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The Holiday Serenade (2013)

The Holiday Serenade (2013)

Book Info

Author
Genre
Series
Rating
3.12 of 5 Votes: 3
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ISBN
1940565022 (ISBN13: 9781940565026)
Language
English
Publisher
ava miles inc.

About book The Holiday Serenade (2013)

The Holiday Serenade is book four in the Dare Valley series by Ava Miles.Abbie Maven has worked very hard throughout her life to perfect her image and to be the best mom possible to her sixteen year old son, Dustin. Her brother, Mac, stepped in as a father figure and they have worked hard to keep the details of his father and how he was conceived a secret. But keeping this secret has been hard on Abbie. Living with it even harder. “Don’t give up on me,” she found herself saying in a whisper, feeling as broken in body as she did in spirit. He sank to his knees in front of her. “Never.”Rhett Butler Blaylock is in love with Abbie Maven. He is determined to convince her that she loves him too. He has planned the biggest Christmas surprise ever to show Abbie how much he loves her. But will the surprise convince her or scare her further away? “Rhett, this is…lovely…more beautiful than I ever could have imagined. But you know we’re not a couple.” His smile lost a few watts of its power. “Sure we are. You just haven’t realized it yet.” This is a short but oh so sweet look at Rhett and Abbie’s story. They had a past they thought was secret, but Rhett is in love and wants Abbie forever. But Abbie has to let go of her own demons in order to be able to love Rhett. Rhett’s antics are hilarious. I can just imagine his larger than life personality. And also his larger than life ability to love. We get a little bit more of the country music star Rye Crenshaw and his obsession with food. This whole family has won over my heart. Now I’m on to Time Square and Arthur’s story. “You’re my Christmas dream, and I love you. Keep remembering that.”

I really didn't like The Holiday Serenade by Ava Miles, but as I received the book through NetGalley, I gave my best to read it and to like it, but as much as I tried I could not do it.This story reminded me some poorly made holiday TV movie, with some unknown community theater actors and the actors who play the "loving couple" do not really like each other in real life.All of it felt so wrong and written just for witting. This story was lacking passion. It felt forced and hurried, with big words and grand gestures but all the grand words and gestures do not make a sweet love story if it lacks this unknown something.You could say, that if I had read the previous books, it would have been better. Maybe, but I do not believe this since the problem was not in following the storyline (although it was not an easy task to accomplish), the problem was that this "love story" felt wrong.It was not a good read.

Do You like book The Holiday Serenade (2013)?

At the time of reading I had not realised that this was the fourth book in the series. Now the lack of detail or back story makes sense. Although this reader read this out of sequence, this is not a standalone novel and any reader would benefit from reading the books in order. I believe not reading books 1-3 affected my perception and enjoyment of this book.Don’t get me wrong there were some good bits to this novel; the setting, the domesticity that the setting involved and the scene where she is making the ginger bread house. The characters were OK but the story lacked real passion. It also felt overdone with regards the grand gestures. It felt rushed and lacking; overall this reader felt this novella was just too cheesy.Full Disclosure: ARC received from Netgalley for an honest review.
—Tania Godwin-evans

Holiday Serenade by Ava Miles is a lovely and sweet Christmas novella. Rhett Butler Blaylock is a professional poker player, with an act that includes two “poker babes”. He is in love with Abbie Maven and has come to settle down in Dare Valley and win Abbie’s love. Abbie is a single mother of a teenaged son who has tried to live a respectable life for her son. Dating a guy that is a professional poker play with “poker babes” is not respectable. In many ways, this was not the usual type of Christmas story because of Abbie’s past memories and overwhelming need to appear “respectable” in Dare Valley. Rhett is patient and does everything he can to prove his love. Will it be enough? Being a poker player, he’s betting that he can.This is a stand alone novella; however, if you have read the previous Dare Valley books you will enjoy being able to see many of the characters from the previous books. As secondary characters, they provide this story with the love and family theme that is Ava’s trademark and move the plot along to the HEA that you hope for – especially in a Christmas story. Disclosure: this book was provided by NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review.
—Joan

Rhett Butler Blaylock is a professional poker player, a friend of Mac Maven. Mac's sister Abbie Maven previously had a relationship with him which she broke off. She has a 16 year old son, Dustin, and she tells herself that Rhett is not a suitable partner for her and her son due to his wild boy reputation and the poker babes he has around him. She knows the truth about the poker babes, that they aren't a threat but she refuses to listen to logic. Rhett informs Abi that he's not giving up on her and is staying in town permanently and changes his ways for her.It's a lovely story and I may have cried a little when Dustin has a heart to heart with Rhett about his real dad." 'I wish I was your son,' Dustin whispered. It took a moment for Rhett to speak through the blockage in his throat. 'Me too, son. Me too.' "We learn just enough about Matthew Hale and Jane Wilcox to get us interested in their story which is book 6.
—Kooky

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