#TNReads: Real Quick Reviews for Lazy Readers featuring Some Holiday Reads!

Christmas Kindling is an entertaining collection of memories highlighting the true meaning of Christmas. Each chapter illuminates a heart-warming story while encompassing a Christian value. Some chapters are humorous like The Great Christmas Train Ride and Rachel’s Choice while other chapters like The Spirit of Christmas and The Thin Line Between Giver and Receiver are touching. Seriously, there were almost tears. When you finish reading this book, you want to be a better person.

One of my favorite stories is The Biggest, Baddest Mad Dog in Town. At the age of thirteen, David Jacinto swam against Mark Spitz (a future gold medal Olympian) in a medley relay at the Junior Olympic Championship. As a mother of swimmers, I feel for David and all the members of his relay team as they battle for first in the championship final. This story is gripping and surprising—definitely worth the read. How does a swim championship relate to Christmas? You’ll have to read to find out.

Fans of The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans or any Hallmark Channel Christmas movie will enjoy Christmas Kindling. It would make a perfect gift for your mother or aunt. Or read a chapter a day during December to make a perfect advent for the Christmas season.

It’s 1939, and everyone is running from something when they board the Orontes in Essex, England en route to Australia. Lily Shepherd is trying to forget her past as she looks forward to visiting exotic locations and starting a new life abroad. However, it’s her shipmates who become the ultimate distraction as she gets caught up in their complicated lives.

Lily meets an eclectic group of passengers including siblings moving to a warmer climate for health reasons, a self- righteous racist and a young Jewish woman fleeing the increasingly dangerous Nazis. But when Lily meets Eliza and Max Campbell, she is both drawn in and apprehensive. The Campbell’s beauty and wealth is intoxicating, but whispers and stares accompany the young couple who mysteriously spend more time on the lower class decks than with similarly affluent travelers. Aboard the Orontes, societal rules fall away as close quarters necessitate interactions that cross ethnic and economic boundaries. Meddlesome passengers, gossip and the ever increasing threat of war, all contribute to mounting tensions throughout the five-week journey. By the time they reach their destination, secrets will be revealed and two passengers will be dead.

This is the first historical fiction novel from Rachel Rhys, pen name for the established psychological thriller author, Tammy Cohen. Dangerous Crossing has adventure, romance and mystery but Iags a bit in the middle. The race to the finish excitement of the final chapters and the ultimate fantastic twist you won’t see coming, make it well worth the journey.

I don’t always say this, but in the case of All I want for Christmas is a Cowboy, the title speaks for itself. Cass, personal assistant to a supermodel, is running away for Christmas from her boss’s handsy boyfriend when she crashes her car and loses her memory. Luckily for her (and us) Eli, a local rancher finds her and saves her from the impending snow storm. They’re snowed in together for several weeks while she recovers physically, but her heart will never be the same, because Eli is shy, strong, and hers. The only problem is that she has no idea if she has a boyfriend or husband whom she can’t remember. A fun read to heat you up on a cold winter day.

Tasha has the picture-perfect life. She has the husband, the children, the ability to leave her job and be a stay at home mom, but something is missing. Her husband Charlie is distracted, busy and distant. Cooking and cleaning is getting old and it’s hard to escape for even a night out with the girls. One hasty decision born out of boredom may be the torpedo that destroys everything Tasha loves.

This third novel from Georgie Capron explores what happens when couples stop paying attention to their relationship and get caught up in the day to day hassles and routines. Realistic and cautionary, The Distance Between Us may make you think about the pitfalls in your relationship.