Customer Reviews

Baby It's Cold Outside (When I Fall in Love)

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Many thanks to Summerside Press for providing me with a review copy of Baby, It's Cold Outside.

First, I must confess that I consider myself a huge Susan May Warren fan so I practically jumped for joy to be included in this tour. The way Susan infuses hope, faith and a tiny pinch of Russia into her stories always leaves me feeling encouraged.

Yet, I had a hard time getting started with Baby, It's Cold Outside, not because I found the writing lacking, but because I found the hopelessness so overwhelming. It felt very personal. I could relate to each and every emotion. I found myself setting the book aside several times before I could really dig into the story.

When I eventually invested myself in the story I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the characters move toward hope and community. Perhaps my favorite aspect of the novel was witnessing each character calling the others to "look up" by making statements of faith they once believed, surprising even themselves in the process of encouraging someone else. Each character needed the community to reflect back to them the area of faith that they couldn't grasp a hold of on their own and that is the a truth that speaks powerfully today in our community hungry world.

As I delved deeper into the novel, I found it overflowing with all of my favorite themes: hope found in Jesus Christ, the need for real community in faith (knowing each other deeply and being our true self with others), how God's never stops seeking us - revealing himself, how God meets us in our suffering, in our weakness, in our helplessness and how in Christ all things can be redeemed and made new.

If you want to read a Christmas story of how Immanuel, God with Us, brings hope to the broken, weary and discouraged then Baby, It's Cold Outside is just the book for you.

A kid, one stranger & 2 interlopers invade her private home in a pre-Christmas blizzard with the Victorian house decked out in nothing but grief and anger.

There is enough guilt flying around inside this house surrounded by flying snowflakes to make Ebenezer Scrooge look like a Salvation Army Santa. Who will win this 1949 Christmas Grinch of the Green Victorian House award? The old house, appearing to be from a fairy story, was to be the child's safe house. But the owner seems to be the village witch. Will it serve as a shelter in a time of storm? 5 people caught in a storm together, each with their own impossible burdens.

You get a post-WW2 story where the issues of loss and want are very fresh in this small town. It is a nostalgic look back at the days when the Baby Boomer generation was conceived in its infancy. A time when many had a Christmas that held a lesser joy due to family members who did not return home. A time when Christmas was more about love & Jesus than gifts & Santa. There's plenty of calamity and adventure leading up to Christmas Day. Ladies will relish the romantic finale.

I'm glad I pre-ordered this worthy book now added to this award-winning Christian Historical romance writer's acclaim. Read it slowly--under a blanket--`cause "Baby, It's Cold Outside." Couldn't put it down, always a good sign.

This book was great! I loved it.

Susan has such an ability to create characters you can relate to. I felt everything these characters went through. I cried at least 3-4 times while reading.

This book had such a great spiritual meaning. Everyone can relate to it.

Read this book and enjoy it.

Merry Christmas!

Baby It's Cold Outside by Susan May Warren is the latest in the When I Fall in Love series by Summerside Press. In this volume we're transported back to 1949 in the town of Frost, Minnesota where Dottie Morgan wants nothing to do with Christmas or the people who celebrate it. She's hidden herself in her home and has built up walls to keep herself from being hurt, again. The death of her son haunts her and the sins of her past seem to crush her. A freak snowstorm on Christmas week forces her to open her home and eventually her heart to people she never thought she could. Friends and strangers come together for a story like none other.

If you have a person on your Christmas list who loves to read then this would be a perfect gift for them. Include some tea or hot cocoa and maybe a pair of warm mittens. Trust me, they'll love it.

I know what you are thinking... My poor kids are starving because Susan May Warren wrote another book, but I promise you - I did feed them and then stayed up way too late because I couldn't put it down!

Baby, It's Cold Outside was a delightful story. As always, I enjoy Susan's descriptive story telling, she makes you feel like you are really there - in the middle of the story. You can almost feel the cold from the blizzard and the warmth of the fire.

Dottie is going to rediscover the real gift of Christmas and God has sent some unlikely people to help... Violet and Jake, Gordie and Arnie all help bring hope to the storm house and find some of their own along the way.

You will fall in love with the characters as you read their heartaches, struggles and fears. They may just have you looking at Christmas a little different this year.

What if you suddenly find yourself in the midst of a horrible blizzard and have no choice but to weather it out at the house of a local lady known to be grouchy and miserable?! This is what happens to 4 people of Frost, Minnesota. Dottie has lived in her big house alone for years, she was a single mom to her son Nelson but when he was killed in war she suddenly finds herself alone and refusing to move forward in life. She is downright miserable and unwilling to find happiness again. However, when Violet shows up to get something from Dottie but then ends up stranded there along with a man no-one knows named Jake and Dottie's neighbor and former beau Gordy, happiness for all begins to be attainable!!

