Book Review: Diary of an Adorable Fat Girl at Christmas by Bernice Bloom
Diary of an Adorable Fat Girl at Christmas
Series: Adorable Fat Girl #4
Author: Bernice Bloom
Published: November 5, 2016
Audiobook
Reviewed By: Jessica
Date Read: December 17, 2021
Jessica’s Rating: 3 stars
Book Description:
Hooray It’s Christmas! It’s the Adorable Fat Girl’s favourite time of year and she embraces it with the sort of thrill and excitement normally reserved for toddlers seeing jelly tots. Our funny, gorgeous and bonkers heroine finds herself dancing from party to party, covered in tinsel, decorating the Beckhams’ Christmas tree, dressing up as Father Christmas, declaring live on This Morning that she’s a drug addict and enjoying two Christmas lunches in quick succession. She’s the party queen as she stumbles wildly from disaster to disaster. A funny little treasure to see you smiling through the festive period.
Jessica’s Review:
The Adorable Fat Girl series is a series of about 14 short novellas with more coming! These books can be read as the series progresses or as standalone novels. Our ‘Adorable Fat Girl’ is Mary Brown who is a Bridget Jones type character who is actually overweight and has all kinds of crazy chaos ensues (some her fault, some not!)
This is the fourth in the series, and sadly this one just did not really work for me. It seems to be missing the ‘magic’ that the others I have read in this series have. Maybe it was because this is an earlier novel in the series and Bloom was still figuring Mary out? I enjoyed the section that dealt with the Beckham’s and their Christmas tree, but the rest of the novel just did not really appeal to me.
Will this stop me from reading more of this series?? Absolutely not! There is a new one coming out on Christmas Eve called Marvellous Mary Brown gets a Christmas Puppy: Chaos, Mayhem and Madness that I look forward to reading!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
A Double Review of The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews
Today Kim and I bring you a double review of The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews! You guys know we both will read practically anything she writes! We both gave The Santa Suit 5 stars and it also touched me in a personal way, which will be in my review. I listened to the audiobook while Kim read the physical book.
The Santa Suit
Author: Mary Kay Andrews
Narrator: Kathleen McInerney
Published: September 28, 2021
Audiobook/224 Pages
Book Description:
When newly-divorced Ivy Perkins buys an old farmhouse sight unseen, she is definitely looking for a change in her life. The Four Roses, as the farmhouse is called, is a labor of love—but Ivy didn’t bargain on just how much labor. The previous family left so much furniture and so much junk, that it’s a full-time job sorting through all of it.
At the top of a closet, Ivy finds an old Santa suit—beautifully made and decades old. In the pocket of a suit she finds a note written in a childish hand: it’s from a little girl who has one Christmas wish, and that is for her father to return home from the war. This discovery sets Ivy off on a mission. Who wrote the note? Did the man ever come home? What mysteries did the Rose family hold?
Ivy’s quest brings her into the community, at a time when all she wanted to do was be left alone and nurse her wounds. But the magic of Christmas makes miracles happen, and Ivy just might find more than she ever thought possible: a welcoming town, a family reunited, a mystery solved, and a second chance at love.
Kim’s Rating: 5 Stars
Kim’s Review:
What a perfect way to start out the holiday season!! This is a Hallmark Christmas movie in book form … except it’s better than the movies! The best way to describe it is “feel good”. It’s not a long book, nor is it complicated with lots of drama or conflict. It’s just a sweet story that probably won’t happen in real life, but stirs up all those warm and fuzzy feelings you want around Christmas time. I wasn’t expecting it, but I was in tears by the end. My heart felt so big and happy that I wanted to tell Ivan that we should buy a fixer upper farm house in the country and keep it decorated all year long! I might just add this book to my annual Christmas reading list!
Jessica’s Rating: 5 Stars
Dates Read: November 9-12, 2021
Format Read: Audiobook
Jessica’s Review:
The Santa Suit is a cute novella that will get you all ready for Christmas! As with many of her more recent novels, MKA has characters that deal with houses that are ‘fixer uppers’, this time newly divorced Ivy buys an older farm house called The Four Roses without seeing it. Unaware of how much work needs to be done on the house until she sees it firsthand, Ivy finds herself overwhelmed as the previous owners left their personal possessions. This includes a Santa suit which she just can’t throw away. Inside the suit she finds a very old letter written by a little girl wanting her daddy to come from the war. Ivy then becomes determined to find out what happened to the little girl and her family.
