At the Movies: Christmas With Holly

After being left at the altar, Maggie Conway decides she needs a plan B for her life and eventually decides to move to Friday Harbor - a town she visited often as a child - to open a toy shop and start over, finally doing what she always wanted to do. 

Following the death of his sister, Mark Nagle found himself responsible for his six-year old niece Holly, who hasn't spoken a word since her mother died.

 Unable to make a go of things in Seattle - where Holly and her mom Victoria lived - Mark moves them back to Friday Harbor and into his brother Scott's house (where their brother Alex is currently living as well). 

None of them really knows how to deal with a 6 year old girl, but they try their best, often stumbling in the process. Maggie and Mark keep running into each other around town both because Holly is very drawn to Maggie's store and because they are attracted to each other. 

Okay, sorry for the choppy summary, I know it's not my best work but that really is the basis of Christmas With Holly, which is based on Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas (A novella that launched her Friday Harbor series). 

While they are several differences between the book and the movie, I found that I liked Christmas with Holly quite a bit. It's a lot more family oriented that the book, and there isn't quite as much romance (and there wasn't THAT much romance in the original book to start with, actually), but it works. The central theme of the book was still there - starting over after life deals you a shitty hand - even if it doesn't go to as dark a place as the book does. 

I liked that the relationship between the Nagle brothers was still complicated, even if it wasn't so dark, they were pretty independent and kind of each did his own thing, up until Holly moved in and made them a family. What I don't get is why they changed their last name from Nolan (from the book) to Nagle (in the movie). 

Bottom line, I think haters are gonna hate and disair of the changes, personally, I didn't mind them, Christmas with Holly was what I expect of a Hallmark movie and it was good. I'll probably even watch it again sometime. So, I give it a C+ and it's not a bad thing, it was a pleasant, sweet movie, perfect to watch at home. 

Book Review: Rainshadow Road by Lisa Kleypas

At First Sight: From a very young age, Lucy Marinn has known that she has an special connection to glass. It all started in the wake of her sister Alice's bout with meningitis, when the family dynamics switched into a pattern of Alice always getting what she wants and Lucy always having to give up her things in favor to her younger sister.

After one bad episode with Alice, Lucy discovered that when strong emotions overwhelmed her, the glass around her changed to offer her comfort. Young as Lucy was, she always knew this was something she had to keep to herself. 

All grown up and living in the Friday Harbor with her current boyfriend Kevin, Lucy thinks her life is getting pretty close to perfect as she loves where she lives, she loves her boyfriend and she loves her job creating stain-glass windows and ornaments. That is, until Kevin drops the bombshell that he's leaving her... and taking up with Alice. 

Enter Sam Nolan. Sam owns a small vineyard in Friday Harbor and is helping his brother Mark raise their niece Holly after the dead of their sister Victoria. (Christmas Eve in Friday Harbor). He was out walking the family dog when he mets Lucy. And, from then on, they keep running into each other all over town, partially because of mutual friends. 

Neither of them is out to be on a relationship: Lucy because she has been hurt and Sam because he doesn't want to repeat the patterns of his parents' marriage. They are very reluctant, but eventually start a tentative friendship, and start sharing secrets with each other that they had never told anyone before. 

Second Glance: I'm so behind but I finally read Rainshadow Road, and I'm so happy I did because I seriously enjoyed this book, I was very hard for me to put it down. I liked Lucy and Sam, they were nice, every day people; each with their own flaws and gifts. They are both wary of relationships but they aren't complete jackasses as a result. 

Lucy takes so much pride in her work with glass, and so does Sam with his work with grapes, and you can see how they are both very passionate people, and they make so much sense in the context of their families. Sam is also a bit of a nerd and that's actually quite amusing, and sweet. 

The romance worked, and I loved that Lucy and Sam weren't islands: they had families they spent time with, friends, jobs and a place in their community. I loved the backdrop of the San Juan Islands in the story, sometimes I really felt like I was there. 

