Book Review – Take Me Home for Christmas

19 Thursday Dec 2013

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Book Review, Brenda Novak, Take Me Home for Christmas, Whiskey Creek

Time for a holiday book review!

*****

I have not been shy about sharing my love for Brenda Novak’s“Whiskey Creek” novels – When Lightning Strikes , When Snow Falls , When Summer Comes – and Take Me Home for Christmas doesn’t disappoint. We’ve gotten to know Ted and Sophia through the rest of the series (although if you haven’t read any of the others, don’t worry) and now we finally get their story.

Christmas is a time for remembering…

Too bad not all memories are pleasant! Everyone in Whiskey Creek remembers Sophia DeBussi as the town’s Mean Girl. Especially Ted Dixon, whose love she once scorned.

But Sophia has paid the price for her youthful transgressions. The man she did marry was rich and powerful but abusive. So when he goes missing, she secretly hopes he’ll never come back—until she learns that he died running from an FBI probe of his investment firm. Not only has he left Sophia penniless, he’s left her to face all the townspeople he cheated.…

Sophia is reduced to looking for any kind of work to pay the bills and support her daughter. With no other options, she becomes housekeeper for none other than Ted, now a successful suspense writer. He can’t bring himself to turn his back on her, not at Christmas, but he refuses to get emotionally involved. He learned his lesson the last time.

Or will the season of love and forgiveness give them both another chance at happiness?

I will say up front that my only complaint is that we don’t get a better explanation of their past. We were given the bits and pieces but I would have liked to have had a full on discussion about exactly what happened and why. We got the idea, so while I wanted Sophia to own up to her reasons, we got enough and really the details don’t impact their current relationship.

Ted was great and I was drawn in by his confusion, hurt and uncertainty, but it was Sophia that I felt for most. I ached for Sophia as she tries to figure out what she’s going to do now that her life has imploded so dramatically. She’s had a very awful life but she managed to grow into an amazing woman and I cheered for her every step of the way.

We’re also given a look at their friend Eve’s story as she looks for her own love. I know that Novak will give her a HEA, but it looks like there might be some heartbreak before she gets there. I felt for her so during Take Me Home for Christmas but based on the tidbits that we were given, I think that her path might get more rocky before she’s done.

As always, Novak gives readers engaging characters, full of heart and humor and sadness, but always so real they could live next door. Take Me Home for Christmas is a fantastically sweet read, perfect for the holiday season, reminding us about love, forgiveness, and second-chances.

**And for those new readers – Novak does a fantastic job of giving the highlights of what has come before, especially as they impact this story, so if this is your first book you’ll be fine.**

Home to Whiskey Creek

01 Thursday Aug 2013

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Book Review, Brenda Novak, Home to Whiskey Creek, Whiskey Creek

New review is now up.

*****

Adelaide Davies has come back to Whiskey Creek to take care of her ailing grandmother and help run the family restaurant, but home is the last place that Addy wants to be. Fifteen years ago a terrible thing happened and she wants nothing more than to be able to leave the past, the town and everyone involved with that night behind. But until she can decide what her future holds, she’s going to do her best to avoid the men responsible for the event that changed everything all those years ago. After all, they all have something to hide, including her. Noah Rackham is stunned when Addy rebuffs his overtures of friendship, but he doesn’t know that for Addy he’s a living, breathing reminder of what she’s trying to escape. Noah isn’t easily deterred, though, especially once he realizes that he may have finally found a woman he wants to commit to.

The story in Home to Whiskey Creek is so heartbreaking. The secrets that Addy has kept all of these years, the load she’s had to carry, could easily have broken her. But she’s survived – maybe not thrived exactly, but she definitely showed how strong she is. You feel for her every step of the way as she tries to go about her day to day life in Whiskey Creek without making waves and disrupting the lives of those around her. But she just can’t resist Noah …. and honestly I’m not sure anyone could. He’s smart, sexy, charming and caring. He’s also very self-assured and never met anyone that didn’t like him, so Addy’s avoidance is a challenge to him. Then she turns into something more. I don’t know how he finds it in himself to handle everything that is thrown at him before the book is over but his strength is just one more thing that makes him so appealing.

I honestly don’t know how Brenda Novak continues to give readers books that just keep getting better and better. I’ve said it before with When Lightning Strikes, When Snow Falls and When Summer Comes, and I’m going to say it again here: every time I read one of her “Whiskey Creek” books I think that she can’t top it …. and she proves me wrong with the next one. Highlighting a close-knit small town and an even closer group of friends, Novak’s latest deals with some potentially life-alterring secrets that could shatter a community. How will they deal if the truth comes out?

Home to Whiskey Creek is the fourth book in the “Whiskey Creek” series (not counting her When We Touch novella) and returning readers will get a little more in the Baxter/Noah drama plus a few updates abut the couples that have appeared in the previous books. But unfortunately we don’t really get too much about what is coming next, just some broad hints. With this group of friends though, and Novak’s incredible skill as a writer, it is sure to be another emotional powder keg. If you haven’t read any of Novak’s other books, go out right now and pick them up. You will not be disappointed.

When Snow Falls

20 Tuesday Nov 2012

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Book Review, Brenda Novak, When Snow Falls, Whiskey Creek

Growing up, Cheyenne Christensen didn’t have a real home. She lived like a nomad with her mother and sister, thanks to her mother’s less than honest lifestyle. But when Cheyenne was a teenager, her mother was diagnosed with cancer and the three found themselves staying for longer than normal in Whiskey Creek, putting down roots. Now, that same cancer is back and Cheyenne finds herself caring for her dying mother. She also has to deal with the fact that her best friend has expressed an interest in the man that Cheyenne has loved since high school. Add to that, she has some concerns that there was more to her childhood than her mother is telling her. And, since she is dying, if her mother doesn’t tell her now she may never know the truth. This is a lot for anyone to deal with … can she also handle an instant and uncontrollable attraction to the baddest of the infamous Amos brothers? Is this a mistake or exactly what she needs?

When Snow Falls is book three in the Whiskey Creek series, following When We Touch and When Lightning Strikes. Every time I read one of these stories I think that it is my favorite and that the next one won’t be as good … And each time I am wrong. I absolutely LOVED Dylan Amos. He reached off the pages of the book and burrowed into my heart. Dylan gave up so much and managed to not only survive but make a solid life for his brothers. He made some mistakes and he’s paying for them now, with how almost everyone looks down on him. But if only someone would take the time to look deeper they would find he is so much more. The care and support that he gives to Cheyenne, plus the dedication and sacrifices he made for his family, has made him my favorite … well, so far. With two more Whiskey Creek novels on the calendar for next year, who knows.

This is a standalone book, but I highly recommend that if you haven’t read one of Novak’s books, run right out and get one now. When We Touch is a free novella so you have no excuse. When Snow Falls is an amazing story of the bindings of family and love, and how who we are isn’t defined by those around us or by the expectations of others, but instead by who we are at our heart.