Overall, I was really enjoying the story and loved following Josie with occasional interludes from Max. But it definitely wasn’t the fun and fluffy book I was expecting.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox

Title: The Holiday Swap

Author: Maggie Knox

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons 2021

Genre: Romance

Pages: 352

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

When chef Charlie Goodwin gets hit on the head on the L.A. set of her reality baking show, she loses a lot more than consciousness; she also loses her ability to taste and smell—both critical to her success as show judge. Meanwhile, Charlie's identical twin, Cass, is frantically trying to hold her own life together back in their quaint mountain hometown while running the family's bustling bakery and dealing with her ex, who won't get the memo that they're over.

With only days until Christmas, a desperate Charlie asks Cass to do something they haven't done since they were kids: switch places. Looking for her own escape from reality, Cass agrees. But temporarily trading lives proves more complicated than they imagined, especially when rugged firefighter Jake Greenman and gorgeous physician assistant Miguel Rodriguez are thrown into the mix. Will the twins' identity swap be a recipe for disaster, or does it have all the right ingredients for getting their lives back on track?

A fun and madcap style holiday romance for this year. This was very predictable, but I still really enjoyed it. Sometimes what you need is a nice and predictable romance for the week. I really fell for Cass and loved following her storyline. Charlie has me annoyed at her as a few points in the story. She seemed to not take the assignment as seriously as her sister. But everyone and everything came together at the end. I just wish that we had a few more chapters to sit with the two relationships at the end of the book. (But that’s really my constant complaint about these types of books.) Overall, a lovely Christmas romance and I need to watch the movie version soon.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Happy Holidays Videos

Of course I will be seeing this!

Love Del Toro’s entire oeuvre. Hope this one is another hit for me.

This might be interesting…

I enjoyed the first movie. Looking forward to the sequel.

So male Lara Croft? Never played the video game. This looks like a silly forgettable action film.

Okay, it got me. I will totally watch this on video.

Absolutely loved the book, not sure how I feel about the adaptation.

Can’t wait for the next season!

Scandalous Lord Dere by Stephanie Laurens

Title: Scandalous Lord Dere

Author: Stephanie Laurens

Publisher: Avon 2011

Genre: Romance

Pages: 184

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Once upon a time, a young woman attended a New Year's Eve ball...The moon shone brightly, music filled the air. Kisses were stolen and promises made. But what happens when morning comes? A new year brings new scandal when a rake awakens in the bed of the flame-haired temptress who had seduced him years before. All of society has them bedded, but can he convince her to become wedded?

Much better! This was a fun Regency era romance involving old flames and a blizzard. I do so love the trapped-in-a-storm trope in my romance. This one was drawn out just how I like them to be. We slowly get to know Adrian and Abby’s history and their potential future. Plus we get a few very steamy scenes sprinkled throughout the novella. Very enjoyable historical romance.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Winter's Knight by Elizabeth Cole

Title: A Winter’s Knight (Regency Rhapsody #1)

Author: Elizabeth Cole

Publisher: 2012

Genre: Romance

Pages: 56

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Phoebe Hartridge runs into serious danger on an icy winter evening. But her rescuer, the mysterious Anthony Sterling, immediately melts her heart and makes her dream of a life beyond her tiny, sheltered world. The more she gets to know him, the more she senses he is hiding something from her.

When Captain Anthony Sterling was wounded in battle, he lost his leg, his fiancee, and any hope for happiness. Even the revelation that he is the heir to a fortune brought him nothing but bitterness. Then his chance encounter with the charming, innocent Phoebe makes him wonder if there may be a future for him after all. But first he must escape the shadows of his past.

My biggest complaint about this one is the length. So incredibly short! And so much happens in that short amount of time. The main characters get engaged after a week. A little too quick for me overall. I would have like to learn more about each of them and sit with their romance for longer. Meh. I won’t be reading the rest of this short story series (even if the library had it, I’m not paying for such short stories). Time to move on.

