Tag: Molly Cannon

Review: A Christmas To Remember by Jill Shalvis, Kristen Ashley, Hope Ramsay, Molly Cannon & Marilyn Pappano

Posted December 13, 2013 by Tracy in Reviews | 3 Comments

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?

Jill Shalvis’s story set in Lucky Harbor had Melissa regretting her breakup with firefighter, Ian, but she just didn’t know how to fix it. A life threatening experience puts everything into perspective, now she just has to get Ian to go along with the plan. Such a great story. Really, I love Lucky Harbor and all the people in it. This one was no different. Obviously shorter than the novels, this one packed no less of a punch in the romance department and had me smiling from ear to ear.

Kristen Ashley’s story was great. Christmas with the Chaos MC is new and different for Shy and his brother Landon. The fascination they have with Tack and Tyra’s kids is incredibly emotional and so heart warming it was awesome. I loved, loved, loved when Cutter, who is 4 years old, woke up in the morning and was running around announcing how “Sanna” had shown up. OMG so freaking cute!

Hope Ramsey’s was a probably the most upsetting book. Maryanne and her 3 month old baby are homeless and go looking for her aunt. She thinks she finds the house after having her car break down and walking in sleet but ends up in the barn when no one is home. What’s she really found is Daniel who has a kind heart and needs Maryanne to show him the true meaning of Christmas. While reading this book I was so heartsick over Maryanne’s choices near the end of the story. I understand the meaning of the story but I can’t say this was my favorite.

Molly Cannon gave us a story about a professional organizer who is hired by a man’s mother to organize her former home before she gets there for Christmas. Lincoln moved into his childhood home after his parents retired and moved away. He’s not big on cleaning the messes away so when Dinah shows up he’s surly and uncooperative at first. He kind of gets into it after a time and he certainly likes working with Dinah. Unfortunately Dinah remembers too late that she’s never to get involved with a client – especially one who doesn’t like Christmas. Lincoln has a secret up his sleeve that might make her change her mind about him. This was just a cute, fun story. It was pretty much upbeat from start to finish and I enjoyed the absence of uber-angst.

Last was Marilyn Pappano gave us a doctor who moves to a small town in Oklahoma to start a pediatric practice. His parents and practically his whole family are snooty surgeons and physicians and they don’t understand his medical career choice. He’s in Tallgrass for a two year contract but he’s just not sure that after that he’ll stay there. He starts to fall in love with Elena who is a military widow with a 6 month old boy. She’s sunshine and light but as much as he loves her he’s not sure what the future will hold. My first read by this author and I very much enjoyed it. Like the previous story it was pretty light and airy until near the end. Even then it wasn’t angst heavy and I got my HEA – bonus. 🙂

What a fantastic way to begin the Christmas Season! Truly. These stories all were such great reads and had such a sense of Christmas spirit that I can’t help but tell everyone to get this one and read it. My only minor complaint was that the stories were separated by excerpts from each authors upcoming novels. These were great to have but I think it took away the flow of the Christmas theme just a bit. I would have appreciated them more if they had all been at the back of the book. Despite that I very much enjoyed all the stories which is a definite plus when it comes to an anthology.

Rating: 4 out of 5


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What I Read Last Week

Posted December 9, 2013 by Tracy in Features | 0 Comments

Top of the morning to you! Uh, afternoon, I mean. Well I started this post this morning but it just didn’t get done very quickly!

There wasn’t a whole lot of action in Tracyland this week so I’ll just get on to what I read. 🙂 

First on the list was If Wishes Were Earls by Elizabeth Boyle. I know this doesn’t come out til later in the month – and I’ll be posting my review later as well – but I was so looking forward to this story. The book was about Harriet and the man she loves, Roxley. Roxley wants Harriet as well but he’s being blackmailed into marrying another woman. The book is their story and it was a good one. I did have a couple of issues with it but nothing huge. 4 out of 5

Rumor Has It by Jill Shalvis was up next. The story was a great one and had us reading about Kate who is a giver and a doer for everyone but herself, and Griffin who is back from the Army and is completely out of place – or so he thinks. I really enjoyed this one as I have all Shalvis books lately. 🙂 4.25 out of 5 (read for Book Binge.)

Next up was a paranormal called Delicate Freakn’ Flower by Eve Langlais. This one made me laugh out loud more than once. Naomi is the only girl in a sea of brothers and she hates that they argue and fight all the time. her parents’ house is always wrecked and she hates that too. She moved out and always has a serene home. She meets her mates, Ethan and Javier, but refuses to accept them as she just sees them as brute shifters just like her brothers and wants nothing more than to marry a staid human. She is stubborn and has a serious temper but insists she’s a delicate freakin flower. lol The story was fun and funny and sexy and I liked it a lot. 4 out of 5

My next read was Sweet Revenge by Rebecca Zanetti. The story follows Matt who was born in a test tube and raised to be a soldier and killer at the whim of a psycho. He and his brothers escaped but are in dire need of help before they all die due to implants in about six weeks time. Matt’s in Charmed, Idaho, looking for a doctor that they’ve tracked down, who can possibly help them with deactivating the implants, when he meets Laney – a bar owner. This is their romance. A good one, lemme tell ya. You can read my review here. 4 out of 5

On A Highland Hill by Kara Griffin is a medieveal historical romance that has Kenneth McInnish marrying Elisa Macquarrie for her own protection. Neither wants the marriage but they must keep her hidden from the Scottish King and a man who had kidnapped her and kept her captive for 5 years. This was a good story and I’ll be posting my review of it this week. 4 out of 5 

Last for the week was A Christmas to Remember by Jill Shalvis, Kristen Ashley, Hope Ramsay, Molly Cannon and Marilyn Pappano. This was a great Christmas anthology! I’ll post my review of it this week as well. 4 out of 5

 

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Her Soundtrack by R. Matthews

Happy Reading!
 


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