In keeping with the change of name for my Romance & Women’s Fiction Twitter chat [@SatBookChat previously known as @ChocLitSaturday] – I am announcing a change of features here on Jorie Loves A Story. Since January, 2014 I carved out a niche of focus which I named #ChocLitSaturdays as I have felt the best time to read romantic and dramatic stories are the weekends. This spun into a Twitter chat featuring the authors of ChocLit whilst I supplied weekly topics which would appeal to readers, writers and book bloggers alike. We grew into our own Saturday tribe of chatters – then, somewhere round the time of my father’s stroke in late [2016] and the forthcoming year of [2017] I started to feel less inspired to host the chat.
I had new plans to re-invent the chat in its new incantation as @SatBookChat but I also wanted to re-invent the complimentary showcases on my blog which would reflect the diversity of stories, authors and publishers I would be featuring on the chat itself. As at the root and heart of #ChocLitSaturday the chat were the stories I was reading which complimented the conversations.
After a difficult year for [personal health & wellness] this 2018, I began anew this Autumn – selecting the stories to resume where I left off featuring the Romance & Women’s Fiction authors I am discovering to read whilst highlighting a story by the author I am chatting with during #SatBookChat. Every (forthcoming) Saturday will feature a different author who writes either Romance or Women’s Fiction – wherein I concluded the year of hosting @SatBook during October & November featuring special guest authors whose stories I have either read, were reading or had hoped to read in the future if their newer releases. Going forward, the reviews on Saturdays might inspire the topics in the forthcoming chats or they might be directly connected to the current guest author.
Our holiday break for the month of December will find us resuming #SatBookChat the week after New Year’s, 2019 where new guests and new stories will lay down the foundation of inspiring the topics, the conversations and the bookish recommendations towards promoting Romance & Women’s Fiction.
Acquired Book By: I was approached about reading this holiday-themed Women’s Fiction story shortly before the holidays began. The author found me on Twitter and I thought it would be lovely to combine reading this story with my holiday themed Cosy Mysteries – except that is before I fell ill this December and all my holiday readings were pushed forward closer to Christmas. I received a complimentary copy of βMerry Hanukkahβ direct from the author Debby Caruso in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
On why this story works & why it befits reading at the holidays:
I truly was looking forward to my holiday readings this year – especially as I had the chance to read #newtomeauthors and feature a Women’s Fiction writ for the holidays – it felt like a cosy comforting reading binge this month, except that instead of spending most of the month tucked into holiday stories, I’ve been trying to battle my way through a bad Winter virus! I finally reached the point where I had to step away from books, my blog and everything inter-related to them as I was miserably down and out with one of the worst Winter illnesses I’ve had in recent years!
Late on Saturday night, I finally was able to reach a point where my lungs were giving me a rest to where I could breathe a bit easier than I have in days, allowing me the joy of picking up a story to read and finally, at long last start to make a bit of progress towards my readings into festive and bright story-lines! I wanted to read a mixture of stories this year – which is why I am delighted I can start with a light-hearted Women’s Fiction about blending holiday traditions and celebrations before I move into a lovely batch of Cosy Mysteries all uniquely themed for Christmas.
I personally love the holiday season – it is a festive way of becoming introduced to new traditions and new ways to celebrate, as well as to observe the reason why we’re all united together during the same time of the year. Having a story that seeks to merge the joy of two of the most infamous holidays in December felt like a good way to kick things off this year, as a lot of families struggle to find balance when their sorting out what do for both Christmas and Hanukkah without losing the meaning and purpose behind both traditional holidays.
I think this is a story that works well for this time of year – as it is a conversation about family, religion and heritage. Of finding what works for you as an individual as well as trying to merge new traditions into a new family where both sides need to feel comfortable in merging their back-histories together as a new bridge towards celebrating what they share in common and observing holidays in a way that unites the new path they are taking together.
Merry Hanukkah
by Debby Caruso
Source: Direct from Author
Meet Rhonda, a semi-neurotic ad agent and Christmas fanatic, who decides she's going to make a fabulous Hanukkah celeration for her new husband James and his family.
In the midst of trying to create the perfect day, Rhonda meets with various roadblocks: a hostile mother-in-law who takes the joy out of any day, recipes she can't seem to master, a looming work deadline that's sure to do her in, as well as an intrinsic belief that somehow the holidays are about something more... and that the "perfect" day isn't always what it seems.
Merry Hanukkah is for all those celebrating both Hanukkah and Christmas, and for the Holiday Junkie in all of us. It's a hilarious journey revealling the truth of what we value the most: faith, family, friendship and love.
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 978-1732519008
Also by this author: Happy Everything, Ghastly and Good
Also in this series: Happy Everything, Ghastly and Good
Published by Self Published
on 22nd August, 2018
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 132
Self-Published Author
Converse via: #SaturdaysAreBookish + #WomensFiction or #HolidayStory
Available Formats: Paperback and Ebook
Read MoreReading this book contributed to these challenges:
- #blogmas 2018