When I first started this book I was a little skeptical as to how Susan May Warren was going to bring joy to these 5 people by the end, but I was pleasantly surprised!! Susan has an amazing talent of weaving God's love within the story of them trying to recover from the disappointing events of their pasts. Every character had some issues of doubt and lack of self-confidence along with unwillingness to forgive their mistakes! Yet as they were stuck in one house together for days they had to work together to start mending their issues and they soon discover who God made them to be and where he wants them to go!

There were so much emotions going on in this book that I felt like I was right there in the storm house with them grieving along with the sorrows and celebrating their growth! This was a real tear-jerker for me and my heart just went out to Dottie! I can't imagine what it would be like to lose your only family member in war and anyone in war for that matter. That must be such an emotional struggle for the families left behind and I can especially relate to her fears that God no longer cares for her!

I was very happy with the ending of Baby, It's Cold Outside! It was a tear-filled yet joyous and I can't imagine a better book to read during the Holiday season then this book!! It'll help you remember God's love for you and maybe just maybe you'll be able to give your burdens over to God this Christmas and just enjoy the blessings He has given you!!

Disclosure: I was graciously given a free copy of this book from LitFuse to review it honestly. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions are my own.

This was the first time ever reading Susan May Warren and I will tell you that this book is a must read!!!! I found it very heartwarming and so vivid that I felt like I was actually in Dottie's home from the blizzard..This is a Must Read :)

It's 1949, and Dottie Morgan is a widowed librarian in Frost, Minnesota. Her beloved son died while serving in the military during World War II, and Dottie hasn't been able to get past her loss. Since then, she's pretty much become a loner. It's almost Christmas Eve, but Dottie is finding it impossible to embrace any Christmas spirit. When her fellow librarian, Violet, arrives at Dottie's home to make a special request, she can't find the strength within to give the younger woman what she wants. Violet leaves empty-handed and almost runs down a stranger in the driveway, not aware that handsome Jake has been searching for her.

A blizzard blows in and before the two visitors can leave, Dottie, Violet, and Jake realize they're housebound. They're joined by Gordon, the man who lives nearby and has loved Dottie since they were kids. No one is happy to be stuck and tension develops between characters. But when they discover a little boy, seeking refuge on his way home from school, they join forces to make sure he feels safe and secure, and they try to create some Christmas spirit for the child.

Once again, Susan May Warren has crafted a delightful story that is not only fun, it contains depth and a strong, spiritual thread without becoming preachy. The characters are well developed. Dottie and Gordon are both stubborn, and because of past experiences and hurts, are not willing to give in and make the first move toward reconciliation. Jake and Violet are both afraid to be truthful about who they are and what they want.

Baby, It's Cold Outside is a story about being the person God created you to be, healing from past wounds, forgiving others, and living without regrets. It's a story that can warm a reader's heart. If you enjoy reading Christian romance novels set during the Christmas season, you'll want to check out this novel. I highly recommend it.

Dottie Morgan made a mistake. The blessing was that she had a son. But now her son, a high-school football champion, is dead, killed in WWII, and Dottie is in mourning. She wonders if she'll ever survive the loss.

Violet Hart went to serve in factories, installing wheels on the vehicles that were used in the war. She came home with everyone seemingly blaming her for putting the boys in the line of danger, blaming her for the deaths of the boys that didn't come home, because she did a man's job. She fell in love with another soldier, Alex, but now the Christmas card she sent him was marked "return to sender."

Dottie has few food supplies in her house when a storm blows in. Violet goes out to her farm to try and borrow a star from Dottie and rescues Dottie from certain death. But she's involved in an accident on the way out of Dottie's yard. And two more join them as the evening progresses, all stranded by the storm. Will this holiday be more than a parade of memories? Could it bring hope?

BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE is set in the aftermaths of WWII, after the boys who were returning had returned. When those who loss someone were still mourning. And when all were trying to find the strength to go on.

Dottie was bitter, hurt and upset for things that happened to her. So much so that she couldn't see what was right in front of her eyes. Violet wants to open the town of Frost, Minnesota up to living again--restarting the Christmas story hour, hanging the star, and reviving other old traditions--ones that Dottie holds captive in her bitterness. But each of these women have someone in the background--someone they never realized was there. This is a really good Christmas story and includes a recipe at the end of the book.

BABY,IT'S COLD OUTSIDE: WHEN I FALL IN LOVE by Susan May Warren is an interesting inspirational romance fiction set in 1949 Minnesota. It is the story of four near strangers who find healing,comfort,while being trapped during a snow blizzard. They have old hurts to surface, secrets,an estrangement,old love,lost,grief,Christmas miracles,and find new love,understanding,faith,love,and romance. "Baby,It's Cold Outside" is a story of mending hearts,finding healing and while it may be cold outside,the inside can find love and warmth. This author has done it again,"Baby,It's Cold Outside" is an amazing Christmas story during this season of miracles,an d healing. A must read for any historical, World War II,romance,

inspirational,readers who enjoy a life changing story of broken hearts,a raging blizzard,and love that can conquer all. Received for review from the publisher. Details can be found at Summerside Press and My Book Addiction Reviews.