brooke_review's reviews
1223 reviews

Ever read a book that you are surprised that you love as much as you do?  Podcaster turned author Becca Freeman’s The Christmas Orphans Club, a story about a group of Christmas “orphans” who meet up every holiday season and spend it together because they have nowhere else to go, is that book for me.

It is Hannah and Finn’s holiday tradition to spend Christmas together.  Hannah, an actual orphan, has no family except for an older sister who would rather spend the holidays with her husband than sister, and Finn was disowned by his own family after coming out as gay.  Along the way, these Christmas orphans added two more members to their club - Theo, the forgotten son of a billionaire, and Priya, a fashionista from India who isn’t used to celebrating the holiday.  This quartet has spent Christmas after Christmas together, making merry memories along the way, but this year is different.  This may very well be their last Christmas together, as Finn is set to take a job in Los Angeles, and the group has been finding themselves pulled in different directions as of late.  As the Orphans Club sets out to have their most epic, albeit bittersweet, Christmas ever, the members must face the music about their past, present, and future.

While I love holiday novels, it is a rare one that blows me away, but The Christmas Orphans Club is a book that I loved picking up.  I was 100% invested in this novel and found myself looking for excuses to squeeze a little bit more reading time into my day - I actually finished this book within 24 hours (no small feat for me!) Not your typical seasonal fare, The Christmas Orphans Club is a novel first and foremost about friendship with a bit of peripheral romance worked in.  It has an engaging, well-developed storyline and bold and brilliant characters.  Both work seamlessly together to create a memorable holiday read.

The only thing that did not work for me in this novel was Priya.  Her character was underdeveloped and one-dimensional, and she came off completely unlikable.  I kept wondering throughout the book why Hannah, Finn, and Theo were even friends with her because she didn’t seem to enjoy the holidays, or even their group, as much as they did.  Her sarcasm and negative attitude grated my nerves, and I kept wishing that the Orphans Club would just kick her to the curb.  Thankfully, her role in the novel is small, so I was able to look past her when rating and reviewing this otherwise enjoyable read.

In debut author Robin Lefler's Reasonable Adults, a recently fired and newly single marketing professional, Kate, finds herself taking a position at a luxury resort in the Canadian wilderness only to discover that this job is going to be no walk in the park.  The retreat, the Treetops, is severely outdated and is lacking in enough bookings to even keep it afloat.  Can Kate turn things around at the Treetops, while also juggling passive aggressive bosses, a 70 pound Goldendoodle, and potential love?   

Reasonable Adults is a novel with an exciting premise and atmospheric location, but unfortunately its storyline is disorganized and erratic.  The book suffers from a bloated supporting character list that is nearly impossible to keep track of, while the main character and love interest are frankly, insufferable.  Reasonable Adults, a book about a young woman finding her footing again after experiencing loss and humiliation on multiple fronts, is primed to center around soul-searching and personal growth, but unfortunately, Lefler took this novel down a more plot-driven path, throwing a series of hijinks and antics at readers without anything to ground them.  I personally could not connect to this story or its characters, making this a rather dull and insipid read for me. 

Hotels at Christmastime are one of my favorite things!  I just love to see the lobbies decorated in festive fare while Christmas music is piped through the speakers, which is why I picked up Beth O'Leary's new holiday novel, The Wake-Up Call.  

This Christmas-lite book follows two English countryside boutique hotel employees over the holiday season as they attempt to save their place of employment from ruin.  The Forest Manor Hotel is in need of major repairs, but alas, there are no funds to start, much less complete, the project.  Arch-enemies Izzy and Lucas are tasked with sorting through long discarded lost and found items and selling them to turn a profit.  However, among the forgotten items are four wedding rings that were lost at the hotel and never claimed.  

When Izzy is able to track down one of the ring owners and receives a sizable reward to put toward the hotel repairs in return, finding the other rings' dearly departed seems like a surefire way to make some quick cash for Forest Manor.  The race is on as Izzy and Lucas compete to see who can find the rings' owners the fastest.  As the rivalry between Izzy and Lucas heats up, so does the unacknowledged chemistry between the two.  Despite acting as if they hold an intense dislike for the other, Izzy and Lucas, in truth, harbor secret feelings for each other.  But will they act on what's brewing in their hearts?

The Wake-Up Call is a lively and spirited romp through the holiday season!  The increasingly difficult challenge of returning four "golden rings" to their rightful owners adds a fun twist to this enemies to lovers rom com.  The competition between Izzy and Lucas is intense as they tear each other down in their attempt to come out on top!

On the other hand, I found the pacing of The Wake-Up Call to be quite slow and the writing to be not entirely engaging.  There were some quick transitions sprinkled throughout the novel, and I often found myself lost as to time, character, and location.  However, the pacing and engagement factor picked up significantly toward the latter part of the book making this a redeemable read in end.