Member Reviews
HOME FOR CHRISTMAS - Lily Everett
#4 in the Sanctuary Island romance series
SWEET FOR THE HOLIDAYS - 4 stars
Plot - 4 stars - While Owen is recuperating from the injuries received while in the military, he heads to Sanctuary Island to work with the horses and spend time with his sister and daughter over the holidays. At the same time, Libby is blackmailed into hosting a Christmas party for him (and writing a story about it) by her magazine.
Writing - 4 stars - Everett caught my attention right from the first page, although I thought the efforts to get them both to the island to be somewhat contrived. But the warmth of the story and the characters quickly won me over.
Characters - 4 stars - Libby is a loner who has lived in a fantasy world of her own making as she remembers her childhood on Sanctuary Island. She writes about it in a popular magazine column. She's innocent and sweet and a people-pleaser, although this situation she's gotten into is over her head. Owen left home to join the Army after his mother died. He didn't want to live in the strict and loveless home (that Andie describes in the previous book), but now he's obligated to come home to meet his daughter and decide about his future. He and Libby are an odd match, but they fit together perfectly. She's the dreamer and he's the realist--they bring out the best in each other.
Title - 4.5 stars - Pretty obvious what it's about. Self-explanatory.
Cover - 4.5 stars - Lovely cover to express the holiday mood.
Overall - 4 stars - Overall, this was a great holiday story that focused on the warmth of a family Christmas, despite it being planned for all the wrong reasons. The characters were pleasant, the setting was lovely, and there was just enough drama to keep things interesting. Of course, the happy ending was just what was needed to round out the story.
Home for Christmas is the fourth book in the Sanctuary Island series by Lily Everett, but I found that it can easily be read as a standalone. I loved the setting and the festive touches to the details in the various scenes of the book, and the writing was good. That's where things stopped being good for me, though. Libby is living a lie, and if the synopsis had indicated that she is a fraud who knows nothing about what she's writing about, I would not have picked this book up. She's pretending to be someone she is not in order to get money. She and Owen build their relationship on that lie, and I felt like she was taking advantage of both him and his daughter by continuing to carry on this charade. At the same time, Owen's so hyper-focused on returning to active duty that he can't see anything else. Coming from a military family, I understand that drive to go back and fight for your country. But it was just too much. Being a member of the military should never be one's only personality trait. I really liked Libby's grandpa. He was the reason I ended up finishing this book, because I didn't really care about anyone else in it. Considering how little time there is each year to read Christmas romances, I would not recommend this one as one to try and fit in.
Home For Christmas brings me back to one of my favorite small town locations, Sanctuary Island, just in time for Christmas. This time the story follows Libby (a writer) and Owen (a wounded veteran) as they make an undeniable connection during the holiday season. Of course, no undeniable connection is without plenty of misunderstandings and misconceptions, right?
As always, I enjoyed the setting of Sanctuary Island. It was so beautiful to envision it at Christmas time with the snow falling and the crisp air. The holiday lights, the sounds, the traditions, it all put such a smile on my face. I would love to go on a horse drawn carriage ride through this little town. Lily Everett really does have such a way with her descriptions!
The holiday traditions that were happening were occurring in part because Libby is trying to create the perfect Christmas for Owen and his daughter who he has never spent time with before. From the beginning of Home For Christmas, you can tell that Libby's heart is always in a good place, she just gets herself mixed up in circumstances beyond her control. The same can be said for Owen who is trying to reconnect with his life after his military service. It was an interesting dynamic to watch unfold and is a story filled with individual growth and second chances.
It is always great to see some characters from previous Sanctuary Island books and catch up with them. This is a small town so they are all interconnected with each other in some way, shape, or form. I always enjoy revisiting these friendships and watching as new ones come to light. The Sanctuary Island series can be read as stand alone books but, I feel that you don't get the full effect unless you have read all of them. Home For Christmas does a wonderful job of capturing all the elements that I love about the other books and wrapping them in a beautiful holiday spirit.
I never downloaded this one. It's stuck in my profile, hurting my ranking. I have tried to get it removed since I never downloaded it (or requested it) to no avail.
Unfortunately, I didn’t engage with the characters and found the plotline too simple. I don’t post negative reviews, so have declined comment.
Libby Leeds has made a name for herself by sharing heartwarming stories of her perfect home life on Sanctuary Island as a world famous cook. Problem is Libby has not set foot on the island since she was a little girl, she Libby definitely isn’t famous, let alone can she cook. Libby needs money for her uncle who took care of her after her parents’ death because he is having an early case of Alzheimer’s and the places that is perfect, is also costly.
Owen Shepard is a wounded war hero who is returning to Sanctuary Island in over to recover from his injury and meet his daughter for the first time. Libby’s editor insists that Libby plays the part of the famous cook and cover the story of Owen Shepards long road back under false pretenses.
