Customer Reviews

All I Want for Christmas

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In Angel's Fall, Luke Potter is irate at Suzi "Christmas" Carpenter. Her incredible holiday display makes Times Square seem deserted, but even worse to Luke is that her activity chased away his renters. No one warned Luke about Suzi's Christmas extravaganza when he bought this property a few months ago. As he crawls through the tied up traffic to get to his rental property, Luke has since learned she has done this overkill for almost a decade.

Luke's godfather Don Rawlins lives near Suzi and detests her Yuletide show. Don offers Luke a deal. If Luke shuts down Suzi, the latter will fund, with no interest, the capital to open up a video arcade earlier than Luke planned on doing it. Luke agrees and sues Suzi. However, as he becomes acquainted with Suzi Christmas, he begins to fall in love as she melts his heart. However, he failed to inform his beloved he is the complainant in his suit and not Mr. Claus.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS is a lighthearted romantic romp with an underlying social issue. The story line is amusing though it provides insight on the complex issue of whose individual rights take precedent in a dispute between neighbors. Suzi is a warm, somewhat nutty eccentric who brightens up a neighborhood while Luke is not sure what he wants for Christmas after meeting her. Sheila Rabe illuminates the pre-holiday season with a humorous tale.

Harriet Klausner

I came across this book because I share my name with the title character and thought it might be an amusing read. I must say that after the third chapter I gave up. I have never read such drivel in all my life.

Instead of buying this book, I recommend that you purchase "Round Ireland with a fridge" by Tony Hawks - a jolly entertaining book about a man who decides to hitch-hike around Ireland with a domestic appliance. You probably think I'm joking. I'm not - buy it!

This romance is a bit of a cross between a modern day It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol and How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Susan Carpenter, widow and mother, teaches a modern-day Grinch Scrooge, Luke Potter, the true meaning of love and the spirit of Christmas.

Sweet romance, a couple of kisses. Good to put in someone's stocking this year.

Jump start into the spirit of Christmas with this witty, fun, cleaver tale. Ms. Rabe has provided me with a delightfully entertaining book, that kept the candle burning long past midnight. Truly a feel-good read, which would make a great Christmas time movie or play.

What a wonderful book Sheila Rabe has written! She wrote Regencies years ago, but while they were good, I think she's truly found her niche with this warm, funny story. The clash between Luke, who hates Christmas, and Suzy, who loves it, kept me reading well past my bedtime. I'll probably re-read it before Christmas, just for the smile.

This is a classic story updated with humor and style. Luke is the Grinch, but he's surely the sexiest Christmas curmudgeon on the planet. Susan Carpenter (aka Suzi Christmas) is the perfect match. She decks his halls, rings his chimes and brings him tidings of great joy.

What more could he want? What more could a reader want in a book?

From the back cover:

Adorned with twinkling lights and plastic reindeer, glowing with good old-fashioned Christmas cheer, and swarming with eager merrymakers, Susan Carpenter's house is truly a sight to behold--but one that Angel Fall's resident Scrooge absolutely lothes.

Luke Potter can't stand carols, crowds, or any kind of commotion--and he's determined to put a stop to Suzi Christmas's holiday hoopla. But before his case gets to court, he gets to know the surprisingly charismatic woman he's up against. Suddenly the season seems much more joyful--but Luke's reasons for rejoicing are about to run out because he's met her under false pretenses...pretending his name is Nicolas Claus. But when Suzi learns that Nick is really Luke, will she still love him?

And my review:

Wow! This was the first book I read by Sheila Rabe, but it certainly won't be my last. I borrowed it from the library and devoured it in a day. I just couldn't put it down. (I read about 200 novels a year, so a book has to be really good for me not to be able to put it down!) As soon as I finished reading it, I ordered it off Amazon. I just had to have my own copy, because I've already re-read it, and will probably read it every year.

I thought I would hate Luke, but I didn't. He grew and changed until you loved and understood him. Even the fact that he was lying to Suzi for most of the book couldn't make you hate him, because the author showed you how much it tore him up inside to do it. You could see that underneath all the crust, he was a good person. And Suzi--she was awesome!

There was no actual sex in this book, but it was sensual, which was the perfect balance for me. Also, there were two other romance subplots going on, which were also well written, but didn't detract from the main storyline at all. And there was also humor woven in there. There were many laugh-out-loud moments. Romance, drama, laughter and Christmas. What more could you ask for?

And this was one of the few Christmas romances where the Christmas part was an integral part of the story, not something that felt tacked on afterwards.

A definate keeper. I don't give out many five-star ratings. A book really has to earn one, but this one did! I can't wait to read more stuff from this author.

