From the Bookshelf of Nothing But Reading Challenges…

Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor (Friday Harbor, #1)

Lisa Kleypas

Start date: November 1, 2010

Finish date: November 30, 2010

Discussion: Books of the Month

Discussion leader: Lisarenee

Why we're reading this: St. Martin's Press gave 25 copies of this book to our members, so we made it one of our Books of the Mont…more
[close] St. Martin's Press gave 25 copies of this book to our members, so we made it one of our Books of the Month. Thank you St. Martin's Press. Plus, I, Lisarenee, love Lisa Kleypas' books. She is my favorite romance author. I look forward to discussing this book with everyone.

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What Members Thought

Aug 19, 2010 Auntee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: made_me_cry, contemporary-romance, lisa-kleypas, 2011_reads, christmas-theme, where-s-my-epilogue, shawna-says

No big review, just some thoughts:

Kicking myself for hesitating over this one (when will I learn to listen to Shawna?) Of course I loved it. I didn't care that it was a G/PG-rated romance--the storytelling was second to none, and LK didn't really need to spell out that one incredible love scene. I felt it emotionally, and even shed a few tears near the end of the book. Maggie, Mark, little Holly, Sam, and even Renfield(!) were such incredibly drawn characters, and Friday Harbor? I want to move t ...more

27 likes · Like · see review

Dec 27, 2010 Ronyell rated it really liked it

Shelves: contemporary-romance, sexy-bad-boy-hero, sexy-good-girl-heroine, strong-heroine, adult-book, my-blog-reviews, strong-hero, lisa-kleypas, christmas-books

Whenever I was reading some of Lisa Kleypas’ works, I was always reading her historical romance novels. Well, I just stumbled upon not only her most recent novel to date, but the first contemporary romance novel I have read from her and it is called “Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor.” Be prepared to see Lisa Kleypas’ romantic world contemporary style!

One night, a six year old girl named Holly lost her mother, Victoria, in a car accident and ever since the accident, Holly has never spoken a word to Whenever I was reading some of Lisa Kleypas’ works, I was always reading her historical romance novels. Well, I just stumbled upon not only her most recent novel to date, but the first contemporary romance novel I have read from her and it is called “Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor.” Be prepared to see Lisa Kleypas’ romantic world contemporary style!

One night, a six year old girl named Holly lost her mother, Victoria, in a car accident and ever since the accident, Holly has never spoken a word to anyone. Because Victoria is not around to take care of Holly anymore, Holly is sent to live with her handsome yet shy Uncle Mark Nolan, who has no idea how to take care of Holly. However, Mark soon starts to bond with Holly and tries his best to take good care of Holly. Later on however, Mark meets a beautiful and optimistic woman named Maggie Conroy, who had recently lost her husband to cancer a year ago and she and Holly seem to take a liking to each other. Is this the beginning of a new friendship between Mark and Maggie or will this relationship sprout into love?

This book was more like those cute little Christmas specials you see on television than an actual romance story since it is more focused on the characters’ background stories about their past lives rather than the romantic aspect of the story, which makes this one unique contemporary romance novel. This is not your typical romance novel as it focuses more on the trials of having an adopted family and trying to feel loved again, which I thought that Lisa Kleypas had pulled it off extremely well. What I really loved about Lisa Kleypas’ writing was that she was able to show the audience Holly’s reaction to her mother’s death as she did not speak to anyone and that part of the story was extremely powerful and moving to me since I cannot imagine what the death of a parent can do to a child. I found myself growing attach to Holly as a character since she is such a sweet little girl who went through so much after her mother died and I always sympathized with her situation since I would have felt the same way that Holly did when her mother died, but every time I see Holly’s happiness towards the middle of the book, my heart just melts for her! Now let us move onto the hot couple of the story! Oh my goodness, the best part of this story was Mark Nolan himself as not only does he have one muscular and hot body (which I love) but he has a very sweet and passionate personality that makes him one awesome character. Even though Mark had no experience with taking care of children, he truly cares for Holly and would do anything for her. Another character I really loved was Maggie as she was just as sweet as Mark is and because she also lost someone dear to her which was her husband, her loving relationship with Holly was heartwarming and believable that I just loved every minute that Maggie spent with Holly. From the beginning of the book, Mark and Maggie were meant to be together and what I really loved about their relationship was the fact that they just casually told each other their problems in their lives without feeling uncomfortable near each other.

