Christmas with Book Club: Humorous Women's Fiction

Best Ever Book Club #2

by Heather Woodhaven

A New Challenge for ChristmasJeanine's calendar alerts are out of control. All Jeanine wants for Christmas is some alone time and sweet romance with her husband of twenty years. At the last book club meeting of the year, the holiday romance they discuss inspires the rest of the club to start a new challenge. Before Jeanine can object, the other members plan the month, filled to brim with acts of kindness, most of which go hilariously wrong.Unbeknownst to the book club, the men in their lives have their own secret challenge brewing...

Genres: Christmas, Book Club, Fiction, Holiday, Chick Lit

178 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 6, 2017

Reviews

[Diana Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow start,and I would have preferred reading the first book to get to know the characters betters but an nice holiday read.

[Heather Gilbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved hanging out with these book club "friends" again this Christmas season! As usual, they were getting into some interesting situations with fun twists I couldn't see coming. Loved the addition of the spunky Violet in this one. Enjoyed how this novel delves into the real meaning of romance and we get to see it enacted in these married couples' lives. Feel-good, realistic, humorous read--just what I've come to expect from Woodhaven's book club gals! Hoping she writes another book club book soon!

[Katherine Coble · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exactly what I want in a Christmas book. Fun story, happy endings, quick read.

[Loraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five ladies have started a Book Club. It's Christmas time and they have decided to start a Christmas service project. When their husband get together, they decide to be more romantic and make Christmas very special. Full of laughter, fun, and romance, this short novel is a delightful read. This new-to-me author really created an enjoyable read.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 2 in this series - and it was better than the first! I really enjoy the group of ladies in these stories. This one would make a great Christmas movie!

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book Heather wrote, The Secret Life of Book Club, was awesome. I was thrilled she wrote a sequel. Once again she drew me in and I felt like I was reconnecting with long lost friends. I apologize to my husband now for laughing so hard and waking him up. It was only a few nights of lost sleep. ;) The characters are funny, serious and totally people you can relate to. I love the situations they find themselves in and often nodded my head in agreement. I LOVED Violet. She was a great addition to the book club, plus a little "new" romance is always fun. I think Heather has a keeper with this series. I hope she writes another book. I love this book club!

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

No doubt, Heather Woodhaven knows how to write realistic, pulls-you-into-the-story women's fiction. I loved the book club in the last book, and this one took things up a notch. Laughs, sigh-worthy scenes, and subtle life lessons combine to make a story that feels like it could be told by my coworkers or neighbors. If they were quirky, lovable, and hilarious, that is. I want a book club for Christmas.

[Christine Doster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book!!

Wonderful story of love and giving! Highly recommend for anyone doubting the Christmas spirit and their love and commitment of friends and families!

[Spenelli Speaks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't realize that this is a book that came from an original "Best Ever Book Club" where the characters originated. That said, I feel that as a reader I was assumed to have read the first book. I did not, so I felt left out of the mix. Even so, most writers will give more of a sense of each character in a second meeting. I did not get the sense of that here. I hardly even knew what each character looked like, let alone what their story was and how it interconnected with everyone else. The story was only about 150 pages and there were about 6 characters too many for the brevity of the story. None of it made much sense to me as each story line was much too short to relate to any of the characters. I semi-enjoyed the story but the plot was hard to follow and didn't make much sense to me. This was a very lack-luster way to start my holiday reading.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little book was the perfect feel-good Christmas read I was looking for when I picked it up. As the month of December looms with all its holiday obligations, the ladies of the Best Ever Book Club decide they want to anonymously do something generous and good-spirited for someone. While juggling kids, husbands, and jobs, the ladies manage to find the perfect candidate for their Secret Santa Challenge. This challenge is a minor part of the plot, though. The story really revolves around the relationships between the ladies and their men, culminating in a magical Christmas morning for all.

[Cheryl Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book

I didn't realize this was Book 2 in the series, until I was a third the way through. Book 1 probably introduced everyone, and since I missed that, I had a little harder time keeping everyone straight. I did enjoy the book! It had its funny moments and it's serious moments. It also had some great marital advice thrown in! You won't go wrong if you are looking for a good, clean, fun book to read.

[Trish · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

Cutesy but again I was just struck with how unrealistic some of the situations were. This definitely had a heavier "Christian" sense - and we're even introduced to a missionary - but it never really delves into personal faith.

