So its that time of year again when I embark on a Christmas challenge, I shall be taking part in the Ho-Ho-Ho reaction set up by Caffeinatedreviewer. I joined this one last year but sadly didn't manage to read a single Christmas book which is just awful!!!
As this year I have already got my festive spirit going I will certainly endeavour to join this challenge and get some more Christmas books ticked off my list!
The challenge runs from 18th - 30th November which is two weeks of Christmassy fun! I have a few books in mind to read during this period to get me in the festive mood.
Midnight in Everwood by M.A. Kuzniar
This has been on my Netgalley TBR for ages and I am so excited to read it, it will fit perfectly within this challenge!
A spell-binding retelling of The Nutcracker, filled with enchanted toys, decadent balls, fierce feminine friendships and a forbidden romance. For fans of The Toymakers, Caraval and The Bear and the Nightingale.
There’s nothing Marietta Stelle loves more than ballet, but after Christmas, her dreams will be over as she is obligated to take her place in Edwardian society. While she is chafing against such suffocating traditions, a mysterious man purchases the neighbouring townhouse. Dr Drosselmeier is a charming but calculating figure who wins over the rest of the Stelle family with his enchanting toys and wondrous mechanisms.
When Drosselmeier constructs an elaborate set for Marietta’s final ballet performance, she discovers it carries a magic all of its own. On the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve, she is transported to a snowy forest, where she encounters danger at every turn: ice giants, shadow goblins and the shrieking mist all lurk amidst the firs and frozen waterfalls and ice cliffs. After being rescued by the butterscotch-eyed captain of the king’s guard, she is escorted to the frozen sugar palace. At once, Marietta is enchanted by this glittering world of glamorous gowns, gingerbread houses, miniature reindeer and the most delicious confectionary.
But all is not as it seems and Marietta is soon trapped in the sumptuous palace by the sadistic King Gelum, who claims her as his own. She is confined to a gilded prison with his other pets; Dellara, whose words are as sharp as her teeth, and Pirlipata, a princess from another land. Marietta must forge an alliance with the two women to carve a way free from this sugar-coated but treacherous world and back home to follow her dreams. Yet in a hedonistic world brimming with rebellion and a forbidden romance that risks everything, such a path will never be easy.
Strictly Christmas Spirit by Helen Buckley
This one I will definitely get complete during the challenge dates as I am on the blog tour. Watch out for my review on 27th November!
From disco balls to Christmas baubles …
Ex-dancer Emily Williams turned her back on the sparkle of popular dancing show Strictly Dancing with Celebs to help those in need. Now the only dancing she does is teaching lonely pensioners to waltz, and the closest she gets to disco balls is making baubles with the homeless people in her Christmas crafts class.
She’s certainly not star-struck when Hollywood heart-throb Blake Harris is sent to her at short notice for community service, and has no desire to babysit the arrogant actor with his bad boy antics and selfish ways. Christmas might be a time for miracles, but Blake seems to be a lost cause.
But Emily’s reasons for abandoning her dancing passion means she understands the Hollywood wild child more than she’d like to admit. Could their time together, coupled with a dash of Christmas spirit, lead to a miracle change of heart for them both?
So that's two books I hope to read over the twelve day #HoHoHoRAT who knows I may even be able to squeeze a few more in!
Will you be taking part in this readathon? Let me know in the comments! If this sounds like something you would like to join in with you can follow this link and join up too! https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/2021/10/2021-hohohorat-sign-up.html