Monday, November 10, 2014

An Almost Perfect Christmas / Donna Fasano

We're starting our holiday theme week off with a doubleshot. Check back later today for ?wazithinkin's thoughts on this same book.





Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Contemporary Romance/Christmas

Approximate word count: 20-25,000 words

Availability    
Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: NO  Paper: YES

This novella is currently also available in two different box sets, bundled with contributions from other top authors.

Sweet Christmas Kisses box set
Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: NO  Paper: NO
Ten Christmas Brides box set
Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: YES  Paper: NO
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Award winning and bestselling author Donna Fasano has written over twenty novels over the course of her career with almost four million copies sold. She’s not only popular among the reviewers at Books and Pals, but apparently our readers as well, winning our Readers’ Choice Award in the romance category in both 2013 and 2014.

For more, visit Fasano’s website.

Description:

“When it comes to business, Aaron Chase knows how to succeed. But when his daughter, Izzie, asks him for the perfect family Christmas, the handsome widower feels at a loss about how to make his little girl's dream come true.

Pediatric Nurse Christy Cooper has dedicated her life to taking care of children. She agrees to act as Izzie's stand-in mom for this special holiday and throws herself into making the child's Christmas wish a reality. Maybe this selfless act will somehow alleviate her secret regrets and failures of the past.

The holiday is filled with fun and laughter, and it's amazing how three short days can be so life-changing. When the impish eight-year-old talks the adults into acting out a silly, make-believe wedding, young Izzie is certain the magic of the season will turn the pretend vows into the real thing. The little girl wants her daddy to have Christmas in his life--every single day.”

Appraisal:

A seriously sick kid is a sad thing, so calling An Almost Perfect Christmas a happy story feels wrong. But I still want to describe it as a “feel good story,” even though there are places you’ll feel everything but. It’s a romance, and at a high level has the typical romance storyline. But it goes beyond just romance with themes of the indomitable human spirit and how sometimes kids have a better handle on life than adults.

Format/Typo Issues:

The version I read was an advance reader copy. I’m unable to judge the final product in this area.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

4 comments:

?wazithinkin said...

I love the way you handled this review, Al. Like I said before, when I grow up I want to be able to write reviews like you. :)

BooksAndPals said...

Thanks, Wazi.

*whispers, I think you're running out of time on that growing up thing*

Donna Fasano said...

BigAl, thank you for this wonderful review. You really "got" what was I trying to do with this book. If anyone is interested in why I wrote the story, you can learn more here:
http://donnafasano.blogspot.com/p/why-i-wrote-almost-perfect-christmas.html

BooksAndPals said...

Thanks, Donna, and thanks for the link. I think books are best when they reflect real life and sometimes life is a challenge.