The Quiet Concert: December 2015

December 2015 Recap

Nicole Read

Ashley Read

December Favorites

Nicole's Pick

Ashley's Pick

December Reviews

What's New With Nicole

December was a REALLY busy month for me but another great one. In addition to all of the holiday parties with friends and family, I had the privilege of seeing Mo Lowda and The Humble live, attending two Eagles games, coming in 3rd place in a Scavenger Hunt through the Philadelphia Art Museum and trying an awesome new workout class (with a trampoline... FOR FREE). I also had a lot of fun being in Philly during the Holiday Season - I got to explore a couple different Christmas markets, see the Macy's light show and go ice skating (to name a few things). I even tried my hand at a few different craft projects to give as Holiday gifts for friends and family, which was a lot of fun. And tonight I get to ring in the new year surrounded by friends. Honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better end to 2015 and start to 2016. Happy New Year my friends!

What's New With Ashley

December was a fantastically busy month. It was full of traveling to see family and friends for the holidays. I love the holiday season so I like to take advantage of all the holiday movies and shows, we went to a couple choral performances and saw the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra play the score to Home Alone with the movie was playing which was awesome. Aside from that we had a family wedding to celebrate right before Christmas that was black tied preferred so we got to dress nice a and fancy :) Tonight Justin and I are playing it low key and ringing in the new year together with movies, video games and champagne! Happy New Year :)

Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases For The First Half of 2016

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's Top Ten list is
"Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases For The First Half of 2016"

Nicole's Top Five

1. Morning Star (Red Rising Trilogy #3) by Pierce Brown
2. A Gathering of Shadows (A Darker Shade of Magic #2) by Victoria Schwab
3. The Raven King (The Raven Cycle #4) by Maggie Stiefvater
4. The Rose and the Dagger (The Wrath and the Dawn #2) by Renee Ahdieh
5. This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity #1) by Victoria Schwab

Ashley's Top Five

1. Stars Above by Marissa Meyer

2. The Raven King (The Raven Cycle #4) by Maggie Stiefvater

3. Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan

4. The Skylighter (The Keepers' Chronicles #2) by Becky Wallace

5. The Winner's Kiss (The Winner's Trilogy #3) by Marie Rutkoski

What are your top ten?

Stacking The Shelves (156)- December 26th

Stacking the Shelves - hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews - features books that you bought, borrowed, rented from the library, received for review, etc.

Upcoming Reads

Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle
Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

What books are stacking your shelves??

Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses by Jenny Hale

Title: Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses
Author: Jenny Hale
Publisher: Bookouture
Release Date: October 16th 2015

Summary from Goodreads:

An uplifting, beautiful story about never letting go of your dreams, the special magic of a family Christmas… and the rush of falling in love under the mistletoe.

Single mother Abbey Fuller loves her family more than anything, and doesn’t regret for a moment having had to put her dreams of being an interior designer on hold. But with her son, Max, growing up, when a friend recommends her for a small design job she jumps at the chance. How hard can it be?

Nick Sinclair needs his house decorated in time for his family’s festive visit – and money is no object. What he doesn’t need is to be distracted from his multi-million dollar business – even if it is Christmas.

When Abbey pulls up to the huge Sinclair mansion, she has a feeling she might be out of her depth. And when she meets the gorgeous, brooding Nicholas Sinclair, she knows that she’s in real trouble…

With the snow falling all around, can Abbey take the chance to make her dreams of being a designer come true? And can she help Nick to finally enjoy the magic of Christmas?

Review

I have been loving the Christmas books lately, and Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses did not disappoint. It had a traditional cheese factor to it because it does have a happy ending and some very predictable plot lines. Aside from that, I loved the dynamics between Abbey and Nick, he is rough around the edges but has a soft spot for Abbey.

The romance is sweet and incredibly cute, there are no steamy scenes in case that is what you are looking for but there are quite a feel heart-warming scenes that easily made me a bit teary eyed. Family relationships play a large part in the book; I love that both main characters have an elderly grandparent that they love and care for throughout the story. There is also the relationship between Abbey and her son and Abbey and her mother that is wonderful and really drew me into the story.

This heart-warming, family oriented holiday read was exactly the kind of Christmas story I was looking for. As the cover says, it is easily one of the more feel good Christmas books I have read. I definitely recommend Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses!

Top Ten Books We Wouldn't Mind Santa Leaving Under Our Tree This Year

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's Top Ten list is
"Top Ten Books We Wouldn't Mind Santa Leaving Under Our Tree This Year"