A Baxter Family Christmas by Karen Kingsbury - Audio Version

A Baxter Family Christmas

by Karen Kingsbury

Audio Version

 ★★★★★

I happened across this audio book while scrolling

through my library selections. Such a pretty cover.

And I love family stories. So it was an easy choice.

I had seen the authors name before, but I had

never read anything from Karen Kingsbury.

A Baxter Family Christmas. Turns out it is part of a 

long running series. I will be looking for the earlier

stories! This one is the last in the Baxter Family series.

 The Baxters are a large family. A family like most, 

making mistakes and learning hard lessons. 

They are supportive of each other. While this 

Christmas season is an especially hard one, they come

around and make peace for everyone.

It is a lovely story. Full of love and forgiveness. 

The narration is calm and well done. Befitting the

characters and situations.

I hope you and your family are enjoying the holiday

season. And that you are having time to read

or listen to plenty of stories. 

Review by Lisa Hutson

My Dads Christmas Date - Movie Review

My Dads Christmas Date

☆☆☆☆☆

I have been looking at this movie for a couple weeks.

Today, I finally decided to just do it. In the end,

I bought it for $5. You can't beat that price. So I 

was happy right off.

 Then, I watched it. I am so glad I went ahead and

 bought it. Such a good show. I will watch it again. 

It's a movie all about family and love and tolerance and

love and patience with each other and appreciation for 

all the bonuses you get when you're lucky enough to 

have people you love around you. 

It's worth every penny and then some.

The star is Jeremy Piven. You may recognize him 

from Mr Selfridge not too long ago. 

 I hope you and your family are having a wonderful

holiday season.

 Review by Lisa Hutson

Paris is Always a Good Idea by Jenn McKinlay - audio version

Paris is Always a Good Idea

by Jenn McKinlay

 ★★★★★

I want to start my review by saying the title first drew

me to the story. Then, I took a listen to the sample and

found the narrator to be pleasant. That is what it took

to get me to listen to Jenn McKinlay and her story,

Paris is Always a Good Idea. 

Chelsea Martin finds herself deep in hard feelings with

her family. We all find that happening sometimes. It's the worst.

It's even harder when you know you're behaving badly

and immature. You know you're doing it. But you just 

cannot help yourself. 

So Chelsea takes off on a trip. A trip full of mostly wonderful

memories. She is hoping that replaying the romance and

happiness from this trip will help her come to terms with the

family issues she is struggling with. 

She makes her way from Ireland to France to Italy. Only to 

find, of course, everything she is looking for is right back

where she started. At home. With her family.

The life she has built for herself. The people that make up 

that life. 

Great memories are good and all. But they aren't always

a part of your real long term life. It's a fun story. 

Constant fast pace. And of course, romance. 

I borrowed this from my library. 

Review by Lisa Hutson

While We Were Watching Downton Abbey by Wendy Wax

While We Were Watching Downton Abbey

by Wendy Wax

★★★★★

I know, we arent supposed to judge a book by

its cover. But I do and I wont apologize for it.

I have been burned by a cover or title that 

crooked its little finger at me and I couldn't 

resist. But most of the time, it has worked out

in my favor. Following a cover or title has lead

me to new authors that I still follow years later.

And it is quite possible that I have missed fabulous

authors because they have a boring or poorly

photo shopped cover or a confusing title. But more

often, I find good ones. 

Such is the case with While We Watched Downton 

Abbey by Wendy Wax. Never heard of her. But I 

am a crazy fan for Downton Abbey. Not only does

this book have a terrific title it boasts a wonderful

cover too! 

The story is interesting. Three women that are in

completely different places of their lives. Their 

situations and dreams are nothing alike. They all 

live in The Alexander. In any other place, they likely 

would never even speak to each other. But as it

happens sometimes, people fall into your life because

of a moment, a situation....it just leads them to you.

Or you to them. 

Samantha, Claire and Brooke have fallen into each

others lives. The story follows them thru their 

hard times and good times. We women tend to

be great friends to each other. Then that leads to

wonderful stories. Wendy Wax has taken that cue to

write this wonderful story. You will love how she 

weaves Downton thru the book. The characters are

interesting and real. You will want to find out if there

is an available apartment in The Alexander. 

Review by Lisa Hutson

family for beginners by Sarah Morgan - Audio version

family for beginners

By Sarah Morgan

★★★★★

Audio Version

I have read a number of Sarah Morgan stories.

They are always terrific stories. This one is no 

exception. But the overall drift of it is a little 

different. 

The main idea of the story is building a whole 

family from pieces of other families. 

We all bring our pieces with us. From our 

family experiences, life experiences, love 

experiences, health experiences and on and on. 

If you meet a person that is the right one for you,

then you get to work putting the pieces together

to build a family. 

I enjoyed the real life people in this story. Because

they felt like real live people. In my head, I could

see them as I listened. The emotions.....drama,

laughter, confusion, love, fear and more. Because we 

humans are a hodge podge of emotions. 

Sometimes, these things make no sense at all! 

But there you have it. 

The audio version of family for beginners is 13 hours

 long. So you will certainly get your moneys worth. 

I can recommend it as a story worth listening to. 

I got this copy from my library.

Review by Lisa Hutson

The Christmas Wishing Tree by Emily March

The Christmas Wishing Tree

by Emily March

☆☆☆☆☆

And yet, one more Christmas book. A good friend sent

this to me. And she had it signed by the lovely Emily March

for me! What a special treat!!

 

This story is part of the Eternity Springs series. My mom

was a big fan of the series. But I have never before gotten

around to reading any of it. I believe this one might

give me a push to start from the beginning of it.

Devin Murphy has made his way to Eternity Springs for

the holiday with his family. He is living in Australia.

He answers an unexpected and unknown caller on

his cell phone one day.

 Reilly is determined to reach Santa Claus. He has

important things to ask and discuss. 

Jenna Stockton is his mom. She has no idea that

Reilly has been contacting Santa.

 The Christmas Wishing Tree is a sweet, emotional story.

So many wonderful characters. 

Eternity Springs is a welcoming place.

I can only recommend this book. But I will be picking

up more books from this series.

 Thank you, Sue, for this book.

Review by Lisa Hutson

  



Dear Eleanor - Movie Review

Dear Eleanor

Movie Review

When I saw this movie in the Redbox machine,

I had no memory of it being at the theaters.
But it has several rather well known actors

in it, so it must have been.
It's a sweet fun story of two best teenage

friends. A tragedy drives  them to travel across

the country. Their aim was to meet former

first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. Along the way,
they meet family and strangers that

make the trip worthwhile. For everyone.

Each of the characters have a personal epiphany.

It was so funny at times. Then other times,

it was eye opening. A reminder to all of us.

Don't forget what is really most important.
I enjoyed it very much and I would recommend

it to just about anyone.

Review by Lisa Hutson