Take Me Home for Christmas by Brenda Novak Review

Christmas is a time for remembering…

Too bad not all memories are pleasant! Everyone in Whiskey Creek remembers Sophia DeBussi as the town's Mean Girl. Especially Ted Dixon, whose love she once scorned.

But Sophia has paid the price for her youthful transgressions. The man she did marry was rich and powerful but abusive. So when he goes missing, she secretly hopes he'll never come back—until she learns that he died running from an FBI probe of his investment firm. Not only has he left Sophia penniless, he's left her to face all the townspeople he cheated.

Sophia is reduced to looking for any kind of work to pay the bills and support her daughter. With no other options, she becomes housekeeper for none other than Ted, now a successful suspense writer. He can't bring himself to turn his back on her, not at Christmas, but he refuses to get emotionally involved. He learned his lesson the last time.

Or will the season of love and forgiveness give them both another chance at happiness?

Wow. I absolutely loved this book! This is the type of book I like. It just feel so real to me, every character, every moment. I totally felt all the poignant emotions this book evoked: fear, depression, pain. The emotions were so palpable and believable. It hooked me from the first chapter!

Sophia DeBussi made a mistake by marrying Skip, an abusive and rich man who suddenly goes missing. Then, the FBI freezes up all of their bank and credit accounts because Skip stole money from his investors. Leaving Sophia and her daughter Alexa penniless, being blamed for her husband’s crimes, a town that hates her, and having to face the investors whom her husband cheated on.

Before losing all her possessions, Sophia forced to take a job working as a housekeeper. She gets hired by Ted, a bestselling author who once loved her. He doesn't want to become emotionally involved with her, but he starts to see how much she has changed over the years and how much she had suffered.

Sophia went through an incredible journey in this book, it was certainly brilliantly written, a beautiful and emotional read. This stort will draw you in from the beginning and keep your attention until the very end. Such a really powerful book that has you submerged in raw and real feeling. I loved Take Me Home for Christmas, I am so glad I got the opportunity to read it! It was my first Whiskey Creek novel and I promise it won't be my last!

"You're a good mom" She reached over to take Sophia's hand, and Sophia couldn't help smiling. "And you are a wonderful daughter."

"If I lose her, my heart's going to be broken anyway."

"You could be anything. And that's the truth. But whatever you choose, I hope it includes having my baby."

"God, I love you," she whispered. "Did I really say that out loud?" she said with a laugh.

It was a shocking experience that jump-started Brenda Novak’s bestselling author career.

“I caught my day-care provider drugging my children with cough syrup and Tylenol to get them to sleep while I was away,” Brenda says. “It was then that I decided that I needed to do something from home.”

However, writing was the last profession she expected to undertake. In fact, Brenda swears she didn’t have a creative bone in her body. In school, math and science were her best subjects, and when it came time to pick a major in college, she chose business. 

Abandoning her academic scholarship to Brigham Young University at the age of 20 in order to get married and start a family, Brenda dabbled in commercial real estate, then became a loan officer. 

“When I first got the idea to become a novelist, it took me five years to teach myself the craft and finish my first book,” Brenda admits. “I learned how to write by reading what others have written. The best advice for any would-be author: read, read, read….”

Brenda sold her first book, and the rest is history. Many of her novels have won or placed in contests such as the National Reader's Choice, the Bookseller's Best, the Write Touch, the Award of Excellence and the Beacon Award for Published Authors. 

Brenda and her husband, Ted, live in Sacramento and are the proud parents of five children—three girls and two boys. She juggles her writing career with her children’s softball and soccer games, field trips, carpool runs and homework sessions.

When she’s not spending time with her family or writing, Brenda is usually working on her annual fundraiser for diabetes research—an on-line auction held at her website May 1st – May 31st. Her youngest son, Thad, has diabetes, and Brenda is determined to help him and others like him. She also enjoys traveling, watching sporting events and biking--she rides an amazing 20 miles every day!