Look Up, Handsome by Jack Strange

Author: Jack Strange

Pages: 405

Publisher: One More Chapter

Publication date: September 26, 2024

Intro

Hay-On-Wye is on the verge of losing its only queer bookshop, and the owner, Quinn, has no idea what he's going to do. 

This close to Christmas, Quinn can't believe that he's being evicted by his own stepfather, and it feels like he'll need a miracle to make it through to the new year with his shop still in his possession.

Quinn had no idea that help would come in the form of Noah, a handsome and famous novelist who just so happens to be visiting his hometown for the holidays. Quinn will take all the help that Noah is willing to give, and he wouldn't complain if he happened to fall in love along the way.

Thoughts

I really thought that I would love this cozy, Hallmark feeling, read. The story had potential, but too many things missed the mark for me. Most notably, I didn't feel any chemistry between Noah and Quinn. Obviously for a romance centered story, this is bad news. I feel like they had a few awkward and dry conversations, and started to call that falling in love. I didn't even really buy that they would have had chemistry as friends. I was constantly waiting to feel a connection growing between the two of them in a way that would be at all noteworthy, but I finished the book without feeling any kind of spark that would have made me actually care about the relationship.

Another thing that was tough for me was that the plot felt very repetitive at times. Quinn would panic about losing his shop, plan an event to raise community awareness, and then wait for Noah to show up, either at the event or at Quinn's apartment after. 

I feel like a lot of the repetitiveness was hard to get through because the author tended to do a lot of telling instead of showing. This also felt like it diluted the chance of a good Hermione/ghostwriting subplot, which I would have loved to go deeper into.

Overall, this one missed the mark for me because I didn't feel connected to any of the characters. It had good potential, but ultimately fell short of execution.  

Confessions of a Christmasholic by Joss Wood

Title: Confessions of a Christmasholic

Author: Joss Wood

Publisher: HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter

Publication date: October 19, 2023

Intro

Drunk, broke, and unemployed, Sutton comes into Gus' life like a tornado. Gus doesn't really have the time to deal with a drunk stranger, but recognizing that Sutton is the victim of some unfortunate circumstances, Gus welcomes her into his home for the holidays as his nanny. He has his hands full with his twins at the best of times, but nicknamed Mr. Christmas, he is especially busy during the holidays and he could definitely use some help.

Falling for each other is not the goal, but it doesn't take long for sparks to start flying.

My thoughts

This was definitely a cute, easy read, and if you're looking for a quick holiday Hallmark-esque book set in a small town that is reminiscent to that of Stars Hollow from the Gilmore Girls, to get you into the holiday spirit, this could be the book for you! It's adorable overall and easy to read in just a few hours if you're looking to cozy up with a book on a chilly afternoon.

However, if you're looking for anything deeper than just a cute holiday romance, this may not be the book for you. It was very fast paced, and while the relationship between Gus and Sutton was cute, it felt very superficial. When they were having thoughts about falling in love, or having thoughts about already being in love, I found it very hard to believe because they had very little under their belt in terms of meaningful interactions that would lend themselves to falling in love. So if you can't get behind insta-love, or at least, close to insta-love, you might not love this story.

I also wish that the backstories of Gus and Sutton were developed more. It is mentioned multiple times that Sutton had to grow up fast because it was up to her to raise her siblings, and Gus was having marital issues before his wife passed away. Both of these things were mentioned multiple times but the author didn't provide much more details than that. I feel like if those backstories were developed into deeper, I would have felt more connected to the characters.

Lastly, I feel like the ending came about a little abruptly and because of that, I would have loved to see an epilogue. I would have loved to see how Sutton and Gus handled everything a couple months down the road from where the proper story left off.

Despite my small gripes, I enjoyed the novel for exactly what it was. I was on the look out for a cute holiday read and that's exactly what was delivered.

First Line Friday (20): Confessions of a Christmasholic by Joss Wood

First Line Friday is a bookish tag hosted over at Abstract Books that is used to showcase your favourite first lines of books.

There really is something to be said about a good first line, and I'm going to be using this tag from now on to showcase my current read's first lines.

My current read this week is Confessions of a Christmasholic by Joss Wood.

'I love you, you love meeeeee...'

Sutton Alsop couldn't remember the next line to the song she'd sing to her younger half-siblings and wrinkled her nose. Given she'd belted it out about a million times, it should be burned on her mental hard drive. Maybe if she tried again. 'I love you, you love me...'

Goodreads synopsis

Sutton Alsop hates Christmas. So much so, when confronted with a house that looks like Santa himself vomited Christmas all over it, she accidentally (drunkenly) destroys every fairy light, fake reindeer and candy cane in sight. Unfortunately for Sutton, this house belongs to none other than Gus Langston, single dad and owner of the village’s year-round Christmas shop – aka Mr Christmas himself. But Mr Christmas has a secret only Sutton knows… With the two of them forced together for the holidays, the sparks between them are hot enough to melt even the coldest of hearts!

--

Confessions of a Christmasholic was published on October 19, 2023, and my review of this little Christmas romance will be published tomorrow! You can add Confessions of a Christmasholic to your Goodreads TBR here!

