2017 HoHoHo Read-A-Thon Sign-up Post

Yes! I've been waiting for this event since last year's ended. The HoHoHo Read-A-Thon is a week long event, hosted by the Caffeinated Reviewer, focused on reading books with winter or holiday themes. They can be any genre - romance, mystery, etc. - and any length.

There will be a Twitter party, games and challenges, and prizes. For all of the details, and to sign up, go here

As always, I have a lot of books that fit this theme. My list is an ambitious one and I likely won't finish them all, but that's part of the fun. :) Also, I tend to be a mood reader so the list is subject to change. I have almost 2 dozen unread holiday/winter books, most of them from previous years so I may read one not on the list below.

Slay Bells Ring by Karen Rose Smith (ebook, mystery) - Read 11/9 - 11/11. Review on 11/27
How the Finch Stole Christmas by Donna Andrews (ebook, mystery) - Started 11/14
A Wedding for Christmas by Lori Wilde (paperback,romance) - changed my mind 
Christmas in Destiny by Toni Blake (paperback, romance) - changed my mind
Burning Bright: Four Chanukah Love Stories (ebook,romance anthology)
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (audio book, classic)
The Chimes by Charles Dickens (audio book, classic) -  Listened 11/9
Holiday Wishes by Jill Shalvis  - Read 11/8
The Negotiator by HelenKay Dimon - Read 11/11. Review on 11/14
Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan - Started reading 11/12
Sleigh Bells Ring by Jodie Griffin - Read 11/13

Bea Reviews Miracle on 5th Avenue by Sarah Morgan

Series: From Manhattan with Love #3
Publisher: HQN Books
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: November 29th, 2016
Challenges: Ho Ho Ho Read-A-Thon |
NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | ARe* | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

It will take a Christmas miracle for two very different souls to find each other in this perfectly festive fairy tale of New York!

Hopeless romantic Eva Jordan loves everything about Christmas. She might be spending the holidays alone this year, but when she's given an opportunity to house-sit a spectacular penthouse on Fifth Avenue, she leaps at the chance. What better place to celebrate than in snow-kissed Manhattan? What she didn't expect was to find the penthouse still occupied by its gorgeous—and mysterious—owner.

Bestselling crime writer Lucas Blade is having the nightmare before Christmas. With a deadline and the anniversary of his wife's death looming, he's isolated himself in his penthouse with only his grief for company. He wants no interruptions, no decorations and he certainly doesn't appreciate being distracted by his beautiful, bubbly new housekeeper. But when the blizzard of the century leaves Eva snowbound in his apartment, Lucas starts to open up to the magic she brings…This Christmas, is Lucas finally ready to trust that happily-ever-afters do exist? 

Bea Reviews Holiday With A Twist by Shannon Stacey

Publisher: Carina Press
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: November 21st, 2016
Challenges: NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge | Ho Ho Ho Read-A-Thon 
Buying Links: Amazon* | ARe* | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

After a messy breakup, Leigh Holloway is ready to start her life over. Until her parents put the family home on the market and call her back for one final, memory-making Christmas. The last thing she wants to do is deprive her mom of the perfect holiday, so she'll lie her way through the visit and worry about her future in the New Year. Too bad the only bar in town is owned by a guy she seriously wronged in high school.

Leigh's best friend broke Croy Dawson's heart, and Croy knows it was Leigh's fault. They've never liked each other, but Croy isn't cruel: he'd never turn away a pretty woman in need of some family-Christmas fortification. He doesn't expect her to drink just enough candy-cane martinis to tell him her secrets—and he definitely doesn't expect to get caught up in her holiday madness.

Despite the surprising love and laughter, Croy and Leigh can't escape the truth: he can't walk away from his family obligations and she has a life and career to reboot. But anything is possible if your holiday comes with a twist.

Sign-up & Tracking Post for Ho-Ho-Ho Read-a-thon 2016

Once again, I'm joining in this read-a-thon. It's one of the few I do It's a lot of fun, challenging but not insanely so, and doesn't make you jump through endless hoops. The idea is to read as many winter or holiday themed books as you can in the week from November 9th through November 15th.

