Meredith...and the end

Here I was thinking I'd found a nice little story with some fun characters and comedic scenes and story number three stars a young woman who's lost both her parents in a tragedy. I nearly threw the book across the room...but then I went ahead and read it. After all, it was my book and it was supposed to have a happy ending. While I think this may have been my second favorite of the stories, I also found it to be the least plausible. A few of the plot details seemed a bit far fetched, such as the sleigh in downtown Chicago and the miraculous finding of Meredith's mom's glass ornaments. These details were lovely little miracles, but hardly believable. Still, I am glad that things turned out well for Meredith and I enjoyed the guessing game about just where her man had gone and who he was.

The epilogue was cute. I love how the three Mrs. Clauses ended up at the same place at the same time and that they all made a connection in some way. I also enjoyed hearing a little of what had happened to each woman one, two or three years after her story. I thought it was a fun and clever way to end the story. Over all I found this an enjoyable read and was glad for a little "fluff" after the seriousness of the last book as well as my own life. I hope everyone else enjoyed it as well.

Meredith (and the epilogue)

This one was nice. I think I liked it better than Cassie's, but I'm not sure if better than Olivia's. Ms. Alexander has a thing for good girlfriends (Gia in this one) and I like that. Nick was great. The whole thing had a very 'Miracle of 34th Street' feel about it. And I totally felt Meredith's frustration about her job.

The epilogue felt really cheesy to me. Too perfect and wrapping it all up. I mean, it's a nice touch, but it turned me off. I like that Cassie's mom, Agate was Mrs. Claus, but that they were all there the next year...yeah, it just didn't seem possible.

And I totally spotted at error on pg. 340 (listing of Meredith's cities that she was in charge of. Baltimore is there twice). Just thought I'd share.

Till next time.

Cassie (i like your cassie better, faubles)

Loved loved loved Tyler. He was great. I really don't know if I buy him as a five year old boy, but i'm not good with ages and development, so whatever.

Yeah, the relationship between her and Buchman. It was okay. It just seemed really shallow. I liked him, but i just didn't think i was prepared for the relationship. I write short stories and I think I could have made the connection work better.

Cassie annoyed me that she was soooo stubborn about TJ. He was awful. I mean, why did it take her so long to figure that out? I wanted to slap her. In a nice friendly way.

Once again, liked the main character's friends. They seem to be the solid (more) ones.

one more!!

Olivia (should we come up with better titles? :))

Okay, I admit it took me awhile to get into this story. I'm not sure why i was resisting, but there you go.

I really liked it. I liked how she changed and how she liked being with the kids. I loved her friends and how different they all were. And I agree that Woody wasn't really necessary, but he was nice and sweet. The stuff with the show was hilarious.

I definitely had warm feelings when it ended. Made me want to more to Baltimore. Especially when they referenced Hairspray in the beginning.

On to the next one!!

Olivia

I really liked Olivia's character and her development, probably as Em notes, we get the most character in this story. I liked how the story was about her changing and how that came as a result of more than just (or at all really) a relationship with a guy. I barely felt like we learned much about Woody, in fact the story would have worked just as well without him other than the fact that it wouldn't fit the genre as well. I felt like I knew Olivia's friends better than any of the guys (other than maybe Hank).

Another good thing about this story was all the side characters; I could tell that there were big back stories that existed, but weren't necessarily shared, for her friends, her mom, etc. Did we ever hear what started her mom's anxiety? Jonah was the third husband? Why is Turtle looking for a new city? ZZ was a therapist? (Okay that last one was potentially more handy than indicative of more story, but still...) Feeling like the other characters had lives beyond just being supporting cast to Olivia made the story much richer and more believable.

Cassie

Loved her name of course, but wasn't sure about all the hot and heavy physical stuff going on between her and Buchman. I can identify with her in many ways...being a mom, wanting the best for her son, enjoying decorating and yet I can't agree with all of her decisions. I feel like a woman with a young son should be way more responsible than sleeping around, but again, my morals are a lot different than most these days. I was glad that she made up with her mom, especially in lieu of my own personal experiences lately. I think her job must be way cool and really fun, both the creating window displays and the Mrs. Claus part. I did enjoy the story for what it was, a short, fun Christmas story. I also appreciated the emphasis put on the importance of family. I realize that family can be a mix of blood relations and close friends and I think this little tale did a good job of showing that.

Mrs. Claus

I'm only a little into this, but I was amused by the prologue. One, I like that Rossman's Department store is in Chicago on Michigan Ave., clearly a Marshall Field's substitute. But, the financial issues that they are worried about and the idea of scaling back Christmas seems very topical with this year. Interesting.

December book

Okay, here's the deal. I've picked a fun, Christmas pop-fiction novel. I needed something light this month for obvious reasons. It's called The Secret Life of Mrs. Claus by Carly Alexander. I read about a quarter of it to make sure it was okay...don't think it's too sleezy and actually has some heart-warming messages so far. It basically has three shorter stories which are linked by a common theme/prologue. I'm not going to set specific dates for when each section is read, but I'd ask that we try and read it all by the first week of January if possible, since it is a Christmas book. I'm also going to suggest that we post on each section seperately since each of the three stories is sort of independant. With Christmas break coming up this should be doable for us I think...plus it's a fun read. Hopefully the rest of the book is good.