Regency Rhapsody

#1 A Winter’s Knight
#2 Scandal at Dawn
#3 Watch for Me by Moonlight
#4 A Voice at Midnight
#5 A Dress the Color of Dusk

Next up on the TBR pile:

We Met in December by Rosie Curtis

Title: We Met in December

Author: Rosie Curtis

Publisher: William Morrow 2019

Genre: Romance

Pages: 400

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Two people. One house. A year that changes everything.

Twenty-nine-year-old Jess is following her dream and moving to London. It’s December, and she’s taking a room in a crumbling, but grand, Notting Hill house-share with four virtual strangers. On her first night, Jess meets Alex, the guy sharing her floor, at a Christmas dinner hosted by her landlord. They don’t kiss, but as far as Jess is concerned the connection is clear. She starts planning how they will knock down the wall between them to spend more time together.

But when Jess returns from a two-week Christmas holiday, she finds Alex has started dating someone else—beautiful Emma, who lives on the floor above them. Now Jess faces a year of bumping into (hell, sharing a bathroom with) the man of her dreams…and the woman of his.

This one ended up being a bit of slog if I’m being honest. It started out great and then we have to getting into the mundane for the next 350 ages and one year in the timeline. I was a bit disappointed that we don’t get to the romance section until the very last pages (like the last 10 pages). I always want to sit in the relationships more than that. In my recent read, The Twelve Dates of Christmas, we have to wait until nearly the end for romance also, but we get all those fun dates in between. This book was really stuck in the weeds for most of it. I kept having remind myself to pick up the book and keep reading. Not the best sign. This book isn’t bad, but it was definitely not the book for me.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Where the Heart Is by Darcy Burke

Title: Where the Heart Is (Ribbon Ridge #0.5)

Author: Darcy Burke

Publisher: Intrepid Reads 2013

Genre: Romance

Pages: 124

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Home is more than a place . . .

Breaking free from her structured life, Chloe English quits her high-powered job and moves across the country to work as an art teacher. The simple life is all she hoped it would be until her house burns down, leaving her homeless. When a handsome firefighter swoops in to save the day, she can’t believe her luck. He’s laid-back and unassuming, everything she’s looking for in a man—or so he seems. It turns out he’s as ambitious as her ex, comes with a family who could be more stifling than hers, and harbors dark secrets he may never be able to share.

Orphaned as a teenager, Derek Sumner has found a place in his best friend’s family. However, the love and support of his surrogate parents and siblings can’t erase the grief and loss he struggles every Christmas to banish. But this year he meets the fun and sexy Chloe, whose optimism and sense of joy are incredibly contagious. Can she help him face his bleak past so they can forge a happy future?

A lovely heartwarming Christmas romance. I really enjoyed both Chloe and Derek as characters. We get a fun back and forth flirting from them throughout most of the story. There were a few passages that were slightly unclear in their writing. I seriously thought that they had had sex way before they actually did. And there’s a big part of me that wishes it was a full length novel. I really wanted explore Derek and Chloe’s relationship much more than we got in this short story. Oh well. It was still an entertaining romance.

Ribbon Ridge

#0.5 Where the Heart Is
#1 Only in My Dreams
#2 Yours to Hold
#3 When Love Happens
#4 The Idea of You
#5 When We Kiss
#6 You’re Still the One

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W15: We Enjoyed the Warm Weather!

What We Studied

The temperatures this past week were unseasonably warm, in the 50s and 60s for most of the week. We took advantage and had two long afternoons at the park with friends. I doubt we are going to get any more mild days until spring, so we took time out of our homeschooling schedule to play. It was nice to get out and about. As such, our lessons were shortened. Thankfully, I planned for shortened lessons in December to have time to soak in all the holiday magic.

Literature and Poetry

We kept at reading The Wind in the Willows. I’m not sure Arthur really loves it, but I’m enjoying his writing style. It sounds lovely when read out loud. We’ll be finishing that book next week.

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
A Snowflake Fell: Poems About Winter by Laura Whipple

Math

More review, puzzles, and wrap-up. I decided to hold off starting 3B until January. Until then, we are continuing our logic puzzle book and lots of math games.