The reason why I gave this book a four star rating instead of a five star rating is because while Mark and Maggie have great chemistry together, I wanted to see more intimate moments between those two so that this book would be more interesting in the romantic aspect of the story.

All in all, “Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor” is like a romance fan’s dream come true whenever they want to read romance novels during the holidays and I am definitely looking forward to reading Sam and Alex’s side of the story in the next books of the Friday Harbor series! Anyone looking for a good contemporary romance novel check this book out!

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog
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14 likes · Like · see review

Jun 21, 2012 Julianna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: desert-island-keepers, holiday-stories, read-2012, contemporary-romance

Reviewed for THC Reviews
Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor is a sweet, gentle love story that is a little different than Lisa Kleypas' other works but absolutely no less appealing. I love the small-town atmosphere of Friday Harbor. It seems like a warm, friendly, peaceful place, and Ms. Kleypas' descriptions of the setting make me want to go there for a visit. Friday Harbor, in some ways, reminds me of Virgin River from Robyn Carr's series of the same name. I think fans of Ms. Carr would like Friday Reviewed for THC Reviews
Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor is a sweet, gentle love story that is a little different than Lisa Kleypas' other works but absolutely no less appealing. I love the small-town atmosphere of Friday Harbor. It seems like a warm, friendly, peaceful place, and Ms. Kleypas' descriptions of the setting make me want to go there for a visit. Friday Harbor, in some ways, reminds me of Virgin River from Robyn Carr's series of the same name. I think fans of Ms. Carr would like Friday Harbor and vice versa. Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor definitely has an emphasis on home and hearth as well as the importance of family and what exactly the word family means. It was such a lovely story, it even made me a little teary once or twice. Anyone who is expecting Ms. Kleypas' typical bone-melting love scenes should definitely think again. This book has only one, and it is extremely mild when compared to most of her other works. This didn't really matter to me though, because she created lots of tender romantic moments that made me believe in the slow-building love between Mark and Maggie. The two of them, Holly, and Mark's brothers also gradually meld into a family unit, which is something I think all the Nolan brothers desperately needed after their rocky upbringing and the loss of their only sister.

Mark was a really stand-up guy, who didn't hesitate to step in and raise his sister's child after her tragic death. Even though he initially knew nothing about parenting, he ended up growing into an amazing father who was fully committed to the responsibility of taking care of Holly. He lives with his brother Sam who helps out, but ultimately, Mark sees Holly as his charge. However, she becomes far more than just an obligation to him. He truly loves the little girl every bit as much as if she were his biological child, and is quite protective of her. Mark is a very practical man who's not given to flights of fancy, so when he meets the imaginative and free-spirited Maggie, he isn't quite sure what to make of her at first. It doesn't take long though before he's a goner for her, and once he realizes that Maggie is the woman for him, he won't let her hide away in her grief anymore. Mark was so patient with Maggie, giving her the space she needed and sweetly courting her until she came to terms with the idea of falling in love again.

Maggie suffered through the tragic loss of her husband to cancer, but through all her heartbreak, she has never lost her belief that a little “magic” can brighten anyone's day. In spite of that, she still doesn't quite believe that she can find true love twice in one lifetime. I adore Maggie's toy shop and the friendly manner in which she treats her customers. She is an excellent listener and has a natural affinity for intuitively knowing what each person she meets needs. I love the way that Maggie connected with Holly instantly and in an almost magical way. I think her background with a warm, loving family, which is something Mark never had, made her the perfect person to create a new family with Mark and Holly. However, the pain she went through while watching her husband slowly waste away makes her truly afraid to love again, as she views loving Mark and Holly as twice the risk. I really enjoyed the way that these two gradually snuck into Maggie's life when she least expected it and helped her learn to really live, and love, again.

