Review: Starry Night by Debbie Macomber

Title: Starry Night
Author: Debbie Macomber
Source: Contest Win
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Christmas
Length: Novella
Release Date: October 8, 2013
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Rating - 4
Sexual - 1

’Tis the season for romance, second chances, and Christmas cheer with this new
novel from Debbie Macomber.

Carrie Slayton, a big-city society-page columnist, longs to write more serious news stories. So her editor hands her a challenge: She can cover any topic she wants, but only if she first scores the paper an interview with Finn Dalton, the notoriously reclusive author.

Living in the remote Alaskan wilderness, Finn has written a mega-bestselling memoir about surviving in the wild. But he stubbornly declines to speak to anyone in the press, and no one even knows exactly where he lives.

Digging deep into Finn’s past, Carrie develops a theory on his whereabouts. It is the holidays, but her career is at stake, so she forsakes her family celebrations and flies out to snowy Alaska. When she finally finds Finn, she discovers a man both more charismatic and more stubborn than she even expected. And soon she is torn between pursuing the story of a lifetime and following her heart.

Filled with all the comforts and joys of Christmastime, Starry Night is a delightful novel of finding happiness in the most surprising places.

This book had so much of what I look for in a holiday story.  I love that the season was important, but it wasn't everything - it was there to be a part of the story, not the story itself.  Carrie is a career driven reporter that has taken on one heck of a challenge.  Finding the most sought after and reclusive author and getting an interview will be the article that finally gets her where she wants to be.  Carrie is more than just a career-woman though.  She wants it all, friends and family included.

Finn is not anything like what I expected at first.  Yes, he's this crazy wilderness survival guy that lives by himself in Alaska.  But, there is a huge amount of depth to him.  His reasons for becoming an author and the way he has responded to fame were great and I totally fell in love with his personality.  He was incredibly stand-offish and grumpy to begin with, but as the story progressed he slowly let all the walls down and we really get to see what an amazing guy he is.

This story happens around the holidays.  There is just the right amount of Christmas cheer and holiday specialness.  A wonderful mix with some great romance to tie it all together.  I really enjoyed watching their relationship grow and develop from annoyance to not being able to live without each other.

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Review: Mr. Miracle by Debbie Macomber

Title: Mr. Miracle: A Christmas Novel
Author: Debbie Macomber
Source: Amazon Vine
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Christmas
Length: Novella
Release Date: October 7, 2014
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Rating - 3
Sexual - 1

Harry Mills is a guardian angel on a mission: help twenty-four-year-old Addie
Folsom get her life back on track—and, if the right moment strikes, help her find love. Posing as a teacher at a local college in Tacoma, Washington, Harry is up to the task, but not even he can predict the surprises that lay in store.

After trying to make it on her own, Addie has returned home to Tacoma for the holidays, but this time she plans to stay for good, enrolling in the local community college to earn her degree. What she doesn’t plan to do is run into Erich Simmons.

Addie and her next-door neighbor, Erich, are like night and day. Growing up, he was popular and outgoing while she was rebellious and headstrong, and he never missed an opportunity to tease her. Now she intends to avoid him entirely, yet when they’re suddenly forced to spend Christmas together, Addie braces for trouble.

Perhaps it’s the spirit of the season or the magic of mistletoe, but Addie and Erich soon find they have more in common than they thought—and that two people who seem so wrong for each other may actually be just right. With a little prompting from a certain angelic teacher, the two are in for a holiday miracle they’ll never forget.

Christmas is the perfect setting for guardian angels.  Harry Mills is a new one, on his first mission.  His cover is that of a literature teacher at a local school where his goal is to "help" Addie.  What he's supposed to help her with is a little vague at first, but once we get to know her a little and get to meet Erich - we know just what both of them need.

I loved the character of Harry Mills.  Since it's his first time on earth and his first time interacting with humans, he makes some silly mistakes and gets himself in just a bit of trouble now and then.  Who knew that emotions could be so strong anyways?  These little errors help balance out his perfect in other ways self - he is an angel after all - and made him a delightful character.

Addie and Erich were fun to watch, and you could tell they were meant to be together and help each other from the get go.  Their relationship grew very naturally at first and I was loving it.  There was one case divine intervention that went a bit overboard for my taste - the kind of intervention that really gets noticed.  But no one really seemed to get overly concerned about it and it just seemed a little off compared to the rest of the story.

This was a fun little Christmas read though.  It was a great start to the holiday season (a little earlier than I usually like though).  It really helped that there were some clever mentions of Dickens' Christmas Carol - actual discussion about the book and its meaning.  I love when books talk about books.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

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