About this book:
“A Merry Humbug Christmas features two holiday romance novellas from hilarious and heartwarming author Sandra D. Bricker. -- the perfect gift to yourself or someone else at this most wonderfully stressful time of year.
In "Once Upon a Jingle Bell", a Bah! Humbug cruise to the Mexican Riviera is Joss Snow's answer to this year's quest to avoid the holidays completely; at least until she's rebooked on a different kind of cruise altogether. Candy canes, holly wreaths, reindeer and ornaments seem to be stalking her on the 12 Days of Christmas holiday cruise extravaganza. An escape back to land is her only goal . . . until she meets a kindred spirit in rugged Irishman Patrick Brenneman, and then the game is on! Avoid Christmas festivities at all costs . . . except maybe for that one stop under the mistletoe.
In "It Came Upon a Midnight Deer", Reese's guilt over abandoning best friend Joss on their holiday tradition of avoiding all things Christmas is trumped by the joy of her recent engagement. Meeting Damian's family for the first time on idyllic Sugarloaf Mountain is about as far from that Bah! Humbug cruise as she can get, and Reese can hardly wait to get there. But from the moment they hit that deer in the road just two miles from the cabin, everything seems to go wrong. There are no drummers drumming or pipers piping this particular year! And once she sets her future in-laws' family cabin ablaze, she's pretty sure there won't be even ONE golden ring in her future.”
Series: Does not seem to be connected to any other books by this author.
Spiritual Content- Isaiah 9:6 at the beginning; Prayers, Thanking God, Blessings over food, & Two Irish Christmas Blessings are said (one over food); Talks about the true meaning of Christmas & the first Christmas; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Joss isn’t a fan of Christmas and believes that God understands (saying that while baby Jesus was thrown out with the Christmas water for her, she didn’t turn on God, she turned on Christmas instead); Patrick asks Joss if she’s a praying woman and she says “now and then” (*Spoiler* she prays for the first time in a really long time towards the end about meeting with Patrick *End of Spoiler*); Patrick says that his Christian faith has played a deep and abiding part of the man he’d become; Seeing a live nativity & a mini message from a reverend; Mentions of God, Jesus, Christmas being about His birthday, & faiths; Mentions of prayers, praying, & Blessings over food; Mentions of churches, church going, & services; Mentions of Christian Christmas songs; Mentions of having a birthday cake for Jesus; Mentions of the history of luminarias (a Spanish tradition); A few mentions of thanking God for blessings & being Blessed; A few mentions of a person’s sweater and another’s nightgown having a manger scene; A few mentions of being Jewish & Hanukkah; A mention of Handel’s Messiah; A mention of a place being God’s country; A mention of something being a miracle (sincerely meant); A mention of something being “god-like kismet”;
*Note: Many mentions of Santas, elves, reindeer, Rudolph, and all the other classic secular Christmas items (including many songs); Mentions of something being kismet, luck, & destiny (Patrick says him and Joss meeting was destiny); A couple mentions of a place being haunted; A mention of a place being “like [H]eaven”; A mention of Beelzebub; A mention of thanking lucky stars.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blah, blah, blah’, a ‘doggone’, a form of ‘ticked off’, three forms of ‘idiot’, and four forms of ‘stupid’, Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Mentions of curses (said, not written); A fire (up to semi-detailed); Pain, Injuries, & Vomiting (up to semi-detailed); Joss’ parents passed away in a car accident due to a drunk Santa (years before the book starting) & grief; Joss has a couple of times where she hyperventilates & Reese has one time as well (up to semi-detailed); Joss tells a fib (about another woman’s outfit) & a lie (about something not bothering her); Patrick debates telling Joss a lie for her own comfort & later tells a partial fib to his mother; Reese & Damian have a car accident involving a deer (the deer is hurt, but gets up and limps away; Reese feels terrible about it; up to semi-detailed); Reese helps a young teen girl who secretly got a tattoo and an infection from it (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of deaths & grief (Joss for her parents, a two women for their husbands); Mentions of a house fire (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of possibly broken bones, pain, injuries, & blood/bleeding; Mentions of tattoos, an infections, & a minor getting a tattoo without her parents knowing (*Spoiler* Reese plans for the girl to tell her parents and when they accidentally find out, they are very upset with their daughter *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of alcohol, drinking, bars, & drunks (Joss doesn’t drink); Mentions of parents fighting over a new job & money (their daughter is very upset about it); Mentions of the possibility of a dog dying because he was given someone’s vitamins (the dog is fine); Mentions of a killed goose for a dinner & Reese vomiting after seeing it (due to her vegan upbringing, up to semi-detailed); A few mentions of deaths from a car accident & a drunk driver; A few mentions of injuries or deaths caused by sharks; A few mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of a dog peeing on someone; A couple mentions of prison & wanting to harm someone for an illegal thing they did; A couple mentions of hatred; A couple mentions of children resenting their parents; A couple mentions of burping; A mention of someone looking like she’s been shot; A mention of an R-rated movie; A mention of Reese thinking that her parents smoke weed (but doesn’t have any proof); A mention of rumors;
