The Christmas Hummingbird by Davis Bunn (Miramar Bay, #7) (2022)

 

Fighting an out-of-season wildfire in Miramar Bay, California is not the way any one wants to celebrate the Christmas season but that is the backdrop for The Christmas Hummingbird.

Ryan Eames is a policewoman and single mother to an artistically gifted son who doesn’t communicate with the rest of the world, Liam. Exhausted by the double shifts required by the fire, Ryan is responsible for getting people out of their homes before the fire reaches them. One of whom is Ethan Lange who now has only the clothes on his back.

Ethan is a bank Vice-President and creates concept sets in miniature for a movie producer in his spare time. At the time of the fire, Ethan had just been commissioned to come up with a set idea for the movie adaption of book one of the Elvin Child series, a favorite of his childhood novel  Before the story ends he is also a volunteer fire fighter, working with the police.

With the police force already stretched to its limits, Ethan is deputized and assigned to help Ryan protect the belongings in the destroyed homes with wealthy, absentee owners from the professional thieves operating in the area.  As the two get to know each other, Ethan is introduced to Liam.  Much to Ryan’s surprise, Liam opens up to Liam and even shares his drawings which even his mother isn’t allowed to see.  Together they forge a plan to save the hummingbirds whose habitat is being destroyed by the fire.

Although this is a love story, the real star of the book is the hummingbird and the lessons we can learn from them. They figure prominently throughout the story.

The story moves very quickly but is a little too sweet for my taste.  I also felt the author went overboard with all of Ethan’s great ideas for the town and his almost instant connection to Liam. However, if there ever is a time for a story tied up in a perfect bright red bow, it is Christmas.

4.02 stars on Goodreads, 4.7 on Amazon

Coming Home for Christmas (Haven Point #10) by RaeAnne Thayne (2019)

 

Luke Hamilton’s wife Elizabeth disappeared without a word seven years before the story begins, leaving Luke to care for their two young children. Luke has known for several months now that Elizabeth is indeed alive and living in Oregon but he wanted nothing to do with the woman who had deserted him. That is until Luke learns he is to be arrested for her murder. Determined to prove his innocence, Luke knows he has to bring Elizabeth home and present her to the district attorney.

What Luke finds in Oregon is not what he expected. The woman who says she is Elizabeth has her eyes and voice but looks totally different, has a visible limp, and goes by the name Sonia Davis. Luke has no interest in finding out why Elizabeth never contacted him and the reader doesn’t learn the entire backstory until Elizabeth meets with the DA. A car accident had left her disfigured and with a traumatic brain injury (“TBI”) that stole her memory but that’s only part of the story.

Neither Luke nor Elizabeth really understand what the other has been through during the past seven years. As they get reacquainted – Elizabeth and Luke, and Elizabeth and the children – things are not always easy but Christmas is the time of miracles.

This is not your typical Christmas romance. Elizabeth’s TBI plays a large part in the story, as well as the depression that caused her to run in the first place.

4.17 stars on Goodreads, 4.7 on Amazon

This book is not available at EPL. Ask any of the reference librarians to get it for you from an area library.

Santa's Little Yelpers (Andy Carpenter #26) by David Rosenfelt (2022)

 

This was my first foray into the world of Andy Carpenter and I will definitely be visiting again. Andy is a defense attorney who doesn’t want to practice law and has an aversion to talking on the phone. And he always manages to get roped into both.

Throughout the book I felt Andy was sitting in my living room telling me all about his latest case, complete with wise cracks and asides. Secondary characters receive the same treatment, as well as Andy’s three dogs. I was laughing out loud at the author’s description of Andy’s basset hound, having owned one myself.

Santa's Little Yelpers has very little to do with the puppies on the cover. Rather it deals with their caregiver, Chris Myers, an ex-con who has always maintained he was innocent of the crime for which he was convicted. When the main witness against Chris recants his testimony, Chris asks Andy to help him get the decision overturned.  When that witness is murdered just after recanting his recant, all trails lead once again to Chris.

Andy and his private investigator wife are convinced Chris was framed for both crimes and set out to determine by whom. In addition to his wife, Andy works with a large team with a diverse collection of talents. It was very entertaining to be introduced to all of Andy’s vice presidents in charge of … There always seemed to be one when he needed it. The road to proving Chris innocent had many twists, turns, and dead-ends before reaching its satisfying conclusion.

The library owns 18 other titles in this series, including three other Christmas titles.

4.35 stars on Goodreads, 4.7 on Amazon

The Christmas Journey by Donna VanLiere (Christmas Hope #6) (2010)

 

VanLiere’s beautifully illustrated novella is the retelling of Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem and the birth of the Christ child in a stable surrounded by animals. The author explores in great detail how Mary’s pregnancy has changed both their lives and all the couple experiences during their journey. A very quick read.

Do read the Preface and the Introduction before the actual story.

4.05 stars on Goodreads, 4.4 on Amazon

Comfort & Joy: A Fable by Kristin Hannah (2005)

 

I first came across this book when compiling a list of the Christmas fiction in the library’s collection. The title certainly sounds Christmassy but the first subject heading in the catalog is “Survival after airplane accident”. You might ask, as I did, what that has to do with Christmas.  As it turns out, quite a bit.

Joy Candellaro has always loved Christmas but as the holiday approaches, she finds herself divorced and alone, and doesn’t feel like celebrating. So without telling anyone, she buys a last-minute ticket and boards a private plane headed for the Pacific Northwest. Unfortunately the plane crashes in the Olympic rainforest. With no one knowing where she is Joy decides to just walk away from her ordinary life and thus begins an adventure unlike any she could have imagined.

Joy ends up in the small town of Rain Valley where six-year-old Bobby O’Shea is facing his first Christmas without his mother. Unable to handle the loss, Bobby has closed himself off from the world and his father Daniel who is desperate to help his son cope. Yet when the little boy meets Joy, they form a deep and powerful bond. In helping Bobby and Daniel heal, Joy finds herself again.

Not everything is as it seems in quiet Rain Valley, and in an instant, Joy’s world is ripped apart and her heart is broken. On a magical Christmas Eve, a night of impossible dreams and unexpected chances, Joy must find the courage to believe in a love—and a family—that can’t possibly exist and go in search of what she wants and the new life only she can find.

Hannah shows us once again the power of love and that dreams can come true at Christmas and all year round.

3.57 stars on Goodreads, 4.3 stars on Amazon

The Christmas Clock by Kat Martin (2009)

 

I’ll admit I was drawn to this book for two reasons –it takes place in a small Michigan town and the main character’s name is Sylvia. As I rarely see my name in print The Christmas Clock was a must read.

Christmas is the time of year for believing in miracles and happy endings and The Christmas Clock delivers. This is a heartwarming tale of love lost and found, saying goodbye and saying hello.

Three intersecting storylines are packed into the novella’s 131 pages, all revolving around a Victorian clock in the local antique store a young boy wants to buy for his ailing grandmother. Some readers might find the book too simple in its predictability while others will be looking for the nearest Kleenex box. The Christmas Clock is standard-issue sentimental holiday fare but enjoyable, nonetheless.

Kat Martin is best known for her historical fiction and romantic suspense titles. She mostly writes series’ but also has standalone titles. Her latest series, Maximum Security, features three brothers and the security business run by one of them. The first two novels in the series can be found on EPL’s shelves.

3.74 stars on Goodreads, 4.3 on Amazon