My Interest
For once I forgot to not who’s blog I saw this one on–someone doing the same Christmas book challenges. Anyway, it sounded cute and best of all, I could stand the reader.
The Story
Samantha has worked in the Civic Hall box office forever–or so it seems. It’s her “niche,” her comfort zone. She feels safe there. It’s predictable. Samantha loves predictable, craves routine. She has panic attacks over the unexpected things in life. Her sister Cleo, with whom she shares a house, is the opposite–she lives life to the full, sleeps with the guys she dates, cycles through jobs, goes clubbing–the works. One day Samantha is faced with the Civic Hall hosting a big ice show on a temporary rink. Ice skating is something she is somewhat comfortable with–she learned to skate as a child and loved it. When big name skater Jimmy Lloyd speaks to her…..[no spoilers, but you can see the cover of the book at the top of this post, right?]
Meanwhile the Burrough Council has a budget squeeze and suddenly Samatha’s world is rocked in a bad way. The Hall may be closed! What will happen to her co-workers many of whom earn the biggest or only paycheck in their family? What about Samantha herself? What about beloved stray cat, Gobi????
My Thoughts
Some intern blurbbed this one “Laugh out loud romantic comedy” on Amazon. Well….no, not that. “Fun” yes, lol–no. I liked this one a lot. Of course, the story line is ridiculous, but like winning the lottery it COULD happen. I thought Samantha needed to slapped out of one or two of her panic attacks [NO, I am not picking on folks with panic attacks–my late Dad had them they are real and serious, but this is a cozy novel, not real life] but I could also understand a lot of her–especially the way she loved being in her niche and her talking to the cat. I didn’t find anything very Christmas-y in this, but it is billed as a Christmas book so that counts. And, it was fun. Plus, Gobi the cat was wonderful.
My Verdict
Hopewell's Public Library of Life 
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