Hi friends,

Today is Sunday, time to look back in the rearview mirror and talk about my week in and out of the blog. As usual I am linking up to the Sunday Post hosted for years by Kimberly @caffeinatedreviewer .

 

In my private life

Well this was another week homeworking.

Belgium is still waiting for COVID cases to slow down a lot but we seem to reacha  standstill.

The highlight of my week was going on a long walk with my mother this Wednesday.

We stayed apart while walking in the countryside but my mom was so happy to do something and see someone!

She used to go to the fitness club every day, go have coffee in a tearoom in town and see lots of friends. All that has changed for months and she has it hard right now.

 

Work has me staying behind my computer, in my kicthen for long hours each days and I know that I am so lacking in answering comments but honestly, at the end of the day, I need to go for a walk, leaving the house. When I come back, I am usually so tired with the lack of light that blogging si becoming very difficult.

I hope having two weeks of holiday at Christmas will help me to make it up to all of you!

 

On the blog this week

Every day I posted about my Best Reads of  2020! 

This didn’t leave me with much time to read and review but I managed to finish two books! As I am way behind on all that I have to do, I’ll just post mini reviews here below:

 

Faking Under the Mistletoe by Ashley Shepherd is a perfect Christmas romcom.

Easy to read and easy to fall for. I gave it 4 stars.

MINI REVIEW

 

Olivia really made me think of the heroine of Me Before You. She was bubbly, upbeat and decided to see the glass half full. Wearing ugly Christmas sweaters, going ice skating, smiling, smiling, always smiling.
That girl really LOVES Christmas. And this is the understatement of the year!

I confess that at the beginning I was quite undecided if I loved her or not as she comes at you full force with her will to make Christmas so great at the office. She looked like an overeager pomeranian (no offense to that race), chirpy but I had yet to decide if she was smart or just hairbrained.
Slowly but surely I warmed up to her as I realized that her sunny personality hid a girl who is alone in life and who had never had it easy. Progressively we guess more about her past and the light tone of the story takes a deeper turn.
Olivia was in fact admirable and courageous.
Manning two jobs to make ends meet, trying to please everyone , she may live in a dingy appartment, everything she had she had earned.
Surrounded by wealthy people and celebrities at her job, she was never envious and always kind.

The trope of the book is fake dating. I love that trope!
Olivia is determined to help her boss, Asher, get back his former girlfriend and will launch a fake dating campaign to make Francesca jealous.

Asher our male main character is really a grinch.
He is showing a severe and kind of jerky face but his actions say otherwise when he is either looking at his niece like she is hanging the moon or taking care of a trashed Olivia.

Honestly if I had a boss as demanding as Asher I would have exploded but Olivia took everything in stride and gave as good as she got because the banter was incredible!
I often wonder how authors come up with so many witty remarks and the comebacks had me smiling or laughing all along.

Reading this story makes it impossible not to be in the mood for Christmas but know two things:

1) There is an ugly part coming your way where we’ll definitely veer off romcom territory;

2)You will end up gaining at least 5 pounds just reading Olivia eating cookies, hot chocolate and every Christmas food imaginable, preferably sweet, all the time!

Perfect Christmas read.

 

Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand was another Christmas read.

MINI REVIEW

4 stars and all warm feelings for that family saga.

Winter Street gives you all the warm feelings for Christmas.

This book plunges you in the life of a family amidst crisis.

We follow every character on that Christmas eve and day, beginning with the father Kelley whose second wife Mitsy just left after he found her cheating with Santa!

He is shocked and dead set on burning her clothes in their bathroom …while they are an inn and have guests.
Ava, music teacher and kelley’s daughter barges in the room and stops the fire, taking it upon herself to still organize the big event they have at the inn every Christmas.
She will rally the help of her brother, Kevin, bartender and secretly soon to be father.

Ava has so much to do while stressing over her relationship with her boyfriend, gone to visit his parents and see his former girlfriend…
To add more stress, their older brother, Patrick, trader extraordinaire won’t come celebrate Christmas with his wife and kids this year. No words of explanation. They don’t know that Patrick is in big trouble!

