by Jill Shalvis, Kristen Ashley, Hope Ramsay, Molly Cannon & Marilyn Pappano
Published: December 2013 by Forever (Grand Central Publishing)
Curl up with this heartwarming Christmas collection!
Jill Shalvis, Dream a Little Dream: Melissa has kept every man at a safe distance-especially firefighter Ian, a sexy friend with sexy benefits. But Ian secretly longs for more. Luckily, 'tis the season for giving love a chance . . .
Kristen Ashley, Every Year: Holidays don't come easy for Shy and his brother, Landon. But with the magic of Christmas, along with a little help from Tabby and her family, the Cage brothers are about to get the gift of a lifetime . . .
Hope Ramsay, Silent Night: Down on her luck and evicted from her apartment, single mother Maryanne hopes to start over in Last Chance. When the snow begins to fall, it looks like her baby might literally spend Christmas Eve in a manger. And Maryanne might celebrate the holiday with a handsome stranger.
Molly Cannon, Have Yourself a Messy Little Christmas: Lincoln is a bachelor who's set in his ways-until a professional organizer dressed up as Mrs. Claus changes his life, one tip at a time. . .
Marilyn Pappano, A Family for Christmas: War widow Ilena doesn't mind spending Christmas alone. But when a new doctor blows into town with the winter wind, will she get her secret Christmas wish?
Plus: Excerpts from upcoming novels!
(40,000 words)
My review:
Great collection of love stories to get you in the holiday spirit. These romances range from sweet to steamy, so there is something for everyone if you have a preference.
It's hard to say too much about these without giving huge spoilers, so I'm just going to give a little short and sweet "review" of each one.
Dream a Little Dream - I always love reading the Lucky Harbor novels by Jill Shalvis, and this first story takes you back to that great, quirky little town. Melissa thinks Ian is the perfect man, but she broke up with him because she was scared of getting too serious. After a stay at the hospital, Melissa realizes what she is missing.
Every Year - A great little story of acceptance, family and friends. What really impressed me about this one is Kristen Ashley's mastery of the "motorcycle babe's" lingo and ability to write the character. I seriously fell into this story as if it could have been told to me straight from the main character, Tabby.
Silent Night - Amazing and heartbreaking, all at the same time. This one really brought a few tears to my eyes. I've only read a few of the Last Chance novels, which I think came out before this one, but I'd be interested in reading more of them just to follow up with Maryanne.
Have Yourself a Messy Little Christmas - This great little story shows how you can find love in the most unexpected places when you aren't even looking for it. Lincoln didn't think he needed the professional organizer his mother hired. Dinah tried to keep things strictly professional. They both found something they needed along the way.
A Family for Christmas - I loved Ilena as a character, and I really enjoyed Ilena's and Jared's love story. Ilena is just the sweetest thing. This wonderful little story is a tale of how sometimes "home" and the place you belong has more to do with the people who are there than the location.
It's hard to say too much about these without giving huge spoilers, so I'm just going to give a little short and sweet "review" of each one.
Dream a Little Dream - I always love reading the Lucky Harbor novels by Jill Shalvis, and this first story takes you back to that great, quirky little town. Melissa thinks Ian is the perfect man, but she broke up with him because she was scared of getting too serious. After a stay at the hospital, Melissa realizes what she is missing.
Every Year - A great little story of acceptance, family and friends. What really impressed me about this one is Kristen Ashley's mastery of the "motorcycle babe's" lingo and ability to write the character. I seriously fell into this story as if it could have been told to me straight from the main character, Tabby.
Silent Night - Amazing and heartbreaking, all at the same time. This one really brought a few tears to my eyes. I've only read a few of the Last Chance novels, which I think came out before this one, but I'd be interested in reading more of them just to follow up with Maryanne.
Have Yourself a Messy Little Christmas - This great little story shows how you can find love in the most unexpected places when you aren't even looking for it. Lincoln didn't think he needed the professional organizer his mother hired. Dinah tried to keep things strictly professional. They both found something they needed along the way.
A Family for Christmas - I loved Ilena as a character, and I really enjoyed Ilena's and Jared's love story. Ilena is just the sweetest thing. This wonderful little story is a tale of how sometimes "home" and the place you belong has more to do with the people who are there than the location.
I really enjoyed this set of Christmas love stories. If you enjoy contemporary romance, I would definitely recommend picking this up to read here at the holidays.
A copy was provided for an honest review.
About the authors:
New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small
town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the
quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for
Jill's bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold and
visit her website for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her
city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures. Find out more at JillShalvis.com.
Kristen Ashley grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana, and has lived in Denver,
Colorado, and the West Country of England. Thus she has been blessed to
have friends and family around the globe. Her posse is loopy (to say the
least) but loopy is good when you want to write. Kristen was
raised in a house with a large and multigenerational family. They lived
on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland, and Kristen grew
up listening to the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO
Speedwagon, and Whitesnake. Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music and love was a good way to grow up. And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better. Find out more at KristenAshley.net.