Singapore Math Common Core Edition 3A
Primarily Logic

Social Studies

This week was all about the East African kingdoms of Ethiopia and Great Zimbabwe. We made lots of connections to empires from the ancient world. Plus, we got to check out two very interesting archaeological sites.

DK Timelines of Everyone
When on Earth
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
Great African Kingdoms by Sean Sheehan
Ancient West African Kingdoms by Mary Quigley
Great Zimbabwe by Mark Bessire

Arthur Independent Time

To allow for one-on-one time with Quentin, I have added an hour of independent work time for Arthur. Each week, he will have a mix of packet work (mostly grammar and math review), independent reading time, and special projects. Many of his projects will be aligned with our literature selections (some taken from B&R Language Arts curriculum) and history. This week, he focused on packet work and some random building projects.

Science and STEAM Coop

Continuing with our Dinosaur unit from Blossom and Root! We covered the Paleocene and Neogene Eras. We ended up watching a lot of Eons to cover most of the Cenozoic. We’ll be wrapping up this giant unit next week.

The Story of Life: Evolution by Katie Scott
Life: The First Four Billion Years by Martin Jenkins
When the Whales Walked and Other Incredibly Evolutionary Journeys by Dougal Dixon
DK Dinsoaur
DK Where on Earth? Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures
Prehistoric by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
Dinosaurium by Chris Wormell and Lily Murray

For Coop, we had our Robots and Engineering first week. Quentin and the littles made a simple dog robot and talked about the concept of robots. Arthur got to start building a large hydraulic robot. Next week, the big kids get to learn a bit of programming to set up the rest of their robot.

Art/Music

Nothing this week

Quentin

I have scheduled at least four 1-hour time blocks for one-on-one time with Quentin. I bought Blossom and Root’s Early Years Volume 2 curriculum to use as our base. I love the variety of activities and some of the bigger projects included. Quentin and I read a lot of books, did some alphabet review, and completed a few math packets and units on Khan Academy.

ELA

Math

Other

Field Trip

We didn’t have an official field trip this week, but we ended up running all around town with other tasks. Plus we had two long park playdate afternoons.

Documentary Selection

I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies. We didn’t actually watch anything this week, but made up for it by all the PBS Eons videos for our dinosaur unit.

Picture books read

All Right Already! A Snowy Story by Jory John
Little Owl’s Snow by Divya Srinivasan

24 Days of Christmas Books - It’s become a tradition. I wrap packages of holiday books for each day of December until Christmas. We have a great group of books this year!

Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett
Gingerbread Christmas by Jan Brett
Catch that Cookie by Hallie Durand
Five Little Monkeys by Eileen Christelow
The Wheels on the Bus at Christmas
The Library Gingerbread Man by Dotti Enderle
Who Will Pull Santa's Sleigh by Russ Willms
The Gingerbread Pirates by Kristin Kladstrup
Dream Snow by Eric Carle
Snow Globe Wishes by Erin Dealey
The Dinosaurs' Night Before Christmas by Anne Muecke
Olive, the Other Reindeer by J. Otto Seibold
Santa in the City by Tiffany D. Jackson
Santa's Secrets Revealed by James Solheim

High

The boys received their second COVID vaccine on Wednesday! Even with Omicron now circulating, I’m feeling so much better knowing that the boys have at least a baseline protection against the virus. They were amazing at the pharmacy and once again the pharmacist was very impressed. Of course, they got a small toy afterward (Arthur got a Baryonyx and Quentin got a Bluey figure).

Low

Our lessons are all out of whack this week, but I should expect this during December. I definitely need to remember this for next year and just do half lessons during the month.

Next Week

Finishing The Wind in the Willows
Covering the Black Death (and Cathedrals) for history
Reviewing our math concepts
Finishing the Dinosaur Unit
Covering robots and engineering for coop
Going on our last coop field trip of the year (to DoSpace for robotics theme)

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #37

As I look outside my window: The sun is shining, but it’s not very bright. We are definitely back to colder temperatures and weak light. Welcome to winter in the Midwest!

Right now I am: Fighting with my phone to charge correctly! The connection inside is having issues and it randomly will stop charging. Need to figure this out.

On my bedside table: All the holiday romances! I’m currently alternating between a historical and a contemporary.

On my tv this week: We finished both Hit Monkey and Cowboy Bebop. And we watched The Harder They Fall (So good!!!!).

Listening to: Just lots of podcasts. Not much else except for bickering children.

On the menu for this week:

Monday - Prosciutto and Fig Pizza
Tuesday - Leftovers
Wednesday - Take out
Thursday - Pomegranate Chicken
Friday - Apple Bacon Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Saturday - Leftovers / Snack Dinner
Sunday - Italian Beef Sandwiches

On my to do list: Doing a lot of prep for the rest of December (getting advent activities around, buying tickets for things like Christmas movies). I’ve also started to make my Christmas Break Project list and lay out Roam for all my forms and lists for next year.

Happening this week:

Monday - Movie Afternoon
Tuesday - Board Games with Coop
Wednesday - Werner Park Lights
Thursday - Coop; Haircut
Friday - DoSpace Tour and Activity
Saturday - Book Club Christmas Party
Sunday - Home Day

What I am creating: Christmas cards! I’ve made over 40, but would like to knock out about 20 more this week to give to local people (book club, coop, etc). If I take one afternoon this week, I can accomplish that goal.

My simple pleasures: Chocolate truffle advent I bought myself, breezy holiday romances.

Looking around the house: I’m feeling much better after a whirlwind cleaning session yesterday. Really just having the living room all picked up and put together lifts my mood so much.

From the camera: Watching the fish at Cabela’s after see Santa

A Pirate for Christmas by Anna Campbell

Title: A Pirate for Christmas

Author: Anna Campbell

Publisher: 2015

Genre: Romance

Pages: 142

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

There’s a pirate in the manor house!

What is vicar’s daughter Bess Farrar to do when the dashing new earl, the man gossip paints as a ruthless pirate, kisses her the day they meet? Why, kiss him right back, of course! Now Lord Channing vows to claim the lovely firebrand, despite interfering villagers, a snowstorm, scandal, and a rascally donkey. The gallant naval captain’s first landlocked Christmas promises mayhem – and a lifetime of breathtaking passion

Pursued by the pirate…

Bess Farrar might be an innocent village miss, but she knows enough about the world to doubt Lord Channing’s motives when he kisses her the very day they meet. After all, local gossip insists that before this dashing rake became an earl, he sailed the Seven Seas as a ruthless pirate.

Bewitched by the vicar’s daughter…

Until he unexpectedly inherits a title, staunchly honorable Scotsman Rory Beaton has devoted his adventurous life to the Royal Navy. But he sets his course for tempestuous new waters when he meets lovely, sparkling Bess Farrar. Now this daring mariner will do whatever it takes to convince the spirited lassie to launch herself into his arms and set sail into the sunset.

After a contemporary holiday romance, I was feeling a hankering for a historical holiday romance. I grabbed this one at random from my Kindle stash and had a fun little holiday romp. Bess and Rory had a great bantering relationship. I enjoyed this short little novella, but do wish there had been more. A very usual sentiment from me.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

Title: The Reading List

Author: Sara Nisha Adams

Publisher: William Morrow 2021

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 380

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Widower Mukesh lives a quiet life in Wembley, in West London after losing his beloved wife. He shops every Wednesday, goes to Temple, and worries about his granddaughter, Priya, who hides in her room reading while he spends his evenings watching nature documentaries.

Aleisha is a bright but anxious teenager working at the local library for the summer when she discovers a crumpled-up piece of paper in the back of To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s a list of novels that she’s never heard of before. Intrigued, and a little bored with her slow job at the checkout desk, she impulsively decides to read every book on the list, one after the other. As each story gives up its magic, the books transport Aleisha from the painful realities she’s facing at home.

