Two Wintry Offbeat Romances to Keep You Warm
Plus, a real life plot twist for me!
Hello there!
I haven’t chatted with you guys since October. Sorry about that! My life decided to throw a plot twist at me, and I spent most of November panicking freaking out rocking quietly in a corner dealing with the news like a total adult. Ahem.
The news is good. Great, actually. My husband was recruited out of his job of 20+ years into a CEO position. I’m really proud of him! He’s definitely earned it, and I’m excited about the change. The part that wasn’t on my bingo card was that it’s based in Cape Cod and will require a cross-country move from Texas to southern Massachusetts. Did I mention my son is a senior in high school and already had college plans to go to a school nearby?
Yeah, so, lots of rewriting of life plans happened in November. The company who hired my husband was super great about accommodating everything. They’re going to let him fly back and forth until May when my son graduates. Then we’ll all move up there officially.
But, for me, this means being a solo parent here more than usual, finding a new college plan for the kiddo, and getting my house ready to put up for sale in the spring. So, much of November was spent getting many, many unruly ducks in a row.
But also, this meant that I needed to escape into reading to take a break from all the chaos and planning. That’s good news for you because I found two fantastic backlist books just sitting patiently on my shelves waiting for me to finally get to them.
Backlist FTW!
My TBR is truly out of control. Most of my bookshelves are filled with unread books (because once I read a book, I usually donate it to the library unless it makes it onto my favorites shelf.) And let’s not even talk about my ebook TBR.
The books can languish there because if I don’t read something immediately after I buy it, I often forget why I was excited to read that particular book in the first place. (Thanks, perimenopause!) Then I keep passing it by on the shelf, and it never gets selected.
But in November, I was in the mood for a seasonal read, so I purposely went to my shelves and pulled a stack of winter-themed romances to try. I’m so glad I did because I ended up with two lovely reads that have been waiting endlessly for me to pick them up.
One Day In December by Josie Silver
(Bookshop.org | Amazon | Libro.fm)
Want to know how long this one has been on my shelf? I had an ARC of it. This one released in October 2018, so that probably means I got the advanced copy at the RWA conference that summer. This poor book has been waiting to be read for SEVEN years!
I’m so glad I finally picked it up. It was perfect for the wintry mood I was in.
First, a warning. Both of these recommendations are romances. They both have happy endings. But the vibe is slightly left of center from traditional romances, the beats a little less predictable. I like that about them, but based on the Goodreads ratings, not everybody does. :) So know yourself as a reader.
This one has a simple concept to start off with—instalove (which I usually hate! lol But totally worked for me here.) Laurie is on a bus in London when she sees a man at the bus stop. They lock eyes, and she just knows that he’s the one. But the bus takes off before she can get off of it or he can get on. The next time she sees him, many months later, he’s on the arm of her very best friend. He’s the BFF’s new boyfriend. Yikes.
What rolls out from there is an epic When Harry Met Sally style setup (minus the enemies part) where these two become friends and are regularly in each other’s orbit but not at the right time to be with each other.
A bonus for me was how delightful the friendship between Laurie and her BFF Sara was. I love a well-portrayed female friendship (even if it gets messy sometimes.)
This is a 400-page book, but I raced through it. I could not put it down and needed to know what happened with these two. I was very satisfied with how it all turned out. My only complaint is that I wanted an epilogue.
Note: There is one thing that happens in this book that some romance readers will consider an automatic no. (It breaks a romance rule.) I’m not going to spoil anything, but don’t come for me when you get to that part, lol. If you’re concerned, look up spoilers.
But if you’re looking for a wintry romance read that feels like a real journey, this one was a great ride!
About the book:
Two people. Ten chances. One unforgettable love story.
Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn’t exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there’s a moment of pure magic... and then her bus drives away.
Certain they’re fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn’t find him, not when it matters anyway. Instead they “reunite” at a Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah giddily introduces her new boyfriend to Laurie. It’s Jack, the man from the bus. It would be.
What follows for Laurie, Sarah and Jack is ten years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken, and destinies reconsiderd. One Day in December is a joyous, heartwarming and immensely moving love story to escape into and a reminder that fate takes inexplicable turns along the route to happiness.
The Rewind by Allison Winn Scotch
(Bookshop.org | Amazon | Libro.fm )
There are a lot of Christmas romances out there, but how about a New Year’s one? And what if it’s set in 1999? How about if it also starts with a scene that gave me The Hangover vibes?
Allison Winn Scotch is generally categorized as a women’s fiction author, and I think that’s why this one also falls left of center. It has romance tropes: reunited exes/second chance romance, enemies-to-lovers, an amnesia plot, but it also has a women’s fic angle with the focus on a slightly unlikable heroine. I’m guessing that’s why the Goodreads rating (3.2) is particularly low. If you go in expecting a straight-up traditional rom-com, this isn’t it. But it is a romance, and you do get a happy ending.
Frankie and Ezra had a messy breakup in college and haven’t seen each other in ten years. They both return to their college campus for a mutual friend’s wedding. They try to avoid each other, but the morning of the wedding, they wake up in Ezra’s old dorm room in bed with wedding rings on their fingers and no memory of what happened the night before (hence The Hangover vibes.)
They, of course, freak out. Ezra is planning on proposing to his girlfriend (who hasn’t arrived yet) after the wedding at the turn of the millennium. Frankie just wants to get through the wedding and go home. But now they’re stuck trying to figure out what happened. Most of the book is them investigating and piecing together what happened the night before, all while having lots of flashback memories of their previous relationship.
I raced through this one as well and had fun with the journey. Ezra reminded me a little bit of Adam Brody’s character in Nobody Wants This. Frankie was prickly but grew on me.
So, if you’re looking for something a little different and New Year’s themed, give this one a go!
About the book:
Two exes wake up together with wedding bands on their fingers--and no idea how they got there. They have just one New Year’s Eve at the end of 1999 to figure it out in this big-hearted and nostalgic rom-com from New York Times bestselling author Allison Winn Scotch.
When college sweethearts Frankie and Ezra broke up before graduation, they vowed to never speak to each other again. Ten years later, on the eve of the new millennium, they find themselves back on their snowy, picturesque New England campus together for the first time for the wedding of mutual friends. Frankie’s on the rise as a music manager for the hottest bands of the late ‘90s, and Ezra’s ready to propose to his girlfriend after the wedding. Everything is going to plan--they just have to avoid the chasm of emotions brought up when they inevitably come face to face.
But when they wake up in bed next to each other the following morning with Ezra’s grandmother’s diamond on Frankie’s finger, they have zero memory of how they got there--or about any of the events that transpired the night before. Now Frankie and Ezra have to put aside old grievances in order to figure out what happened, what didn’t happen...and to ask themselves the most troubling question of all: what if they both got it wrong the first time around?
Alright, that’s all I have for today. I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving and have a pile of books to keep you company this month.
What are you reading right now? I’d love to hear!
Also, for those who live up north, I’ve never lived anywhere but the south—am I going to survive New England winters?! Lol
*book links are affiliate links, which means I get a small percentage if you buy through my link
HUGE plot twist! Very exciting. And definitely a good time to dive into some comfort reading. Congratulations to your husband and good luck with all the changes!
OMG, I also got an ARC of One Day in December at the RWA conference in 2018 that took me years to finally read! And I adored that book, too. Congrats to your hubby for his promotion and good luck along the journey of moving your life to the East Coast!