Tag: Aussie Summer Christmas

First Line Friday

First Line Friday | Week 22 | All is Bright

It’s First Line Friday, which means it’s time to open the book nearest you and share the first line. Today I’m sharing from All is Bright by Australian author Andrea Grigg:

All is Bright

I know most of my #FirstLineFriday friends are choosing Christmas novels or novellas this week. Mine is also a Christmas novella, but it’s set in Australia, which means it’s the kind of Christmas I know and love: a summer Christmas. Sun, sand, beaches and barbecues.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

About All Is Bright

Amy Kirkwood is resigned to accept her destiny as a single woman. No one can measure up to Josh McMillan, her secret crush of fourteen years, and the man who was married to her late sister. But when Josh spends the weekend with Amy and her family on the anniversary of Tess’s death, everything changes.

A widower for five years, Josh McMillan is ready to love again, but he never expected to fall so fast for his sister-in-law, Amy Kirkwood. Then Josh receives a letter that rocks his world, and he knows he must show the letter to Amy, even though it may shatter their growing relationship.

Is their love strong enough to weather the storm unleashed from the secrets in their past?

A contemporary Christian romance novella, a spin-off story from ‘A Simple Mistake’.

Amazon | Goodreads

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First Line Fridays hosted by Hoarding Books

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And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Do you enjoy reading Christmas stories?

Bookish Question #37 | Do you enjoy reading Christmas stories?

I have to admit that I’m not the biggest fan of Christmas stories.

That’s mostly because I live in the Southern Hemisphere, which means our Christmas celebration marks the beginning of our summer holidays. Christmas is different Down Under.

I know a lot of people enjoy reading Christmas novels, perhaps because it gets them into the spirit of the Christmas season.

We don’t have snow. We have sand. At the beach.

We don’t have roaring log fires. Instead, we have the air con going full blast.

We don’t drink mulled wine (whether the alcoholic or non-alcoholic version). Who wants hot spiced wine in the middle of summer? Instead, we drink iced soft drinks—although it’s more likely to be Coca-cola or L&P than iced tea.

We might have the traditional Christmas dinner: roast turkey, ham, potatoes, kumera (the Maori name for sweet potatoes). And fresh asparagus—it’s in season. But we might also have a barbecue at home or on the beach. After all, it’s summer. Who wants to spend the day in a hot, steamy kitchen?

So I hope you can see why the traditional Christmas story doesn’t really appeal to me.

The one Christmas collection I did enjoy was the Aussie Summer Christmas novella collection. It’s no longer available as a collection, but the individual novellas are for sale on Kindle. They are:

Seaside Christmas by Narelle Atkins
A Christmas Resolution by Rose Dee
All is Bright by Andrea Grigg
Falling for Maddie Grace by Meredith Resce (I’m not a sports fan, but this was one of my favourites)
Melbourne Memories by Marion Ueckermann
Santa Next Door by Lacy Williams

What about you? Do you enjoy reading Christmas stories?