One More for Christmas

One More for Christmas
Sarah Morgan
Harlequin, 2020
416 pages

From Goodreads: For sisters Samantha and Ella Mitchell, Christmas is their most precious time of the year—a time for togetherness, love and celebration. Most of all, it’s about making up for everything their childhood Christmases lacked. But this year, they’ll be buying presents for the most unexpected guest of all—their estranged mother. It’s been five years since they last saw each other. But when their mom calls out of the blue and promises that this Christmas will be different, Samantha and Ella cautiously agree to spend it all together…

Gayle Mitchell is at the top of her career, but her success has come at a price—her relationship with her daughters. She never seemed to say or do the right things. Her tough-love approach was designed to make them stronger, but instead managed to push them away…until a brush with her own mortality forces Gayle to make amends. As the snowflakes fall on their first family celebration in years, the Mitchell women must learn that sometimes facing up to the past is all you need to heal your heart…

Once upon a time there was an author, who shall remain nameless, who I read every Christmas. Then I discovered some of her personal beliefs were a little unsavory to me and thus a big gap was opened in my holiday reading repertoire.  Entrée Sarah Morgan, who I discovered last year, and who writes a Christmas book every year. Her books more than filled my empty spot because they are even better than aforementioned nameless author's. Morgan's books are romantic, witty, unique, and best of all... her characters are individuals with different personalities. The heroines in each book are not the same (oh, cheap shot at other romance authors.) Morgan has a big back catalog that I'm looking forward to reading over time.

Anyhoo, when One More for Christmas became available to me, I snapped it up. It sat on my Kindle for a couple months and I wish I had read it sooner because it was fantastic. What was refreshing to me was that this book was not simply a romance story, but more of a family story. As Ella and Samantha are reunited with their mother, Gayle, they find the whole family suddenly in Scotland for the holidays. Removed from their every day lives, the family has ample time and space to try and heal past wounds and, what's more, Samantha has time to find a love interest after a disastrously awkward breakup (this plot point alone was worth the read!).

At the same time, the family who owns the Scottish estate where they are staying is also experiencing some growing pains. After the patriarch of the family passes away, mother, brother, and sister, are left to find a way to keep the estate running on ever-shrinking finances. In fact that is why Samantha and her family are there, to check out the place to see if it would appeal to Samantha's boutique travel agency's customers. And oh it does- the setting was gorgeous from the home to the tiny village, from the snow to the reindeer. I'd certainly book a trip there if it were real and in the budget!

While it was refreshing to have the romance come second string, I do wish there had been more since the couple had such great chemistry. I loved that Brodie wasn't your typical buff highlander in a kilt, but rather a nerdy yet handsome guy who was adorable. I cannot overstate how ADORABLE he is.

All in all this was another fantastic Christmas book by Sarah Morgan and I am looking forward to catching up on her past novels while also looking forward to new. If you like a cozy holiday story, this is definitely one for you.

Review: White Evangelical Racism

 White Evangelical Racism
Anthea Butler
University of North Carolina Press, 2021
176 pages

Summary via Goodreads: The American political scene today is poisonously divided, and the vast majority of white evangelicals plays a strikingly unified, powerful role in the disunion. These evangelicals raise a starkly consequential question for electoral politics: Why do they claim morality while supporting politicians who act immorally by most Christian measures? In this clear-eyed, hard-hitting chronicle of American religion and politics, Anthea Butler answers that racism is at the core of conservative evangelical activism and power.

Butler reveals how evangelical racism, propelled by the benefits of whiteness, has since the nation’s founding played a provocative role in severely fracturing the electorate. During the buildup to the Civil War, white evangelicals used scripture to defend slavery and nurture the Confederacy. During Reconstruction, they used it to deny the vote to newly emancipated blacks. In the twentieth century, they sided with segregationists in avidly opposing movements for racial equality and civil rights. Most recently, evangelicals supported the Tea Party, a Muslim ban, and border policies allowing family separation. White evangelicals today, cloaked in a vision of Christian patriarchy and nationhood, form a staunch voting bloc in support of white leadership. Evangelicalism’s racial history festers, splits America, and needs a reckoning now...

One of the things that confuses secular Americans the most is how the evangelical crowd can vote for Donald Trump when he is the antithesis of everything the Christian religion supposedly stands for. How can someone who believes in the teachings of Christ first and foremost, vote for a thrice married adulterer, alleged child rapist, liar, etc., etc.. I know it certainly has been a dichotomy that has been turning over in my head for the past four years. Enter Anthea Butler who has succinctly explained how this came to be and, while many presume the reason is simply abortion, there are actually more layers and quite a history that has lead to where we are now. The underlying reason evangelicals are this way? Racism. 

