This year most of us have been stuck at home, missing family, friends and adventures. What a perfect time to cozy up with a captivating read that will take you away. Enjoy a snowy Christmas in Colorado, explore the streets of London or get lost in the hills of Tuscany for the safest getaway this year!
The Christmas Swap
By Melody Carlson
Emma is a young teacher living in Arizona. Her parents are in Uganda making the world a better place. Finding herself alone for the holidays, her fancy friend Gillian invites her to spend a week in Colorado for a traditional white Christmas. Gillian and her family arranged a house swap and Emma has no doubt it will be a beautiful home in the perfect ski location. Having never seen snow, Emma is thrilled to join them. There is a little glitch to the swap plans upon arrival; the owner Tyler decides to stay in the guesthouse, posing as the caretaker. Tyler Prescott keeps his actual identity hidden. This handsome hunk does not want any attention for his songwriting fame. When Gillian discovers the truth, a tug of hearts war ensues. Mishaps occur at every turn on the slopes as Emma and Tyler face their undeniable chemistry. If you enjoyed the Cameron Diaz-Kate Winslett movie “The Holiday” (2006) you will adore this delicious holiday romance.
Playing Nice
By JP Delaney
Two families, two little boys, 2 years old and born prematurely on the same day at a private hospital in London. Theo and David have nothing more in common. One day Miles Lambert, a wealthy and handsome man, knocks on the door of Pete Riley, stay-at-home dad. Accompanied by a private detective, Miles proceeds to inform Pete that little Theo is not his biological child. Naturally, the first thought Pete entertains is that Miles is insinuating his wife had an affair. It’s much worse than that. Miles describes how the children were wrongfully switched at birth and the lawsuit he is pursuing against the hospital, hoping Pete and Maddie will join in. Pete, in complete and utter shock, has no reason to disbelieve this man, displaying all good intentions and calm demeanor. Their lives become deeply entangled and it is no longer clear what intentions the Lamberts have at all. Hanging onto Theo and their sanity by a thread, Pete and Maddie are racing along a rollercoaster of emotions and deception they could have never imagined. Mind-boggling page turner.
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany
By Lori Nelson Spielman
Perpetually single, Emilia lives alone in a small family apartment in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. She dotes on her cat, bakes at her grandfather’s deli and hasn’t changed her hairstyle in more than a decade. As a second-born daughter in the Fontana family, Emilia is burdened with a 200-year-old curse that she will never find love. Having lost her mother when she was just a baby, Emilia remains under the thumb of her fierce, unrelenting Nonna, bitter sister and timid father. When her estranged, eccentric Aunt Poppy invites her and cousin Lucy on an all-expenses-paid dream trip to Italy, Emilia’s life is instantly turned upside down. Poppy, another second-born daughter, plans to reunite with her long lost lover Rico at the Ravello Cathedral on her 80th birthday. Battling the curse and a lifetime of regret, Emilia and Lucy have a lot to learn from this eccentric aunt they barely know. As this quirky trio travels through the canals of Venice, alleyways of Florence and majestic hills of the Amalfi Coast, they discover many wonderful delicacies and, most importantly, Aunt Poppy’s deepest, darkest secret. Buon viaggio.
