Deck the halls

A story about overcoming and forgiving yourself. Amy finds George who was good friends with her brother and with him when he died in the war. She needed to know what happened when he died. Love the George was able to overcome so much. Definitely worth reading. I received an advanced copy of the from the publisher.

George was raised in foster homes, many foster homes. He joined the Army and found a place where there was consistency and he liked it. He liked it even better when he met Ian. Ian became his best friend, almost like the brother he never had. When Ian was killed in Iraq, George went into a downward spiral. He was a homeless man, living on the streets with no hope.
But, eventually he found people who would help him find a way back to a life. He is living in Darling Vermont. He has a job that he likes, a place to live and even an old truck he drives. His life may not look like much to outsiders, but to him it is like being on the top of a mountain. He is not all the way to where he wants to be, but he is working on it.
George has found friends in Darling. These are people who care about him.
Then things come to a screeching halt.
Amy, Ian's twin sister shows up at his job in the garden center. She wants some answers about how Ian died and why George disappeared from her family's life after Ian's death.
This story is set during the Christmas season. And all the love and caring which appears during the Christmas season is woven throughout this story.
But, in reality, the story is about a man who is climbing back into the world and the difficulty he has dealing with his time in battle and the death of his best friend. George blames himself for Ian's death and just about every other disaster he can conceive.
Ms Alward has created characters who left me breathless. I wanted to put my arms around both Amy and George and tell them life could get better for them.
This is an up to the minute description of what many returning veterans are facing every day. The feelings are right on the surface in this story. It is a short novella which expresses emotions in a most realistic manner.
I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley. I am voluntarily writing this review and all opinions are my own.

While this book is part of the Darling VT series it can totally be read as a stand alone holiday novella. Fans of the series will recognize George as the homeless veteran that Laurel helped in book one. George suffers from PTSD and has never been able to face the family of his fallen teammate. He has in fact blamed himself for years over Ian's death. So when Amy, Ian's twin sister, arrives in Darling it is all he can do to talk to her. Amy is looking for closure regarding Ian's death and hoping George can give her that closure. But perhaps George and Amy also need each other to heal.
Donna Alward has written the perfect heartwarming story to get you in the holiday mood.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this novella.

This is the second book I've read by Donna Alward after The Playboy Prince and the Nanny. I was approached by St Martin's Press about writing a pre-holiday (Christmas) blog post with various titles, and this was one of them. Mina has never been one to just "stop and rest"- Far from it. She is a keen painter by day and works at Cloud Bay's Search and Rescue station by night. Where Cloud Bay 1 (Need You Now) took place in the summer, This book, which is book 2 in the Cloud Bay series, takes place during the winter. Or what winter a small island off the coast of California can experience. The books starts right in on the action. Mina trips and falls in the ice and snow whilst trying to change a tyre. Her family is wealthy because of Faith's father and her adopted father Grey having been lead singer in a band years ago. Since his death, the Harper family have been trying to make ends meet. Faith and Mina never see their brother Zach who left to try and make a life for himself with his band. Mina lives in the cottage at the base of the lighthouse on the island and was happily married to Adam. Now a widow, she feels alone at a time when she used to be happy. She used to love Christmas, but it has lost it's glitz and sparkle for her. Faith has her hands full organising the Christmas Festival, which will be the first of its kind on the island.

Faith takes a bit of a backseat in this book, but is there as supportive sister to Mina. Much of the book is taken up with the beginnings and development of Mina and Will's relationship. Will works at the town's boutique distillery with his twin brother Seth.

I feel like Mina needed someone else, and I'm glad she found Will. She has plenty of heart to hearts with Faith, and Will is very sensitive to her needs. There are some flashbacks to monents in book 1. Although this is the second in a series, I feel it can be read as a standalone novella. I loved the christmassy atmosphere in Cloud Bay!

Very romantic and well-paced with an undercurrent of personal struggles, this novella is a cute read. Thanks to Donna Alward and St Martin's Press for an ARC.

This review and others will be published in a special Holiday Romance post on my blog, Katherine's Book Universe (Wordpress.com) on October 17.

I loved this book so much. Finally after the first three books, we get to know George's back story. He was a former soldier who fell on hard times. Thanks to Laurel he finally has a place of his own, and a job in the garden nursery center. He has a small side business within the store, when a person he knows from his past walks in the door. Amy is the Twin to Ian, George's best buddy and fellow soldier whom did not make it back from overseas. Amy and George grow closer as the book goes on .Finishing with a wonderful Christmas Romance. There were updates about former characters of the series, and I hope there will be another book because I feel there is more to tell.

George is a veteran that hasn’t had the easiest of times coming back home after his time being deployed. With some heavy burdens in his past George has spent a lot of time being homeless since his return and just within the past year with a helping hand has started to get his life together. Working steadily at the Ladybug Garden Center in Darling, VT and getting his own apartment George has finally found some friends and gotten his life on track.