It's so easy for modern evangelicals to balk when being accused of racism, but how many of them accurately know where their movement has come from? I would wager not many. Thankfully for those of us who have been hung up on this issue for awhile, Butler lays out for us in a very succinct manner how evangelicalism adopted racism for its benefit since slavery and how it grew after the second reiteration of the Klan in 1915. 

Many people know that when Trump and other Republicans talk about "law and order" they are using a dog whistle for anti-blackness. It seemed evident to me when this phrase first hit my radar during the protests this past summer, but how did that phrase become such a dog whistle? This was one of the most eye opening parts of the book to me, along with the rise of Billy Graham and how he ties in with anticommunist sentiments which then morphed into racist sentiments. Graham, Hoover, the Red Scare, an evangelical fear of end times... it seems they all combined to create this everlasting racism.

Butler also demonstrates how evangelicals became politically entwined with the Republican party, to the point today where, in my mind, it is impossible to separate the two. I would urge you to read this book even if it were just for this section because it shows how a minority of Americans have been able to leverage their vote and win presidential elections as a result. Butler argues that George W. Bush was the first to benefit from this and how it has grown. A look at almost any evangelical/fundamentalist Instagram or Facebook account shows they are falling for the conspiracy theories spouted by Trump, who they seem to think is second to Christ but indeed act as if he is first. Even knowing how they arrived there, it still blows my mind.

On a side note, this section reminded me of something important. In the age of Trumpism, it's easy to look back at George W.'s administration and think, "Well, maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought," but if you take the time (for a two minute Google search, even)  you can easily find examples of disgusting, racist behavior on the behalf of the former president. We have to insist that the bar has not moved. We cannot dismiss the awful behavior of other Republicans because "at least they're not as bad as Trump." Trump should be the extreme, not the bar between okay and not okay.

I want to thank Butler for taking the time and putting in the work to write this book because it answers several questions many of us have had about the religious voting bloc. I would encourage you to read this succinct and timely book, it won't take more than a few hours, and in the end you'll have at least some of the answers you may have been looking for.  If you are evangelical, Butler also writes directly to you at the end of the book. While it's unlikely evangelicals will read the book, they ought to. They know they are accused of racism and it's time for them to learn why and grow from it. Well, one can dream. 

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advanced copy to read.

PS: Butler mentions the Lost Cause a few times in her book, but if you're looking for more about the Lost Cause and its racist and religious ties, I highly suggest the recent book The False Cause: Fraud, Fabrication, and White Supremacy in Confederate Memory by Adam H. Domby.

Review: Racing Savannah

Racing Savannah
Miranda Kenneally
304 pages
Sourcebooks Fire

This is the second time I’ve read this book, the first time being about five years ago when it was released. I instantly recognized the sweet story about a girl who moves with her father and pregnant step-mother to a huge horse farm in Kentucky, owned by an obscenely wealthy family. Her father works with the horses and her step-mother works as a maid in the main house when her pregnancy allows. Meanwhile, Savannah goes to school with the farm owner’s son, Jack. He is apprenticing under his father to take over the large farm, and she has strictly been told to stay away from him.

Obviously Savannah and Jack can’t stay away from each other... or keep their hands off each other!  When I read the book the first time I found this to be a very sweet story, both Romeo and Juliet-esque, as well as rags to riches as Savannah’s family is near destitute. This held true the second time I read it, although five years later and five years wiser I found some of Savannah's actions problematic. Savannah is a very intelligent young woman with a true talent with horses, just because her family is poor does not mean she's ignorant. So, it really bothered me when Savannah felt the need to ask Jack to accompany her to guidance office to get information about colleges, in case she didn't understand what the guidance counselor was telling her. Girl! This book was published in 2013, you are a strong, independent young woman who can handle a trip to guidance counselor yourself. I had the same problem when Jack's father asked her to have Jack look over all her college applications, and even more of a problem when Jack's father patronizingly took care of Savannah's money the way he saw fit, not the way she asked him to.

These modern feminist issues aside, this was a quick read, a sweet romance that held my attention.  I really rooted for Savannah when it came to her horse training and of course I wanted to see her and Jack end up together, all other females and angsty parents be damned. There was plenty of love, teenage angst, big rich houses, and fun parties to keep me entertained as a I read. If you like YA romance, I definitely recommend this book. A big thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for providing me a review copy; I apologize it took me five years to review it!

