The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Marie Landry

November 8th, 2013 Kimberly Review 62 Comments

8th Nov
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Marie Landry
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
by Marie Landry
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Source: Author
Goodreads
Rating: One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, right? At least that’s what twenty-year-old Ginny Bailey’s grandmother always told her, and Ginny believed it until Grama died. She even put on a brave face the following two Christmases, carrying on Grama’s traditions and decorating her house and café with Grama’s favorite decorations. But Ginny can’t pretend any longer. When she finds out she’s going to be alone for the holidays this year, her Christmas spirit goes out the window, along with her luck. Everything that can go wrong does, and Ginny just wants to spend the holidays hiding under the covers...until Dean Riley comes back into her life. With their shared past, old feelings begin to resurface almost immediately, and Ginny thinks Dean might just be the Christmas miracle she’s been waiting for to help her remember why Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year.

Marie Landry delivered the perfect little holiday novella with The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. It has a small-town coffee shop, memories of Christmas with Grandma, snowballs, hot cocoa and a yummy man from our heroine’s past. Mini review: romantic, sweet and filled with holiday spirit.

We meet Ginny sometime right before Christmas, on the first snow of the season. She owns a coffee shop in the middle of her small-town and still lives in the home she was raised in. Missing her Grama. She is determined to embrace the holiday spirit, but everything that could go wrong does. That is until Dean Riley, the man who as a young boy stole her heart shows up in town. It is filled with sweet moments, and memories of Christmas and childhood pasts. This tale quickly tugged at my heart and I consumed it in a single sitting. Bring on the mistletoe, I am feeling festive!

While, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, is a novella, Landry did a wonderful job of fleshing out the characters, especially Ginny. I related to her on so many levels. I was very close to my own grandmother and holidays were extra special thanks to the magic she wove. Plus, Ginny, owns a coffee shop and when you hear her plans for the future you will quickly want to be her BFF too. While Dean wasn’t as fleshed out, he was incredibly sweet, romantic and just the kind of guy you would want under your tree. Other characters such as Ginny’s parents and friends and the cutest little boys or rascals you would ever want to meet help flesh out the tale and add substance to this novella.

Novellas can be hit or miss with me, but Landry did an excellent job with the pacing of The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. The couple shared a past, helping make the “insta-love” feel genuine and I like how the author paced the tale. There were several threads woven into the tale, and you got a sense of the small-town and shop. I easily connected with the characters and bought into all the gooey-goodness Landry shared. Those looking for a clean, feel good, holiday romance will find The Most Wonderful Time of the Year offers the perfect afternoon delight.

Fans of holiday themed, small-town romances, will enjoy The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. This was my first read by Landry, and I will certainly be reading her again.

 

Guest Post

Thank you so much for having me here today, Kimberly! I’m excited to be participating in the Ho Ho Ho Holiday Read-a-Thon, and to be here talking about my new novella, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

I hadn’t read many Christmas books until last year. Every month my library has a new theme and they set up a display of books and decorations accordingly. Last December, the theme was – surprise, surprise – Christmas. I picked a few from the display, and ended up loving them. From there I started getting free and cheap holiday books and novellas for my Kindle, as well as a few more books from the library.

With my mind centred on all things Christmassy, a story idea began to form in my mind. My dad and Grama both loved Christmas, and made it seem like a magical time of year. I wanted to write something to honour them both, since they’re no longer here, and I thought what better time to set a book than during the most wonderful time of the year? I tried to incorporate all the things they loved most about Christmas, and I hope they would be pleased with – and proud of – the results.

There’s something magical about books set at Christmastime. Not only do they get you in the mood for the holidays, they also usually have this wonderful ability to make you believe in the wonder and magic of the season. They’re often light and uplifting, making you believe that anything is possible, and that it really is a season of miracles. There are conflicts and climaxes, but they’re not usually the be-all end-all types of problems in other novels. Christmas stories are ones you can lose yourself in and forget your own troubles for a couple of hours, and come away reminded that there is good and happiness and joy in this crazy, mixed-up world.

About the Author

Marie LandryMarie Landry has always been a daydreamer. She has created imaginary worlds for as long as she can remember, so it only seemed natural that she would become a writer. With a passion for words that started in early childhood, Marie has written a varied range of works, and has been freelance writing since 2009. She resides in Ontario, Canada, and most days you can find her writing, reading, blogging about writing and reading, listening to U2, or having grand adventures with her two precious nephews.

Website|Facebook|Twitter|Goodreads

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About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram

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62 Responses to “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Marie Landry”

  1. Lola

    This sounds like a cute and enjoyable read! Thanks for the giveaway!
    I love how you display the current giveaways in your sidebar, every sunday when I am adding my link to the sunday post linky I check to see if there is a giveaway I want to enter!

    • kimbacaffeinate

      This was cute and I am glad you like my sidebar widget. I use UBB by Nose Graze to set that up and just add images

  2. Tanya

    I could use some cozy and sentimental Christmas reads, I haven’t read a Christmas book in years! Thanks for the chance to win!

  3. Ginny

    This one gains major points from me for the awesome main character name. I love christmas novellas and this one sounds like a great one. I am adding it to my TBR list. Thanks for the chance to win.

  4. Pamela D

    This sounds like a lovely holiday read. My family always loved Christmas. We used to get our tree on Black Friday. I guess all the Christmas-yness is still with me, because I love reading novellas like these! 🙂

    • kimbacaffeinate

      I enjoy the holiday, and for some reason I think romances with holiday themes are sweeter.

