***copies provided by publisher through NetGalley***

CHRISTMAS SPIRIT by Rebecca York
Chelsea Caldwell is right back where she started, seeing ghosts and being the talk of the town. Yet there's something sinister happening in the small town of Jenkins Cove, and Chelsea might just be the person to uncover it.


It felt like this book couldn't decide what it wanted to be. Romantic suspense, paranormal romance? Each separate classification would've worked, unfortunately, mixed together created an unfortunate mess.

The characters were bland and dull, the plot got lost in the suspense/paranormal/killer/ghosts mess, and the romance left me utterly cold.


CHRISTMAS AWAKENING by Ann Voss Peterson
After ten years, Marie Leonard is back in Jenkins Cove determined to discover why her father's been murdered...But she'll have to deal with skepticism by the local chief of police, the man who broke her heard ten years ago, and a killer determined to silence her forever.


Though this one also had some paranormal elements, it was a much more straightforward romantic suspense story than its predecessor.

Unfortunately, the suspense aspect was the only thing I enjoyed about this one, even though the villain's motive left much to be desired.
The characters were bland (the hero was a self-pitying fool and I simply couldn't stand his moaning toward the end), and the romance tepid.


CHRISTMAS DELIVERY by Patricia Rosemoor
Lexi thought Simon, the father of her preteen daughter, dead for thirteen years, but instead of dead, he's merely been through hell, thanks to human traffickers operating in the small town of Jenkins Cove.
But now, Simon is back, determined to make whoever the culprit is pay...


This second-chance quasi-romance left me utterly cold. The characters were dull and bland, I didn't care about their relationship in the past (since we never got to see it) or in the now (because they simply weren't that compatible).

The main suspense arc of this "series" was never that interesting, so the resolution (rather predictable in all ways) didn't bring much satisfaction.

Burned Too Hot is free today. 

I'm looking forward to the sequels.

Frozen Too Cold

Agony Too Painful

Perspiration Too Sweaty

Oil Too Greasy

and...

Death Too Deadly

I kid, I kid. I'm sure it's a fantastic book. 

I picked up Ferney as the third book in my '3 for 2' offer at Waterston's, without knowing the first thing about it. The cover drew me and the blurb on the back sounded interesting so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

I'm so glad I was tempted because it's such a fantastic book.  It's A love story spanning countless years (and lifetimes.  It's not exactly reincarnation, but it's a variation of it....kinda), and I really, really felt for Gally and Ferney, imagining how they must have struggled to find each other in some of their lifetimes. I loved when they managed to get together at the same time in their lives and hated when they overshot each other through no fault of their own. Their very first lifetime together actually moved me when it was revealed exactly what caused them to be so intertwined.

I had a real problem with Gally's husband though. What a misery he was.  But then I wonder how my own spouse would be if I were in Gally's position.  Probably no different. However, still don't like him *shrug*. I just wanted Gally and Ferney to be together forever and it pained me when they weren't or had interruptions.

I didn't see the 2 big revelations at the end coming though. It came as such a shock. I almost wept when I found out where Gally had been prior to being 'this' Gally (that makes no sense, I know......you'll HAVE to read it) and the end twist was so beautiful but bittersweet at the same time. It left me thinking how that would work out for them both, for days on end after finishing the book.

Such a beautiful, thought provoking book and one that is definitely worth the read, even if it's not your usual type of reading material.

I keep wondering now if I share my present life with loved ones I've spent time with in other lifetimes. I'd like to hope so.