It was a good time filler with waiting, but I can't say I have any desire to continue on with the book club

[Jan Volkman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet and happy story. . .

just what I needed in the stressful time of COVID-19. I enjoyed reading how they were able to put together a Christmas for everyone while stranded in the cabin.

[Alice Wallace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I now know that this was Book 2 in a series and it most likely would have come across better for me if I had read the first one. It was light-hearted and wholesome but I don't feel like I got to know any of the characters individually.

[Theresa Anne Wortham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick Xmas reading

Liked the relationship that they shared and how they cared for their spouse's. Favorite character was Violet . Favorite part of the book was what was done for the young lady that worked at Starbucks

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a really cute story. Nice to put you in the holiday mood.

[Katie F · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars rounded to three. A light and fun read, though a little saccharin and unrealistic for my taste.

[Debra Slonek · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect read for the holiday season and guaranteed to lift your spirits! This delightful story revolved around a special group of women, along with their friends and families. This group of women were friends, neighbors and belonged to the same book club.

This book was fun to read and caused me to laugh out loud many times. My favorite scene involved a patch of ice, feet going airborne and well meaning, helping hands which caused a hilarious chain reaction. There were also many tender moments which brought tears to my eyes.

I loved the warm, realistic relationships between parents, step parents and children, spouses, and friends. I also loved the witty dialogue and enjoyed the references to Pintrest and GoodReads.

I received this book through a GoodReads, First Reads Giveaway.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute story about a group of women who have a book club. The action takes place at Christmas time. I've been in book clubs, and I know how close you can become to one another. The same holds true for this diverse group of ladies. I don't know if it was my lack of concentration at this time of year or if the book was really confusing. But each chapter came from a different character's perspective. Therefore, I thought the book jumped around a lot. It always took me a few paragraphs into the chapter to remember that character's set of circumstances and challenges. The end was sweet and makes the reader realize that we all find romance in different ways in different places. Sometimes we just don't recognize it for what it really is.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the mix of characters and the author did a nice job of introducing them and their points of view. I disliked how quickly "romance" developed at the end again. I don't know why over the course of a 2-3 week time period authors feel people can go from complete strangers to engaged to be married. Just extend the time line or write a 2nd book... develop these relationships because for me it is a complete unrealistic aspect of the book and takes away from all the other good things about it.

[B.D. Riehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect Christmas treat to warm you up and kick off the holidays. Seriously, I loved this book. Everything about it. The wit, the charm, the heartwarming plan to bless someone special, and the hilarious mishaps. I laughed until my stomach scramped and drank in all the warm fuzzies that I love about this season. I highly recommend Christmas with Book Club, by Heather Woodhaven--everything you want in a feel good Christmas story

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an adorable and sweet story. I haven't read The Secret Life of Book Club, but other than a couple of things, which quickly cleared themselves up, I didn't feel lost at all. The story is told from several POV, but after I understood who was who I quite enjoyed that. I hope to be able to read the first book in this series sometime soon.

[Sandy Adams · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my type of story.

I'm not sure why I chose to read this as it is not my genre, hence the low rating. I found the story rather juvenile and the writing not much better. A group of women belong to a book club, they are friends, they love their families but wish they could spend more time together. A visit from a quirky relative along with them all being stranded in a snowbound cabin at Christmas makes them realize how fortunate they are. The end.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really cute story to read right around Christmas time. I liked it a lot and recommend it if you enjoy these types of reads.

One of the only negatives I had was that since there were so many main characters and I haven't read book one, it was a little difficult to keep track of everyone.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was attracted to this book because of the title! I love book clubs, the idea of a book club, reading with a book clue etc etc...so this book was right up my alley of themes. The book started a little slow for me.....there was no mystery, no wondering, no big happening....just a sweet cozy Christmas read!

[Ladyp · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading this book i just went ahhhhhhh! Loved this story although at times i had a hard time switching back and forth constantly between the characters in the book. This was the best ooey gooey get ya right there story for the holidays!

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light easy read. I found the fact that everyone came to epiphanies and everything was summed up so clearly frustrating and takes away from the story. It was a mindless, nice read for this time of year.

[Minny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was nice to catch up with the book club members and the Christmas challenge was sweet. The only things I didn't care too much for were the little preachy parts about Christ and Violet who I found incredibly annoying.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://abookloverswalk.blogspot.com/2...

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was great to reunite with the book club members and also the new one, Violet! I laughed out in several places. Here's hoping for a #3!