This was an odd story. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the premise as a whole. Libby pretends to be someone who she is not in order to get money for her uncle.She writes a letter to Owen saying she wants to host a Christmas dinner for him and his daughter at her home (Owen just happens to be a fan of Libby’s writing), but she doesn’t know how to cook or how she is going to pull this off.
Off the bat their relationship is built on a lie. I can’t understand the extend of damage this lie could really cause, but she was taking advantage of both Owen and his daughter – despite being a good of heart – that left me feeling a little questionable about the romance.
Owen would have been easy to like, but his determination to get back into duty and leave his daughter was again behind a little frustrating at times.
I wish that Nash had his own book, I felt like there was a lot more to his story, but his relationship with Ivy gets resolved fairly quickly in this book.
What I did enjoy is Libby’s grandfather and how misunderstood, he was as a person and who he really is, just an old man that wants his family together on Christmas – and the two do not seem to realize his loneliness for a while.
Overall, this was just okay. I had a hard time getting behind the romances and the characters. I understood that there were good intentions behind both Libby’s lies and Owen’s need to run off and leave everything behind, but it just didn’t completely work for me. It still ended up being a cute story, I just felt like It could have been better. The premise wasn’t my cup of tea.
Well, this was a disappointment. I have read Lily Everett before and really enjoyed her work so I decided that this would be the book that I would read leading up to Christmas this year. I just knew that this would be a great read. Unfortunately, this book really didn't work for me. I am not sure if my reading tastes have changed since I last read this author or if it is just this book but this wasn't the enjoyable reading experience I had hoped it would be.
Libby Leeds has been living a lie. She is a well known author with a column that is supposed to be non-fiction but her life looks nothing like that column. She gets caught with her deception when her boss invites a well known hero to her home in Sanctuary Island for Christmas dinner. She is then forced to reconnect with family and do her best to be the woman the world knows from her column.
Owen was wounded in action and has been working hard to get back into shape so he can return to duty. He has recently discovered that he has a young child who is now living with his sister in Sanctuary Island. He is headed to there to get to know his child and get therapy. He accepts the invitation to have dinner with Libby since he wants to share the perfect Christmas with his daughter.
I didn't like Libby or Owen. Libby is living an absolute lie. Owen seems to only be able to focus on going back to active duty. Libby is even pretending to be married for a good portion of the book so this romance just never worked for me. I honestly didn't see a lot of chemistry between them. This is a very tame romance and I just didn't feel the spark that I would have hoped to see.
I think that my biggest issue with the book was that so much of the story seemed pointless. Once Libby opens up to Owen, I didn't see the point of continuing with the charade. There is a secondary romance that added nothing to the story and only contained a few short scenes. I found that I was often bored while reading this book and had to read passages more than once because my mind would wander.
I would say that the best parts of the book included the scenes with Libby's grandfather and Owen's daughter. Those two characters were the highlight of the story and I would have really liked to see a bit more of them. The book does have a very strong Christmas theme with just about everything Christmas making an appearance at least once.
I will not be recommending this book to others. I think that this was a rather forgettable story that was a bit too sweet for my tastes. I won't hesitate to read more from Lily Everett in the future.
I received an advance reader edition of this book from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley.
This is a sweet story of a family brought together during the Christmas holiday.
Life on Sanctuary Island is the idyllic stereotypical small town where everyone knows everyone. Libby Leeds is a writer for a newspaper on food. Unfortunately, all her knowledge is make-believe. She can’t cook and she doesn’t live on Sanctuary Island.
BUT her estranged family does. While writing her next column, she watches a video of an Army Ranger, Owen Shepard, who has been injured. He has found out that he has a daughter he didn’t know about who is living with his sister, the town sheriff, on Sanctuary Island.
All of these things are about to collide when Libby’s editor wants her to host Owen and his family for a Christmas dinner at her home. Now all Libby has to do is learn to cook and make peace with her family so she can hold the dinner in the family home on the island.
Sound easy, right? But her grandfather is a force to be reckoned with, her cousin poses as her husband and she falls for Owen and his daughter.
This is a wonderful, happy read and one I didn’t want to put down until I found out how Libby solved all the problems and made Christmas the wonderful time is should be.
Sadly, this book was archived before I had a chance to read it.
Under these circumstances any star rating is not valid.
Thank you so much for being willing to grant me access to this book. Unfortunately, life obligations have prevented me from doing so. If my schedule clears, I plan on reviewing this in the future and will post the review on Amazon and Goodreads. Thank you.
Sanctuary Island is a wonderful setting for this Christmas story that features Libby and Owen, along with his daughter Caitlin. I loved these three characters, enjoyed the storyline, and thought the setting was perfect. This was a touching holiday read, and a great addition to the Sanctuary Island books.
I read this book during Christmas time and it was such a cute read. This made me at home and warm and happy. I was truly blown away by the writing and the plot. It was truly a beautiful Christmas story. I highly recommend this book to contemporary romance lovers.