Track 04: Mariah Carey – All I Want for Christmas is You

Mariah Carey co-wrote and released this song in 1994. This is such an upbeat song I can’t help dancing around the house to it. Like Wham!’s Last Christmas, this has been covered numerous times, a contemporary that is now a classic Christmas song. The song is 26 years old!! What happened to the time?!

The song is all about wanting that special someone to be there for Christmas, willing to forgo unnecessary things like hanging stockings and presents under the tree. I thought this would be perfect for talking about book crushes. You know, those fictional (or nonfictional) characters in books that made your heart beat faster or let go of that breath, the one you didn’t realize you were holding (hehehe).

“I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true”

BOOK CRUSHES

After reviewing my list of books (and smiling/frowning when recalling the different lives I led), I found Livvy Kane to be my girl crush this year. I did a mini-review on this book (here) but I actually have a whole essay worth for this book. I posted that one on Goodreads. This is one of the first books I read by Alisha Rai and I loved it. The book is full of longing and Rai knows how to wring the emotions from her readers. One of the reasons I enjoyed the book was due to Livvy Kane. She is super hot (I needed to get that out there), but it was her vulnerability that really got to me. She is still in love with the boy who broke her heart, and she can’t seem to move forward because he was there in every part of her life until he ended things. Her longing broke my heart. I really wanted her to have a happy ending.

I’m a bit ashamed of what happened to me with this book. This was a first for me. Logan Ward is this great guy who sets aside his own desires to take care of his sisters. He finds himself in a marriage of convenience to Paige McKinney to show stability so he can keep custody of his sisters. That’s how much he loves them! He was one of my first romance novel crushes, and (here comes the embarrassing part) I was jealous of Paige. I didn’t think she really deserved him. Normally, I love my leading ladies and root for them, but it felt like she was only excited at the prospect of sleeping with him. What about the rest of him? He was this wonderful guy and she only had sex on her mind. (And, he needed to be with me…hahaha). I loved him so much. (Paige did grow on me in the spinoff the Ward Sister series about the four sisters, so I guess I’m alright about Logan’s other half even though it should have been me. LOL)

Rowan is loyal to a fault and yet love makes him defy the laws binding him and the gods who can so easily crush him. I loved how much he loved Aelin. He aggravated me a lot when I first met him but quickly grew on me because he loved her completely: her past, her present, her scars, her fears. Just…everything. (Sigh…) Despite their official titles, I felt they were equals in the relationship. Rowan was completely swoon worthy. Rowan currently graces my phone screen. My nieces (6 yo and 4yo) think it’s completely scandalous of me, but they sure do like asking for my phone so they can look at him.

Who did you have a book crush on this year? Was there someone that made your heart swoon?

Here are links to a few covers I like:
Bowling for Soup
Michael Buble
Cee Lo Green
Lady Antebellum


Bonus:
Carpool Karaoke!! CLICK!