WOOOHOOO! It is the December Book Review!! This was my motto throughout the month of December . . “Just One More Chapter”!

December is the perfect weather for a warm drink, next to the fire, snuggled up with my dogs, and reading a book. Of course, that rarely happened because – you know – life. But, it sounds good! I mostly read during carpool and late at night, but I definitely snuggled up by the fire to read when I could.

This month, I read THREE books. Let me just say that this is the largest range of genres that I have ever managed to read in the course of a few weeks. Wowza. All the different types of feels, all over the place.

I did pick up a FOURTH book – an auto-biography – earlier this month, but just couldn’t get past the third chapter. Several of you have recommended this book to me, so I am going to try again next month. I am not sure if it is the actual book or the fact that I read to escape and an auto-biography isn’t always an escape. Take two next month on this one!

OH . . . and just a quick note that either the LAST week of December or the FIRST week of January, I am posting my BEST OF THE BEST: 2019 Book Review! I can’t wait to share that with you, so be sure to come back and check it out!

Here we go . . .

Girls Like Us by Cristina Alger

Friends . . . if you have not read a Cristina Alger book, get on it immediately!

In October when Reid and I went to Vail, I grabbed The Banker’s Wife after a friend told me how amazing it was. She was right. I loved it, and you can read my review of it here.

Girls Like Us is Cristina Alger’s most recent book, and I was so excited to crack it open. Here is the thing about her books. She lays out the story with beautiful imagery (like my other favorite author, Kristin Hannah), and then BAM . . . she goes deep into some crazy, mysterious, who did it kind of story. It is a page-turner from the first chapter, and its twists and turns keep you equally intrigued and excited. Totally my type of book!

FBI agent Nell Flynn returns home to bury her father, a local homicide detective. She hasn’t been home in years, and has never had a great relationship with her father. While back home in Suffolk County to close out his estate and deal with his will, she gets asked to consult on a local case of a possible serial killer. Her father happened to be working on the case when he died, and local police want her help in closing a tragic case that seems to be spreading in the media. As she joins the investigation, questions start to arise about her past, who her father truly was, and how these murders are connected to her world. OOOOOHHHHHHH . . . SOOO GOOD!

If you like the real crime podcasts that are the rage right now, you will be obsessed with this book. I thought I had this book figured out several times, but I was always wrong. Just a great read! Highly recommend! Click here to grab a copy for yourself!

The Mister by E.L. James

So, I kept seeing The Mister at Target. It is written by the Fifty Shades of Grey author, and . . . well . . . curiosity got the best of me. Yes, I have read the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. Don’t judge me. Actually, I only made it half way through the 3rd book. I just couldn’t do it anymore. The writing was not the best, the story line got annoying, and the red room of pain was a bit much. But, for some reason, The Mister just kept calling to me from the Target book aisle. So, I finally grabbed it.

Now, this book is VERY R rated, but I was expecting much, much worse. I’m not sure what I was expecting for a plot line, but I was very impressed with how the author has grown in her writing. Y’all . . . I actually really liked this book! Seriously! Total surprise!

Maxim, a London aristocrat, is reeling from the sudden death of his brother and trying to figure out his life now that he has inherited the family business. He is used to floating through life, and is not accustomed to being in charge of anything but himself.

Alessia, an Albanian woman, has fled an arranged marriage, somehow then escaped a human trafficking situation, and has managed to pull herself up by the bootstraps and find a job working for Maxim.

Very much a story of love and self-discovery with a back plot of international espionage. Again, this book is rated R. With a capital R! But, if you can look past that, it is a great story. It is such a quick read. Such a great surprise! Click here to grab a copy for yourself, and again, don’t just me too badly! 😉

Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah

Earlier this year, I read an interview with Kristin Hannah where see tells her four favorite characters that she ever created. It was one of my personal goals to read those four books over the course of 2019.

If you are curious, her four favorite are . . . Izzy from On Mystic Lake, Tully from Firefly Lane, Anya Whitson from Winter Garden, and Alice from Magic Hour.

So, friends . . . this book! I grabbed it from my favorite Target book aisle, and literally had no idea what it was about. Didn’t even read the back cover. I just wanted to be surprised.

This book is precious. PRECIOUS. Heart-wrenching and precious. I have thought about this book ever since I put it down. So great.

Ellie is the police chief living the good life in a small town in Washington State. That was until a small child wonders out of the woods holding a wolf pup, unable to communicate, and with evidence that she has been abused. Ellie calls in her sister, Dr. Julia Cates to assist in the matter.

Julia, a child psychiatrist in LA, has been through the roughest year of her professional life, and a mysterious patient back in her home town is intriguing.

This patient, they name her Alice, held my heart from the first time I met her. Where is Alice from? What has she been through? Will she be okay?

This story is BEAUTIFUL! This book gave me all the feels, and is truly about self-redemption and healing. No matter if you are five or eighty-five. Loved it! I HIGHLY recommend! Click here to grab a copy for yourself.

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Well, that’s it for the December Book Review! Make sure to check back in a week or so for the BEST OF THE BEST REVIEW: 2019 BOOKS! I can’t wait to share my breakdown with you.

In the meantime, I hope that you have a VERY, MERRY CHRISTMAS! After Christmas Chapel this morning with my boys, we are DONE for the break! WOOHOO! We aren’t traveling this year, so there will be lots of relaxing, lots of snuggling, and lots of fun! I will be taking a bit of a blog break over the next week to hang with my people, but definitely head over to my Lunchbox Babies Instagram Page where I am sure I will be active!

Merry Christmas, friends! XO