*Note: Reese’s parents are more to the vegan-hippie lifestyle (and are dismayed by her and her brother eating animals products and McDonald’s); Reese fights resentment towards her parents at one point (growing up, a flashback); Going to & a couple mentions of Starbucks; Mentions of brand names (Reese peanut butter cups, Diet Coke, Hyatt, Levi, Angora, Black & Decker, Chips Ahoy, Hershey bars, Louboutin, Kool-Aid, & Neosporin); Mentions of Murphy’s Law; Mentions of TV shows & movies (Wheel of Fortune, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Meet the Parents, The Partridge Family, The Brady Bunch, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Doctor Quinn Medicine Women, The Sound of Music, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Bishop’s Wife, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Jaws, The Nutcracker, Psycho, & James Bond); Mentions of actors/actresses, singers, celebrities, & songs (David Cassidy, Russell Crowe, Mathew McConaughey, Carly Rae Jepsen, Etta James, Cary Grant, Loretta Young, Ryan Seacrest, Harry Winston, George Clooney, Chris Tomlin, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby, Lou Ferrigno, Thomas Kincaid, Janet Leigh, Judy Garland, Norman Rockwell, Jane Seymour, & Mariah Carey); Mentions of places (Trader Joe’s, AMC, & McDonald’s); A few mentions of TV channels (Nickelodeon, Discovery Channel, E!, & Hallmark); A few mentions of Dollywood & Grand Old Opry; A few mentions of Siri; A couple mentions of car brands; A mention of a Broadway show (Billy Elliot); A mention of zombies; A mention of a Pediatric AIDS fund-raiser; A mention of Joss being a groupie (for David Cassidy); A mention of a peace sign; A mention of an antifeminist statement (about women making their husbands’ favorites dishes and Reese wondering what her mother would think); A mention of therapy.
Sexual Content- Six hand/fingers kisses, five head kisses, a cheek kiss, a nose kiss, three not-detailed kisses, and seven barely-above-not-detailed kisses; Touches, Embraces, Dancing, Hand holding, Zings, Nearness & Smelling (x2, up to semi-detailed); Blushes & Winks; Noticing & Staring (x2, including muscles, border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Talks about kisses, kissing, & chemistry; Patrick offers for his and Joss’ relationship to be just a “shipboard type of thing” when he’s not sure if she’s interested in continuing their potential after the cruise; A married co-worker tries to get Reese to introduce him to Joss (she comments on the fact he has a wife and when he says that you “can’t blame a man for trying”, she replies, “actually, I can”); Damian & Reese use separate rooms at his parents’ place and when his brother says they don’t have to because they’re engaged, his mother defends their choice; a ‘hot’ and three ‘baby’s; Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of dates & dating; A few mentions of men being called “yummy”, “delicious”, and “gorgeous”; A couple mentions of weak knees over a guy winking (Joss); A couple mentions of crushes; A mention of a wife sitting on her husband’s lap; A mention of honeymooners standing very close together; A mention of a woman looking at Patrick with “more than a passing interest”; A mention of jealousy; Love, falling/being in love, & the emotions;
*Note: A few mentions of a woman finding out she had ovarian cancer when she couldn’t get pregnant & having to have a hysterectomy; A mention of a woman’s ample chest; A mention of someone praying their fanny off.
-Joss Snow, age 34
-Patrick Brenneman
-Reese Pendergrass
-Damian Palmer, age 33 (?)
P.O.V. switches between them
298 pages
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My personal Rating-
This book was so much fun! First off, the cover: It absolutely cracks me up! It fits the book so well and gives you a teaser into the humor to expect in it.
First novella: Joss & Patrick had the cutest banter! They moved very fast in their feelings, but it was cute. I liked the sarcasm and humor. (I want my own Patrick, haha!) I do wish he would have been a little more concerned about her not having a strong faith before imaging a future with her (in his defense, though, he did imagine them attending church together weekly). It ended too rushed, which was really disappointing, but was still 4 stars for me because I related a lot to Joss and really liked her.
Second novella: I really felt for Reese, I truly did. She just precious, she tried so hard, bless her. She was great and he was a sweetheart. They were so cute together! His family was so fun too and I couldn’t believe everything that happened. An easy 4 stars for this book as well for me.
I’ll finish this review off with my letter to Santa: “Dear Santa, I would like my own Patrick or Damian for Christmas, please. Thank you. Sincerely, Lindsey”
See y’all on Friday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
