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WISHES FOR CHRISTMAS
Fern Michaels
Releasing Oct 27th, 2015
Kensington Books
New
York Times bestselling author Fern Michaels brings together the beloved
heroines from two celebrated series—the Sisterhood and the Godmothers—for a
holiday to remember…
This Christmas, instead of finding
and punishing bad guys, all Maggie Spritzer wants is to bring a little more joy
to the world—especially to a beloved teacher from her past. And as the
Sisterhood unites to find her, they learn that no holiday treat is as
fulfilling as giving to others…
Meanwhile, with a little help from
the other Godmothers, Toots Loudenberry is preparing for Charleston’s annual
holiday showcase of historic homes. But when the Godmothers sense trouble with
one of the decorators, they must tackle a mystery and hope for a happy ending…
When Sisters and Godmothers unite,
the result is a warm and wonderful holiday—with a special touch of magic…
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My Review
This year I hadn't really managed to feel all the Christmas hype, with the season's glow not as apparent to me as previously. And, it might sound like it is a bit soon for the Christmas joy to start, but for me that was never the case up until last year!
All this, before I read Wishes for Christmas, though.
Fern Michaels made the holidays seem a little more festive this year, through her three short stories included in this book. They all featured heroes from the author's two main series
The first short featured the heroes from Michaels' The Sisterhood series. The next one was about Toots and Sophie and their family, from The Godmothers' series. The last story was a combination of the two!
Maggie, in the first story, convinces her crew that the important thing is to give and not to take, especially during the Christmas Holidays. So, they decide to look up her old teacher who has inexplicably vanished, and make up for what Maggie thought she made wrong all these years back. Will these Vigilantes achieve their goal once more? Will they find the lost teacher? This is for the reader to find out, but a truth has to be told. A wonderful message is being passed through this story, which made me can't wait for Christmas to come!
In the second story included in this book, Sophie, a woman with psychic powers, gets a weird vibe from a decorator. How is she going to find out what is really going on, and who exactly is connected to her? A beautiful short story that brought two families close together, a very nice Christmas gift to all the heroes!
Lastly, the third story, featured the collaboration of Annie and Myra from The Sisterhood, with Toots and Sophie from The Godmothers, in order to solve a new mystery. It is always nice and exciting to watch heroes from supposedly different universes to be brought together into one story. This short also included as main heroes another set of characters, probably new to Fern Michaels' fans!
All the stories were about well-thought and clever ideas and plotlines, that I would like to read about with more details and in more pages! But all the right messages were still able to pass through to the readers!
Finally, reading this book, I realized that I would like to probably have read some of The Sisterhood and The Godmothers' series' books, in order to be able to understand better the characters and their personalities. I was thankful for all the information that the author was giving about them, but of course it couldn't be like I had read them beforehand.
But, that is not going to stop me from getting my hands on the first installments of these series, in order to find out more about all the heroes I came to like through reading these shorts.
All in all, I award 4,5 stars to this book,
because it gave me quite a lot of the Christmas joy
I had been missing this year!
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FERN MICHAELS is the USA Today and New York Times bestselling
author of the Sisterhood and Godmothers series, and dozens of other novels and
novellas. There are over seventy-five million copies of her books in print.
Fern Michaels has built and funded several large day-care centers in her
hometown, and is a passionate animal lover who has outfitted police dogs across
the country with special bulletproof vests. She shares her home in South
Carolina with her four dogs and a resident ghost named Mary Margaret. Visit her
website at www.fernmichaels.com
Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads
What
had started out as a simple, run-of-the-mill luncheon had somehow turned into a
major culinary event sponsored by Maggie Spritzer for her Sisters, known to
their many adoring fans as the Vigilantes.
Normal
luncheons with the Sisters were usually done on the fly and, for the most part,
held in favorite cafés or restaurants. When Maggie first came up with the idea,
it was because she had a serious matter to discuss with the Sisters. She knew
the luncheon would go into overtime, and at a public eatery, they would be
rushed, hence this luncheon was in her own home in Georgetown.
