Seize Home For The Holidays By Sarah Mayberry Offered As Audio Books

for the Holidays isn't a typical romance, There's a deceased wife, two kids one's a teenager, an exfiance and a strained sibling relationship, Add to that the rocky start Joe and Hannah get off to and it certainly doesn't seem like they have any chance at becoming friends much less a couple.
But Mayberry works her magic and Joe and Hannah get beyond those bad first impressions and get to know each other.


Joe Lawson is still feeling his way through the rough waters of single parenthood, He moves himself and his two kids, Ben and Ruby, to Melbourne to start over and be near his mum.
In doing so he puts himself next to a woman who is so not his type, His first encounter with Hannah does not go well and he doesn't look forward to seeing his new neighbor again.
Hannah isn't too happy about the "jerk" that has moved in next door, They almost subconsciously notice the attractiveness of the other but squash that down because how could they possibly be attracted to someone so exasperating

Hannah Napier could not be described as a "delicate flower of womanhood".
I can practically hear her snorting at the thought, LOL She is a mechanic and enjoys working on restoring a classic motorcycle in her spare time.
Most comfortable in jeans and tshirt, she is out of her comfort zone when dealing with dresses and makeup.
But even in jeans and tshirt Joe can't help but notice Hannah's curves, Even while being irritated by her, he still notices that she is all woman under her grease monkey exterior.


The conflicts, and they are many, are well developed for such a short format, Joe and Hannah must not only deal with their growing feeling for each other but also with the feelings of Joe's two kids.
Ben is a teenagerwho's unhappy with the world and is under pressure from school to try and fit in.
Ruby is a precociousyear old that quickly takes to Hannah, At first, Joe isn't happy about Ruby hanging around with their "biker chick" neighbor, As Joe gets to know Hannah, he realizes what an important part of his family she is becoming.


I really enjoyed the dynamics of the characters, The way everyone kind of shifted and moved into place to create a new family, The moves weren't always smooth, there were definitely bumps along the way, Sometimes more shifting needed to be done but eventually two people became a couple and four people became a family.


So chalk up another win from Mayberry, Once again she's given the reader a romance couple different from the usual fare, With a heroine who can rebuild an engine and a hero who does laundry and washes dishes.
The love scenes were sweet, sexy and funny, Two people who resort to getting hot and heavy in a car because they have no privacy at home makes for some hot and frustrating scenes.
And the way they overcame their past pains to get to the point where they could trust and hope again was well written and left me, once again, happy to have found Sarah Mayberry's books.
How does Sarah Mayberry pack so much story into a category romance It just amazes me, Even with the Super Romance's longer length, this story packs a wallop, I don't know why I haven't yet tracked down the rest of her backlist,

LOVED both Joe and Hannah, They each had their baggage coming into the story, but worked through all of it even while the story took time showing their courtship.
Great stuff. to/stars

Home for the Holidays is one of those books that's easy to love.
It's a well written and fullofdepth love story with believable and endearing characters, It was more angsty and bittersweet than I anticipated for a holiday read, but the ending was perfect and gave me that blissful feel I was looking for, making the angst and the touch of heartache more than worthwhile.
If you're looking for a well written, angsty, moderately steamy, evenly paced enemytolovers romance with depth and likable characters, then I highly recommend this book.
Joe Lawson has hit a rough patch, His wife was killed two years ago, leaving him with ayear old daughter and ayear old son.
Hes just uprooted his family from Sydney to be closer to his mother in Melbourne, Now the jerk next door is revving his motorcycle, threatening to wake up his kids, When he marches next door to give the guy a piece of his mind, hes in for a bit of a surprise.


Hannah Napier was working on her motorcycle in her moms garage, like she has on many occasions before, when some jerk comes in and scares the bejesus out of her, yelling at her to keep it down.
Thats some way to meet your new neighbor!

Despite this inauspicious beginning, and a number of other early clashes, these two find themselves inexplicably drawn to each other.
Neither is in the market for romance, Joes still reeling from his wifes death and is completely focused on his kids, Hannahs recovering from her fiancé ditching her right before the wedding for her younger, prettier sister, Not only are they both walking wounded, but Hannahs planning on fulfilling a lifelong dream to take off on a motorcycle tour of the country.
Theyre determined to keep it platonic, agreeing that the timing is all off for them,

Life, of course, has other plans for them, All sorts of delicious unresolved sexual tension ensues, with some amusing false starts, one of which involves a makeout session interrupted by a car horn.
Watching these two circle each other, declaring their intent to keep their hands to themselves, and ultimately fail, is a real joy.


