Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor
By Lisa Kleypas
Publisher: St.
Martin’s Press
Release Date:
October 26, 2010
Mark
Nolan’s strongest commitment is to his coffee business, not withstanding his
long-term girlfriend. That changes when his sister Victoria is killed in an
automobile accident and Mark finds that she has named him as guardian of her
six-year-old daughter, Holly. Her happiness becomes Mark’s primary concern: “For the first time in his life he knew what
it felt like to have his heart broken… not broken in a sad or romantic sense,
but broken open. He had never known this before, the desire to surround another
human being with perfect happiness.” But Holly, grieving for her mother, has
stopped speaking, and Mark feels helpless to end her silence.
Maggie Collins is no stranger to grief. A widow, she has opened a toy store,
the Magic Mirror, in Friday Harbor as one more step in building a new life. Even
a mute child loves a toy store, and so it’s hardly surprising that Mark and
Holly visit the Magic Mirror. Holly is enchanted by a fairy house that Maggie
has made, and the two are clearly kindred spirits in their love for the
imaginary world of fairy lore and other magic. Mark’s not happy about this
departure from reality, but he tolerates it since, with Maggie’s encouragement,
Holly begins to speak.
Both Maggie and Mark are quickly aware of
their attraction to one another, but neither is ready to act on it. Mark feels
a certain loyalty to his girlfriend, Shelby, and Maggie, two years after her
husband’s death from cancer, is leery of opening herself to the possibility of
more loss. So the two settle for friendship. They enjoy one another; they talk
to one another, sharing the best kind of conversation: “As they continued to talk, it somehow slipped into the bonelessly
comfortable, unstructured conversation of longtime friends, both of them
letting it go where it would.”
But the attraction doesn’t disappear, and Holly’s
letter to Santa adds a layer of complication. But Maggie has to be willing to
take a risk and Mark has to learn to believe in magic before a little girl’s
Christmas wish can come true.
More novella than novel, Kleypas’s first Friday
Harbor book has less sizzle than her usual fiction, but it has the memorable
characters the mix of sigh-worthy romance and real-life issues that characterized
her Travis family contemporaries. Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor is
several love stories—the love of a child, the love of family (even dysfunctional
ones), and the love between a man and a woman—all tied up in a Christmas bow.
Reading it, or rereading it, is also great preparation for the next Friday
Harbor book, Rainshadow Road, which will be released in February. I’m
excited about reading a Lisa Kleypas book, especially after no new books from
her in 2011. Rainshadow Road Sam Nolan’s story, and I’m already a little
bit in love with Sam. You can read an excerpt here.
Note: I am one of "Lisa's Divas" - a
group of select fans who share info and content related to Lisa's novels and get
sneak peeks and swag in return.
Once Upon a Winter’s Eve
By Tessa Dare
Publisher: Samhain
Release Date: November 15, 2011
Spindle Cove’s
Christmas ball is in progress, and Violet Winterbottom, an experienced
wallflower, has claimed a corner from which to watch the dancing when a
stranger, wet and bloody, staggers into the room and falls unconscious at her
feet. The language he speaks is a
strange one to the citizens of Spindle Cove; only Violet can understand him.
She identifies his language as Breton, the language of Brittany-- “As
in Brittany, France,” as Bram Rycliff (hero of A Night to Surrender) says. Bram and the other members of the militia
are suspicious of the stranger. He may
be a spy or the scout for an invasion force.
Violet isn’t sure she trusts him either, nor is she sure she
trusts herself. The last time she gave her trust to a man, she ended up with a
broken heart and indelible memories of The Disappointment. Should she listen to her excellent mind that
tells her this man is a mystery and a stranger, and an enemy stranger at that,
or dare she listen once again to her heart?
Broken heads and broken hearts, language games and a truncated
letter, pistols and promises—Dare weaves them all into a story with humor and
heat and heart-capturing characters. You can read an excerpt here.
I knew I’d love this book from the moment I read the tagline: “Some wallflowers bloom at night...” and I did. I
loved Violet’s intelligence, vulnerability, and courage. I loved her stranger
in the night. And I loved seeing Bram and Susanna’s happiness continuing to
grow. Spindle Cove has become one of my favorite fictional settings. My second
visit there was a rare treat, and I look forward to returning with A Week to Be Wicked (March 27, 2012).
I want to share the love by giving away two ecopies of Once Upon a Winter’s Eve--one in honor
of a terrific author and one in honor of an equally terrific editor. Winners
will be chosen randomly from among those who comment. With apologies to
international visitors, the contest is open only to visitors within the U. S.
What’s your favorite
Christmas novella? To what 2012 books are you most looking forward?
