Review Round-Up: End of the Year Reads

by Susan Roberts

I normally group my reviews by subject but as I came to the end of the year, I had some leftover reviews that needed to be published.  Here are reviews of three very eclectic novels.

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So This is Christmas by Kay Bratt

December 2025; Red Thread; 979-8991839617
ebook, print (242 pages); mystery

The quaint town of Hart's Ridge glistens with holiday magic each Christmas, as festive lights and holiday attractions draw visitors to its charming streets. This year, Deputy Taylor Gray is enjoying a quieter holiday at home, fully embracing her new role in the midst of family festivities.

The author originally said that there would be ten books in this series so I was thrilled that there was a book 11 and possibly more books in this series in the future.  I have enjoyed the entire series and in my opinion, So This is Christmas is the best book so far.  It was great to go back and spend time with all of the characters in Hart's Ridge that we know and love but the plot in this book was so intriguing that when I started it, I couldn't put it down until the end.

Taylor is still on medical leave after contracting meningitis and having a baby.  She's taken care of other people for so long that she's having a real problem asking people to take care of her and refusing to let her get involved in any physical activities.  But it's Christmas time and the town is full of decorations and her family is getting ready for their Christmas celebration.  Meanwhile, in another part of town, there is a horrific crime committed when four bodies are discovered and two children are left as orphans,  Taylor really wants to get involved in solving the crime but her husband and family encourage her to take care of herself and her health and to let the detectives solve the case.  She communicates with the chief detective on the case, her old friend Shane.  She does some background checks for him until her husband finds out that she is helping and then he tells Shane to leave Taylor out of the case. At the same time that she's agonizing over her inability to help solve the murders, her sister Lucy is in a bad place in her life.  Taylor always took care of her younger sisters and wanted to help Lucy and the rest of her family.  Since Taylor has always been the family caregiver and a caring detective, will she be able to learn that it's ok to let other people take care of you?

NOTE:  This is book 11 of the Hart's Ridge series.  For optimum enjoyment, you should read these books in order.  See my review of the first ten books in the series here

Buy So This is Christmas at Amazon

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Maria: A Novel of Maria von Trapp by Michelle Moran

July 2024; Dell; 978-0593499481
audio, ebook, print (320 pages); biographical fiction

Maria von Trapp. You know the name and the iconic songs, but do you know her real story? This dramatic novel, based on the woman glamorized in The Sound of Music, brings Maria to life as never before.

I was lucky enough to see The Sound of Music on stage and watch the movie every time it shows up on TV.  I love the movie and am aware that Hollywood often changes true stories to make them more exciting but I didn't know the true story about Maria von Trapp until I read this book and did some additional research.

In the 1950s, Oscar Hammerstein was asked to write the lyrics to a musical based on the life of a woman named Maria von Trapp.  It was based on a book written by Maria in 1949.  The people who wrote the play felt that parts of it were too dark and changes needed to be made in the story to ensure that it would be a hit on Broadway.  When Maria saw the script for the play, she was angry and went to New York to insist that Rogers and Hammerstein change the play so that it was the true story of her life. She wasn't happy because her husband was not the strict father portrayed, the children's names were changed, and their escape from Austria was nothing like what was shown in the play.  No changes were made and when the play opened on Broadway in 1959, Maria was in the front row of the theater.

The book Maria had two different timelines.  One was the life of Maria from the nunnery to the home of the von Trapps, becoming the governess and then the mother of the children.  The second timeline took place in the 1950s when Rogers and Hammerstein were writing the music for the play and Maria's demands to make changes.  Even though Maria was portrayed very differently in the play than she was in real life, the book still shows her as a courageous woman and a caring mother who made mistakes in her life as she tried to create the best life for her family.

The author did extensive research to write this book.  Be sure to read the Author's notes at the end to find out more about her research and the changes that she made in the story.

"A tale of love, loss, and the difficult choices that we are often forced to make, Maria is a powerful reminder that the truth is usually more complicated—and certainly more compelling—than the stories immortalized by Hollywood."

Buy Maria at Amazon

Under the Summer Sky by Debbie Macomber

July 2024; MIRA; 978-0778368076
ebook, print (352 pages); romance

Love finds you when you least expect it…

Under the Summer Sky is a book with two of the author's older short stories.  I don't usually like her older books and these two were just ok.  Both books are romances with little depth to the plots.  The characters were not developed and were all difficult to like or care about.

Marriage Wanted 

Savannah owns a bridal salon and believes in happily ever after for her clients but knows that no one will want to marry her due to her disability.  Along comes Dash, a divorce attorney who doesn't believe in marriage at all.  They disagree over their different views and when he asks Savannah to marry him it is to keep his job and not because he loves her.

First Comes Marriage

Zach merged his business with the Hartman family business.  When he first meets the granddaughter of the family, he doesn't think much of Janine.  Her grandfather wants to arrange a marriage between them - after all it worked in the old country!  They don't agree with her grandfather and fight to cancel his plans.  But will her grandfather have the best idea?

Buy Under the Summer Sky at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is three hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.   

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