Review: Defy

Defy

Sara B. Larson
336 pages
Scholastic

From Goodreads:

Alexa Hollen is a fighter. Forced to disguise herself as a boy and serve in the king's army, Alex uses her quick wit and fierce sword-fighting skills to earn a spot on the elite prince's guard. But when a powerful sorcerer sneaks into the palace in the dead of night, even Alex, who is virtually unbeatable, can't prevent him from abducting her, her fellow guard and friend Rylan, and Prince Damian, taking them through the treacherous wilds of the jungle and deep into enemy territory. 

The longer Alex is held captive with both Rylan and the prince, the more she realizes that she is not the only one who has been keeping dangerous secrets. And suddenly, after her own secret is revealed, Alex finds herself confronted with two men vying for her heart: the safe and steady Rylan, who has always cared for her, and the dark, intriguing Damian. With hidden foes lurking around every corner, is Alex strong enough to save herself and the kingdom she's sworn to protect? 

There were a stream of feminist novels in the mid-2010s that featured a particular kind of kick-ass heroine (see also: The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo). She had something important to fight for and she was not afraid to go after it full steam ahead. Undoubtedly, there were also romantic entanglements or triangles, but that still didn't stop her from kicking some enemy ass. Defy is one of those novels and on the one hand, I'm sad that it took me five years to read it, but on the other hand, this is exactly the kind of book I need in my life right now.

Alexa is an amazing character; she's tough and everyone around her knows it, but she's also hiding herself as a boy because of a severely misogynistic ruler. But is there anything more feminist than a woman-kicking-ass-while-hiding-as-a-male's secret being revealed and then her continuing to kick ass as a female? I love it. The only thing that bothered me about Alexa's transformation, so to speak, is that she and everyone else around her shed tears much more frequently towards the end of the novel than in the beginning, when the guard was entirely stoic and hid all emotion. There's nothing wrong with anyone having a good cry, but what made everyone change?

This book has all the aspects of a good fantasy, including magic, healers, sorcerer's, a good kidnapping, and of course, fierce battle. There was also a love triangle between Alexa, Prince Damian, and another guard, Rylan. It was a pretty one sided triangle for most of the book but it certainly opened up at the end! Yikes!

I love that the book didn't end with an earth-shattering cliff-hanger, but I am still inspired to continue on with the series. In the beginning of the novel there were dozens of women and girls being abused by the king and while they were mentioned throughout the novel, their tragedy was never wrapped up and I need to know how they're doing.

Overall, I really loved this book and if you loved the series I mentioned above, or Graceling by Kristin Cashore or A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, I think you'll love this series as well.  Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing my review copy (in 2014, oops!). The opinions in this review are all my own.

Review: Full Disclosure

Full Disclosure
Camryn Garrett
288 pages
Releases October 29, 2019 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
⭐⭐⭐

Look at that beautiful cover! The colors and font attracted me immediately, and the novel's description drew me in even more as the book covers a sensitive topic that I've never seen before in a YA novel... HIV. Simone was born with the virus, which she contracted through her birth mother, and is being raised by her two dads.

Simone is a character unlike any other that I've seen in a young adult novel and not just because she is HIV positive... although, imagine all the kids with HIV who are going to pick up this book and finally see themselves represented; what a happy thought. Simone is real. She thinks like a teen, acts and speaks like a teen, has insecurities and ambitions like a teen. She is probably one of the most realistic characters I've read thus far in YA.

The book does lose a couple point from me for the first half.  The first half of the book focused nearly 100% on sex. Simone and her friends talk about it, they have it with their significant others, the shop for sex accouterments... I'm not saying real teenagers don't do these things, but they do do other things! Luckily, the second half of the book focuses more on Simone's work as director of her school musical, her support group, and of course, her adorable romance with Miles, who is probably one of the top ten book boyfriends ever. Ever! If you find yourself rolling your eyes in the first half, please keep reading. The end of the book makes up for it, I promise.

Let's talk about the treatment of HIV in the book. I read a review that implied it came off flippant and this could not be farther from the truth! From the first chapter, when Simone visits the doctor for one of her regular checkups, the virus is treated seriously. It is made excruciatingly clear throughout the book by Simone's doctors and her parents what to do when it comes to sex, and that you must disclose to your partner that you are HIV positive. In addition, Simone and her support group discuss several aspects of having the virus. The book is lighthearted despite the topic and has several moments of levity and laughs, but HIV and HIV patients are always treated with the respect they deserve.

Finally, I want to add a note here about the author, Camryn Garrett. She has quite an impressive bio which is even more impressive when you take into account she sold this book to the publisher when she was only seventeen years old! This must be why her characters came across as such realistic teenagers - she still is one! I will be keeping my eyes peeled for more books by Garrett.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me the review copy of Full Disclosure. You can preorder the book now through the publisher, Amazon, or your favorite bookstore. Full Disclosure will release on October 29, 2019 and will be the perfect way to pass a sunny (or cloudy) fall day.