Bea Reviews Trimmed with Murder by Sally Goldenbaum

Series: Seaside Knitters Mystery #10
Publisher: NAL
Source: owned by the reviewer
Release Date: November 3, 2015
Challenges: Cruisin' Through the Cozies
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit*  | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

All Izzy Chambers Perry wants for Christmas is to keep her brother out of jail—in this holiday yarn from the national bestselling author of A Finely Knit Murder…

In Sea Harbor the holidays mean cozy fires, festive carols, and soft skeins of yarn waiting to become hats and sweaters and scarves.  And this year Izzy and the other Seaside Knitters are also knitting tiny ornaments to decorate a tree for the first annual tree-trimming contest.

Their holiday cheer is multiplied when Izzy's younger brother, Charlie Chambers, unexpectedly arrives to volunteer at a local clinic.  He brings with him outspoken hitchhiker Amber Hanson, who is returning to Sea Harbor to claim an inheritance.  She quickly reacquaints herself with the area--and forms an unlikely friendship with Charlie.  But their bond is shattered when her body is found beneath the undecorated trees on the Harbor Green.

With Charlie a suspect in the murder, Izzy and her fellow knitters step in to uncover the truth.  It's only by peeling away long-buried secrets that they can hope to restore joy to the season, and enjoy the shining lights of the newly decorated trees.

Ho Ho Ho Read-A-Thon Wrap Up

The read-a-thon is over and I made my goal. Whoo hoo! *tosses confetti*

Hosted by hosted by Bookshelfery and Caffeinated Book Reviewer Nov. 12th-17th, the idea was to read holiday or winter themed books. I had an extensive list of titles to choose from and added two more during the challenge.

My goal was 5 titles from my list. I read 7 1/3, though only 7 count. I got a third of the way through book 8 but then the read-a-thon ended. The stories ranged from short stories to 300+ page novels and the genres were romances, mystery, and even erotica.

I read:

1. A Silver Wolf Christmas by Terry Spear (Read 11/17, review to come)
2. Summer Beach Vets: Playing Santa (Christmas Special) by H.Y. Hanna (Read 11/12; Click to see review)
3. The Christmas Bake-Off by Abby Clements (Read 11/12; click to see review)
4.  What Happens At Christmas (Millworth Manor) by Victoria Alexander (Read 11/14; click to see review) 
5. Christmas Kink: Five Festive Fantasies by Kay Jaybee (Read 11/12; click to see review)
6. The Cop Who Stole Christmas by Christie Craig - (Read 11/13-11/14; click to see review)
7.  Killer Christmas by Harper Lin (Read 11/14; click to see review)

 How did you do? If you didn't participate, do you plan on reading any holiday themed books?

Ho Ho Ho Read-A-Thon Sign Up & Updates

It's that time of year again! Time for hot cocoa, warm blankies on the couch and a good winter holiday themed book. And I have lots waiting to be read. :D

The Caffeinated Reviewer and The Book Shelfery are once again hosting the Ho Ho Ho Read-A-Thon. This year it runs from November 12th through the 17th. There will be challenges, prizes to be won, a Twitter chat, or you can just curl up and read. Whatever floats your boat. :)

The Details:

1. Write a sign up post - done!
2. Link up - done! 
3. Grab the button and share - when this post goes up
4. Tweet your progress using #HoHoHoRAT - if I remember :D
5. Twitter Party! Tuesday November 17, 2015 at 7 pm (EST)  Come chat about the books you have read. There will be prizes.
6. Read-a-thon starts on November 12th 12:01 am (your time zone) and ends on November 17 at 11:59 pm (your time zone)
   Challenges will be open from 8 am (EST) on the 12th and remain open until Nov 17th at 11:59 pm (EST)
   Grand Prize Raffle will be open until November 18th at 11:59 pm (EST) to allow you to submit entries.
7. Challenge schedule and Grand Prize widget and rules will post on November 12th at/by 8 am (EST)
8. Participate in at least one challenge to be eligible for grand prize.