It
was well known that Maggie was not a cook, not even a fair to middling one. Oh,
to be sure, she could throw things together and manage somehow to make the
result edible, but she much preferred takeout, which she warmed up and
pretended that she’d prepared. She did, however, have one dish that always
garnered praise, a broccoli, three cheese casserole that was beyond delicious.
She always served it with a crisp garden salad, warm, tiny, spongy garlic
rolls, and a peach cobbler straight out of the supermarket freezer section.
No
one ever complained, and there was never enough left to save, so Maggie was
confident her luncheon menu would meet with the Sisters’ approval.
Maggie
took one last look at her dining-room table. She knew she should have used her
once-a-year good dishes, but she’d just been too lazy to take them out and wash
them, so she had opted for colorful hard plastic plates with an autumn theme.
All gold, orange, and rustic brown. Her centerpiece was an arrangement of fall
leaves that matched the plastic plates. All in all, she was satisfied. And she
also knew the Sisters wouldn’t complain even if she served the food on
Styrofoam plates, because things like that simply were not important.
The
timer in the kitchen went off just as the doorbell rang. Talk about timing. She
grinned as she ran to the door with Hero, her cat, right on her heels.
As
always, the Sisters oohed and aahed over the delicious aromas as they hugged
and squealed over seeing each other. Coats and jackets were hung up. It was the
end of October, and there was a definite chill in the air.
The
women all headed for the kitchen and were surprised when Maggie said, “No,
we’re eating in the dining room today. And guess what? Today we are having
fresh apple cider. I picked it up this morning. Someone pour while I get the
food on the table.”
The
moment everyone was seated, Maggie held up her glass and said, “Happy harvest,
everyone! Tomorrow is Halloween. And, by the way, I personally carved that
pumpkin you all saw on the front stoop. I just love autumn.”
The
Sisters all toasted Halloween, then sat back and waited, because they all knew
Maggie’s casserole had to set for ten minutes before it could be scooped onto
plates.
“Are
we celebrating something today, or is this just a get-together, dear?” Myra
asked.
“Both,”
Maggie responded smartly.
“Well,
speaking strictly for myself, I am all ears,” Kathryn said as she eyed the
golden brown casserole sitting in the center of the table. Everyone knew and
teased Kathryn that she had the appetite of a truck driver because she was an
overland driver who handled her eighteen-wheeler like the pro she was.
“Me,
too.” Yoko laughed. “Spit it out, Maggie, or do we have to eat first?”
“Why
don’t we be devilish today and break Charles’s golden rule that we don’t talk
business while we eat?” Annie suggested. The others hooted that they were in
agreement.
“Any
reason why you didn’t invite the boys?” Nikki asked.
“Well,
yeah, this is girls only. I thought we agreed to do that once a month,” Maggie
said as she toyed with the serving spoon that would scoop up her casserole.
“Okay,
I get it. This is that once-a-month social gathering, plus
some business, right?” Alexis grinned.
“A
hint, a clue, something would be nice,” Isabelle said as she popped a tiny
garlic roll into her mouth. She rolled her eyes at the delectable delight.
“Does
whatever you have in mind involve just us girls or the boys at some point?”
Nikki asked, the lawyer in her wanting details and facts.
“To
be decided,” Maggie said, waving the spoon. “It’s just an idea. An idea I’ve
had for a long time. With the holidays fast approaching, it always takes over
my mind at this time of year, and I simply cannot stop thinking about it.”
“What?
What?” Annie exploded as Kathryn reached over to take the serving spoon out of
Maggie’s hand. Reaching for the plates, she put spoon to casserole and filled
them.
“The
money from my husband’s insurance. I tried to give it to Gus’s nephew, but he
refused to take it. I never spent a dime of it. I couldn’t. I want to give it
away this Christmas. I want you all to help me. And then I took it one step
further and thought, wouldn’t it be nice if you all kicked in some money to
match it and . . .”
“And
what, dear?” Myra asked.
“Make
someone’s world brighter and happier. Save someone’s life. Do something for
someone, or more than someone, who otherwise would stay in whatever position
they’re in at the moment.
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