The Christmas Joy Ride by Melody Carlson

176 pages / 5 hrs, 5 mins

"Miranda did not put adventure on her Christmas list, but thanks to her eighty-five-year-old neighbor Joy, that's exactly what she's getting this year. When Joy tells Miranda that she plans to drive an old RV decked out in Christmas decorations from their Chicago neighborhood to her new retirement digs in Phoenix—in the dead of winter, no less—the much younger Miranda insists that Joy cannot make such a trip by herself. Besides, a crazy trip with Joy would be more interesting than another Christmas home alone. Unemployed and facing foreclosure, Miranda feels she has nothing to lose by packing a bag and heading off to Route 66. But Joy has a hidden agenda for their Christmas joyride—and a hidden problem that could derail the whole venture." --from the publisher

This was a fun little story that reminds you of the good people in your life and in our world. The reader of the audiobook is one of my least favorite, though. I give it four out of five stars.

A Dog's Perfect Christmas by W. Bruce Cameron

 288 pages

"The problems fracturing the Goss family as Christmas approaches are hardly unique, though perhaps they are handling them a little differently than most people might. But then a true emergency arises, one with the potential to not only ruin Christmas, but everything holding the family together.

"Is the arrival of a lost puppy yet another in the string of calamities facing them, or could the little canine be just what they all need?"  --from the publisher

This is the first book I've read by Cameron so I don't know if they are all written in the same format. From the title, I thought the book would be told from a dog's perspective, but the voice bounces back and forth from character to character. There are also frequent (every few pages) time lapses in the story. These two things make the tale very disjointed. That said, I did enjoy the characters. They were portrayed pretty realistically, imho. I give it three out of five stars.

Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva

Mr. Dickens and His Carol: A Novel of Christmas Past by Samantha Silva --- 276 pages with Author's Note and Acknowledgements

Following the critical and popular failure of Martin Chuzzlewit, Charles Dickens' publishers propose to recoup their losses by invoking a clause in their contract with Dickens to require him to produce a Christmas story in just  a month’s time --- or they will force him to repay the advance he received for Chuzzlewit. 

Dickens is not interested in writing a Christmas book. He's frazzled and anxious about his mounting debts. His wife and children have become accustomed to a lavish lifestyle, ne'er-do-wells and hangers-on  are always asking for loans or other favors, fickle fans have turned into critics, envious rivals are eager to take him down a notch. Memories of his impoverished childhood convince him that he will end in the poorhouse and bring on a severe case of writer’s block.

Holed up in a cheap lodging house by day and walking the streets of London by night, Dickens desperately seeks a new inspiration to rekindle the magic of Christmas for him. In her debut novel, Samantha Silva creates a parallel tale to Dickens' Christmas Carol, mixing real people and events from Dickens’ life with dreams and phantoms uncannily like his own. Silva's book, published by Flatiron Press, was named one of the 20 Indie Next Great Reads in November 2017.

A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost-Story of Christmas, was published in London by Chapman & Hall on December 19, 1843; the first edition was completely sold out by Christmas Eve. By the end of 1844, thirteen editions had been released. Dickens said he was inspired to write the story after a visit to the Field Lane Ragged School, one of several charity schools that served London's half-starved, illiterate street children.

A Christmas Carol tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a mean old miser who is visited during the night of Christmas Eve by the specter of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. After their visits Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man. 

In 1849 Dickens began public readings of the story, which proved so successful he undertook 127 further performances until 1870, the year of his death. A Christmas Carol has never been out of print and has been translated into several languages; the story has been adapted multiple times for film, stage, opera and other media. After the Nativity Story itself, A Christmas Carol is considered to be the best known and most popular Christmas story in the English language.

Click HERE to read a review from the Historical Novel Society web site.

