Book Review: Romancing the Holiday (anthology)

The Deal: Romancing the Holiday is a 3 story-anthology, so I'll summarize each of them separately.

In We'll be Home for Christmas by HalenKay Dimon, we meet Lila and Spence, two people who had a 3-day hook up a few months ago and then unexpectedly run into each other again when Lila moves into Spencer's town to manage a lodge a relative has left her. Spence and Lila haven't forgotten about each other, or their explosive chemistry... too bad Spence gave her his brother's name when they first met and now Lila is none too pleased.

Ask Her at Christmas by Christi Barth is about Kyle and Caitlin, who have been best friends forever. Caitlin has also been in love with Kyle for years but not willing to risk the friendship, not even when Kylie announces the sudden plans to marry a woman his father has selected for him, and asks Caitlin help planning the perfect proposal, unaware that her heart is breaking.

Finally, The Best Thing by Jaci Burton is about Tori who works for the Kent Brothers in their construction company (apparently there are other novellas about the other two brothers) while struggling with her crush on one of them: Brody. Last Christmas, Brody kissed her and that sent the office dynamics into a bit of a tail-spin, until it got so bad that the other two Kents  demanded Brody make things right with Tori, prompting them both to act on their latent feelings for each other.

My Thoughts: Romancing the Holiday was a mixed bag of nuts. I flat out didn't much care for the first story - We'll be Home for Christmas - I didn't particularly like the characters or care for what happened to them, and the whole thing was a little childish.

I enjoyed reading Ask Her at Christmas a lot more, I found the story fluffy and sweet even if the conflict was a bit silly and it got solved way too easily, and both Caitlin and Kyle were kind of wimpy. I liked the core of who they were. I think that if that had been more developed it would have been a sweet story, as it was it had a lot of potential and it was fun to read but far from perfect.

As for The Best Thing, it was certainly fun to read - probably the better story out of the three - and I actually got very intrigued about the other two Kent brothers and I look forward to reading their novellas (apparently I already own them in two different anthologies I got last year and that I haven't read). I liked Tori and Brody, and I could even understand what drove Brody to do certain things - his family could be fairly annoying sometimes - but I didn't like how the conflict was resolved so that kept the story from being a total winner.

As an Anthology, is not bad, I think it averages three stars all in all.

Speed Date: A Snowglobe Christmas

The Deal: A Snowglobe Christmas features two novellas set in the town of Snowglobe, Montana. In the first story - A Yuletile Homecoming - two former lovers reunite in time for the holidays when Amy returns home to take over her mother's gift shop and discovers that her former fiance, who broke her heart when he decided to join the army, is also back in town. 

The second story - A Family's Christmas Wish - features a carpenter, Owen, who decides to take a job at an inn helping out Sarah, the owner, in exchange for babysitting for his daughter. Owen is getting ready to leave town, a year after losing his wife has taken a new job far away, but his daughter and Sarah's daughter have other ideas in mind. 

My Thoughts: So, I was feeling the Christmas spirit and decided to read this little anthology... and I sort of reached the conclusion that the Love Inspired line isn't really for me. 

I found the first story a bit on the dull side and it took me a good long while to get into it. I liked the second story a lot more but it could have been developed a bit better, it was too short and a little choppy. 

1/2

What's a Book Speed Date, you ask? It's a quickie review--about 150 words or so--of any genre book (variety is the spice of life, after all).

If you want to join in or just read other speed date reviews, check out The Book Swarm

Speed Date:Under the Mistletoe by Jill Shalvis

The Deal: Mia thinks that her relationship with Nick - a promising young attorney - is basically perfect, so she's shocked when a few days before Christmas she invites him to her aunt's wedding in Lucky Harbor and he says a categorical no. 

Both Nick and Mia were given way as babies but Mia was adopted and grew up surrounded by love, and eventually developed a close relationship with her birth parents (Sawyer and Tara from The Sweetest Thing). Nick wasn't so luck and he still has a hard time committing to any kind of relationship. 

Which leads to them getting into this big fight. A fight he regrets almost immediately and prompts him to follow Mia to Lucky Harbor to try to set things right. 

My Thoughts: Let me start by saying that I'm a person who enjoys novellas, okay? I think that when they are well done are wonderful little morsels of awesome.

Sadly, I don't think Under the Mistletoe was very successful. I kind of already had a sense of who Mia was supposed to be because of the previous book, but for someone who claims to be okay with the whole adoption thing, she still bases all her self-worth around 'being picked'. And Nick was said to be this very mature guy, but he didn't act like it. They are both supposed to be in the early-to-mid 20's but act like 15 year-olds often enough. Plus, the Mia from the Sweetest Thing seemed a lot more mature than this one, five years later.

It sure was nice to see the couples of the original trilogy again, but I didn't care for the main story. More than in love Mia and Nick seemed to be in lust and the way things were resolved were just... too convenient to ring true.  And Carlos? (Mia's former boyfriend-love-of-her-life? yeah, his place int he story made me go Oh, really?)

I know I love Lucky Harbor and that's probably why I'm being hard on this story. Is it horribly written? nope, but it ain't all that great either. 

What's a Book Speed Date, you ask? It's a quickie review--about 150 words or so--of any genre book (variety is the spice of life, after all).

If you want to join in or just read other speed date reviews, check out The Book Swarm

The Christmas Brides by Linda Lael Miller

The Christmas Brides is an anthology containing two stories by the same author: A McKettrick Christmas and A Creed Country Wedding. So I'm going to take a moment to summarize each story.

A McKettrick Christmas.
Fresh out of Normal School, Lizzie McKettrick is finally going home to Indian Rock to teach in the town's school and be close to her family. She's also bringing home a friend whom she hopes will become so much more. But the travel is starting to show her his true colors, and when catastrophe strikes, only Dr. Morgan Shane - a virtual stranger she can't help to trust - can ease her fears and help her over come.

Will they survive? will they be home for Christmas?

A Creed County Wedding
Juliana Mitchell is close to destitute and with four children to take care of. A teacher in a now closed 'Indian school', she kept four of her chargers: two of whom she hopes to send home to the family they were taken from, and two orphaned toddlers she can't bring herself to just let go. When her last resort plea for help falls through, Juliana is forced to accept the kindness of Lincoln Creed - a lawyer and local rancher - who offers them a place to stay. Lincoln happens to be looking for a governess or a housekeeper to help care for his young daughter Gracie (whom he fears is a bit lonely since her mother's passing), and maybe even a wife if he fails to find the first two.

He instantly likes Juliana, but he isn't sure if it's wise to let her stay at the ranch. Lincoln loves his daughter and loved his wife, but isn't sure if he wants to risk his heart again.

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Okay, I loved both stories. They were fun, sweet and Christmas-y. I was surprised McKetrrick Christmas was so engaging since half of the story takes place in a stranded train, but I liked both Morgan and Lizzie and her extended family, that story had a touch of outright magic that I liked. Creed Country Wedding was cute in different ways (kudos to Linda Lael Miller because even though both stories were by her, I didn't feel like I was reading a repeat). I loved Gracie and the other children and the sweet story between Juliana and Lincoln - had a couple of issues with the story over all, mostly felt it solved itself too quickly but it's an anthology so I'm willing to overlook it.

Also loved the format of only two stories - usually with anthologies is 3 or 4 stories, which often leaves me feeling like everything happened too quickly, but with this format more of a story developed, which I liked.

Highly recommend it, specially with Christmas around the corner.

Anthology Tails of Love

Tails of Love is an anthology edited by Lori Forster which features stories from 10 authors -Lori Foster, Stella Cameron, Kate Angell, Dianne Castell, Ann Christopher, Marcia James, Donna MacMeans, Sara McCarty, Patricia Sargeant and Sue-Ellen Welfonder- all with different styles and settings and with only one thing in common: each story has an animal - dog, monkey, cat and even a goat - in it, and said animal helps to bring a couple together.

Now, being my long standing belief that books are just better when there are pets on them, I couldn't pass on this book and it didn't disappoint.

Like I said before, each story is unique, some are longer than others, some did feel a bit rushed but, in the end, they were all wonderful.

Sure, like with all anthologies, some stories called to me a bit more (like A Knotty Tail by Stella Cameron and Scaredly Cat by Patricia Sargeant which featured the pet's point of view), there was one story that made me cry (Danny's Dog by McCarty) and some that were just funny (like Lord Hairy by Donna MacMeans), and a couple I didn't feel so strongly about; but all 10 stories highlight the connection and love between people and animals and what a wonderful thing a pet is.

Stories included are:
“Man’s Best Friend” by Lori Foster.
“A Knotty Tail” by Stella Cameron.
“Norah’s Arc” by Kate Angell.
“The Pursuit of Happiness” by Dianne Castell.
“Atticus Saves Lisa” by Ann Christopher.
“Rescue Me” by Marcia James.
“Lord Hairy” by Donna MacMeans.
“Danny’s Dog” by Sarah McCarty.
“Scaredy Cat” by Patricia Sargeant.
“A Man, a Woman, and Haggis” by Sue-​Ellen Welfonder.

Over all Grade:




PS- The proceeds from this book go to the Animal Adoption Foundation, a no-kill shelter.