When Mukesh arrives at the library, desperate to forge a connection with his bookworm granddaughter, Aleisha passes along the reading list…hoping that it will be a lifeline for him too. Slowly, the shared books create a connection between two lonely souls, as fiction helps them escape their grief and everyday troubles and find joy again.

CW: Suicide

A lovely concept, poorly executed. The first few chapters were slightly confusing and not very engaging. Once we settled into the story, I expected to really connect to a few of the characters. Unfortunately things just seem to be drawn out and slow with mostly unlikeable characters. The exception was only Mukesh. He was the most fleshed out character, but even he could not redeem the rest of this story. Aleisha only become someone to root for in the last 20% of the novel. Way too late to really redeem this book. And then we get to the discussions of the books themselves. Mostly I was okay with them. The author didn’t go into enough detail about the various book and I was very disappointed by the dismissal of Pride and Prejudice. In the end, I just was very bored with the whole book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss

Title: The Twelve Dates of Christmas

Author: Jenny Bayliss

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons 2020

Genre: Romance

Pages: 368

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

When it comes to relationships, thirty-four-year-old Kate Turner is ready to say "Bah, humbug." The sleepy town of Blexford, England, isn't exactly brimming with prospects, and anyway, Kate's found fulfillment in her career as a designer, and in her delicious side job baking for her old friend Matt's neighborhood café. But then her best friend signs her up for a dating agency that promises to help singles find love before the holidays. Twenty-three days until Christmas. Twelve dates with twelve different men. The odds must finally be in her favor . . . right?

Yet with each new date more disastrous than the one before--and the whole town keeping tabs on her misadventures--Kate must remind herself that sometimes love, like mistletoe, shows up where it's least expected. And maybe, just maybe, it's been right under her nose all along. . . .

A very cute holiday romance. We meet Olive and slowly learn about her and Matt’s past relationship. Over the course of the dozen dates, we get to see Olive slowly come to the realization that her partner was right next to her all along. While many of the dates were enjoyable to read about, the few truly terrible ones were hard to stomach. And I definitely had my suspicions about Richard right from their first meeting. While heartwarming and fun at most parts, I want da bit more to really make this a favorite.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

Getting the holiday romance ball rolling already this month! I love how I end the year’s reading.
I need to start thinking about next semester.
All cooking motivation has really left me this season. I need to get my mojo back.
Too many piles around the house has me a bit twitchy.

Next up on the TBR pile:

December 2021 Life Goals

Let’s check in on November’s goals and my progress.

Read 15 books, including 5 nonfiction books - Half success. I ended up with 16 books, but only read 3 nonfiction books.
Make Christmas Plans ✓ - We’re going to Indiana for Christmas. Still deciding on a return date, but mostly got things planned.
Update Christmas Lists ✓
Make 50 Christmas cards - Nope. I ended up making 42 cards, but I probably need to make about 18 more.
Plan out advent activities ✓
Wrap up Coop Changes ✓
Make a Homeschool Spring Semester Framework ✓

Goals:

Read 15 Holiday Romances!
Prep blog for 2022
Lay out my reading plan for 2022
Clean my craft room before leaving for Indiana
Get library book down to basically 0
Have a fun Christmas holiday!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Christmas Bucket List

Instead of a separate bucket list, I’m just going to highlight our advent activities for December.

Decorate Mini Tree
Letter to Santa
Christmas Movies x3
Make Paper Snowflakes
Get New Christmas PJs and Socks
Go See Santa at Cabela’s
Go See Werner Park Lights
Hot Chocolate bar
Meet the reindeer
Go for a hike and get pine cones
Puzzle Day
Make Gingerbread Cookies
Visit Lauritzen Gardens
Coop Christmas Party
Decorate Gingerbread Houses
Drive around and see the lights
Fantasy of Lights
Botanical Gardens Christmas Display
Cookie Decorating
Dinner at Coney Island and Visit to Santa Lights
Christmas music dance party
Watch The Grinch

Next up on the TBR pile: