REVIEW OF SWEETSHOP OF DREAMS
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As a favor to her mother, Rosie Hopkins leaves her...semi-boring, mostly comfortable life in London - complete with a steady job and steady, if somewhat lackluster, boyfriend - to help her aged great Aunt Lillian in the country. It's only supposed to be for the summer, to get Lillian healthy enough to move into a retirement home. In order to do this, Rosie must fix up and sell the family's old fashioned sweetshop. A nurse by trade, Rosie finds herself getting to know the small town's residents by helping the doctor during her free time. After a few weeks, this brief trip turns into something much more meaningful for Rosie as she starts imagining that maybe she doesn't want it to be temporary after all.
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Much like every Jenny Colgan book I've ever read - seriously this woman has a gift - I want to pack up and move to this fictional world. The way Colgan creates such magical settings and such a colorful cast of characters is what makes her books so much fun to read and why I keep coming back.
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In this particular story, the star of the show is the relationship between Lillian and Rosie. With some flashbacks to Lillian's youth mixed in with Rosie's story, we get to know Lillian better and see how similar the two women are.
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I am learning slowly that love interests are merely accessories in the journey of self discovery for Colgan's heroines, so coming here for a satisfying romantic relationship isn't the best plan. It's almost like romance is thrown in as an afterthought. But the familial relationships and friendships are always so heart-warming and add to the cozy vibe of Colgan's stories. (Needless to say, Sweetshop of Dreams is a prime example of this dynamic. Rosie and Stephen's relationship is very under-developed. Wondering if it will get more screen time in Christmas at Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop which I will be reading asap!)
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❓When was the last time you wanted to move to the world of the book you were reading?❓
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Happy #JaneAwesomeWednesday!
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This month all of our prompts are inspired by Christmas carols! Today - A Marshmallow World (pastel and white). @nonsense.and.sensibility
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I've been rereading through my Jane Austens lately as per usual - this year I've already read Persuasion and Northanger Abbey, I am currently working on Emma, and Pride & Prejudice is up next! Even though Sense and Sensibility has my favorite cover in this collection, I haven't found myself rushing to reread it.
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Which Austen novel have you read the most? (Excluding Pride and Prejudice. I know we've all read that 20 times lol). After P&P, mine is Northanger Abbey. I love how Jane mocks the gothic novels of her time, and the story is so hilariously over-the-top!
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#JaneAusten #janeite #penguinclassics #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookworm #booklover #bibliophile #readersofinstagram #igreads #mustread #bookblogger #bookish #booklife #currentlyreading #glitterandplato #socalbooksta #bookstabuddies📚 #bookishbettiesclub
REVIEW OF LOVE AND OTHER WORDS
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Don't mind me sitting here sobbing over this book.
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Macy and Elliot were childhood friends turned high school lovers who were tragically separated over a decade ago. When Macy, now a pediatrics resident planning a wedding to her older and financially secure fiance, runs unexpectedly into Elliot, the carefully constructed life she's planned begins to fall apart. Neither one quite understands what happened the night they were torn apart, and it will take all of Elliot's patience and love to coax Macy into opening up to him like she did so many years ago.
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You guys. I did not expect to love this book as much as I did. I was brought to tears multiple times. It is just so beautiful. The youthful love between Macy and Elliot was so relatable and agonizing, and the tragedy of their adult lives and separation was just too much. I do wish the *tragic incident* (no spoilers here) wasn't quite so AWFUL but maybe the story wouldn't have been as redemptive or beautiful without it. I absolutely loved it.
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This has done the unimaginable task of unseating The Unhoneymooners as my new favorite Christina Lauren book.
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Happy December!
CHRISTMAS IN VERMONT REVIEW
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When Emma heads to a pawn shop on Christmas Eve to sell a bracelet her ex gave her, she notices a watch in the display case. As luck would have it, it's the very watch she gave to her college boyfriend Fletcher years ago. Emma's best friend Bronwyn doesn't believe in coincidences and convinces Emma that finding that watch was the magic of synchronicity. Bronwyn sends Emma to Vermont, to the very inn that Fletcher is staying at for the holidays, in an effort to bring the two star crossed lovers together.
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I take back every time I called a book a Hallmark movie because this book is the most Hallmarkian of books -- we have a heroine who can't seem to find the spirit of the holidays, a plucky and precocious daughter, an evil fiancee, a meddling best friend, a failing inn, a sweet old couple that teaches the heroine the meaning of love...shall I continue? I am honestly surprised this isn't already a Hallmark Christmas movie!
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This book is a sweet holiday story that fits the bill for anyone looking for a light Christmas read. It did require a lot of suspension of disbelief to handle the coincidences and the fairy-godmother-meddling of the 9 year old daughter; but ultimately, it is a feel-good story with a happily ever after for everyone involved...except the evil fiancee obviously.
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#bookreview #christmasvibes #christmasbook #mugsandbooks #christmasinvermont #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookworm #booklover #bibliophile #readersofinstagram #igreads #mustread #bookblogger #bookish #booklife #currentlyreading #glitterandplato #socalbooksta #bookstabuddies📚 #bookishbettiesclub
