Book Review: Single Dad's Christmas Miracle

Author: Susan Meier
Title: Single Dad's Christmas Miracle
Publisher: Harlequin Roman
Publish Date: Oct 1, 2012
Buy: Amazon

Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley
Book Blurb: 

He needs a helping hand…

Having recently lost his wife, Clark Beaumont is trying to make it through the holidays for the sake of his kids. But with his son failing at school and his little girl talking only in whispers, he needs nothing short of a miracle….

…when one arrives on his doorstep!

Althea Johnson is only meant to tutor Clark's son. But with her help the Beaumont family begins to come alive again, and against the odds Althea hopes that when Christmas morning arrives there will be four stockings hanging over the fireplace….

Review: Holiday romances are always the very best, and Susan Meier usually delivers a good one for the Romance line. This year's is super sweet and very heartwarming.

Althea is hired on the spot as Clark's son, Jack's tutor, but she become's so much more than that. She becomes the band aid on a family that needs a lot of healing.

Clark's wife was killed in a car accident 3 years prior and everyone is taking it badly, Clark the most, because his wife had been cheating on him, and he's living with the belief that his 3 year old daughter, Teagan,  might not really be his.

He's very over protective. VERY over protective.

These two characters work very well together and from the very beginning they have a chemistry. It is nice to have a romance where there isn't a lot of conflict between the hero and heroine on their way to their happily ever after.

The conflict in this story really comes from Althea's father, who was abusive. He's just downright nasty. I wish Clark would have had the opportunity to punch the man in the nose, because I wanted to. He messed up so many lives and was ultimately trying to mess up Althea's new relationship with Clark.

What I love about Susan Meier's books are the focus on family. She writes children so well. I adored Jack and Teagan, she was so precious. Toss the holiday into this story and what you have is close to perfection.

This is a must read for sweet romance lovers out there as well as those of us who love Christmas romances

Rating: 5 flowers

Book Review: The Magic Of A Family Christmas

Author: Susan Meier
Title: The Magic Of A Family Christmas
Publisher: Harlequin Romance
Publish Date: Nov 2009
Book Blurb: With her little foster son Harry to care for, Christmas suddenly sparkles again for secretary Wendy Winston. The only fly in the ointment is Cullen Barrington. He's her boss, yet insists on playing the part of Scrooge!


When they are all stranded together in an ice storm, Wendy sets about showing them just how magical a family Christmas can be....

Review: When it comes to sweet holiday love stories, you can't' go wrong with Harlequin Romance. They always seem to create loving tales that would make Norman  Rockwell go all warm and fuzzy. The Magic Of A Family Christmas was on my TBR pile last year so I made sure I got to it and I am glad I did. This is the kind of romance that you want to read curled up on the couch with a cup of hot cocoa.  Think Call Me Mrs Miracle but with a little sadder backstory on the child.

Harry is a foster child whose mom died of cancer and whose father is found to have died in a prison fight a few years back. The story has a definite "aw" factor to it, but it isn't cavity inducingly sweet. It definitely would make a good Hallmark Movie.

Wendy is a sweet administrative assistant learning to balance her job with her new duties as a mom. Cullen is a sort of playboy who is about to change his ways.

If it were longer it would have been nice to understand the workings of Cullen's family, who own and operate Barrington Candies, where Wendy works, but as it was, Susan explains their situation pretty well.

I loved Harry though. He was by far one of the cutest kids in a romance novel. He was great at being a matchmaker too.  The only complaint anyone might have with him would be that he seemed too adjusted, especially after losing his mom.

The story can be a little cheesy, but not in a bad way. This is definitely one of the holiday stories I'm keeping so I can revisit it in years to come.

Rating:

Book Review: Married In The Morning

Married In The Morning is pretty much a comedy of errors and the errors are all made by the heroine and hero, Gina Martin and Gerrick Green, who end up eloping in Las Vegas during a wild weekend celebration of Gerrick's new job.

The elopement itself would make for a great story, but Susan gives it a bit more Oomph, by making sure their nuptials aren't discovered. When the couple returns, with Gina already having second thoughts, she learns her father has suffered a serious heart attack.

From that point on, Gina and Gerrick can't seem to get it together. They get close and then they get pushed apart. It almost seems like they shouldn't be together.

This story is so well-written and the characters are so likable that you want to shake each of them, for keeping each other from what would make them the happiest, being together.

I think of the two, Gina is the most frustrating, because she tries to win Gerrick back after pushing him away only to spoil their relationship again and again. You want to take her aside and ask her what she really wants.

Married in the Morning is a great light read, that will definitely brighten your day. Its got romance and humor and family all in equal measures. This is one of those books that remind me of why I read romance.