Review: The Christmas Cookie Chronicles: Carrie by Lori Wilde

Title: The Christmas Cookie Chronicles : Carrie (A Twilight, Texas Story}

Author: Lori Wilde

Published: Avon Impulse Nov 2011

Synopsis: Come join a meeting of the First Love Cookie Club! “On Christmas Eve, if you sleep with kismet cookies under your pillow and dream of your own true love, he will be your destiny.” Carrie MacGregor doesn’t believe this—not one bit. She might be a “paid up” member of the Cookie Club and the local Sweethearts Knitting Club, but she’s not about to give in to the forced ho-ho-ho of the season. And why? Mark Leland. When he left town he broke Carrie’s heart. Now, the local-guy-made good is back, hosting the reality show “Fact or Fantasy.” Fact: Mark broke her heart. Fantasy: her friends think they’ll be getting back together. But could the magic of a Twilight, Texas Christmas make Carrie’s secret dreams come true?

Status: Read on November 23, 2011 — I own a copy {Courtesy Harper Collins/NetGalley}

My Thoughts:

Since the season is nearly upon us I couldn’t resist the lure of this title when it was offered. It sounded like a sweet and easy holiday read, which it was, kind of, but in a empty calorie kind of way.
There was no mention of it being a novella in the description so this was an unexpectedly short read with not a lot of substance. There was simply no time for anything but vague characters and a bare bones plot and I repeatedly felt like I must have skipped a dozen pages here and there. I can only surmise that the actual intent of this story is to introduce the cast and setting for the actual series, a teaser if you like. I would have preferred to know that going in though because I was disappointed it wasn’t the full length novel I was expecting.
I also discovered I was very distracted by the town being named Twilight (especially having seen Breaking Dawn just a few days ago), I kept waiting for a Bella or Edward to appear, unfair perhaps but the association is unavoidable I think.
Personally I read The Christmas Cookie Chronicles: Carrie in less than a half hour so it would make for a quick lunchtime or commuter read. If you are a fan of romance then this is a way to sample Wilde’s Twilight, Texas series and get into the festive spirit as well.

This title is currently available for FREE at Amazon.com. Click HERE to download it for your Kindle, Kindle PC or Kindle App