Anthology Review: A Nascar Holiday by Kimberly Raye, Roxanne St. Claire and Debra Webb

Posted May 13, 2008 by Holly in Reviews | 2 Comments

Anthology Review: A Nascar Holiday by Kimberly Raye, Roxanne St. Claire and Debra WebbReviewer: Holly
A NASCAR Holiday by Kimberly Raye, Roxanne St. Claire, Debra Webb
Publisher: Harlequin
Publication Date: November 15th 2012
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 384
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-half-stars

Ladies, Start Your Engines… by Kimberly Raye All Savannah Calloway wants for Christmas is a chance to prove her talent with an engine—and hot young NASCAR driver Mackenzie Briggs is ready to play Santa. But they soon find that winning the race isn't nearly as important as winning each other's hearts…
'Tis the Silly Season by Roxanne St. Claire NASCAR Busch Series racer Clay Slater needs a ready-made family—fast—to impress a potential sponsor. Lisa Mahoney can't resist the chance to give her kids the storybook Christmas she's never been able to…and if that includes a kiss under the mistletoe, so much the better!
Unbreakable by Debra Webb Although she's been hired to prove that drivers are serious athletes, Dr. Maxine Gray doesn't think much of NASCAR racing. So in the spirit of Christmas, driver Rush Jackson is determined to show the good doctor the "rush" that racing—and race car drivers—can bring.

You might be wondering why I’m reviewing a Christmas anthology in May..and you know, I’m kind of wondering the same thing. I decided to organize my bookshelves last night and I found this buried under Mt. TBR, so I figured..heck, why not. And there you go.

I’ve read each of these authors away from the Nascar gig and really enjoyed them, so when I saw this I grabbed it, thinking I’d give it a go and see how the Nascar thing played out. I really enjoyed it.

Ladies, Start Your Engines… by Kimberly Raye

All Savannah Calloway wants for Christmas is a chance to prove her talent with an engine–and hot young NASCAR driver Mackenzie Briggs is ready to play Santa. But they soon find that winning the race isn’t nearly as important as winning each other’s hearts…

I enjoyed this story, but the way Savannah’s family took advantage of her really started to bug me after awhile.

Savannah’s father owns one of the largest racing teams in the Forth Worth area, and all she wants is a chance to prove to her father she’s as good with engines as she is with cooking him and her brother meals and cleaning up their messes. When he decides she should, “Take some time off” to find herself (a man) she decides to approach Mac and see if they can help each other out. She’ll give him a number one winning car if he’ll give her the chance to prove she can do it.

Mac and Savannah are cute together, and I really liked that he listened to her and encouraged her to do what she needs to do. The sexual tension between them was believable and worked because they knew each other prior to her approaching him.

My biggest gripe is with Savannah’s family and the way she lets them walk all over her. Throughout the story they dump one thing after another on her and expect her to just “fix it”. She finally was able to stand up to them, but I think it went on a little too long for the character Savannah was.

3.5 out of 5

‘Tis the Silly Season by Roxanne St. Claire

NASCAR Busch Series racer Clay Slater needs a ready-made family–fast–to impress a potential sponsor. Lisa Mahoney can’t resist the chance to give her kids the storybook Christmas she’s never been able to…and if that includes a kiss under the mistletoe, so much the better!

I enjoyed this one, though I think the premise behind it was just a little too over the top.

Lisa is having a crap month before Christmas (not that she really likes Christmas anyway) and the icing on the cake is not being able to get the two toys she promised her two boys would be under the tree. So when she overhears Clay and what she believes to be his girlfriend discussing Kincaid Toys she thinks she might have a chance to get what she needs. And she can, only it comes with a hefty price tag. To impress the owner of Kincaid Toys, Clay wants Lisa to pretend to be his wife for a weekend. If all goes as planned, they both get what they want..Lisa gets a Christmas for her boys, and Clay gets to race the next Kincaid car.

Like I said, the plot was just a little bit too over the top. Even so, both Clay and Lisa were good characters, and I liked her boys. Clay was just like a big kid himself, and the three of them together were adorable. It was nice to see him realize his feelings for her.

4.0 out of 5

Unbreakable by Debra Webb

Although she’s been hired to prove that drivers are serious athletes, Dr. Maxine Gray doesn’t think much of NASCAR racing. So in the spirit of Christmas, driver Rush Jackson is determined to show the good doctor the “rush” that racing–and race car drivers–can bring.

I think the romance in this story is my favorite, but the hero really rode the Beta line. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

Rush is determined to prove Nascar racing is a sport, and one that should be taken seriously. They train hard and don’t get the recognition they deserve. But Dr. Max isn’t what he expected, and trying to get her to change her mind about racing could prove interesting, to say the least.

Ok, I’m shallow. I admit it. But..well, the hero still lives with his Mama. I just had a really hard time getting over that. I think it’s wonderful when men – especially Southern men – show the proper respect for their mother’s, but I think Rush living with her when he was trying to woo Dr. Max was just…well, let’s just say it didn’t quite work for me.

Max was ok, but she had some relationship hangups I felt she clung to a little too tightly. Still, the story progressed nicely and I really enjoyed the characters.

4.0 out of 5

All in all, not a bad anthology, and I’m curious enough to check out some of their other Nascar novels. Total grade:

4.25 out of 5

This book is available from Harlequin. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

three-half-stars


Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

2 responses to “Anthology Review: A Nascar Holiday by Kimberly Raye, Roxanne St. Claire and Debra Webb

  1. No, he just still lives with her…I don’t know. It’s kind of cute on one hand, and kind of wussy on another. Totally on the fence.

  2. Rowena

    He still lives with his Mama? Oh man…was it because he needed to live with her or because he was taking care of her?

    I’d like to try this out…I don’t watch Nascar racing but I might like reading this…it sounds pretty good.

    Thanks for the review sweets..it was great!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.