Review: A Wedding in December

A Wedding in December
Sarah Morgan
368 pages
Releases September 24, 2019 by Harlequin
⭐⭐⭐⭐

I discovered Sarah Morgan's books last year and fell in love with her quirky characters and genuine love stories, so when I was A Wedding in December pop up in my NetGalley, I knew I needed it my life ASAP.  This is such a cute and lovely read for winter, so you're definitely going to want to pick this up for some cozy Christmas reading this year. The book releases on September 24, 2019.

The White family is getting ready for a wedding. Rosie, the younger sister, is getting married in Aspen after a whirlwind romance and has just called her family across the pond to invite them to the wedding in a mere three weeks. A flurry of activity follows as her family gets ready to make the trek to Colorado. Rosie's parents have been going through a rough time in their marriage and in fact, now that their girls are both grown and moved out, they have decided to divorce. But how awful would it be to tell your daughter you're getting a divorce on the eve of her marriage, particularly when she uses you as an example of how to keep a marriage alive? No, they must fake it for a bit, instead.

Rosie's parents was one of the absolute highlights of this book. Her mother's frantic antics to keep up appearances were over the top and laugh-inducing. I could picture this perfectly like a movie in my head. In addition to that, the setting of Aspen in the early winter was romantic, with the treetop hotel rooms and snow, the beautiful lodge and cute town to shop in. Anyway, I loved watching her parents grow throughout the book and come to terms with their new status of married (soon to be divorced?) empty-nesters.

Speaking of growth, Rosie's older sister Katie is an emergency room physician and she is the definition of stress and burned out. She works, eats, and sleeps and is very suspicious of love. How could they even know each other well enough to decide on marriage? When Katie's therapist demands she take sabbatical, she has no excuse to miss the wedding and goes to Colorado with the intention of interrogating her sister's fiance.

I really felt for Katie. Her short career has not been easy and she doesn't deal with stress well. In addition to that, she is keeping a secret from her family that keeps her on edge. Watching her leave work and let loose (well, as loose as she can muster) in Aspen was a relief. Two weeks in the mountains was great for Katie's personal growth and helped her make some big realizations of her life... and maybe fall a little in love? It IS a romance novel, after all.

And an epic romance at that, as it encompasses three love stories over multiple generations. Each story was unique and the wove together spectacularly. If you love winter and Christmas romances, this is the book for you this year. You can pre-order a copy on Harlequin's website, Amazon, or your favorite bookstore. Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for allowing me the chance to review this book. The free e-copy did not affect my review and these opinions are all mine.

Review: Call Your Daughter Home

Call Your Daughter Home
Deb Shera
Released: June 11, 2019 by Park Row
352 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

There is something absolutely irresistible about historical books that span generations. Typically I find them as novels that follow a woman, her daughter, then her daughter... but what was even more interesting is that, Call Your Daughter Home is a novel that follows three generations of woman all at the same time... Great Depression, South Carolina. Their lives intersect as they fight their own personal injustices in a small town setting.

The three women are about as different as different can be. There’s Annie, the matriarch of the Cole family who owns her own sewing business with employees sewing grain sack dresses and later, fancy men’s shirts. Annie struggles with empty nest syndrome, her children all grown, and her estrangement from her daughters. Can she find the strength to connect with them and heal? Or is she destined to end her days on her once-plantation, never understanding the real (and awful) reason her beloved family splintered.

Then there’s Retta, a first generation freed slave who still works for the Coles on the kitchen. With the heartache that comes with never completing her family, Retta has a kind, maternal heart and takes several under her wing throughout the book. Retta knows the awful truth about the Coles and uses her maternal instinct to shelter others, both figuratively and literally. I think Retta was the most admirable character in the whole book.

Finally, we meet Gertrude, a poor white mother of four children living in the swamp, whose maternal instinct is also strong. She knows she must fight for her family and she goes about it with the strength of ten women. She’s admirable in her own right. I found the swampy setting of her story to be a mucky representation of her struggles.

Call Your Daughter Home is relatively short novel at 352 pages, but one could almost write a whole dissertation analyzing the title and comparing the lives of the three main characters. What could these women of different ages, backgrounds, and color have in common? As turns out, surprisingly a lot... I recommend this book highly for readers who love historical fiction and rich family narratives. I also want to mention how gorgeous the cover is... is simply screams epic southern story, and I love it.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me a review copy via NetGalley.