GSMC Book Review Podcast Episode 268: Holidays


Golden state media concepts bring you book review podcast haven for bookworm of all ages and the whitest genres from mystery to memoirs. Romance to comedy fantasy scifi. If you love to read this is a podcast. It's the golden state needed concepts book review. Podcast i'm an welcomed and brought together. Gmc podcast network. I am your host. Sarah and i am going to talk about christmas books here. You thought christmas was over right. December twenty eighth. He made relieved that it's over. Maybe you've taken down all your christmas decorations. But i'm here to tell you something that you may or may not already know but the twelve days of christmas are actually after christmas in the retail world. Of course that makes more sense for them to be before christmas so they can do all the christmas sales and all that wonderful stuff. But it's actually a church thing. Eligible thing and the christmas season runs from christmas day december twenty fifth to january fifth. Which is the day before. Epiphany and epiphany is the day when a many churches celebrate the coming of the badge. I or the three kings to the nativity to the baby. Jesus etc little bit of trivia for you so the twelve days of christmas december twenty fifth two january fifth. There you go and I don't have a partridge in a pear tree for you or any of those other things. But i do have some of the books that i listen to on audio this year As you may remember from last year. I like to pile up pile up. Stock my my Phone or my ipod or whatever. I'm listening to at the time with christmas. Holiday books are starting about after thanksgiving. Not before thanksgiving after thanksgiving. Usually i a stock up on the christmas books. I stock up on the movies. I spend a lot of time with hallmark and This year was just in saying li crazy. I didn't do a fraction of the christmas stuff that i normally do. We didn't even put up a tree. Yup that's how crazy it was the most the most festive we were was that i put the garland submits on our mantle and then i put christmas presents under the my under the garland in front of the fireplace. Yep that's about as crazy as we got here in our house at any rate Even though you know in christmas is over. I do want to talk about some holiday books including hannukah. It is still hannukah That's almost over as well but we are still in there. So what is today. The last day the penultimate day have to look at the calendar. I can't remember. I apologize to my jewish readers for not knowing that off the top of my head listeners. And readers you know what i mean. And then maybe some new year's books as well We'll see how the episode goes and where the spirit takes me so let's actually talk about some audio books of that. I listen to so one of the authors that i discovered this year that you may already know about because she has clearly been around for a while. She has a lot of bookstore name and a lot of holiday books to her. Name her name is samantha. Chase and i m encountered her on I think i was doing the free trial of audible escape. I don't know if you've ever tried that again. Not being paid by audible but they have the audible escape which you can you pay an extra fee each month and then you can borrow books. It's not like the free credits that you get on audible but you can borrow as many books as many titles as you want and then return them as you're finished and gets more. Maybe there is a limit. I don't know. I did not test that to see how many i could borrow it once. But you do pay an extra fee. So i was trying the month-long free trial of that. And i discovered samantha chase and many of her holiday books so i think i think i listened to four this year. I'm looking at my list. Yes four the christmas cottage ever. After christmas and silver bell falls and holiday spice so christmas cottage and ever after actually A duality possibly more of more in the series. I think zoology. if i'm remembering correctly The christmas cottage sounds very chrissy. Has all of those wonderful tropes of unexpected encounters and awkward pasts and reuniting and all those good things but it is at the heart of the story. Is this legend about the christmas cottage. That if you spend your wedding night there then you will have a perfect happy. Wonderful loving marriage And that will last very long time and so this family has had it in. They have a tradition of christmas eve. Weddings and their daughter is convinced that she is going to get married there on christmas eve. She's not i mean she's convinced but she does have a fiancee there. There are plans in place but things just aren't going as smoothly as they could. And throughout the course of this she convinces her maid of honor that she needs to go and decorate the christmas cottage to her specifications for the wedding night and she has a lot of them so the maid of honor does and she happens to encounter the best man who is also the bride's brother and her secret crush from childhood whom she hasn't talked to in twelve years since they have twelve or fourteen years since they had a very awkward encounter when he was leaving for college and she was fourteen and she tried to kiss him and told him that she loved him and he just sort of freaked out and left for college yet. All those good tropes so the one thing leads to another as you can imagine. They have encounter in the christmas cottage. Let's just go with that. I think you can probably draw conclusions of your own as to what that encounter entailed which then the bride is very very unhappy and it goes from there so the first book is about the the best friend and the brother and then the second book ever after focuses on the bride from this first book. The sister who doesn't end up marrying the fiance in the first book. And i know that's a spoiler but you probably already guessed that she was getting married for many many many of the wrong reasons and so she has to figure out okay so she didn't have her perfect christmas wedding. She didn't have her perfect happy. ever after. what does that mean. who is she going to find. And then her story takes place a little bit around the around. The holidays Both both stories have thanksgiving in them. both stories have a little bit of christmas. In the my. I'm remembering correctly so and then you get to you. Get more of the rest of the family. Although here's the thing this is to families that are very close and These kids grew up together. That's why the two are. The two main characters are best friends. And you know how the brother is involved but in the second book after the the couple in the first book got together in the second book. Her family just kind of disappears. It's always always always about the in laws. Which are the parents of the main character in the second book in that makes sense but there are no her parents are nowhere to be found even though they live in the same town and they were you know supposedly all best friends with the other parents in the first book. There's no not one single mention of them throughout the book. I found that very very weird. Okay so there you go to To christmas stories from samantha chase to holiday stories. I also read listen to you know what i mean. A book called Holiday by gaslight. By mimi matthews so this was historical fiction christmas story taking place in the victorian era surprisingly maybe not surprisingly but no surprisingly intense for a victorian era romance. Because there is you know no encounter if you will. I don't know why i'm using euphemisms tonight. it's not like again and say sex. But you know. It's the victorian era so they court in very different ways than we would think of cording. Now just the thought of you know maybe holding hands or possibly kissing at some point. Is that the heroine aflutter. But i was actually impressed by how the author media matthews is the author again how the author managed to really build up that tension and make their be bromance and you know some sexual tension in the story where you maybe don't expect it in the repressed poor all of the victorian era so let's go ahead and take our first break of the podcast when we come back actually give you the description of holiday by gaslight so stay tuned you're listening to the mc book review podcast. I'll be right back the. Gmc live in happiness. Podcast takes you on a journey of exploration. We'll discuss tried. And true methods alongside the latest trends of how to live your life to its fullest happiest from psychology to meditation science to self help books the genus mc. Live in happiness podcast. We'll help you to discover what makes you happy and how you can live live being the best possible. Download the jazz. Mc life and happiness. Podcast on itunes stitcher soundcloud. Who will play. Or anywhere you bein. Podcasts tie gmc in the search bar Welcome back to emcee c. Book review podcast. I am doing a late. Christmas slash holiday book fast. Whatever you wanna call it. And before the break i was talking about a holiday by gaslight which is one of the audio books that i listened to in the month of december and i said i would give you the description. So here it is. It's a courtship of convenience. Sophie episode is quite willing to marry outside of class to ensure the survival of her family. But the darkly handsome. Mr edward sharpe is no run of the mill london merchant. He's grim and silent a man of little emotion or perhaps no emotion at all after two months of courtship. She's ready to put an end to things but severing ties with her. Taciturn suitor isn't as straightforward as sophie. Envisioned her parents are outraged. And then there's charles. Darwin prince albert and the draft. The dreaded gaslight. What's a girl to do. Except invite mr sharpe to apposite house for christmas and give him one last chance to win her. Only this time there will be no false formality. This time. they'll get to know each other for who they really are and a cover is beautiful. It's got this beautiful victorian red dress on the the woman on it It's christmas novella. So it's not a terribly long. Listen or read depending on where you're going with that. It was published last year november thirteenth. Twenty eighteen so fairly recent. And it's well first of all. I really love that. That description that line in the description where says and then there's charles darwin prince albert and that dreaded gaslight. What's a girl to do except clearly invite this. Mr darcy lake character or this mr raw raw rochester character to her home for the christmas party b. Which is one of those grand victorian christmas party that lasts ten days or something and is very elaborate in has all kinds of craziness happening Yeah you you're going to have to read or listen to the book to find out. What charles darwin prince albert and the gaslight have to do with his story yellow. It is called christmas by gas. Light i really enjoyed this one. I mean had a very definite jane airfield too. I mean jane austen feel to it where they didn't particularly care for like each other in the beginning. He's grumpy more she you know. She's very plainspoken very blunt in her speaking to extent. It's still a victorian era. And i just thought it was fun and it was much more romantic than you might expect from a victorian novel. Now it's of course a historic fiction historical fiction victorian novel it's not written in the victorian era it's It takes place in the victorian era. So you get a little bit more modern sensibilities in terms of the romance of this book. But i very much enjoyed this one. I liked that. There was a historical fiction component. To this year's reading another one that i discovered this year was Home for the holiday h. L. m. e. for the holiday and it is a Americans abroad. It's probably americans abroad series. Which is kind of what attracted me. At first glance. This is the second in that series. It is by miranda macleod. Which i think is kind of fun since we just had miranda o- on the podcast recently so here is the description of this book home for the holidays and american musician with a broken heart. Meets a local farmer with hidden passed on a holiday house swap in yorkshire a charming romantic comedy. That will fill your heart with holiday. Cheer a country cottage. Is the last place page expected to spend the holidays but a year after her girlfriend dumped her her life is in shambles a last minute. How swaps sensor from california to yorkshire to put her life back on track. She doesn't believe in forever anymore but when she meets a raven haired beauty and the local pub she she she seizes the chance for a night of fun on the brink of fame and fortune fiona suffered and unthinkable loss and a year later. She's given up on singing and just about everything else when the brother she relies on too much skips town for her own good and loans his cottage to a stranger for the holidays. Her life is turned upside down. She knows she can't make a new relationship work but when she meets a purple haired american at the local pub she figures it wouldn't help wouldn't hurt to blow off some steam. They never met meant to see each other again yet from the very first morning when the vicar comes to call and page gets mowed down by runaway llama. They just can't seem to escape their lives. Becoming increasingly hilariously inter inter entwined. Excuse me and when a series of calamities threatens christmas in home village the two must work together to save the day and maybe find true love along the way a year ago their lives fell apart can a bit of christmas. Magic helped them build a new life together. All right so this book is it's got all the it's got all the classic tropes of a great Great hallmark movie of a great christmas story. You know you've got that you've got the funny elements that that scene with the vicar and the llama. Yeah that's got some definite definite strange silly humor in it Yeah i i won't give anything away but you may. You may have noticed that. This book is about two women. It's a romance about two women. Yes it is and and maybe that seem strange you but i have to say for the people in the back. Some of you are just going to be like well. Yeah dub just because it has to women as the main characters you still get all of those great romance tropes all those great romance things. I mean you see that. That one character has been Has broken up with her girlfriend. They had a pretty dysfunctional unhealthy relationship. You have The other character having suffered the loss of her girlfriend and then they're brought together by these crazy circumstances. It's just a row. It's your typical romance with two women and again for those of you who are sitting there saying well duh. I have to say for those of you in the back. Who maybe you're a little freaked out by. Lgbtq romances. Well you don't have to read them but they are very similar to the ones that you read just a little bit different in terms of who is kissing whom in the books and considering everything going on with Romance writers of america this week. If you don't know about that. I'm this is not the place for me to go into it. It's a mess. It's a hot spots. Let me just tell you that. But considering what's going on there i just feel the need to say hey to women as the protagonists in a romance. Nothing wrong with that. Two men the you know. I mean same thing. They're gonna have those same is it's going to follow the same patterns that you love in romances. They will meet. There will be attracted attraction. They will be impossible. Circumstances seemingly impossible circumstances that they must conquer and overcome etcetera. I really enjoyed this. You know it's got all of my favorite things it's in england. It has hilarious farm. That's really not something. I put on my list of things. Listen to or read either way but Come on who doesn't wanna read a book at christmas book with allama in it there's drama there's tension there's crazy family members. There's crazy village members all sorts of good stuff happening in this book. So i am looking forward to reading some of the other books in this series bhai random mcleod again. It is the americans abroad series. And this one as i said is number two and it came out in two thousand sixteen. So you know it's been out for a while maybe you've already read it. Maybe you've read the other books in the series. You can definitely tell me in the comments. I would love to hear your thoughts on this series. The americans abroad series by miranda mcleod. Okay so probably enough of my blah lying about lgbtq novels. I mean we don't need to. We don't need to hammered home for those of you. Who are again sitting there going. Hello lady we're gonna take a break and when we come back we'll finish up with the with the christmas portion of this and then move on to hanukkah and possibly new years depending on the time. Stay tuned you're listening to the gs mc book review podcast and i'll be right back. Tired of searching the vast jungle of podcasts. now listen closing. And here's this out. There's a podcast network that covers just about everything that you've been searching. The golden state media concepts podcast network is here. Nothing less than podcasts bliss with endless hours of podcast cover from news sports music fashion looking entertainment fantasy football and so much more so stop lurking around and go straight out to the golden state media concepts podcast network guaranteed to build that podcast. Whatever it may be visit us at. Www dot mc podcast dot com. Follow us on facebook and twitter and download on itunes soundcloud and google play. Who course welcome back to the emcees. Sarah is rambling on like a drunken hub. Popped up on too much christmas sugar podcast or you know the more traditional. Gmc book review podcast released. Just depends on on how you're feeling. I feel like a drunk enough hopped up too much because matt sugar. I haven't had that much sugar or caffeine today. But i feel like i'm just like wow look today. Sorry about that too much. Christmas i dunno at any rate Another book that i listened to and was also part of a series was also by samantha's and that was holiday spice and that is the shaughnessy brothers a series. This one actually is about the sister in that series. I think there are six brothers and it's obvious when you listen to it that the six brothers have already had their own stories because they're all married and you get snippets of those stories throughout darcy. The daughters the sisters story so it is part of that series. It's also by samantha. Chase and has a lot of the classic tropes get snowed in and she get snowed in after a kind of random set of circumstances. Bring her into contact with what will be. You know what's will with the love of her life of course and you know you gotta love the snow in the snowden kind of theme because very christmassy and very wintery the league. It's not an october. Which i've been there and at any rate it's still feels kind of christmas eve but is still october at any rate. That was another one that i read. That was part of a series and then I read a novella by keelan and pamela. Ward let me just double check that. I got that name rate penelope word. Excuse me. it's called the christmas packed. it is as i said a novella and it is so classic classically hall. Marquis because it involves two characters kennedy riley and riley kennedy who both just happened to work for the same company their email often gets mixed up sent to the wrong person and that leads to shenanigans which lead to them making this christmas packed wherein he will go home with her To pretend to be her boyfriend at christmas and she will go with him to her. His brother's wedding The following week simple enough but of course nothing is ever simple in these types of and they have to get to learn to know each other and not be so judgmental and and all wonderful things that go into these classically books. I please no if you haven't already figured this out about me when i say hall marquee. I'm not using that derogatory. I'd like hallmark movies. I love the books that remind me of homework. I i can't help. But i like it. Oh and then one. More one more samantha. Chase book just mention Christmas in silver bill falls simply because it is about an author. Who's writing a christmas book. Even though she hates christmas and now she has to write this christmas story and she gets An inheritance from her grandmother that she's really never been never known and it's a cabinet and silver bell falls which constantly plays the song silver bells and drives her crazy and she has to learn a lot about her grandmother and her life and her family and herself and she has to read the christmas story. Okay and then. Finally the la- i think the last book. I think maybe listened to more than this but maybe not. It's enough was my final book. That i read from a series even though i've never read any of these series but need to go and check them out is virgin river christmas by robin car. I think this one came out in two thousand twelve. So it's been out for a while and this is a full length novel and takes place in well in and around virgin river california and there's clearly been other books in this series Again you get There's a heavy marine presence in this book. Meaning the actual armed forces armed force. That's not right branch of the armed forces there we go In that the male main character was a marine. the main characters husband was a marine. He was her husband's best friend. The other main character in the town of rejang river itself. There's many Men who have been marines so there's a definite Military theme in the book. Patriot patriot patriotic. Excuse me theme running throughout those so if that is something that you like to read in your romance than you may wanna check out A virgin river. Christmas or any of the other virgin books set in river by robin car. I did enjoy that as well. Not maybe as silly in light heart. There's still some definite silliness and lightheartedness in in the book but it's also got some pretty heavy themes in it as well in terms of and ptsd and survivor's guilt and many many other things. Okay i have rambled on enough. I said i was going to try to get to new year's not going to happen. But i do want to highlight one hannukah book that i have not had a chance to read but it is written by an author who has been on the podcast and that is jennifer wilkie. I can't remember if i asked her this question. When she was a guest on the podcast. Or if we had this conversation At another point not when we were recording. But i was. It was last year around this time. A little earlier. And i was in the midst of my holiday reading and i said you know i would love to read books that are set around the time of hannukah and involve that tradition and so then she not. She didn't write this for me. Obviously but then it turns out that she has a novella just came out this month. It's called waiting for a miracle and it even has a minority on the cover. So you know that it has something to do with hannukah Here is the description of that. Benjamin cohen widowed father of six-year-old. Jesse is doing his best to hold it together. Through order and routine. The last thing he needs is his matchmaker mother to set him up with her next door neighbor. No matter how attractive she is. Rachel sectors dream of becoming a foster mother is right within her grasp until her meddlesome neighbour tries to set her up with her handsome son. What's worse he's the father of her favourite kindergarten students student. She can't afford to let anything come between her and her dream no matter how gorgeous he may be can these to determine people trust in the miracle of hanukkah to let love and light into their lives. So there you go. That is the description of waiting for a miracle. it is by author. Jennifer will who have had on the podcast. And i said wilkie earlier i am so sorry about that too much sugar clearly too much. Sugar jennifer wilk. There's no e. on the end w. i l. k. I know this now. You have the correct spelling jennifer. I apologize for mispronouncing your name but thank you so much for writing a hanukkah novella. I am very excited to read it and can't wait to. Maybe it'll come out on audiobook. I can add it to my list to listen to next year. Even though i plan on reading it before then and when i get a chance to read it then i will you know what i think so very excited to add hanukkah to the list of to my holiday list of reading. What are your favorite holiday books. Are they christmas or thanksgiving. Are they conaco. Are they kwanza. Are they new years. And if so what are those books. Because of there are a plethora of christmas stories. Out there christmas romances. But what about the other holidays around this time of year. And what about the ones that. I'm not even mentioning or maybe don't know enough about if you have books that you liked to read that are holiday themed but not necessarily christmas themed. I mean. I still want to hear your christmas suggestions but i would love to hear your hanukkah suggestions. Your new year's suggestions your kwanza suggestions. Whatever it is that you enjoy reading and the holidays that you enjoy celebrating. Please let me know. So i can add them to my list for next year. I am going to go. I don't know drink some water or something tried to the sugar in my system. I hope you had a wonderful holiday week. I hope that you are going to do something. Whatever's fun for you for new year's stay safe and then join me on tuesday for my final episode of twenty nineteen. I will have a returning guest on the podcast. That is author. debbie burke. We'll be talking about the second book in her Tawny lindholm series and this one is called stocking if you want something to do between now and then you should go back and listen to the episode. She was on originally when we talked about the first book in the series that was episode number sixty six And of course. Interview with debbie burke if you want to go and Either we listen to that or listen to it for the first time before you listen to the interview on tuesday have a wonderful weekend and i hope that you have plenty of time to Not only lost in a good book but your weight and sugar. If that's what you desire. I will talk to you next time. You remember listening to the golden state media concepts book review. Podcast part of the golden state media concepts podcast network. You can find this show and others like it at. Www dot p. s. c. podcasts dot com download. Our podcast on itunes stitcher soundcloud and google. Play this type in gs mc to find all the shows through the golden state media concepts podcast network from movies to music from sports entertainment and evens reared news. you can also follow us on twitter and on facebook. Thank you and we hope you have enjoyed today's program.

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