Glad Tidings: An Anthology

Once again Debbie Macomber brings Christmas joy to your reading. You can never go wrong with one of her books, whether it is a Christmas book or one of her series. The characters are well defined and easy to relate to. So, grab this book, make yourself some hot cocoa, sit by the fireplace, and relax. Enjoy!

I found this book to be a book that I have not wanted to put down. The plots of each story reflected real live to me since I live in Pudget Sound area .

"Glad Tidings" is my first taste of Debbie Macomber's work, and it definitely won't be my last. The two holiday themed stories included here, are both extremely enjoyable. Macomber's writing style, is no-frills and the romance is decidedly G Rated. But that isn't a bad thing. With only one exception (which i will get to in a moment), Macomber makes you care about these characters, and the over-done, falseness that seems to hamper many modern romance novels, is not present here. Of the two stories, i will say, i much prefered the first, "There's Something About Christmas". A light-hearted, funny, genuinely sweet story of rookie reporter Emma & cocky pilot Oliver, who deal with fear of flying, sneezing dogs, & fruitcake. The second story, "Here Comes Trouble" really only has a passing reference to Christmas, and while i really enjoyed it as well, i felt it was lacking some of the charm of the first. My main problem was with the character of Nolan. He was just such a grouchy, gruff, stubburn pain in the butt, that i found it hard to believe that the plucky Maryanne would not only fall for him, but basically beg him to love her, the way she did. My reservations regarding this point, is the only reason i'm not giving the book 5 stars. All in all though, "Glad Tidings" was an enjoyable experience, and i can't wait to dive into Macomber's other work.

THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT CHRISTMAS - Emma Collins has wanted to be a serious journalist ever since she can remember. However, after attending school, the best writing job she can find for herself is a position with the "Puyallup Examiner" in small-town Puyallup, Washington, where she spends the hours between nine and five attempting to sell ad space to reluctant business-owners, and writing obituaries that no one but the deceased's own relatives will take notice of. However, when her first real journalism assignment comes rolling in, Emma is disappointed in what the subject will be - writing about the three Washington-based finalists in a national fruitcake recipe contest. Not only does Emma dislike fruitcake, but she also dislikes Christmas since her mother passed on, and feels that she's not cut out to accept a subject that she's so dead-set against. Not only that, Emma's boss has arranged for her to be flown to each contestants home in a rickety, small aircraft with none other than Oliver Hamilton behind the wheel, along with his dog, Oscar. As if having to contend with a fear of flying wasn't hard enough for the Scrooge-like Emma, trying to ward off the advances of the irresistible and charming Oliver proves just as impossible. Now, as Emma begins her journey to meet each of the three women, she begins to fall in love with the idea of their different recipes, from using all of your deceased husband's favorite ingredients, to sprinkling a little extra liquor into the concoction, and trying out a no-bake graham cracker fruitcake. But, not only does she fall for the recipes, she falls in love with each woman's story of how they were created, soon making her realize that Christmas isn't truly as bad as one would think, and sometimes life is full of fruitcake. 5 stars. HERE COMES TROUBLE - Twenty-three-year-old Maryanne "Annie" Simpson has led a life of privilege since the day she was born. Being the daughter of a prominent business-owner who's practically in charge of the publishing world can do that for you. So, upon college graduation, Maryanne decides to do something great: land a job in journalism. Now, for the average person, this could be a tremendous feat, but for Annie, well...in the flash of an eye she has uprooted herself from her cushy New York penthouse apartment, and traveled to the drizzly city of Seattle, where she's keeping herself warm in a lavish building known as The Seattle. It is here that her father has arranged a wonderful job as a columnist for one of his papers: the "Seattle Review." Maryanne is happy with her job, and attempts to show her co-workers just how hard she is willing to work to keep it. But when Nolan Adams, a columnist for the "Seattle Sun" - a rival newspaper - begins writing his columns about Maryanne, referring to her as "the deb" - short for debutante - leaving his legion of fans salivating over the new information he feels he is obligated to share with the city, Maryanne gets upset. For suddenly she real