Ava is brave but disheartened and would so love going with her mom Margaret, Kelley’s ex wife, on a warm island to spend Christmas.

While falling into the middle of Kelley, Ava, patrick, Kevin and Margaret’s lives, this is not difficult at all to see who they are, what they went through in their lives from the moment Kelley divorced Margaret now the female facefamous anchor of CBS news.

Every one of these characters have made mistakes, are having doubts and their own little or big problems but that made them so human that I couldn’t help relate and love them.
Elin’s writing is fluid, engaging and had me read that book in one sitting.

Family drama, love, heartbreak and Christmas vibes are what you’ll find aplenty in this quick read.

 

Now it’s your turn: what happened into your life this week?

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Sophie

 

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36 Comments

  1. My sister is having a hard time being isolated too, she was relieved when the lockdown was lightened up last tuesday. And yes, going outside and breathing fresh air is the best thing to do at the end of the day (or during the day), much better to staying inside locked up with a computer ^^ Have a great week, Erin !

  2. The isolation is really taking a toll on my mother, too. I try to see her as often as I can but I worry about her. She’s very social and this being at home alone all the time has been hard on her.

  3. It’s good you got to get out and get some fresh air! In some ways this lockdown is going to be harder than in the spring and summer where the weather was nicer. Though I am happy there is Christmas and the winter break to look forward to 🙂

  4. We’re still overloaded with cases and strict restrictions here, too. Nice that you got to spend time with your mom and enjoy the country.

    I love that Hilderbrand cover! 🙂

  5. It’s nice to be able to get out and see family, glad you were able to do that. and I hope Belgium slows down with cases, it’s not slowing down here at all!

    Be well this week Sophie!!!

  6. It is really hard at the moment, dont beat yourself up. You aren’t alone with not being able to blog hop and comment like we used to. My Mum is finding it hard not seeing her friends as she used to as well, in fact her phone bill has tripled and my Dad is moaning!!!!! I have 5 days off at Xmas and i am so looking forward to it!

  7. I hear you about the fresh air and getting out. My in laws have taken to driving to an obscure place so they can stretch their legs and walk outside, even if it’s only for 10-15 minutes tops. Me and mine walk the apartment or the balcony, and I haven’t been outside since Sept 1. It’s just not safe enough here, were we are. The numbers are terrifying here.

    I hope you get some rest over the holidays and makes sure you take time for you and your family first, Sophie, before worrying about blogging. We’re all still here.

  8. I have Winter Street on my TBR list for December, but actually don’t think I’m going to get to it. Quite a few other books to complete my reading challenge for!

    I love the idea of the mini-reviews. I don’t review all books I’ve read, only the ARC’s and if I really have something to say about it.

    Hope you will have a good week ahead. Stay safe!

    Elza Reads

  9. I’m struggling to keep up too, don’t worry, we can only do what we can at the moment! Going for that walk, I think, is much more important for health.
    Winter feels like it’s going to be a very dark season in more ways than one but I’m hopeful we’ll begin to see the light come the spring/summer! Hang in there.

  10. I really feel those that are older and can’t be around people especially if they need to be around others and have that human connection. The reports of those ages giving up on life is scary and heartbreaking. Happy to see you are able to take walks and find the rejuvenating process you need.

  11. I feel bad for older people, who live alone and can no longer mingle with their friends. At least I have work to keep me busy during the day, right? I think I work more now from home than I did in the office, and I find I just keep going all day. Do you feel that way? I totally relate to feeling spent after 8.5 – 9 hours in front of the computer. I am glad you have your walks to decompress.

  12. I am with you on the walking after sitting on the computer all day. I am struggling to visit people during the week and only seem to find today to be the ideal day to visit.
    My mom is also having a hard time with not going out and the US isn’t slowing down either. I am just hoping things will get better next year so we can at least enjoy other peoples company again.

    I hope you have a great week, Sophia! Happy Reading!