Reviewer Ekta Garg: Ekta has actively written and edited since 2005 for publications like: The Portland Physician Scribe; the Portland Home Builders Association home show magazines; ABCDlady; and The Bollywood Ticket. With an MSJ in magazine publishing from Northwestern University Ekta also maintains The Write Edge- a professional blog for her writing. In addition to her writing and editing, Ekta maintains her position as a “domestic engineer”—housewife—and enjoys being a mother to two beautiful kids.
Author: Bette Lee Crosby
Publisher: Bent Pine Publishing
ASIN: B009AM58FG
Author: Bette Lee Crosby
Publisher: Bent Pine Publishing
ASIN: B009AM58FG
While most people’s idea of Cupid is a plump cherub wearing a sarong and shooting arrows with heart-shaped heads, Cupid himself begs to differ. His job requires a lot of concentration and planning, and while he’s seen almost everything in his many centuries he still can’t fathom just how stupid humans can be sometimes. He knows disaster will happen, and yet it still frustrates him to no end when he’s trying to do his job and the humans he’s trying to match mess everything up. His latest case—Lindsay Gray—becomes his latest (and one of his most trying) cases. And in order for Lindsay to find the man of her dreams—or any man, for that matter—Cupid will have to do some of his best maneuvering yet.
Award-winning author Bette Lee Crosby gives her readers yet another wonderful novel in Cupid’s Christmas, her latest offering to set the mood for the holidays this year. And after reading Crosby’s book, anyone will feel ready to start “decking the halls.”
The book opens with Cupid and his assertion that, “The problem with humans is they’re in love with love.” Cupid also goes on to dispel the entire shooting-an-arrow-in-a-person’s-heart image, saying his orders to match people come from “Upstairs.” And while he’s been at the matchmaking business for centuries now, people like Lindsay Gray still manage to make him run around and work hard.
For her part Lindsay Gray has found herself in a dating rut. She doesn’t trust her instinct or anyone else’s and continues to fall for the wrong kind of guys, of whom there are plenty in New York City where Lindsay came a long time ago to make it big as a journalist. The journalist plans never pan out (and the same happens to the plans to become a famous novelist,) and Lindsay spends her days working in an independent bookstore. She wants more from her life—she just can’t get out of her own way long enough to get it.
The story oscillates between Cupid and several other characters, with Lindsay topping that list. Cupid recounts his previous interactions with Lindsay and knows that if she’s going to succeed in her final attempt to find love, she might have to endure some heartache along the way. And orchestrating heartache—like arranging love—is just part of Cupid’s job description.
Author Crosby takes a standard cultural figure and weaves a fresh story around it. Not only does she do away with the norms—Cupid, after all, seems more prominent in the middle of February as opposed to the end of the year—but also, she gives this icon a personality that is by turns witty and wise. No doubt Cupid’s astute observations of people, their foolishness, and their potential probably come from Crosby’s own life experiences.
Cupid’s Christmas proves to be a fast read—this reviewer finished the entire novel in two hours while on a plane—and yet it also makes an impression. A tricky combination to accomplish, but so successful when it comes together this well. And Crosby manages the entire thing with panache, lovable characters, and a fair dose of humor. And when the book ends, readers will wish they had had more time with Cupid and his stories.
This reviewer wholeheartedly recommends this book to anyone who enjoys the holidays and books about the season—which, someone once said, is “the most wonderful time of the year.” With books like Cupid’s Christmas, one can easily believe it.
