Genre: Christmas
Source: Netgalley

Goodreads: Welcome to Blissful Bites Bakery for a delicious tale of Christmas love, and fresh starts.
Get toasty by the fire and enjoy Maisie and Wade’s delightful, light-hearted romance.
Sheer indulgence! When baker Maisie Quinn returns home to open Blissful Bites, she realizes her dream—a business she loves, life in a lovely small town with her two children, and a chance to win the county’s Christmas Bake-off. With no support from her deadbeat ex, the generous prize money would be a godsend for her tiny family.

After Wade Bennett becomes the new sheriff in town, he figures his four-year contract will give him time to see to his widowed mother and put enough money away to travel the world. Romance isn’t on his mind until Maisie opens her bakery and brings back memories when he thought Maisie might be the one—until she graduated, married, and moved away.

But then dreams confront reality, and the Christmas holiday turns serious for the unwary couple. Heavenly interference might be needed to help two determined people get what they want for Christmas.

Ope’s Opinion: I am in the minority with this book. I had a lot of trouble getting into this story. It is very predictable. It will probably bring the Christmas spirit to most people. I might have enjoyed it more as a hallmark movie.

Publisher: Harper
Genre: Historical Fiction
Source: Harper ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: The beloved author of Not Our Kind and The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights returns with a story of secrets, friendship, and betrayal about two young women at Vassar in the years after World War II, a powerful and moving tale of prejudice and pride that echoes the cultural and social issues of today.

Anne Bishop seems like a typical Vassar freshman—one of a popular group of privileged WASP friends. None of the girls in her circle has any idea that she’s Jewish, or that her real name is or that her real first name is Miriam  Pretending to be a Gentile has made life easier—as Anne, she no longer suffers the snubs, snide remarks, and daily restrictions Jews face. She enjoys her college life of teas, late-night conversations, and mixers. She turns a blind eye to the casual anti-Semitism that flourishes among her friends and classmates—after all, it’s no longer directed at her.

But her secret life is threatened when she becomes fascinated by a girl not in her crowd. Delia Goldhush is sophisticated, stylish, brilliant, and unashamedly Jewish—and seems not to care that she’s an outcast among the other students. Knowing that her growing closeness with Delia would be social suicide if it were discovered, Anne keeps their friendship quiet. Delia seems to understand—until a cruelty on Anne’s part drives them apart and sends them scattering to other corners of the world, alone and together. 

Ope’s Opinion: There are so many good things to say about this book. I learned a lot about the prejudice against Jewish people that I did not realize took place ( and probably still does ). The two female main characters approached their Jewish heritage completely different.

The writing was amazing. It kept me interested throughout the whole book. The pace was perfect. There was some romance in the book, but it is not the center of everything that happened.

I am going to see what else Kitty Zeldis has written.

Publisher: Forever
Genre: Romance
Source: Forever ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: This heartwarming novel set in the idyllic small-town of Firefly Lake explores the sisterly friendship between a group of women and a second chance at love—perfect for fans of Jill Shalvis and Jenny Hale.

Natasha Baldwin loves her life. As top realtor in her hometown of Firefly Lake, she has a good job and even better friends. Really, Tasha has only two never pursuing her dream career…and how things ended with Antonio Hayes years ago. So when an opportunity arises to show off her passion for interior design, Tasha’s excited—and a little nervous. But with the support of her girlfriends at their biweekly supper club, she’s eager to dive in…until she discovers that Antonio is her new project partner.

Teaming up with her ex is less than ideal, but with all eyes in town on her new project, Tasha knows now is not the time to let her messy past with Antonio impact her future. Yet working with Antonio immediately sparks bittersweet memories…and the same undeniable, irresistible chemistry even after all their years apart. Then, just as Natasha realizes that the life and love she’s waited for are within reach, her big break comes around, and she must decide what she truly wants…

Ope’s Opinion: The only thing that kept this book from being a five chair for me, were the details of the steamy scenes – I know for some that is why they read romance. So if you like great characters, small town setting and a really good story you should read this one.

There were a couple of things that I really liked about the book – the two main characters had a miscommunication to begin with, but after that they talked everything through. The other thing I enjoyed was they didn’t break up – get back together – break up – once they worked things out – they kept talking and working on their relationship.

Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Genre: Christian Fiction
Source: Thomas Nelson ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: She inherits the bookshop of her dreams . . . But she has to run it with the ex she vowed never to speak with again.

Shelby Thatcher adores working in the charming small-town bookshop her grandmother opened years ago. Since high school she’s helped Gram turn the shop into a community hub for book lovers in the lakeside town of Granville, NC. When her beloved grandma passes away, Shelby inherits the bookstore. But to her shock, Gram leaves half ownership to Gray Briggs, the man who broke Shelby’s heart years ago.

Granville residents have been vilifying Gray as long as he can remember. After graduating high school he couldn’t skip town fast enough, even though it meant leaving the girl he’d fallen deeply in love with and alienating her family once and for all. Now he’s back, the beneficiary of his elderly friend’s will. Facing the town’s animosity is difficult, but seeing Shelby again is sheer torture. No one could ever stir his heart the way she did.

As the adversaries are forced to work together, Gram’s beyond-the-grave scheme is working–Shelby’s old feelings for Gray begin to resurface. But the problems that destroyed their relationship before still remain, and a new one surfaces–one that threatens Gram’s beloved bookshop. Is their love doomed to fail again, or will they find a way to make it work this time around?

Ope’s Opinion: I really do like Christian Fiction. It is clean romance, the relationships are realistic, and is so nice to read with no foul language. Denise Hunter writes the best Christian Fiction. I will read whatever she writes next.

I do enjoy a story that takes place in a bookshop, so this one started off in one of my favorite places! The second story part of the title had multiple meanings to it.

The two time periods – past and present gave you the understanding of how Gray and Shelby got where they are. It was fun to see them as teens and as adults.