Review: Winter Wishes by Vivian Arend, Vivi Andrews and Moira Rogers

Posted December 5, 2010 by Tracy in Reviews | 4 Comments

Tangled Tinsel By Vivian Arend

She’s the cat’s meow, and he’s ready to pounce!

Five miles of leather-clad leg is all it takes to lure Kyle Branegan out from his carefully hidden lifestyle as part of the Cougar Corp, a secret branch of the Shifter Enforcer League. He’s hoping for a night of fun and frolic, cat-style, no strings attached. With a sultry swing of her hips, Eloise Scott tangles him up in her ball of tricks, and just when he thinks he’s about to get lucky, she cuffs him-naked-to her bed.

An undercover cop in the human police force, El’s been given a top-secret mission to keep the big cat under her paw until he’s needed to testify in court in the New Year. Her decision to take him home for a quiet Christmas in her sleepy hometown turns out to be far more interesting than she expected. Her parents are suddenly rich, her old boyfriend is sniffing around and all six-feet-plus of sexy cougar male is sleeping in her bed.

And that’s before they announce their fake engagement…

El decides to take Kyle to her family’s house for the Christmas holiday because A) she’s supposed to make an appearance and B) she thinks it’s the best place to hide him. Not a lot of media attention where she’s from. When she gets there, however it seems that her parents’ life has changed considerably. Instead a bungalow there’s a huge mansion and they now seem to know lots of important and influential people. It’s not what she expected but she wants to make the most of it. While she’s there though she finds that Kyle is a much different person than who she thought he was and they seem to get closer together.

But she doesn’t want to get closer and then have to give up her cop job and he is still investigating a case through his secret unit and what he and El find isn’t what they expected or want to see.

I liked this story for the most part. I really like the way Vivian Arend writes with her hot smokin sex as well as her sense of humor and that was in huge supply in this story. But I found by the end of the story that there were some issues that were skimmed over and I found myself frustrated. (Kyle’s uncle seemed totally different to Kyle than he was growing up but it wasn’t explained why. The whole bad guy issue was a little fuzzy as well and all the players involvement (I don’t want to say who’s involvement and give anything away)).

Overall I found this a fun, light read that had lots of smokin smexin in it.

3.5 out of 5

No Angel By Vivi Andrews

When Sasha’s boyfriend, Jay, is sucked through a fiery vortex to Hell, an angel reveals that Sasha’s been chosen as the Champion of Virtue in the battle for his immortal soul. As a perennial offender on Santa’s naughty list, Sasha can’t believe she’s anyone’s idea of a girl fighting on the side of the angels. But if she doesn’t save Jay, he’ll be stuck in Hell forever!

Jay-aka Jevroth-isn’t surprised to find himself back in Hell. His visa to visit the mortal plane expired three months ago, but to steal more time with Sasha he’s been ignoring his mother’s demands that he come home to spend time with his new stepfather: Lucifer.

Sasha has until dawn on the twenty-fifth of December to fight the Legions of Hell and rescue Jay, or be trapped there for eternity herself. But now she must decide if the lying son-of-a-demon is even worth saving…

Sasha’s just positive that her boyfriend of 6 months, Jay, is about to break up with her, and on Christmas Eve! He’s been acting funny and she can’t figure out why.

Jay knows that he has to tell Sasha that he’s half demon but he just doesn’t know how to go about it. He’s totally in love with her too and he’s afraid that she’ll kick him to the curb when she finds out. Jay doesn’t get that chance as he’s sucked into hell right before the big reveal.

Sasha takes it well though (better than I would’ve) and is then visited by an angel (they’re “out” in this world) and told that she can save Jay but she has to do it before dawn on Christmas Day. Well, that’s not a big order is it? Yikes!

But when Sasha gets all the facts she’s not sure that she wants to save Jay…or that she even could.

I really enjoyed this story as well. Sasha had such a wonderful sarcastic sense of humor that I just loved. She knew what she wanted but was afraid to let herself truly care and it was touching to see her come to grips with it all.

4 out of 5

Freeze Line By Moira Rogers

She can’t survive in his world; he can’t stay sane in hers

A twenty-first century ice age dulls the magic that emanates from the earth. Shane Sullivan is a lone wolf above the freeze line. He has no desire to join the packs that range closer to the border, where feral instincts can turn a man into a monster. Not until the winter solstice, when he stumbles across a dying witch who needs his help to get back to her people-and her magic-in the south.

Nadia is a powerful woman in her own world, but she’s been drained by her escape from captivity in a northern lab. She knows it’s foolhardy to trust a werewolf, but he’s her only chance to survive the vast white wilderness. The farther south they travel, the harder it is for Shane to keep the beast within under control, and as their mutual attraction intensifies, Nadia’s no longer sure she wants him to.

Shane finds Nadia wandering in the freezing cold, takes pity on her and takes her back to his home so that she can thaw out. Over a couple of days they talk and Shane agrees to get Nadia back below the freeze line so that her magic, which is kind of freezing her from the inside out, can help her live.

Shane and Nadia become closer as they make the trek through the ice and snow covered lands but Shane feels that he can’t let himself be who he is because if he does he’ll lose control of his werewolf and possibly hurt Nadia. Nadia finds herself falling in love with Shane but how can she be with him. He needs to be in a cold place that restricts the magics flowing through the earth and she needs them to survive. Besides that, can Nadia see that Shane is wonderful in all of his forms?

This was a post-apocalyptic type story and it was my favorite of the bunch. It was a meeting of minds as much as a romance and though I love the sigh worthy type romances I appreciated this one just as much for the starkness of its reality. It wasn’t just a survival of their environment, it was also the coming to terms with who and what they were and finding a way to survive their attraction and love and make it work. I’d definitely like to read more stories set in this world.

Just a well written story that I very much enjoyed reading.

4.5 out of 5

This book releases from Carina Press on Dec. 6