A New York Christmas by lingeAnne Perry

A New York Christmas: A Novel by Anne Perry --- 164 pages

This is the twelfth in Perry's series of Christmas novellas, featuring supporting characters from her two Victorian mystery series. In this book, set in New York City in 1904, that character is Jemima Pitt, the 23-year-old daughter of Charlotte and Thomas Pitt. Jemima has been hired to be the companion and chaperone of British heiress Delphinia Cardew, traveling across the Atlantic to her wedding with Brent Albright.  Delphinia is head-over-heels in love with the handsome Brent, giddy with excitement over  her high society wedding --- the event of the New York social season --- and too accustomed to having the best of everything and everything her own way, to be aware of the feelings of other people.

But Jemima suspects that the Albrights are more concerned with the merger of the Albright and Cardew international financial empire this marriage represents than with the personal happiness of the young bride-to-be. Jemima's also surprised to discover that Delphinia's mother Maria, whom she assumed was dead, is actually very much alive. According to Brent's older brother Harley, Maria enticed Edward Cardew in marrying her, then abandoned her husband and baby to pursue her own pleasure. Now Harley asks Jemima to help him find Maria and prevent her from showing up at Delphinia's wedding and creating a scandal.

Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas by Stephanie Barron

Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas: Being a Jane Austen Mystery by Stephanie Barron --- 329 pages

The twelfth book in Barron's intriguing series of historical mysteries, in which Jane Austen employs her formidable talents as a sleuth, makes a happy Christmas present for her readers,

Not only has Barron produced another clever mystery, but her story is inserted seamlessly into the historical record of Austen's life and times. The principal characters and places portrayed are all real people Austen knew and actual places she visited, and the plot revolves on historical events that were well known to Austen and her contemporaries. Barron creates a plausible portrait of the author that feels remarkably true to what we know or can surmise about her life and character.

In this book Jane and her mother and sister Cassandra arrive in Steventon to spend the Christmas holidays with her brother James and his family in Steventon rectory, the house where Jane grew up. She is looking forward to renewing her acquaintance with old friends in the neighborhood and enjoying a traditional Georgian Yuletide celebration as the guest of the wealthy and prominent Chute family at their nearby estate,The Vyne. The revels are rudely interrupted when one of the guests suffers what appears to be a fatal accident ---  which Jane immediately suspects is something more sinister. When an important diplomatic document goes missing, Jane knows her suspicions are well-founded. Another guest offers his assistance in solving the crime, but Jane wonders if he is too eager --- to help, or to hinder?

American author Stephanie Barron studied history at Princeton and Stanford Universities, and worked as an intelligence analyst for the CIA. She published her first book in 1992 and left the CIA a year later to write full time.  Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas is set in December of 1814. Sadly, we can anticipate only a few more Austen mysteries, since we know the real Jane Austen died on July 18, 1817 at the age of 42. All the more reason to savor them! 

Click HERE to read a review of Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Click HERE to read a discussion with Stephanie Barron on the Austenprose blog.

Secret Santa by Fern Michaels

I purchased this book for under $5 hoping to read a few Christmas stories before Christmas.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Sometimes, it is nice to be able to pick a short story and be able to read it in a few hours.  There are four stories all relating to Christmas in this book.  The book gives you a taste of some popular authors.  I had never read Fern Michaels, but I particularly enjoyed her story entitled "Mister Christmas."  I read it on Christmas day, and I found it a sweet, feel good Christmas love story.  If you are looking for a light holiday read, give this book a try.  Besides, who can resist the cute cover!

Christmas Stories: Heartwarming Tales of Angels, a Manger, and the Birth of Hope by Max Lucado

Christmas Stories: Heartwarming Tales of Angels, a Manger, and the Birth of Hope by Max Lucado -271 pages

Christmas Stories is an anthology of Christmas stories taken from other works by Lucado. While I enjoyed the longest story, "The Christmas Candle" the others were lackluster.  Also, each story made the exact same point-believe in only the religious aspects of the season and miracles are always possible.  Overall, it was too repetitive.