A Fool's Gold Christmas by Susan Mallery

 Title: A Fool’s Gold Christmas

By Susan Mallery

Click to visit amazon

The Gist:

After an injury forces Evie to move close to her estranged family, she figures that she will just keeps her head down while she saves up enough money, teaching dance, to move away again.  Little does she know that, in the town of Fool’s Gold, it is impossible to not become part of something much bigger than yourself.  While this Christmas obsessed, close-knit community welcomes her with open arms, her mother and brothers try to make amends for their past, and a sizzling attraction begins with her neighbor Dante, Evie must decide if she is ready to open herself up, and let people into her life.

What I thought:

I have had the pleasure of reading a few books by Susan Mallery, but this was my first Fool’s Gold novel.  This story was absolutely wonderful!  It combined so many of the things I love, dance, Christmas, involved communities, and sweet love stories, and left me with a quite smile, and a warm heart.

The characters of Evie and Dante were well written; both had deep scars from their pasts, which have them running from love.  Miss Mallery wove these characters together so intimately; in such a way that each of their individual healings could not happen without the other person.  This is not a story that explicitly describes each physical intimacy, which I appreciate, favoring more of the emotional connection of these two wonderful people.

If you like a good romantic story, full of Christmas cheer, community service, and personal healing, pick up A Fool’s Gold Christmas!

Evening Stars by Susan Mallery

 

Title: Evening Stars

By Susan Mallery

Click to visit amazon

The Gist:

Nina has always been in charge.  She gave up her childhood to raise her sister, Averil, gave up her dreams so that Averil could have a chance at her own, and continued living with, and taking care of her mom instead of taking a chance at her own life.  Then everything changes.  Two men from Nina’s past come back into her life, both interested in pursuing a relationship with her, Averil takes a break from her husband and winds up back in Washington living in the family house, and the girls’ mom makes a discovery that could turn out to mend the family’s money problems, and help to fulfill all of their dreams for the future.

Now Nina needs to figure out if she can let go of control in her family for a chance to find the person that she truly wants to be, as opposed to the person that she feels obligated to be.

What I thought:

This was my first visit to Blackberry Island, but it definitely won’t be my last.  I enjoyed meeting the Wentworth family, and the Washington island/ small town setting was perfect for this story.  The characters were very well written, and Miss Mallery did a wonderful job switching between the different storylines seamlessly.

I related very well to the character of Nina, and her journey from trying to take care of everything for everyone to figuring out that she can let go in order to find her own happiness.  It’s funny how it takes reading about a character similar to yourself to realize that you might want to make some of the same changes. 

The character of Averil was harder for me to relate to, but that did not make her any less likable.  I did have a few problems with her until I realized that perhaps Nina’s attempted help was coming across as controlling and putting unintentional pressure upon the younger sister.

My favorite part of this story however was the love story.  I enjoyed seeing how Nina’s confidence grew with these two men’s interest in her, and I really appreciated how there wasn’t a bad guy, forcing Nina to choose based solely on her heart.  The love that grows is a beautiful slow deep connection that I don’t see a lot in books.

This novel was wonderfully written, full of family, love, and even a few margaritas.  I have already purchased the other Blackberry Island books, and cannot wait to return and see what else Miss Mallery has in store!