Bea Reviews Her Holiday Man by Shannon Stacey

Publisher: Carina Press
Format Read: eGalley
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: November 3, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Kobo* | ARe* | Barnes & Noble | 
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Christina Forrester is starting over. After a financial scandal sent her ex-husband to prison, she's left raising her young son without any of the comforts of their old life. Budgets, coupons, lawn care—you name it, she's learning to do it all on her own. Well, almost on her own—she'd be lost without Gail Broughton, the kind widow across the street. But when Gail's son comes home, Christina's vow to never trust a man again is put to the test.

Will Broughton left town because he was tired of being "that poor man" who lost his wife and unborn child in a tragic accident. But years have passed and, with his dad gone and his mom alone, it's time to go home. Only his mother's not alone. She's taken Christina under her wing, and the beautiful and determined single mother awakens something in Will he thought was buried forever.

As Will and Christina are forced to spend more time together, feelings that are more than neighborly grow between them. And with Christmas coming and a child filling both houses with holiday cheer, it becomes nearly impossible not to embrace the joy—and the love—in their lives.blah

Bea Reviews Christmas Gift that Keeps Wagging by Jennifer Conner

Publisher: Books To Go Now
Series: Dog Tails #2
Format Read: Kindle book 
Source: borrowed from Reanna at Phantasmic Reads
Release Date: November 6, 2013
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | ARe* | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords*
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Julian Barrows has his hands full working full time and being a single dad to his kindergarten, special needs son, Gabe. Gabe's teacher convinces Julian he doesn't need to do everything on his own and introduces him to a seizure dog trainer, Hanna Acker.

Hanna and her sister grew up without any 'Christmas Cheer'. She's trying to get her sister through college and doesn't have time to let anyone too close, especially the handsome single dad with a kid.

But, Christmas has a way of changing what we thought we wanted... especially when Santa and an adorable four-legged 'elf' are involved.

Bea Reviews I'm Dreaming of An Undead Christmas by Molly Harper

Publisher: PocketStar
Series: Half Moon Hollow #2.7
Format Read: eGalley
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review 
Release Date: November 17, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Kobo* | Barnes & Noble |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Experience the vampire world for the holidays through the eyes of Gigi Scanlon in this e-novella prequel to The Dangers of Dating a Rebound Vampire from beloved paranormal romance author Molly Harper!

College co-ed Gigi is headed home to Half-Moon Hollow for her first Christmas since her sister, Iris, was turned into a vampire by her beloved undead husband, Cal. Iris is working overtime to make this holiday as normal and special as possible. After all, it’s taken her months of working with Jane Jameson and the Hollow’s vampires to convince herself that she won’t bite her baby sister on sight.

Gigi has her own worries. She’s falling out of love with her high school sweetheart, Ben, and has no idea how to tell him. She’s got a secret job interview with terrifying teen Council official, Ophelia Lambert. And there’s a handsome but cagey vampire following her around town and then disappearing before Gigi can confirm that he’s not, in fact, a figment of her fertile imagination. Holidays with family are complicated. Christmas with an undead family can be downright dangerous. 

Quote-Tastic And Review of A Little Christmas Jingle by Michele Dunaway

Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks 
Series: Man of the Month #1
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: October 7, 2014 
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | ARe* | Barnes & Noble | 
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads ~

Women, men, stray dogs—everyone's looking for love this holiday season. Sometimes all it takes is a LITTLE CHRISTMAS JINGLE to get into the spirit. . . 

Kat Saunders doesn't believe in miracles—though she sure could use one. She's devoted to her veterinarian business, and all she wants for Christmas is for her practice to include a no-kill shelter. But amidst all the holiday hoopla she forgot about getting the required permits...and time is running out. Just when Kat fears her dream career is DOA, a to-die-for handsome detective shows up at the vet with a desperate puppy. Could it be that Jack Donovan—otherwise known as Mr. December on the Sexy Public Servants Charity Calendar—is the answer to her prayers? He agrees to help Kat with her legal needs, and she will do whatever it takes to express her appreciation. But could this Man of the Month also end up being Kat's true love for all days? A kiss beneath the mistletoe may be all it takes to find out.

Quote-Tastic and Review: On the Naughty List by Lori Foster, Carly Phillips, Sugar Jamison, and Beth Ciotta

Publisher: St. Martin 
Format Read: eGalley
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: October 14, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Kobo | ARe* | Barnes & Noble |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

The most wonderful time of the year is back with On The Naughty List, bringing perennial favorite holiday stories from Lori Foster and Carly Phillips, along with two Christmas stories that delighted readers a year ago. This sexy anthology will make you want to give your heart to Christmas again and again…Lori Foster has two co-workers plan a Christmas party side-by-side-and discover a love worth celebrating in Christmas Bonus Carly Phillips explores a "mistletoe moment" when a no-nonsense lawyer intent on seducing her boss meets his twin instead--and gives him a scintillating kiss that leaves him begging for more in Naughty Under the Mistletoe.In Sugar Jamison’s Have Yourself a Curvy Little Christmas, former wild child Dina Gregory returns home to New York to find the father of her young son. Instead, she finds his stuffy older brother, Ben. Ben can’t help but admire her tenacity—and her bold beauty. Could it be that Dina has reignited his Christmas spirit? Beth Ciotta brings two friends who, after years apart, together at home for the holidays. They don’t seem to have much in common anymore, but when the two get stranded together during a blizzard, they are forced to reexamine if they are better off as "just friends"? Or could it be that true love was there all along? in Some Kind of Wonderful.

Quote-Tastic & Review - Maybe This Christmas by Sarah Morgan

Publisher: Harlequin
Series: O'Neill Brothers #3
Format Read: egalley
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: October 28, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | ARe* | Barnes & Noble |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

This winter, ex-skiing champion, reformed heartbreaker and single dad Tyler O'Neil has only one mission—making sure his daughter, Jess, has the best Christmas ever. The fact that his best friend, Brenna, is also temporarily moving into his chalet at the overbooked Snow Crystal resort is a delicious distraction he's simply going to have to ignore. Theirs is the one relationship he's never ruined, and he's not about to start now.

Ski pro Brenna Daniels knows all about the perils of unrequited love—she's been in love with Tyler for years. But living with him is absolute torture…how can she concentrate on being his friend when he's sleeping in the room next door? Then when Tyler kisses Brenna, suddenly the relationship she's always dreamed of feels so close she could almost touch it. Could this be the Christmas her dreams of a happy-ever-after finally come true?

Bea Reviews Christmas with a SEAL by Tawny Weber

Publisher: Harlequin 
Format Read: eGalley
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: October 21, 2014 
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | ARe* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Subject: Navy SEAL Lieutenant Phillip Banks

Mission: Resist one saucy redhead's attempts to de-Scrooge him …and seduce him!

Silversmith Frankie Silvera has lost her creative mojo. And she knows how to get it back—by getting her sexy on with a certain hot sailor. Just the thought of Phillip's hard, Navy-trained body against her, and everything goes molten. He's the "inspiration" Frankie needs for the holidays!

Navy SEAL Phillip Banks is the prince of protocol. But after his last mission went horribly off-course, all of that control has dissipated. Now he's at the mercy of one very determined female who is pulling out all the stops on Operation Christmas—including red-hot lingerie and the promise of oh-so-wicked delights… But does giving in mean giving up everything he's worked for?

Bea Reviews The Heart of Christmas by Brenda Novak

Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Series: Whiskey Creek #7
Format Read: eGalley
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: October 28, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | ARe* | Barnes & Noble | 
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Just call her Christmas Eve… 
Eve Harmon has always enjoyed Christmas, but this year it reminds her of everything she doesn't have. Almost all her friends are married now, and that's what Eve wants, too. Love. A husband and kids of her own. But the B and B she manages, and even Whiskey Creek, the small Gold Country town where she was born and raised, suddenly seem…confining. 

Eve's worried that her future will simply be a reflection of her past. There's no one in the area she could even imagine as a husband until a handsome stranger comes to town. Eve's definitely attracted to him, and he seems to have the same reaction to her. But his darkly mysterious past could ruin Eve's happily ever after just when it finally seems within reach. And just when she's counting on the best Christmas of her life!

Ho Ho Ho Read-A-Thon Word Scramble Challenge

Welcome! Come in, come in. Make yourself at home. Have a drink, get cozy on the couch, push the cat out of your way.

It's Almost Time for the Ho Ho Ho Read-A-Thon!

 

I know,  I know it's only the first day of October, but once again the Caffeinated Reviewer is holding her Ho-Ho-Ho Holiday Read-a-Thon from November 6th-11th. I'm participating and I'll be holding a challenge.

The idea is to read holiday themed or winter setting reads. I have a pile of Christmas romances that I've been saving just for this. I probably won't get all seven read but I'll do as many as I can. There are prizes to win and a Twitter chat; it's going to be fun.

 

Interested? Go here to read the rules and to sign up. Then get the warm beverage of your choice, find your books, and get ready to read!

The Books I'm Planning To Read:

1. Her Holiday Man by Shannon Stacey
2. A Little Christmas Jingle by Michele Dunaway
3. On the Naughty List by Lori Foster, et al
4. Christmas with a SEAL by Tawny Weber
5. Maybe This Christmas by Sarah Morgan
6. The Heart of Christmas by Brenda Novak
7. 'Tis the Season by Robyn Carr

ETA: Nov. 13th - The Books I Actually Read:

1. Her Holiday Man by Shannon Stacey- review to come
2. I'm Dreaming of an Undead Christmas by Molly Harper- review to come
3. On the Naughty List by Lori Foster, et al - review to come
4. Christmas with a SEAL by Tawny Weber - Review here
5. Maybe This Christmas by Sarah Morgan  - review to come
6. The Heart of Christmas by Brenda Novak - review here
7. Christmas Gift That Keeps Wagging - review to come

There were two titles that I didn't get read and two titles that I added in. I did achieve my goal of reading seven so, yay! Now I have two more to read some time between now and Christmas. :)

Most of these are authors I haven't read before so I hope I like the books. :) - eh, it's been a mixed bag so far. But now I know. :)

Review of Kissing Under the Mistletoe: A Sullivan Christmas by Bella Andre

Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Series: The Sullivans #10
Format Read: eGalley
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: Sep. 24th
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | Barnes & Noble | ARe*
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission for purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

For Mary Sullivan Christmas is, and always has been, about family. And this year is no different. As she awaits the arrival of her eight children and their partners at the cottage in Lake Tahoe, she hangs the ornaments that they made for her over the years. Each decoration brings with it a tide of memories, all of which she holds dear to her heart. But when she comes across the oldest ornament, the one her beloved husband, Jack, gave her on their very first Christmas together, Mary is immediately swept back to the first days of their whirlwind romance, to the love that would be the foundation on which they built the family she is so proud to call her own.  

Join the Sullivans this Christmas for a story that explores the wonder of the holidays, the meaning of family and a love that transcends time. 

Ho Ho Ho Read-A-Thon

Merry Christmas! Okay, okay, it's not Christmas yet, thank goodness, as I'm nowhere near ready. But holiday themed books have been showing up in book stores and newsletters for a while now. Jennifer @ Bawdy Book Blog and Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer have teamed up to host a holiday themed read-a-thon from Nov. 7th through Nov. 11th. There will be daily challenges and a grand prize.

For all the details and to sign up, go here. 

The following are the books I'm aiming to read (several are novellas and short stories); some are new, some are not:

 Kissing Under the Mistletoe: A Sullivan Christmas by Bella Andre Read 11/10 review soon
 All I Want for Christmas Is A Duke byDelilah Marvelle & Maire Claremont Read 11/9 Goodreads review
 One Foot In the Grave by Steven J. York  Read 11/7 goodreads review
 Cajun Werewolf Christmas by Selena Blake Read 11/8 goodreads review
The Lola Cruz Christmas Story by Melissa Bourbon Ramirez - Read 11/8 goodreads review

ETA 11/10: I added 2 short holiday romance freebies to my Kindle and I'm aiming to read them before the end of the  read-a-thon. 

Worth Waiting For by Ann Corbett Read 11/10 Goodreads review
A Steamy Holiday Romance by M.L. Young Read 11/11 Goodreads review