Ivy becomes friends with a local girl who is engaged to a man she has never actually met, and she isn’t exactly how she described herself to him. There is also a potential romance and starting over for Ivy.
This is an enjoyable Christmas tale without a complex story to it and everything wraps up nicely in a sweet and cute novella that we need after the last couple of years. If you are a fan of MKA, do yourself a favor and read The Santa Suit this Christmas season!
The Santa Suit touched me personally, from when I was in middle school on, my own dad played Santa every Christmas. It was something he loved doing. Listening to the audiobook brought back those memories.
The Santa Suit is recommended!
Here are some pictures of my dad in action as Santa:
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
ARC Review: Tessa & Weston: The Best Christmas Ever by Abbie Emmons
Tessa And Weston: The Best Christmas Ever
Series: 100 Days #2
Author: Abbie Emmons
To Be Published: November 1, 2021
208 Pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: October 11-22, 2021
Jessica’s Rating: 5 stars
Book Description:
It’s Tessa and Weston’s first Christmas together, and Tessa is determined to make it the best holiday ever. But when her estranged mother shows up with a suitcase and plans to stay for two weeks, Tessa’s hopes are shattered.
Bitter from the past and still holding a grudge, Tessa is in no mood to give her mother a second chance. The holiday season may be a time of reconciliation with family, but Tessa believes her mother will never change. Why get close when she’s just going to leave again? Tessa realizes there is only one way to save this Christmas: avoid her mother as much as possible.
With the best intentions in mind, Tessa chooses to not tell her mother about Weston’s disability. But when they meet face-to-face, Tessa is mortified and ashamed by her mother’s insensitive remarks. Weston begins to think he is the real cause of Tessa’s shame. His old demons resurrect to haunt him with doubts: What if, one day, Tessa stops loving him because of his disability?
Determined to prove his love for her, Weston makes it his mission to be the best boyfriend ever and works to reunite Tessa with her mother. Meanwhile, Tessa plots elaborate ways to avoid “mother-daughter time” at all costs. One scheme leads to another, until Tessa finds herself tangled in a web of deceit — and, worst of all, lying to Weston.
When the secrets between them force Tessa and Weston to face their greatest fears, they must confront the inescapable question: Is true love worth the risk of heartbreak? Is it ever too late to forgive and start over?
The Best Christmas Ever is a heartwarming holiday follow-up to 100 Days of Sunlight by Abbie Emmons. You’ll love this touching story of forgiveness, family, and first love.
Jessica’s Review:
I don’t tend to read Christmas romances, but when the author gave me an opportunity to read an advanced copy of Tessa and Weston’s continuing story I had to read it: I mean this is Tessa and Weston!!!
Picking up after 100 Days of Sunlight which I just adored, Tessa and Weston’s first Christmas together is very quickly approaching and then the unexpected arrives in the form of Tessa’s estranged mother. She also wants to heal wounds and Tessa wants nothing of it.
T&W (Tessa and Weston) is a short novella sequel that focuses on everything it needs to while giving you all the Christmas feelings that Christmas stories have. T&W will definitely put you in the Christmas spirit. It deals with family, forgiveness, and the joys and pains of young first love. After this second novel with Tessa and Weston, I want to read even more of their story and to see them mature and grow into adults with each other.
After two years from the publication of 100 Days of Sunlight, T&W comes as an unexpected, but most welcome surprise filled with lots of sweetness. This is a clean first love/romance story, with some minor foul language.
Do yourself a favor and pick this one up on November 1st! I had not even finished my advanced copy and clicked that pre-order button. As with 100 Days, the cover of T&W has small images that reflect the story you are about to read. I cannot wait to have my copy to put next to 100 Days!
Pick both novels up if you have not read either one and get ready to fall into the Christmas spirit! Get some cookies and hot chocolate to snack on as you read! And just maybe I will start reading some Christmas romances one day soon…
Tessa and Weston: The Best Christmas Ever is highly recommended! Many thanks to Abbie Emmons for inviting me to be a part of her ARC Team for this upcoming release!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK