This book consists of two wonderful short stories during the Christmas season about life giving us a second chance.

The Christmas Collector
We meet Jenna Matthews, while working decluttering homes for estate sales she comes across a shoebox of her client Estelle Porter. Inside holds her past WWII memories. In the process of trying to find out what to do with this box Jenna learns that Estelle's family knows nothing about this past during the war. We will discover that there is a little romance from the past & in the present that makes love & hope for new beginnings and second chances beautiful. I truly love the way Kristina McMorris expresses her thoughts into words. 💗
This is my eighth book 📖 by this wonderful author which I've had the pleasure of reading and enjoying. This novella helped bring about 💌 Letters from Home, a book I love & recommend. Her latest The Ways We Hide is also amazing & a must read.

The Gift
This is my first T. Greenwood reading, and I loved the way she made the last sentence in each chapter a tease, making it into a page turner. The characters are so well written. I loved the way her two main story characters Alex & Sofia come together.
In Alex story her life has been consumed by becoming a ballerina 🩰. At nineteen she becomes overwhelmed with the feeling of is this what she truly wants for herself. In the Sofia story she has had a very memorable life filled with sadness, hardship, and loss. At the age of 80 she now has Alzheimer's and tries to hold on to an important memory of a special time that revists her again. She was a professional violinist and now she must go out and bring together her past with the present. I just loved it. I look forward to reading more works of Tammy Greenwood.

Thank you NetGalley & Kensington Books
for the arc ebook copy in exchange for my honest opinion & review.


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There were two stories in this book.

The Christmas Collector dealt with the stuff we all collect during our lives. The endless crockery, linen, furniture is one. The mementoes like photographs, certificates, souvenirs with no sentiment for anyone other than the owner is the other. Jenna is a person who deals with all the stuff that is a persons home or estate. Dealing with it sensitively is her forte and in this story secrets unraveled of memories long gone is very evocative.

The second story is Gifted by T Greenwood. Alex is a gifted ballerina wHo just froze during a performance and is now analysing her feelings about her dance, her talent and her life. She realises that driven by her mothers ambition and dreams she has pushed herself to do better, reach an excellence that she is no longer enchanted with. Simone also gifted is eighty and living with senile dementia. How the two meet, unexpectedly is moving. It is a catalyst for Alex to decide how she goes forward.

Both stories deal with forgiveness, love and looking forward to new beginnings.

I’d like to thank Kensington Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Season of Second Chances’ written by Kristina McMorris and Tammy Greenwood in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

‘The Christmas Collector’ by Kristina McMorris is about Jenna Matthews who does clearance for those who no longer want their house contents and while she’s working at the home of elderly Estelle Porter meets her grandson Reece. She finds a box containing various items including photos and although she’s told to destroy everything Jenna can’t bring herself to and manages to piece together the story of Estelle’s years during WWII.
The second, ‘Gifted’ by Tammy Greenwood, tells of two women who live in New York City, the first being Sofia De Luca whose mother Simone was once a classical violinist but now has Alzheimers and on her disappearance from their apartment has Sofia searching the streets for her. Then there’s Alex, a young trainee ballet dancer who walks off stage during a performance as she no longer has the grit and determination needed to be a success.

‘The Season of Second Chances’ is an enjoyable and aptly named novel of two short stories that take place in the run-up to the Christmas period and features women, their families, and the strength of love and friendship, and how the circumstances they find themselves in can change the direction of their lives. Although I don’t usually read short stories I did enjoy this novel that was heart-warming, easy to read, and introduced characters that had an inner strength that caught my imagination.

This book had two stories, completely unrelated, but both very enjoyable reads.

THE CHRISTMAS COLLECTOR was about Jenna, who worked for a company clearing houses and arranging estate sales. She was working for an elderly lady who was moving in with her son and his wife and selling her large and hard to manage house. But the grandson, Reece, thought she was being pushed out by his Dad and was a bit cranky about it, to his Dad and Jenna. But a secret was revealed about his grandma whilst the house was being emptied, and eventually everything worked out. A really enjoyable story with a slight mystery and a nice romance.

GIFTED was about a woman, Sofia, who was caring for her Mother, Simone, who has Alzheimers. Simone used to be a very talented musician who travelled the world, and Sofia was mainly looked after by her Father, who has now passed away, so their relationship isn't the closest. And there is also Alex, a talented ballerina, but who is grappling with the feeling that she has been pushed to be where she is by her Mother, and does she really want to do this anymore? Then Simone goes missing one Christmas Eve and Sofia, and the police, start searching New York for her. Simone and Alex eventually meet each other, and there's a really lovely ending.

Both these stories are mainly about family and getting older, and I wouldn't really call them Christmas stories, even though they're set at Christmas, they could be read any time of the year. But both stories were very enjoyable.

The Season of Second Chances is a compilation of two Christmas novellas from talented authors Kristina McMorris and Gifted by T. Greenwood. If you’ve read these authors’ other works, you know that they both excel at emotional family stories. This collection brings us two beautiful holiday stories with a historical fiction flair.

The novellas are totally different and yet perfectly paired. Both stories resonate with themes of love, forgiveness, and finding your heart’s desire. Complex mother-daughter relationships are beautifully depicted throughout. McMorris shines with her focus on WWII history and the Women’s Army Corps. T. Greenwood brings her lyrical and moving prose to a musical story about maternal expectations. Both stories are compelling in their own right, but together, they create the perfect heartfelt holiday read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing me an advance copy of this book.

The two novellas in this collection promise second chances to the reader and the main characters. I admit, I'm a sucker for the magic of the holidays and new beginnings. But somehow, this book hit hard with the melancholy - and light on the joy. The hardest thing, I think, was the off-handed treatment and disregard for infant RSV. Honestly, RSV can be deadly to infants, and my own son nearly succumbed. To brush it off as "Everything's okay; they think she might have RSV," is just irresponsible. And this happens while the main character's elderly mom is missing, and grieving her father's death a year ago. The first story has magical mistletoe, and the second has a magical violin. It's ... a lot.

****Publishing August 22, 2023*****

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a book that includes two Christmas Novella’s. The Christmas Collector by Kristina McMorris and Gifted by Tammy Greenwood. Two very different, well-told and heartfelt stories. Perfect to give as a gift!

The Christmas Collector has historical aspects and shows the importance of family history! This story highlights the journey of going through a loved one’s belongings! Sometimes the greatest gifts come from your own family! This story was inspired by Kristina McMorris’s own grandparents.

Gifted examines the burnout that can occur with a professional ballet dancer,Alex, and the implications of it. Also, it explores the implications of a violinist, Sophia, having to abandon her family to pursue her dreams. In addition, this story also examines the implications of caring for a mother with dementia.

But when Sophia, now in her 80’s and is suffering from dementia, leaves home to play her violin at the Grand Central Terminal, Alex sees this and feels compelled to dance. Alex and Sophia took comfort in each other for the short time performing.

A great book club pick as these Novella’s would lead to many great discussions!

Thanks to Kensington Books (Kensington), I was provided an ARC of The Season of Second Chances by Kristina McMorris; Tammy Greenwood via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book contains two Christmas novellas. While they were each different in their own way, they both had a historical fiction aspect and dealt with mother-daughter relationships. I really enjoyed this book. It was sweet and charming and kept me interested throughout.

I would recommend this book to those looking for a good Christmas read and I will be looking for more by both of these authors.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Kensington for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

These 2 amazing Christmas themed stories are simply devine. I really loved this book. This was perfect to curl up on the couch with under a warm blanket and get lost in the Christmas season with these 2.
I just reviewed The Season of Second Chances by Kristina Mcmorris; Tammy Greenwood. #TheSeasonofSecondChances #NetGalley

This is a wonderful holiday book, broken into two beautiful novella's that are different, yet both emit love, family, friendship and the amazing spirit of the advent season!
This is a super story to enjoy anytime, anywhere. It will make you feel good in these unsettled times!

Thank you to #NetGalley and to #Kensington for this ARC and allowing me to read and provide my own review.