There is an element of magical realism to the story, which I didn't mind because, well, I'm Mexican and we grow up with magical realism as a cultural element, so I was okay with it but, at the same time, I think you could take it out of the story and it would remain essentially the same. 

Bottom Line: Rainshadow Road was a lovely contemporary read, if you're a Lisa Kleypas fan you'll probably enjoy it a lot too, but even if you aren't, it's a very relaxing, sweet story. And I'm really looking forward to Dream Lake, the next book in the series

Favorite Quote: “I’m still in shock. The next stage is crying and sending angry text messages to everyone I know. After that is the stage when I’ll want to rehash the relationship until all my friends start avoiding me.” Lucy knew she was chattering, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. “In the final stage, I’ll get a short haircut that doesn’t flatter me, and buy a lot of expensive shoes I’ll never wear.” - Lucy

Cover Love #26 - Raindshadow Road by Lisa Kleypas

Hello my lovies!

So, I'm a huge Lisa Kleypas fan and last winter she launched her Friday Harbor series with Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor. I rather liked it though it was short. I'm intrigued by these brothers.

And just the other day I saw the cover for the second book in the series, Rainshadow Road. I hope it's good. I usually like Lisa's Contemporaries. I kind of like the cover but it also looks a bit 'woman's fiction".

Here is the summary:

Lucy Marinn is a glass artist living in mystical, beautiful, Friday Harbor, Washington. She is stunned and blindsided by the most bitter kind of betrayal: her fiancé Kevin has left her. His new lover is Lucy’s own sister. Lucy's bitterness over being dumped is multiplied by the fact that she has constantly made the wrong choices in her romantic life.

Facing the severe disapproval of Lucy's parents, Kevin asks his friend Sam Nolan, a local vineyard owner on San Juan Island, to "romance" Lucy and hopefully loosen her up and get her over her anger. Complications ensue when Sam and Lucy begin to fall in love, Kevin has second thoughts, and Lucy discovers that the new relationship in her life began under false pretenses. Questions about love, loyalty, old patterns, mistakes, and new beginnings are explored as Lucy learns that some things in life—even after being broken—can be made into something new and beautiful.

Love, Alex

Ps - thanks to Small of Small Review for the tutorial on colored boxes!

Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas

Mark Nolan's life plan didn't include children or a family. Not after the wreck his own childhood was. But when his sister Victoria is killed in a car accident, Mark has no option but to take on his six year old niece Holly, and try to do his best by her. To do so, Mark moves into his brother Sam's house in Friday Harbor (located in the San Juan Islands), knowing he can't do it alone.

But how well can two single men raise a little girl? Well, they are certainly going to try.

Maggie Conroy moved to Friday Harbor to start over after the death of her husband nearly 2 years before. In the island, she owns a magical toy shop, which enchants Holly and starts to bring her back from the sad place she fell into by missing her mom despite loving her uncles very much.

Mark doesn't believe in magic but he can't help to notice how Maggie connects with Holly. He can't help to notice Maggie herself!

Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor it's a pretty straight forward story and I really liked it for it. I wouldn't really call it a Christmas story, but it was sweet just the same, more of a chick lit story rather than a straight-romance.

Still, there is a lovely relationship that develops between Maggie and the entire Nolan family. All of them are hurt and a bit afraid of love (Maggie and Holly because they have lost loved ones, and Mark, Sam and Alex (youngest brother) because most of their lives, family meant trouble rather than comfort). But they eventually give life another chance and that's always lovely to read about.

It's a short book, though. Or at least it felt very short to me and I wanted more (more info, more back story, etc), but I know that I'll see these characters again in Rainshadow Road, the second book of this series, which will be out in 2012.

Favorite Quote: "A good conversation always involves a certain amount of complaining. I like to bond over mutual hatreds and petty grievances.” - Maggie.

1/3

Book Gossip #25 - Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas

Lisa Kleypas just dropped the first excerpt for her October 26th release Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor.

This book launches a new contemporary series set at the San Juan Islands.

You can check out the excerpt at Lisa Kleypas' site

Oddly enough, I haven't found a good summary of the book.