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Poppies for Christmas Paperback – December 31, 2017

3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 8 ratings

A celebration of love without labels. It’s easy to be brave with you by my side!

Popular DJ Dexx finds himself positively smitten by the precociously pristine Poppy Paris. Too bad she’s already taken by an older boy, Declan Davies, a beautiful model with a thriving career, and a perfect family. By a dreamful stroke of chance, Dexx finds himself invited to spend Christmas at the Davies home by a gorgeous girl, granting him the opportunity to pursue the precious Poppy. But in his quest to win her over, he unlocks a world of imperfection and insecurity, where people are picked on for their disabilities, speech, appearance, and eccentricities. For Poppy and her friends, love trumps labels, and everyone deserves a brave friend to stand by their side. What gifts will Dexx discover this Christmas? Will he ultimately find true love, or will he discover something even greater?

You are invited to read a powerful story about living with autism, but not letting it define you, about being bullied, but carrying on with determination and grit, and about having dreams, but not giving up in the face of adversity. Come celebrate something beautiful with
Poppies for Christmas.

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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Soul Mate Publishing (December 31, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 300 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1682915433
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1682915431
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.5 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.63 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 8 ratings

About the author

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Stacy Renée Keywell
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Stacy Renée Keywell enjoys spending time misusing, mispronouncing, and misspelling languages, especially in her native tongue, English. When she is not stargazing or daydreaming she creates adventures for her family to conquer. Besides following her whimsical dreams, Stacy likes to sing to the music in her head, dance poorly, and compose non-sensical words. She is also the author of Forbidden Sky- Book One of the Dark Wing Series. Stacy resides in Michigan in a little house in the woods with her husband, and two daughters.

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
8 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2016
    I really enjoyed this book. It is beautifully descriptive, with a meaningful love story. It intertwines the lives of four young adults and their individual issues and insecurities. Even when we think someone is so perfect and leads an enchanted life, their true feelings are revealed. They learn to over come their self doubts and become more caring people. This book is a good example to love without labels.
    It is a good read for young and old.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2016
    Lenn, Kit, and Poppy are best friends. Lenn has a massive crush on Dexx, the local DJ. But Dexx falls for Poppy, who is going out with Declan Davies. Trouble ensues when Denver (Declan's sister) invites Dexx to spend Christmas at the Davies family home.

    The story is told from the points-of-view of Lenn, Dexx, Denver, and Declan - but, strangely, not Poppy. Lenn's point-of-view is unnecessary and irrelevant, as she disappears a third of the way into the book. It's difficult to keep track of who is narrating the story because they don't have distinct "voices". When they tell us how they are feeling (ad nauseum, by the way), they repeat the same thing two, three, four, or even five times in slightly different ways (e.g., "at the edge, on the fringe, away from the crowd, alone, off to the side"); and it's not just one character doing this, they all do it. Dexx even starts using Denver's made-up words towards the end of the book; I know it's meant to show their connection, but it feels forced. The italicised passages comparing relationships to baking are the best part of the book, but it doesn't become clear who is narrating them until the end of the story (unnecessarily so).

    All of the characters are unlikable: Lenn is obnoxious, self-centered, and mean; the peppy Poppy Paris is a cardboard cutout Barbie doll who appears innocent but is dating an older man; Kit is a sycophant who uses annoying teen-speak likes "totes" and "supes", but her "voice" later changes to being wise and understanding; popular Denver is mean to Poppy and makes up annoying words; creepy Dexx pines over Poppy but is physically attracted to Denver, and he has no memory of childhood incidents that have scarred other characters; Declan is weak and childish, and the written depiction of his stutter is excessive and practically unreadable. And there is way too much crying from everybody, even (especially) the boys. While it becomes apparent that our perceptions of these characters are clouded by how other people see them, everybody acts one way in school and another way in private. In addition, all the characters - even if they live a life of luxury, are beautiful, and appear perfect to the rest of the world - lack self-confidence, think no one likes them, and rely on other people for affirmation. And, even though they redeem themselves by the end of the book, it's too little, too late.

    The writing is repetitious, full of lame similes, extended mixed metaphors, cringe-worthy dialogue, and just about every cliché imaginable. The use of annoying teen-speak (e.g., "totes" and "supes") and euphemisms instead of swear words (e.g. "flip") makes it sound juvenile. Editing errors include misused words (e.g., two or to instead of too), the incorrect use of commas (a comma before nearly every "and"), and the consistent absence or misuse of the plural and possessive forms of "Davies" (hint: don't pick a family name ending with an "s").

    While the book conveys a nice message about loving people for who they are, it fails in the execution.
  • Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2017
    This is a good book for Teen reader’s as it follows a group of teenagers who are going through problems and it even covers the themes of Bullying and Autism. The author Of this book even helps with the charity mentioned in this book which is called Love without Labels. Reviewed by Jennifer

    Full review at UncagedBooks.com
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2016
    Lenn has a crush on DJ Dexx and wants to do anything to get noticed by him but he doesn't notice Lenn and instead catches a glimpse of her friend, Poppy Paris and decides that he needs to have her. Unfortunately for Dexx, Poppy is already involved with Declan Davies, a model several years older than Poppy.

    That doesn't stop Dexx from scheming and soon he finds himself spending Christmas with Declan's family and Poppy and learns that what you think is going on is not necessarily the truth at all. Will Dexx get his Christmas wish of Poppy or will he find something even better?

    I struggled through the first part of this book and I am so glad that I didn't give up. I found the beginning it was going from one character to the next and then certain characters just disappeared from the book. Once Dexx got the the Davies house everything got so much better.

    The book was such a good story about intolerance and prejudgment. Dexx had wanted to go into the Davies house and take Poppy away from it with no cares about how it affected everyone else. I understood the difficulties that Denver faced when she felt like she was alone as the focus was always on Declan.

    Poppy was such an amazing individual and I really hope that she and Denver are super close beneath it all as they could really use each other. She was so patient and kind, yet a victim of bullying at such a high level.

    I was absolutely shocked at the behavior of the cousins and I can't believe that the family continues to have them around, even if it is only at the holidays. Absolutely appalled at the behavior.

    I really ended up liking Denver as well. You could tell that she had two parts to herself, her outside persona and then her inner sanctum that not a lot of people got to see. She opened up to Dexx allowing him to really see what her life was about and that it wasn't like what everyone else thought it was.

    I was shocked at the senior project at the end and how it related to everything. I couldn't believe why they had done what they did and how it was relevant. Blew me away when everything was revealed. I couldn't believe that he had no memory of what he started.

    I am very glad that I was able to stick with this book as it was great!