ghumpherys's review
4.0
Christmas is over, but I'm still enjoying Christmas stories, especially these shorter stories that are quick reads. I liked the idea of the advent box, although I had a hard time actually picturing how the box worked with all the little hidden compartments. A sweet story!
chelseaj91's review
4.0
Melanie Douglas attempts to connect with a troubled student using an advent box with hidden rewards. When Henry O’Keeffe sees a remarkable change in his son, he has to meet the new teacher. Will more than one prayer be answered in the small Nebraska town?
What a great novella to start The 12 Brides of Christmas!
This is the first time that I've read something by Mary Connealy, but I can honestly say that I will probably be picking more of her works in the future. She did a great job weaving together a beautiful, touching romance and injecting the perfect amount of humor and heart.
The way Melanie manages to deal with Simon was inspiring. I wish that all mischievous little boys could be so easily distracted by a box...I also really like how, knowing that Henry was a widower, she willing stayed with Simon after school until Henry was able to collect him. Granted, Henry's blaming her for Simon's actions didn't help anything, but that clearly set the stage for some unexpected romance.
Mary did a great job of paralleling Simon's (and maybe even everyone else's) joy of discovering what was in the box with anticipation of Christ's birth at Christmas.
Can't wait to read the rest of these novellas! :)
*In return for an honest review, I received a free copy from Barbour Publishing*
What a great novella to start The 12 Brides of Christmas!
This is the first time that I've read something by Mary Connealy, but I can honestly say that I will probably be picking more of her works in the future. She did a great job weaving together a beautiful, touching romance and injecting the perfect amount of humor and heart.
The way Melanie manages to deal with Simon was inspiring. I wish that all mischievous little boys could be so easily distracted by a box...I also really like how, knowing that Henry was a widower, she willing stayed with Simon after school until Henry was able to collect him. Granted, Henry's blaming her for Simon's actions didn't help anything, but that clearly set the stage for some unexpected romance.
Mary did a great job of paralleling Simon's (and maybe even everyone else's) joy of discovering what was in the box with anticipation of Christ's birth at Christmas.
Can't wait to read the rest of these novellas! :)
*In return for an honest review, I received a free copy from Barbour Publishing*
emlickliter's review
5.0
DAAWWWW!!! This was the cutest thing!!!! I know I made some sort of this is too cute to handle squeak at some point because people were staring at me on my lunch break! lol! This is a story about a teacher in the Midwest who starts praying for her most troublesome student, Simon. Simon's dad is the town sheriff and a recent widower who is taking the loss of his wife nearly as poorly as his son. With the help of a very special jewelry box with enough secret compartments to make it all the way through the Advent season, Melanie starts hiding surprises for the curious Simon and his father to find after school every day. As they open each drawer, Simon and his father discover the pieces of the Nativity scene and some of the healing the Savior was born to bring. And maybe I'm spiteful, but I kinda wish Melanie's horrible landlady would have gotten a taste of her own medicine! But I'll just have to settle for that DAW of a happily ever after!
booksoneveryshelf's review
3.0
I was bit disappointed. 2.5 stars
The Advent Bride is the first novella in Barbour Publishing’s The 12 Brides of Christmas serial series. It follows the story of Melanie Douglas and Henry “Hank” O’Keeffe as they strive to help his son during Christmas. I was very excited to read this, since I’m a huge fan of Ms. Connealy’s, but unfortunately, I was left desiring something more.
The beginning was very promising and I laughed at the very first line, but somewhere around the halfway point, I began to lose interest. A fair amount of the plot revolves around a mystery box Melanie finds and ingeniously uses to keep Simon interested in his studies. I thought there would be a mystery or something surrounding it, but there isn’t really. She finds things to put in the hidden places to make it more interesting for Simon, but there wasn’t anything particularly interesting about it, at least to me. Also, after the addition of it, the story became more of little snippets of days, letting the reader know what was found. That was frustrating for me, because I honestly didn’t care that much about the box. I wanted to know more about the characters, instead.
I did like Melanie Douglas. I enjoyed her spunk and desire to care for Simon, even though he irritated her to no end. She is an orphan and has often felt unwanted or that she was a burden, so she does her very best to ensure that he doesn’t feel that way. She surprisingly comes to care a great deal for the little nuisance and his father, who also drives her crazy.
Hank O’Keeffe is a wounded hero and would have been very interesting. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel as though I knew him very well and wasn’t able to connect with him. I actually found his attraction to Melanie a little strange, because he only just met her, but it worked okay for the sake of the story.
I also found the ending quite farfetched. Melanie and Hank rarely spoke throughout the story, so I’m don’t know how they could come to love each other in such a short length of time, especially when they knew very little about one another. I’m probably nitpicking the story to death, so I apologize. I would recommend this story if you’re looking for a quick, Christmas-themed read.
I received a free download of this book from the publisher for my honest review, which I have given. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.
The Advent Bride is the first novella in Barbour Publishing’s The 12 Brides of Christmas serial series. It follows the story of Melanie Douglas and Henry “Hank” O’Keeffe as they strive to help his son during Christmas. I was very excited to read this, since I’m a huge fan of Ms. Connealy’s, but unfortunately, I was left desiring something more.
The beginning was very promising and I laughed at the very first line, but somewhere around the halfway point, I began to lose interest. A fair amount of the plot revolves around a mystery box Melanie finds and ingeniously uses to keep Simon interested in his studies. I thought there would be a mystery or something surrounding it, but there isn’t really. She finds things to put in the hidden places to make it more interesting for Simon, but there wasn’t anything particularly interesting about it, at least to me. Also, after the addition of it, the story became more of little snippets of days, letting the reader know what was found. That was frustrating for me, because I honestly didn’t care that much about the box. I wanted to know more about the characters, instead.
I did like Melanie Douglas. I enjoyed her spunk and desire to care for Simon, even though he irritated her to no end. She is an orphan and has often felt unwanted or that she was a burden, so she does her very best to ensure that he doesn’t feel that way. She surprisingly comes to care a great deal for the little nuisance and his father, who also drives her crazy.
Hank O’Keeffe is a wounded hero and would have been very interesting. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel as though I knew him very well and wasn’t able to connect with him. I actually found his attraction to Melanie a little strange, because he only just met her, but it worked okay for the sake of the story.
I also found the ending quite farfetched. Melanie and Hank rarely spoke throughout the story, so I’m don’t know how they could come to love each other in such a short length of time, especially when they knew very little about one another. I’m probably nitpicking the story to death, so I apologize. I would recommend this story if you’re looking for a quick, Christmas-themed read.
I received a free download of this book from the publisher for my honest review, which I have given. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.
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