Mayberry did make some decisions I didnt agree with, The meeting between Hannah and her fiancé was straightup bizarre why would he, and not her sister, be the one to tell her she was going to be an aunt I didnt see what that exchange added to the story.
I also didnt agree with how she handled the road trip, but I wont spoil that,

I found the dialog hokey at times, especially with the

children, Ruby, theyear old, refers to Joe as Daddy and her late mother as Mommy, which I found odd for that age group.
She spoke the precious and cutesy lines of ayear old, not a preteen, She did a better job with Ben, making him reserved and moody, like any selfrespectingyear old boy, but even he delivered some highly uncharacteristic bits of high emotion that set my eyes arolling.
If you dont like kids in romance, this wont be the book that changes your mind,

These flaws, however, did not sufficiently take away from what was a highly satisfying roller coaster ride.
Sexual tension abounds and a surprise twist at the end is a bit of a tearjerker, A solid read, start to finish,
This is my first sitelinkSarah Mayberry book and it definitely will not be the last.
The characters are believable, the dialogues are natural, and the conflicts are realistic,

I must say, though, that what I liked most in Home for the Holidays is its heroine.
She is strong, but not annoying, Her issues and concerns are very relatable, Truly someone female readers will be able to identify with, A rarity these days, considering the almost lunatic heroines in many romance novels,

So, thank you, Sarah, for giving me several hours of joy and tears with Hannah, Joe, Ruby, and Ben.
I love Sarah Mayberry's writing, She has a nice, quiet voice, nothing showy, but it feels very real, I only give that book three, though, because it stressed me out: I didn't like the hero in the beginning, the heroine has a lot of unfair BS that happened to her the people who did that to her are forgiven cos' it's for the better good whatever I'm petty, I'd rather they suffer, then when things are good there's unnecessary drama in the last act.
I wasn't in the mood for all that suffering, Home for the Holidays by Sarah Mayberry was such a wonderful book, I totally loved it and the little girl Ruby was amazing, Ben the boy wasn't that bad.


Joe Lawson has just uprooted both his kids to a new place and new life.
Joe worked in oil rigs but since his wife died two years ago he took a desk job but now he has bought a pub to run, which was his wife's dream and has moved closer to his mother.
He is still grieving and feeling his way through, His kids are also still recovering,

On his first day he goes to confront his new neighbor about the noise of the bike and instead finds a woman, Hannah, their first few meetings are not that cordial.

Hannah is a mechanic and is living with her mother for some time, ever since her fiancee betrayed her with her own sister.
She is still getting back on her feet, and is also in debt, Hannah was never the girly sister and after her wedding fiasco, her confidence has taken more of a hit.


I loved the whole pacing of the book, how Ruby the little girl befriends Hannah, how she takes them to her school function.
I loved seeing them heal, how Hannah finally decides to stop being pigheaded and accept the money from her ex.
Hannah always dreamed of taking a roadtrip and she tells Joe that their current situation is not conducive to start anything.


But once Hannah goes she realizes that her dreams have changed and she comes back, but they still have the children to deal with, how would they feel seeing Hannah as someone who is dating their father and not just as a friend I liked how realistically things were portrayed.
I loved how Joe put his kids first and Hannah as well, The twist in the end was not necessary but I guess it was to show how committed they were to each other.


Rating. Just in time for the holidays comes this heartwarming, yet sexy, read about two damaged hearts finding the will to move on through a relationship neither of them expected to find.


Joe's wife died two years ago and until recently he's just been going through the motions of living.
Hoping that a change of scenery will help him and his two children move on, Joe moves to be closer to his mother.
Along with a new school for the kids and a new job for Joe, comes an attraction to his new neighbor Hannah.
Hannah too is trying to move on with her life after a family betrayal leads to her being left at the altar.
Because of this, she's closed herself off to emotions and devotes herself to work and her biker buddies.
But after an awkward late night meeting, and two children who need help healing too, Joe and Hannah's lives will never be the same.
For two people determined not to get involved with anyone else, fate has other ideas, But just as fate can be kind, it can also be cruel, And when Hannah receives unexpected news, will Joe have the strength to stand by her and risk heartache again

This book is the perfect holiday read.
It's got cute kids, sweetness and sorrow, and lots of tearyeyed moments, Joe's grief was realistically expressed and his struggle to start a new relationship made your heart ache for him.
His children also struggled through a lot of changes and their issues added another layer of believability to the story.
Having children in these stories can sometimes be annoying and distracting, but Ben and Ruby were a remarkably mature and wonderfully wellwritten addition to the story to see how loss affects every member of a family.
Joe and Hannah's encounters are full of witty dialogue and humorous oneupmanship that sizzles with sexual tension.
The slow build up of their relationship though made their coming together even sweeter and more satisfying.
As a couple you feel even more invested in the outcome of their relationship, Hannah is an equally wonderful character, She's a tough cookie who doesn't allow pity from others, Even though she initially fights her attraction to Joe, she smartens up soon enough in a very tender scene that sticks with you long after the story is finished.
Her strength is a necessity in the latter parts of the story as she embarks on a fight for her life, and with yet another memorably heartwarming scene, finds out who will be by her side.


This is a beautifully written, highly emotional read, with wonderful characters that stick with you long after the final page is turned.
It leaves you with hope and a better understanding of the power of love, I highly recommend this book not only as a holiday read, but whenever you need a heartwarming pickmeup.
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