  5. Berls

    sounds really good – I love it when a novella manages to deliver characters that are full fleshed. I also think this one would just be super relatable for me – I’ve lost both my grandmothers in the last two years, so I can definitely appreciate what the MC goes through. I look forward to reading it!

  7. Mary Preston

    I do love catching up with all of my family for the holidays.

  8. Chelsea

    Great review! I share the same feelings on novellas but this one sounds so good. I’m glad that the character development was well done despite the short length. Add this to my holiday TBR.

    • kimbacaffeinate

      This was a perfect read for when you just want a sweet romance to make you feel good!

  9. Barbara Thompson

    Book sounds fantastic, plus I have the opportunity to meet a new author at least to me. Looking forward to reading your book. Thank you for the chanch to win this giveaway and please enter my name.

  10. Terrie Fulk

    I agree with Marie. Christmas themed romance seems to be magical. They put me in a holiday state of mind. I feel a bit different when I read about a Christmas romance. They feel me with warmth and a giddy kind of feeling. Thanks for the chance to win a Christmas romance.

    • kimbacaffeinate

      I agree Terrie, they are magical and really get me in the holiday spirit.

  11. Nick

    Aww! This sounds like its a cute read. I’m not much of a novella person but it’s good to know that the characters are fleshed out despite this being a short book.
    Lovely review, Kim.

  12. Melissa (Books and Things)

    Oh I know a lot of people who just live for this time of year. This would be perfect! I also think that novellas are harder to write especially when not part of a series. You have to establish the setting and the characters so quickly. This sounds like a great novella.

  13. Heidi

    I read a review of this on Christy’s blog yesterday and it does sound sweet and fun. I love the idea of the warm, cozy holiday feel, but novellas are hit and miss with me too as I always want more!

    • kimbacaffeinate

      This was sweet Heidi and a perfect little read to get in the holiday mood.:)

  14. Janice Hougland

    I love the holidays because it appears to be just about the only positive amount of time we see and hear and read about on TV, in the news, in books, and in the spirit of people everywhere (even when busy shopping or driving in traffic). We get so much negativity the rest of the year that I really gobble up the cheerful holiday time. Thanks for the post and for asking this question! jdh2690@gmail.com

    • kimbacaffeinate

      Thanks Janice and I wish we all carried the Christmas spirit all year long 🙂

  15. Candace

    I’m reading some holiday novellas right now and enjoying them a lot! I don’t usually do holiday books but it’s working this time around! This sounds wonderful, I may just add it to my list…

  16. aurian

    Great review Kimba, I really love Christmas books all through the year. Somehow I have not read many of them yet, I have to pick some from my TBR soon.

    • kimbacaffeinate

      I read them from Nov 1 to Dec 25th and then bam..I am done till next year..LOL

  18. Squeak - The Alaskan Bookie

    I love the holiday season because it is like magic! The world is transformed into a special place where love, magic, and happiness seem to be perched on every street corner!

    • kimbacaffeinate

      This was a sweet, quick read Debbie, a nice little escape.

  21. Trish

    Sounds so sweet, romantic and heart-warming. Exactly what I want from a Christmas novella. Funny I used to hate novellas but for a seasonal read and a quick burst of holiday feel-good-feels, they are perfect.

    • kimbacaffeinate

      Ya know, they are great in-between reads and just like full-length novels some are epic and some make you cringe. 🙂

    • kimbacaffeinate

      Oh enjoy Jonetta, it will make you all warm and fuzzy for the holidays 🙂

  23. Jenny

    I can always believe in a more insta love situation if the characters have known each other for a while and have a past. That makes more sense in my head and I can see how serious feelings would develop faster:) This sounds like a cute novella for this time of year, thanks for the recommendation Kim!

    • kimbacaffeinate

      Agreed Jenny. This was adorable and perfect for getting in the holiday mood.

  24. Sandy

    Sounds like a wonderful story. Christmas is MY most wonderful time of the year but I know it is a difficult time for many….wishing everyone a great holiday season.

    • kimbacaffeinate

      thanks Sandy, I think we all need to grab a little piece of happy and sometimes books are the perfect place to find it 🙂

  25. Marie Landry

    Thank you so much for the lovely review, Kimberly, and for having me on the blog today. I really appreciate it! <3 I'm having a blast with the read-a-thon so far. 🙂

    • kimbacaffeinate

      It was my pleasure, and I am glad you are having fun during the HoHoHoRAT 🙂

  26. kindlemom1

    After reading both your’s and Christy’s review of this one I can see that it is going to be a must buy for me and at only $.99 how can I resist it?

  27. Dragana

    As soon as I read the tittle I started humming the song – this book definitely puts you in a Holiday mood. I’m not a big fan of holiday-themes books but this does sounds like sweet and cute read.

  28. Jenea

    This sounds really good. My library hasn’t started to put of Christmas books yet! Great review and thank you for sharing the guest post.

    • kimbacaffeinate

      It was and I imagine they will pull those holiday books out soon 🙂

  29. Mary

    So, what you’re saying is this is another cute little town with hot guys and all the things I want in a cute little town…except that it doesn’t exist. Sadness! Now, I must go immerse myself in said cute town in the cute novella.

  30. Jeann

    Sounds like a cute holiday themed book, I haven’t read many Christmas themed ones but I like reading peoples thoughts on them. Great review, sounds like this one hit the mark on its theme!