12 Days of Novellas – Day 2: Survival of the Christmas Spirit by Aimee Horton: Review + Recipe!

Day 2 of the 12 Days of Novellas! 
Today I am bringing you a cheerful and humorous novella: Survival of the Christmas Spirit by Aimee Horton, along with a refreshingly gorgeous festive drink to accompany!

Survival of the Christmas Spirit by Aimee Horton

Today we have a guest recipe brought to us from Erin at The Speckled Palate!
Seriously…How insanely delicious does The Blizzard look?  Not only would this make a lovely cocktail to accompany your reading hour – What an awesome treat to put on your Christmas Cocktail List for parties or you know, a regular cold wintery happy hour :))

CocktailChronicles_Blizzard02_small
Thanks so much, Erin for allowing me to use your delicious recipe!
You can grab this festive treat by clicking the pic or head on over to The Speckled Palate.
Once you're stirred up…Don't forget to come on back here for your download of Survival of the Christmas Spirit and my review!

Survival of the Christmas Spirit
Survival of the Christmas Spirit by Aimee Horton
Author: Aimee Horton
Description:  
Cooking for nineteen people will be a cinch!” Ever-optimistic Dottie Harris is preparing for the biggest and best Christmas celebration ever, and nothing—not even unexpected guests or running out of gin—will get her down.  But as always, things don't run smoothly for Dottie, and it's not long before her two energetic children, hapless husband and a nasty stomach bug wreak havoc on her carefully planned spreadsheets.  Can Dottie throw the perfect family Christmas (without so much as a swig of gin to help her through) or will preparing for the festivities get the best of her? One thing's for sure: This will be a Christmas to remember!…"

My View
Descriptive and FUNNY!  I was already laughing by 6% and ready to head into the holidays with Dottie (her family) and her eccentricities.  
Within the first paragraph, aside from the fact that I don't have children, I could connect completely with Dottie:  Her need to have control of 'everything' and then pretty much lose control when all hell breaks lose.  "Watching" and listening to someone else in that perspective was comical!  
The complete disarray of mishaps throughout were not farfetched.  I too have been in quite similar situations.  I laughed out loud at her color coded itinerary and the sound of her husband snoring driving her bat shit crazy.  I have never read a British English novella, so the slang was a bit fun trying to figure out.  Please, ignore my complete ignorance on this matter 🙂  My one complaint.. I need more?  It just kind of stops abruptly at the end.  Why was Dottie's mother puckering her lips in disapproval of ….. (dun dun dun).  If you want to find out – You'll have to read along with me!  I want to assume there is (or will be) a follow up.  This novella/chick lit took me a little under an hour to read.  It was perfectly delightful.  I am happy to have added it to my collection 🙂  An amazing price point that you most definitely can't go wrong with!  Grab Survival of the Christmas Spirit from amazon.com or amazon.ca!

My Rating

candy cane clip art candy cane clip art candy cane clip art
3 out of 5 Candy Canes because of the story ending abruptly!
Don't forget to check back in tomorrow, as I share another Christmassy novella review!..Oh, and a recipe too! 😉






Comments are closed.