(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers) There is a lot of pain baked into The December Market by RaeAnne Thayne. The two main characters, soap shop owner Amanda Taylor, and the man who might, and likely will (because this is a festive romcom and not falling in love in not an option) Continue Reading
“This is it. Don’t get scared now.” Home Alone’s Kevin McAllister in Christmas classics mash-up
(courtesy IMP Awards) Christmas is always super busy, right? It’s part of the charm, part of the curse; but what if you could see a bona fide classic like Home Alone, well, fun parts of it anyway, woven into a number of other classics of the genre? And what if, Continue Reading
Festive movie review double: Your Christmas or Mine 1 and 2
(courtesy IMDb) Your Christmas or Mine? Coming with an inventive take on a romcom, let alone a festive romcom where the rules are even more restrictive, is no easy undertaking. But somehow Your Christmas or Mine manages it, delivering a story that, sure, strains the bounds of credibility but then Continue Reading
Brilliantly imaginative festive fun and healing: The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland by Carys Bexington (story) and Kate Hindley (illustrations)
(courtesy Pan Macmillan Australia) In this postmodern, mash-up obsessed, creatively synergistic digital age of ours, it’s fun to see what really imaginative people will do when they mix their own highly original ideas with an existing, much-loved story. Case in point is The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland by Carys Continue Reading
Festive book review: The Nine Lives of Christmas by Florence McNicoll
(courtesy Hachette Australia) Christmas is popularly thought of as a magical time of second chances. It often doesn’t feel that with all the rush and busyness and the general furious exhaustion and angst of life seeming to reach a tinsel-draped fever pitch, but in The Nine Lives of Christmas by Continue Reading