Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Book Review: Mending Noel (North Pole City Tales #1) by Charlie Cochet

4.75 stars

Tim is an average elf who feels he is doomed to work in the administrative offices in North Pole City. Even though his father was a renowned toy soldier, Tim really holds no special talents or abilities. This is all made worse by his rude supervisor, Noel, who does everything in his power to make the elf as miserable as possible. When Tim overhears an assassination plot, he and Noel are thrown into an adventure where they discover self worth and love.

I absolutely loved this story! Charlie Cochet put an awesome twist on the Christmas characters we've all come to know and love over the years. My favorite was Rudy, the dashing, red-headed and famous Rein Dear who delivers toys and happiness to kids all over the world. In this world, reindeer do not pull a sleigh; the Rein Dears are pilots who make the deliveries themselves.

  • Santa is not a jolly man who works one day a year, he's actually Mayor Kringle.
  • Jack Frost is the son of the King of Frost and is the third most powerful creature (after the King and Mayor Kringle) in the land.
  • Tim, who is small in stature, but big in spirit, reminded me of Tiny Tim from A Christmas Carol.

Tim is such a wonderful character. No matter what life, or Noel, threw at him, his positive outlook never wavered. Yes, he felt sorry for himself every now and then, but he never lost the Christmas spirit. On many occasions I just wanted to hug the little elf. Noel, on the other hand, is a confused, hurt and broken elf who doesn't know how to handle the feelings he's developing for Tim, so frequently lashes out, berates and humiliates him.


The secondary storyline involving Rudy and Jack Frost was just as charming and sweet. It would be wonderful to see more from these two in the future. In my opinion, Rudy and Jack deserve their own book! Their backstory was just as powerful and interesting as Tim's and Noel's.

My only complaint would be that the switching points of view were a little hard to follow sometimes.

Out of all of the 2012 Dreamspinner Advent stories, I think this is my favorite! I highly recommend this adorable story filled with angst, drama, romance, humor and adventure.



Buy Links

~ M

No comments:

Post a Comment