Romance

Good book to unwind from the Christmas rush with. Trading Christmas was a delight to read. Emily is facing her Christmas alone after her daughter tells her that she isn't coming home on Christmas break. She calls her best friend for sympathy but doesn't get what she hoped for. So she decides she will go to her daughter in Boston. Charles wanted to escape Christmas in Boston. Actually he just wanted to escape Christmas all together. Emily and Charles trade homes for the holiday each hoping to celebrate (or not) Christmas. Charles ends up surrounded by Christmas and Emily finds her daughter is not in Boston for the holiday. So begins the Christmas mix up. I do not want to give away the whole thing so I will just say there is romance, family, fun and of course, Christmas, in this book. I found it a quick read perfect for reading after a busy day. So put on your comfy pajamas, grab your favorite blanket, a mug of hot chocolate, don't forget some of those Christmas cookies and get comfy on the sofa with this book. ( )

I admit it, I'm a sucker for a sappy holiday romance. This one fits the bill. It involves two people who switch houses over the holiday season. Emily goes to Boston to suprise her daughter, who turns out has other plans. Charles, mistakenly beliving that the Levenworth he's going to is home to the prison of the same name in the hope of avoiding Christmas, instead finds himself in Emily's home in Washington state. Both get a romance to celebrate the holiday with. A quick read but just the shameless sort of sap I was looking for. ( )

This edition containted two stories - Trading Christmas and the The Forgetful Bride. If you're looking for serious, in-depth love stories that are full of drama and a lot of in-depth soul-searching, you need to look elsewhere because these stories are not that. On the other hand if you're looking for light-hearted stories that are more like rom-coms or sitcoms, these stories might prove to be worth your time. Both were light, funny, frothy romances with Trading Christmas being the stronger of the two. ( )

You can also read my review here: http://bookbybookreview.blogspot.com/2011/12/review-trading-christmas.html

First off, this is technically two books in one - The second story is called The Forgetful Bride. However, as I only intended to read Trading Christmas, I will only count that towards Holiday Reads 2011.

Trading Christmas was exactly the type of story I imagined it would be. A perfect holiday romance involving the most unsuspecting of characters - honestly, it was written just for this feature.

I loved the characters and the situations that they found themselves in. Emily, a Christmas nut, winds up in a baron apartment with not a stitch of cheer and Charles, in a town that lives and breaths Christmas. It was a pure delight to read about each situation that they found themselves in. Add in some crazy supporting characters, a santa and six elves, and you have yourself one well rounded group.

While the story was predictable and the outcome obvious, I truly found that this book was exactly what I was looking for in a Christmas read... light, fun and happy.

Overall, this story was an A+ in my books.

Mini-review of The Forgetful Bride:

I love when novels have bonus stories... but I don't like when they are as long as the main story that I purchased the novel for. The Forgetful Bride was an 'okay' story. The characters were good but not memorable.

Personally, I love a romantic story and I love a happy ending but it really bothered me that this wasn't a Christmas story but yet was included in a novel called Trading Christmas. I sort of felt ripped off and this was likely the reason that I downgraded my rating of the overall book.

On the whole, The Forgetful Bride was a good story and one that had a concept I had never heard of before. If it were a full novel I think it would have held just the right amount of added detail to make the story a real jem.

Overall, a bit of a miss for me. ( )