Amy is the twin sister of George’s good friend that died in combat and when she shows up at his new job just weeks before Christmas George isn’t quite ready to face the past. Amy’s looking for closure for her family after the loss of her brother and only seeks out answers from George on just what happened. When the two confront the ghosts that haunt George they find themselves ruining their own friendship with the possibility of it becoming more now that the past is at rest.

Deck the Halls by Donna Alward is a contemporary romance novella that is part of the Darling, VT series. Each book in the series has featured a separate couple so they may be all read as standalones books if choosing to do so. I did notice that some of the previous characters are involved in the current book though so there would be updates on previous couple for those fans of the entire series.

This book really touched on the tough subject of veterans and just what happens to them when they return home and what is like to live with the horrors that they have seen while serving. I couldn’t help but feel for George as soon as I learned his story and just wanted to give the man a hug so of course I was hoping for a happily ever after for him. With George and Amy sharing a past it was easy to see that the two would be drawn to one another and Amy be the one to help George fight his demons and move on.

Overall, this was a lovely little heartwarming novella that felt realistic not featuring just the latest good looking couple but people with real problems in their lives.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

'Deck the Halls' is the perfect Christmas gift. This Darling, VT story about two imperfect people who find the ways love has touched their lives was so uplifting. There is growth, and forgiveness and joy. I would give it 10 stars if I could!

Ms Alward takes us back to Darling, VT and it’s cast of characters. Though it’s a stand alone, for those that have read the series, we finally get George Reilly’s story.
George was a homeless man that with the help of Ethan, and his wife, Laurel, now has a job, a home and his dignity back. But he has secrets and keeps to himself.
Until Amy Merck goes to Darling searching for him. She brings back the memories he would rather forget. But she needs closure to her brother’s death.
The story is very touching, heartfelt and one about redemption , hope and the possibility of love.
While story centers around George and Amy, It’s more than that. It’s a story about the need of us, as a society, to help the men and women who fight for our freedom. Many return not only with physical wounds, but also with emotional and psychological ones.
Thank you, Ms Alward, for that reminder.
A beautiful story appropriate for the holiday season.
I was gifted this copy. The opinions expressed are solely my own.

I'm a big fan of Donna Alward, and particularly liked her Darling, VT series, so when I saw this one, I immediately requested it. I was not so impressed.




Here's the summary:

With shades of It’s a Wonderful Life, one man must face his past to find his future this Christmas.

In the last year, George's life has drastically changed. The formerly homeless veteran now has a job he likes, a family in the residents of Darling, VT, and for the first time in years, a home. But while his present is good, he's still haunted by the past, a past that appears shortly before Christmas when the older sister of his brother-in-arms hunts him down and finds him in Darling, working at the Ladybug Garden Center.

Amy’s looking for closure for her family after her brother's death in the Middle East, but the serious man she finds working in Vermont doesn’t resemble the soldier she remembers from years before. This man is hardened and yet somehow fragile, too, and in her desire to find out what really happened to her brother, she learns more about George than she ever expected.

With a little Christmas magic and the whole town supporting them, can these two bruised hearts make a future together?

So, here's the thing. This book isn't NEARLY long enough to address the issues. George is a homeless veteran. He's only been off the streets for six months. He could barely LOOK at other people nine months ago. Deck the Halls takes place in TWO WEEKS. oh. hell. no. I loved George in the previous books, and when I saw he was the hero of this one I had my doubts, but was still pretty excited for him to find love. It is in no way realistic and not even a little bit believable. At the beginning of the book he's still hiding from customers in the greenery and by the end of two weeks he's happily in love?

Secondly, while I see that Alward was trying to make their earlier connection a strong one, I found everything Amy did presumptuous and high handed. Yes, George needs help. But you don't just arraign that for someone and spring it on the intervention style. He's not a drunk. It's not rehab. And then to pay for it the way it's done? No.

I really wanted to love this one, and none of it worked for me, at all.

Deck The Halls by Donna Alward is a fairly short read, a perfect choice for those with limited time for reading. Ms Alward has delivered a well-written Christmas book that will work it's way into your heart. George, suffering from PTSD, is a veteran that joined the ranks of homeless vets and is just beginning to get his life back. Amy is the sister of the soldier George blames himself for not protecting. George and Amy's story is loaded with drama and just a hint of spice. This is a clean read, appropriate for any age. I enjoyed reading Deck The Halls and look forward to my next book by Donna Alward. Deck The Halls is part of the Darling, VT Series but can be read as a standalone. This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.

I voluntarily read an Advance Reader Copy of this book that I received from NetGalley.

This is such a heartwarming story about a broken man finding redemption, I loved it!
The storyline, a second-chance romance between mature characters, is simple but well constructed, the characters lovely and layered, the setting delightful.
I especially loved the poignant depiction of homelessness affecting veterans and how this factor and the sadness of foster homes was translated into the hero's character.
It’s really a feel-good Christmas story, I’ve read it in one setting and it was such a great reencounter with Donna Alward, getting to know this series (Darling).