Last Christmas by Maria Frankland

Title: Last Christmas

Author: Maria Frankland

Publisher: Autonomy Press

Expected publication date: November 10, 2023

The last place that Neil wants to spend Christmas is at his in-laws new house, especially since the whole family seems to be aware that he's a depressed, out of work, alcoholic with a strained marriage. A miserable few days is what he expects. What he didn't expect is that the miserable few days at this in laws house would end up being his last days alive. Now his wife is left to figure out the circumstances of his death. What happened? Who is responsible? Nobody in her family really liked him, but who could hate him enough to want him dead?

I want to state first that I feel a little bit mislead by this being classified as a thriller. To me, it is more of just a family drama. It's an extremely dysfunctional family with a mysterious death looming in the middle of it, but mostly the plot is focused on all of the members of the family taking turns being awful to each other.

I feel that it lacked the suspense and anticipation that drive most thrillers, and I also found that even with all the drama that all the characters brought around, it still fell flat for me. I would have preferred if the characters were developed a little deeper emotionally, so I would have felt more moved by each characters distress.

My lack of strong connection to any of the characters aside, I did enjoy the occasional switch in POV. It was really nice to have a peek into a few of the characters lives, I just wish that it could have been fleshed out more.

Overall, I didn't love this book as a thriller, but it was alight as a family drama. If you're looking for a quick read about an extremely dysfunctional family with a bit of mysterious circumstances around the edges, you might enjoy this one. 

Teaser Tuesday (24): Confessions of a Christmasholic by Joss Wood

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. Anyone can participate in Teaser Tuesdays. Just do the following:• Grab your read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• Be careful not to include spoilers!
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

For this week's Teaser Tuesday, I'm sharing teasers from Confessions of A Christmasholic by Joss Wood.

Goodreads synopsis

Sutton Alsop hates Christmas. So much so, when confronted with a house that looks like Santa himself vomited Christmas all over it, she accidentally (drunkenly) destroys every fairy light, fake reindeer and candy cane in sight. Unfortunately for Sutton, this house belongs to none other than Gus Langston, single dad and owner of the village’s year-round Christmas shop – aka Mr. Christmas himself. But Mr. Christmas has a secret only Sutton knows… With the two of them forced together for the holidays, the sparks between them are hot enough to melt even the coldest of hearts!

My teasers

"He'd been so busy he hadn't even had time to go into the storeroom and bang his head against the wall in frustration, something he'd done more than once before."

"All he wanted was to come home to a quiet house, a stiff whiskey and a long bath. But mostly he craved a quiet house free of anything Christmassy."

--

Confessions of a Christmasholic will be released in two days, on October 19, 2023, and you can add it to your Goodreads shelf here!

Waiting on Wednesday (12): So, This is Christmas by Tracy Andreen

 Waiting on Wednesday's is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. *It appears that Breaking the Spine hasn't been active since 2016, but I still want to credit them as the creators.

For my 12th Waiting On Wednesday I want to spotlight So, This is Christmas by Tracy Andreen.

Expected publication date: October 6, 2021 

Publisher: Viking Books For Young Readers

Goodreads Synopsis

When Finley Brown returned to her hometown of Christmas, Oklahoma, from boarding school, she expected to find it just as she left it. Christmas hasn't changed much in her sixteen years. But instead she returns to find that her best friend is dating her ex-boyfriend, her parents have separated, and her archnemesis got a job working at her grandmother's inn. And she certainly didn't expect to find the boy she may or may not have tricked into believing that Christmas was an idyllic holiday paradise on her grandmother's doorstep. It's up to Finley to make sure he gets the Christmas he was promised. This is Finley's Christmas. It's about home and family and friends and finding her place, and along the way she also finds the best Christmas present of all: love.

Why I can't wait

This book just seems so adorable and lighthearted, and all of the reviews seem to confirm that as well. I've been reading a lot of not very adorable books lately, not to mention spotlighting them, my last four or so Waiting on Wednesday's have been books I found while browsing the horror section on Netgalley, so I think this book could serve as a little breather from more serious, heavy themed books.

Merry Christmas!

       Merry Christmas everybody! I hope everybody has a wonderful time! I know Christmas is not about getting gifts, but can we talk about what I got for a minute?

   





        OH MY GOSH. I AM SO HAPPY.  After I read the first Alice in Zombieland, I knew that I had to read the second, and the best part of this. The book I have is in hardcover. Let me say that again. This. Book. Is. In. Hardcover. to be honest I am too cheap to by hardcover myself, so I only own like, 2 3 hardcover books.
       I have heard so many good things about Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi, I knew I had to read it. Nobody in my family knew that I wanted this book until I started fangirling over it in Coles. And then my brother, my awesome brother picked it up for me while I went to a different store.
     

       Also, on a side note, I got soooooo much chocolate. I GOT THREE HUGE TOBLERONE BARS. And Turtles, and Ferro Rocher. I can already feel the chocolate that will be soon flowing through my body.

ANYWAY, I HOPE ALL OF  YOU HAVE A GREAT CHRISTMAS