Widow and young mother Susan Carpenter is well known in the town of Angel Falls for her lavishly decorated house at Christmastime. From lights to live nativity scene to Christmas carols it attracts crowds from miles around. Not everyone is fond of Susan's elaborate display. Her neighbor Don Rawlins and his godson, Luke Potter have joined forces to sue Susan (who is lovingly known as Suzi Christmas) to force her to take down her display as it is seen as creating hardship with all the noise which forced her next-door neighbors to move from their rented home owned by Mr. Potter.

Luke Potter's nickname of "Scrooge" seems to be well-deserved as he has also petitioned the mall not to hire the Dickens singers for the Christmas season since too many shoppers are too busy listening to them than to shop at his computer store. But this excuse hides his deeper pain - the memories of this childhood. Luke Potter wasn't always a scrooge. But when as a young boy his father left his mother on Christmas, he would rather the holiday just go away. A successful businessman, he's more intent on building his own business empire than in any hokey Christmas celebrations

Susan has tried pretty successfully to make a life for herself and her young son after the death of her husband five years previously. She feels that keeping the Christmas display tradition she and her husband had begun is a way of keeping his memory alive. Susan has also struggled to make a living with her singing telegram business.

Luke will have none of it. When Susan tries to settle their differences amicably, Luke hangs up on her telling her he'll "see her in court." Luke's brother Ben is present one evening at a local restaurant when he sees a shapely woman deliver a singing telegram to a birthday celebrant. Thinking this would be a good way to get his brother out of his depression, he hires her telling her it's Luke's birthday the next day. When he finds out SHE is Suzi Christmas, Ben tells her his brother's name is Nick (short for Nicholas) Claus and the seeds of deception are sown.

Luke asks Susan out to dinner thinking perhaps if he could act as if he were her friend, as "Nick" perhaps he could help her see the error of her ways and she would willingly take down her Christmas display. Amazingly, Luke and Susan hit it off. She hasn't felt this way about a man since her husband died. For Luke, who has been afraid of commitment, the feeling is mutual. But what will happen when Susan discovers the truth of who Nick really is? Will these two likeable people find the happiness they deserve?

Beautifully drawn secondary characters add depth to this wonderful novel including Susan's sister Nicki, her boyfriend Todd, and Nicki and Susan's widowed father who has a romance of his own with a woman's whose identity will be quite a surprise to everyone.

Sheila Rabe who has written 13 Regency romances, makes her contemporary romance debut with the heartwarming ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS. This could be subtitled Ebeneezer Scrooge/Mr. Potter/The Grinch meets It's a Wonderful Life/Miracle on 34th Street. A wonderful novel to start the Christmas season, this book could well become a classic. As I was reading it I was thinking about what a wonderful Christmas movie this would make! It would also make a wonderful Christmas gift/Stocking stuffer --- buy several and set aside a few hours to sit and read this book - you won't be able to put it down once you begin. This is a sweet story that will leave readers with a warm and cozy feeling. Welcome back to the world of romance, Ms. Rabe! You were sorely missed! (Maudeen Wachsmith for HEART RATE REVIEWS)

Based on all the great reviews I was expecting a gem. Luke Potter lost the Christmas spirit after his father left when he was a child. His mother had a second disastrous marriage that only enforced that love did not exist. Add to the mix a 'godfather' who lacked warmth and taught him that money was everything. So naturally material possessions became his life and anyone who brought happiness to others must be a nutcase.

Meet our heroine, Suzi. She had a loving marriage and a wonderful child but her husband passed away too soon. Still, she found the best in others. By now Luke has a reputation as Scrooge and so, when he first meets Suzi, he starts their relationship with a lie. And the lie snowballs until, well, I don't want to give everything away. It is safe to say that their families intermesh and the men in this story have their problems.

I gave the story three stars because it was just OK. I found it hard to read all the negativeness that Luke kept rehashing throughout the story. Yes, I know he had it tough but so did other characters in the story and they adjusted. I felt like I was watching a movie on the Hallmark channel (not a Hallmark movie) or one of Nora Robert's remakes on the Lifetime channel. You know, when you read the description to a movie and it sounds great but when you watch it the movie is so-so.

Don't get me wrong, there are some tender moments and the secondary characters were written well. The story finally started to pick up when Luke acts like an adult and realizes what he did was wrong. Unfortunately, it was a little too late for me.

This is one of those books that you won't want to put down once you start. I wasn't able to. It's a very funny and cute christmas story. It has family loyalty, family tragedys, love, war and a whole lot more. I think that if you read this book you will love it as much as I did.