Good morning, fellow reader!

Have you ever thought that I read a lot? I’m aware that there are people out there that read more than me (I see it online), but I’ve never met these people. Quite honestly… said people are goals. Do they get paid to read? What do they do for a living to be able to read that much??

This month, with all the books I managed to read, I surpassed my 100 book reading goal for the year.

I certainly never thought my goal would change from 50 to 100, doubling!! Yet here I am. Blowing it out of the range.

This is the first year I’ve reached 100 so this is a big deal. 🥺

Now… let’s get into the heart of the matter. The books themselves!! (Heads up, there’s a lot to unpack here in the reading corner).

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On the Way to Christmas by Sheila Roberts, Melissa Ferguson, and Amy Clipston

Well I picked this up because I love Melissa Ferguson.

“Picked this up” meaning I added it to my Amazon cart immediately once I knew of its existence, which was actually when I had been searching for a new Melissa Ferguson book.

It was fate.

I loved this book though.

A Christmas Do-Over by Sheila Roberts was okay. I did like it, but it wasn’t my favorite. The main character wasn’t all that likable and seemed to struggle to be a nice person. Wasn’t getting the vibes I would prefer.

Dashing through the Snow by Melissa Ferguson was her trademark style I love. Funny and cute writing of likable and unique characters. It was pretty hilarious!

A Perfectly Splendid Christmas by Amy Clipston might be the first story I’ve read by this author. I really enjoyed this one and might actually be my favorite of the three novellas. It was that typical best friends who love each other secretly who drift apart, meet up again years later falling into same routines and realize they still have feels. Then I get all the feels!! So I loved it.

You’ll see this in my Christmas reads post for 2022.

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A Heart’s Disguise by Colleen Coble

Started this series that my friend gave me after she finished it. There’s six books of short, 100~ page stories. So you’ll get to read about them all in this post because I read them super quick!

I had a full afternoon and evening of hockey games at the BOK Center (one college bedlam game and then the one professional hockey game) and I’m the sort to take book(s) to read on intermission, either by ebook or paperback. In this case, I came prepared and brought books one and two to the games. I finished this one entirely in that time and read about 10 pages of book two.

I did really like this one quote from this one in particular…

“It’s hard, I know, but we can’t always see God’s plan on our lives. I remember when I was a little boy, lying on the floor at my grandmother’s feet. She was doing some embroidery work, and I looked up at the underside of the hoop. The yarn was all tangled and gnarled. A real mess. But when I climbed up beside her and looked down at what she was working on, it was a beautiful garden. That’s the way our lives are. We’re looking at the picture from underneath, but God is working out a specific plan from above.”

Page 29

This is book one of the Journey of the Heart series.

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A Heart’s Obsession by Colleen Coble

Ayyyy didn’t know when I started these that the stories led into one another, but they do. This is the continuation of book one SINCE COLLEEN COBLE HAD THE AUDACITY TO LEAVE IT AT A CLIFF HANGER. Goodness!

This is book two of the Journey of the Heart series.

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A Heart’s Danger by Colleen Coble

Book three ended on a cliff hanger as well and I was very shook up but then this one ended a whole lot better and made me happy. 🙂

This is book three of the series.

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A Heart’s Betrayal by Colleen Coble

There is nothing quite like reading 4 books in one weekend. I don’t care if they are only 100 pages each! I feel very accomplished right now Lol.

It’s an enjoyable series by a favorite author.

This is book four.

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A Heart’s Promise by Colleen Coble

Continuing this story – so good!

This is book five.

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A Heart’s Home by Colleen Coble

The last installment of this sweet series by a favorite author. I didn’t know if I’d get to read any Colleen Coble books this month, with my initial plan to start and finish another one of her series, but this was too good to pass up! Glad I got my Coble fix for the month. Never disappointed.

This is the sixth and final book in the Journey of the Heart series.

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A Winter Cabin Christmas by Megan Squires

Another Christmas story to add to the Christmas reads list!!

This is the first book I’ve read by Megan Squires. Really enjoyed the story and her writing. Great story of hope and healing with a dash of humor and trials.

This is actually an ebook I won in a giveaway like a year ago and I just forgot to read… #awkward but I finally read it! It was great.

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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

This was a classic. Or rather, still is. As a kid, when I read this for school, it seemed like such a big book. Before I read for pleasure, all books were larger than I would have liked.

Finding out there’s a whole series has been cool, if only I could read them faster (my own fault).

Reading this series as an adult is different and perhaps more meaningful than it had been as a kid who didn’t understand some (most) of the symbolism.

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Lessons on Love by Susanne Dietze, Rita Gerlach, Kathleen L. Maher, and Carrie Fancett Pagels

I really enjoyed all four of these novellas included in this book. They were so sweet and unique.

Something Old, Something New by Kathleen L Maher was a sweet story about expectations and learning to love – plus sharing the Gospel message with those around us.

Love In Any Language by Susanne Dietze gave me all the feels. I loved the Swedish father in this story. His determination and perseverance throughout the story was inspiring. I can’t imagine being in a new country and barely speaking the common language.

In Desperate Straits by Carrie Fancett Pagels was interesting! I could totally see that happening where a woman had to dress like a man in order to provide in a male dominated occupation.

A Song in the Night by Rita Gerlach felt like a love at first sight story without mentioning it, LOL. I enjoyed it. It ended up having more depth than I thought and they had to overcome more than expected.

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Her Billionaire Cowboy by Liz Isaacson

I purchased an ebook! I know shocker. I got a free one via an email from Rachael Bloome and then, after realizing the free ebook was part of a series, bought the novella that kicked off the series so I could read these things in order.

This was a quick and enjoyable Christian fiction read! I loved their chemistry and easy banter. I mean, just from the brief description, I want Tucker’s truck. Lol! But anyway…

This is the novella that kicks off the Steeple Ridge romance series. It’s also the first book I believe I have read by Liz Isaacson.

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Love on Ice by Carolyn Miller

I enjoyed this book more than the first for sure! It seemed a bit long, honestly, but it built up to a great ending. I loved the characters overcoming their individual challenges and the ones they faced together and found what God had for them all along. Perhaps the length was needed, but to me it seemed like it could have been shorter.

I’m excited to start book three soon!

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One Enchanted Christmas by Melissa Tagg

I don’t think I’ve read much by Melissa Tagg! She is funny. I enjoyed this novella so much. Excited to read the next two! I received a free copy of this ebook via an email newsletter. On 11/24.

Three novellas in this little Christmas series. This is book one.

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One Enchanted Eve by Melissa Tagg

Melissa Tagg is killing me with the cute plots and characters and the scenes and swoon worthy moments. Completely.

Well I guess two down… might as well make the weekend worth something and read the third huh?

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One Enchanted Noel by Melissa Tagg

And novella number three is read, and in the books as the saying goes. I would very much like live within the pages of these three novellas for the rest of time.

I’m by no means a Texas fan, but the cowboy from Texas hooked me on this one. If he was a cowboy from Oklahoma, might have loved it even more if that were possible.

Sidenote in relation to this series: I read these separate but they might be found in one book compiled together for easy reading. I may have to get that book for my collection someday should it be in paperback edition. Ebooks will suffice for now.

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Christmas Cards & Cowboys by Macie St James

There’s not that many books I don’t like, but I did not like this book. The idea, yeah, but the execution was lacking for me. I felt like the pace and character development were off and the whole idea for their struggles and moments to overcome weren’t clear throughout the story.

I just got this from Amazon in the last week, but I can’t remember how I found it online.

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Thanks for reading! Share what you read in the comments. 🙂

Look for my Christmas Reads blog post in the coming days!