Tracy’s review of Romancing the Holiday by Jaci Burton, HelenKay Dimon and Christi Barth
We’ll Be Home For Christmas
Spence regrets his deception, but not as much as he regrets that their time together didn’t last longer. When she shows up in his town, looking to revitalize her uncle’s mountain resort, Spence is determined to help. Maybe rescuing Lila from a hopeless renovation project will get him in her good graces—and back in her bed.
Lila has no interest in being rescued, and Spence is insulted by her stubborn rebuffs and her “faulty” memory. But when rehab work turns into an after-hours meeting, the two of them are in for a night that just might prove unforgettable…
Lila Payne is quite shocked when she walks into the nursery in Holloway and figures out that the man who called himself Austin is actually named Spence. You’d think after spending 3 decadent days and nights in bed with Lila he could have come clean about that. Apparently not.
Spence never thought he’d see Lila again but now she’s in Holloway taking over her uncle’s “resort” and Spence offers to help – only to be neighborly, of course. Lila’s not sure how she likes Spence’s intrusion but she’s smart enough to see that she can’t do all the repairs on her own. The problem is that Spence spends every day with her and as the days go by she finds her determination to not sleep with him again waning in a big way.
This is book 3 in the Holloway series and it was another good one. Spence is your confused by his reactions to Lila but he decides to just go with it and he definitely wants her in his bed. They end up being great together, again, but Spence is jaded when it comes to women as every woman he’s known, except for his brother and friends’ women, has left or been unhappy in a long-term relationship. I could completely understand his thinking but it was just so sad. Luckily a few smart someones came along and verbally kicked his ass and made him realize that he definitely didn’t want Lila getting away.
A very cute story and a great addition to the series.
Ask Her At Christmas by Christi Barth
Caitlin McIntyre’s heart stops when her best friend drops to one knee and proposes.
Kyle Lockhart never once hinted over the years that he has any idea she’s in love with him. Not wanting to jeopardize their friendship, she’s never let it slip. Good thing, too, since it turns out he’s only practicing—he’s about to propose to someone else.
A business merger might not be the most romantic reason to propose to a woman he barely knows, but Kyle’s determined to win the respect of the dying father who’s never seen him as quite good enough. Kyle’s always depended on Caitlin’s friendship, while trying to ignore the physical response she arouses. So he turns to her when it comes time to craft his proposal, not realizing his decision will affect their relationship, forever.
This Christmas, Kyle and Caitlin get one last chance to admit their feelings for each other, and find a mutual happily ever after, before he commits his life to another woman and Caitlin leaves town and him…for good.
In the meantime Kyle is fighting with himself because while he wants to make his father proud he knows that he shouldn’t be marrying his girlfriend just for business reasons and the merger between his father’s company and his girlfriend’s father’s company. When Kyle kisses Caitlin as his company Christmas party he gets even more confused about his feelings and exactly how he should handle everything.
This was a very cute story. I really liked Kyle but I was so pissed off at him for even thinking about marrying a woman besides Caitlin. His “girlfriend” and I use the term loosely, is an absolute bitch and there’s no way she would ever be faithful to Kyle despite what she tells Caitlin. I could just see Kyle getting his heart broken.
Then there’s Caitlin. Oh, my heart hurt for her but she was truly a good friend for helping Kyle even though it was killing her inside.
I liked how Barth brought everything together in the end and wrapped it all up. A very satisfying HEA, imho.
The Best Thing by Jaci Burton
Tori Lewis had a perfect working relationship with Brody Kent, until a year ago, when a flaming hot kiss changed everything between them. With passion dancing a wicked tease around them, they have to decide which direction their relationship is going. But Tori doesn’t want to risk losing her job and the only family she knows, while Brody wants to shake things up and make Tori his. Can he convince her he’s worth the plunge into the unknown?
Tori has been in love with Brody since she was a teen but he never noticed her until she started working for his family construction company. They worked together for a few years before anything happened and when it did it was explosive for both of them. The problem was that Brody has rep with the ladies and Tori’s not willing to be just another statistic so she avoids Brody for a year before the Kent brothers can’t take her crankiness any longer and tells Brody to fix it.
He doesn’t exactly fix things but he realizes that’s there’s something between them that he doesn’t want to deny any longer. That doesn’t mean he’s ready for the altar but he cares deeply about Tori. I liked him a lot but frankly he took his big guy foot an stuck it in his big guy mouth and screwed everything up. I wanted to kick his ass so badly but understood where he was coming from. He did fix things tough and in a really great way.
Tori’s hurt and not willing to listen to a word Brody has to say. Now I got that she was horribly wounded emotionally but I personally thought she should have let him have his say. Even if she had hated what he said (which we knew she wouldn’t) she could have at least said she gave it her all and it still didn’t work.
In the end Burton gave us a lovely story with her hot sexy bedroom scenes added with a great HEA. Good stuff.
Overall a great Christmas Anthology that I would definitely recommend.
Rating: 4 out of 5
You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place
This book is available from Carina Press. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.
I got this on dock to read!! I hope I like it as much as you did!!
Thanks for the review.