The Gift of Christmas Present by Melody Carlson

December is almost over and when it has ended my burning desire to read "Christmas" will ebb away until next year. So this is the last Christmas blog of the season! Christine Bradley grew up in a loving family. When her mother died her father decided she needed to know something - she had been adopted. Christine is in college and living in the dorm. Her father has left to do missionary work. Although her birth mother is dead, Christine decides to meet her maternal grandmother who lives in the town where Christine attends college. Mrs. Daniels (granny!) has recently had a fall and badly sprained her ankle. When Christine shows up at the door, Mrs. Daniels thinks she is the helper sent over by an agency. Taken back by the gruffness of the old lady, Christine finds herself with a job for Christmas vacation. She doesn't have the nerve to tell Mrs. Daniels who she is and prepares herself to do a lot of hard work for a woman who is not very appreciative. It's a Christmas book - I'm sure you know where this story will end. I did love the journey to the end of the story.
So enough of good will on earth, etc. I think it's time for a good murder mystery!

In Their Blood by Sharon Potts

Jeremy hasn't fit in with his father's desires. He was pursuing a degree in accounting like his mother, but he dropped out and went to Europe. His parents, Rachel and Daniel, came to Portugal with Jeremy's younger sister Elise to "talk some sense into him". He is not going to come home. But things change and he does come home. The night his family returned home from Europe his parents were murdered in their home. His sister had sneaked out to see her boyfriend and escaped the carnage. Can Jeremy become a responsible person and take care of his sister? Why were his parents murdered? He decides to do some investigating on his own. This is a first novel by Potts and I liked it a lot. The plot was intriguing and the characters were flawed - just the way I like them!

The Christmas List by Richard Paul Evans

I am a big fan of Richard Paul Evans. At Christmas time when I am in the mood for a sweet, sappy book I head straight for his book. This one lived up to my expectations. It's a modern day Scrooge story. James Kier is a very rich real estate developer who left his wife (who is now fighting cancer.) and is enjoying an affair with a younger woman. He is off to meet his lover for a weekend tryst when a series of events leads to him looking at his obituary in the paper. He also has the chance to read what people are saying about him - and it isn't pretty! The title of the book refers to a list of people whom he has wronged over the years. It isn't easy to make restitution as James finds out. A great holiday read.

Cherries in Winter by Suzan Colon 394.1 Col

The rest of the title of this book is ' My Family's Recipe For Hope in Hard Times'. What originally attracted me to the book was the cover. When I read the blurb I was hooked. Colon worked for a magazine in New York City. It was the best of times. She gave little thought to the expensive bottled water she drank, the eyebrow-tweezing (I think she paid about $40 for that every three weeks), the hair stylist who billed $300 a cut(-but Colon got a discount) or the massages she got on a regular basis. Then 2008 sent the world into a spin and Colon was unemployed. Now everything she looked at was with different eyes. Things now were equal to a week's worth of groceries instead of a price that meant little to her.
To get through this tough time, she looked to her family. She starts looking through the recipes of her Nana for ideas of inexpensive but hearty food. Along with the recipes she learns a lot about how her family and gotten through the Depression and other times which were hard.
I really liked the book. I believe there are lessons and reminders for everyone in this book. I highly recommend it!

Crewel Yule by Monica Ferris

I always love to read Christmasy books during the season. So when I was checking in books and saw this title I decided to take it home. It was a quick read. I refer to this kind of book as "light murder mysteries". The characters are always more interesting that the plot. This murder takes place in Nashville at a needlework convention. Ferris uses the real names of companies (which I recognized right away) and even Frank (a designer on Trading Spaces, he also has a needlework design company) made an appearance! Great fun to read. Now I have her book Knitting Bones on my stack of books to be read.

Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Patillo

Dumped by her husband (after finding him in the midst of an affair with her teaching assistant - on their kitchen table no less) and her teaching career ruined, Emma Grant escapes to London in pursuit of long-lost letters from Jane Austen. Emma blames Austen for the way her life has turned out, for promising her a happy ending and then not delivering. Not a good position for a renowned Austen scholar to be in. While in England, Emma visits many of the places that Jane Austen lived and finds herself considering both Jane's life and her own.

Not too surprisingly, this is a quick read. The explanations of Jane Austen's life and the descriptions of the places she lived in England made me want to make my own pilgrimage! Emma grows and matures during the course of the novel. Does she find true love? You'll have to read it and find out!