For such a short novel, Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor had some memorable secondary characters. Holly is an adorable little girl who obviously just wants to be loved and have a family. Renfield is a poor ugly dog, who was nonetheless incredibly cute. He too just wants some love and a family to call his own. He added a new dimension to Mark and Maggie's characters, showing even further what big hearts they have. We also get an introduction to Mark's two brothers, Sam and Alex. Sam seems to be the cheery one who is always joking around and full of mischief, while Alex is more serious and brooding as he weathers through a marriage that's falling apart. These two become the heroes of the next two books in the series, Rainshadow Road and Dream Lake respectively. When the story opens, Mark has a girlfriend, Shelby, which is something I had mixed feelings about. Even though Mark describes their relationship as non-exclusive, Shelby seems nice at first glance and it's pretty obvious that she thinks things are headed toward commitment. I have to say that Lisa Kleypas surprised me, and ultimately, did a good with this. Even though Mark considers asking Shelby to marry him at one point, it's clear that he's only doing it for Holly's sake and isn't even certain if he's in love with her. Mark and Shelby definitely don't connect on the deep, passionate level that two people who are thinking of making a lifetime commitment should. Eventually, Ms. Kleypas also draws a strong distinction between Maggie and Shelby that makes Mark's choice crystal clear and made me fully accepting of this part of the story.

Normally, I only read Christmas stories in December, but since I won a copy of Rainshadow Road, the next book in the series, from GoodReads FirstReads, I needed to catch up quickly. It turned out to be just fine, because the story takes place over the course of nearly a year, and the holiday theme doesn't really even come into play until the last couple of chapters. This story was a nice mix of touching moments and just a little humor. When Maggie finally coaxed Holly to speak again, it brought a few tears to my eyes, while the Nolan brother's disastrous attempt at cooking Thanksgiving dinner was hilarious. Overall, Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor was a beautiful story that I would highly recommend at Christmastime or any time of the year. The Friday Harbor series is off to a great start for me, and I'm definitely looking forward to reading Sam's book soon. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

May 16, 2012 Yz the Whyz rated it really liked it

Shelves: lisa-kleypas, 2012-challenge-books, 2012-reads

A sweet, romantic story. Slightly poignant. And short. I wanted there to be more.

2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 20, 2015 Nancy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, romance, chicklit

It was OK for what it was. Saccharine sweet, predictable, and it ended all a bit too abruptly, but for pure escapism without having to think (at all), it fit the bill. Certainly not my kind of thing, but sometimes reading the genres you don't like that much helps you to appreciate the ones you do... ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 06, 2010 ♡Karlyn P♡ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: genre-contemporary, published-2010, read-2010, steam-mild, genre-holiday, novella

A heartfelt and warm romance, what a nice teaser for the full series.

7 likes · Like · see review

Jul 25, 2012 Ashley rated it liked it

Shelves: bestie-book-club, love-story, borrowed-from-liz-s-stash-of-books

This book was pretty good. I started this series by reading the second book first and loved that book so much that I would like to see how it started and what would happen to the other brothers. I was slightly disappointed in this book compared to the second one but still really enjoyed it. Would read again and recommend to my friends!

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May 03, 2020 Logan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: borrowed-library, borrowed-ebook, romance, contemporary, 2020-books-read

I put this one off for a long time despite all the good reviews because the single parent plot isn’t my favorite. But Holly is so sweet and the first scene with her in Maggie’s toy shop made me cry. This was easy, no frills, and pure chemistry. I devoured it in one sitting. So sweet and just what I needed.

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