One Snowy Night (Heartbreaker Bay 2.5) by Jill Shalvis

Blurb… It’s Christmas Eve and Rory Andrews is desperate to get home to the family she hasn’t seen in years. Problem is, her only ride to Lake Tahoe comes in the form of the annoyingly handsome Max Stranton, and his big, goofy, lovable dog Carl.

Hours stuck in a truck with the dead sexy Max sounds like a fate worse than death (not), but Rory’s out of options. She’s had a crush on Max since high school and she knows he’s attracted to her, too. But they have history… and Max is the only one who knows why it went south.

They’ve done a good job of ignoring their chemistry so far, but a long road trip in a massive blizzard might be just what they need to face their past… and one steamy, snowy night is all it takes to bring Max and Rory together at last.

One Snowy Night is a wonderful holiday novella featuring Rory Andrews who, as we’ve learned from previous books, had a very troubled past. In this story she finally returns home to face that past and in the process discovers her future has been right in front of her all along.

Max Stranton is the kind of man I would love to be in love with. He’s strong, dependable, patient, and all kinds of sexy. Together, he and Rory made this holiday story a delight and I’m so, so happy for them!

My only complaint (which is a good kind of complaint) is that I wish Rory had gotten a longer story because she’s just such an awesome woman.

An ARC was provided by Avon Books. In appreciation I’m giving them an honest review.

Some Kind of Wonderful by Maureen Child

Blurb...

Holiday shop owner Carol Baker infuses her business and her life with peace and good will. But she has secrets from her past that make her all the more determined to someday have a family of her own. She never expects a sweltering July heat wave to bring the gift of a baby girl who needs a mother's love...and a man who needs to heal his wounded soul.

Ex-LAPD copy Jack Reilly's back in town--temporarily--to fill in for the ailing local sheriff. Haunted by the tragedy that made him leave Los Angeles, Jack doesn't believe in "forever." His sassy landlady Carol, with her year-round Chistmas spirit, gorgeous smile, and adorable little foster daughter, Liz, begin to bring him back to life. But the past has a way of coming back again, and the dark places of the heart have a way of staying hidden. Still, good things have a way of happening in Christmas--and if the Reillys have anything to say about it, what develops between Carol and Jack will be some kind of wonderful...

The absolutely adorable baby on the cover is what made me decide to pick this one up, but it's Jack, Carol, and baby Liz that kept me turning the pages. Some Kind Of Wonderful is all kinds of heartwarming! It's a romantic, steamy, and sometimes even poignant 'believe in the magic of Christmas' story that can be read any time of year. And I have to say, I hope this is part of a series because there are so many incredible people in the small, quirky town of Christmas, California who need to have their stories told, too!

This is book 1 in my Goodreads Challenge of reading 50 Kindle Freebie books in 2016. All books read in this challenge were free at the time of 'purchase'.

Click here to purchase Some Kind of Wonderful from Amazon

A Pirate for Christmas: A Regency Novella by Anna Campbell

Blurb...

What is vicar’s daughter Bess Farrar to do when the dashing new earl, the man gossip paints as a ruthless pirate, kisses her the day they meet? Why, kiss him right back, of course! Now Lord Channing vows to claim the lovely firebrand, despite interfering villagers, a snowstorm, scandal, and a rascally donkey. The gallant naval captain’s first landlocked Christmas promises mayhem – and a lifetime of breathtaking passion.

Wooing his vivacious lady, the new Earl of Channing finds himself embroiled with matchmaking villagers, an eccentric vicar, mistaken identities, a snowstorm, scandal, and a rascally donkey. Life at sea was never this exciting. The gallant naval captain’s first landlocked Christmas promises hijinks, danger, and passion – and a breathtaking chance to win the love of a lifetime.

A Pirate for Christmas is a romantic, fun, passionate Regency novella written by one of the genre's brightest stars. I smiled, I sighed and even giggled my way through this holiday tale and, as always, look forward to whatever it is Anna Campbell dreams up next!

Click here to purchase A Pirate for Christmas on Amazon

What Happens at Christmas (Millworth Manor Series Book 1) by Victoria Alexander

You are cordially invited to Christmas at Millworth Manor. . .

Camille, Lady Lydingham, requests the pleasure of your company at a festive house party, as she endeavors to coax a marriage proposal from Prince Nikolai Pruzinsky of Greater Avalonia. The hostess's relatives will be in attendance--in this case, a troupe of actors hired to impersonate a proper English family in order to fool the Prince.

Gate-crashing, distractingly handsome first loves like Grayson Elliott are most unwelcome. Games will be played. Motives will be revealed. Mayhem may ensue.

And hearts will be won--and lost--in the most romantic, magical season of all

What Happens at Christmas is such a fresh, amusing story! The characters are quirky, the story is unique... I really enjoyed it. Elizabeth Wiley does the narration and she has a lovely voice, and while she gave a lively performance, I had trouble distinguishing between characters - including, at times, the men from the women.

Overall, a fun holiday read!!

Purchase What Happens At Christmas at Amazon

His Mistress by Christmas (Sinful Family Secrets #2) by Victoria Alexander

For three years, Lady Veronica Smithson has been perfectly happy as a widow--and thoroughly independent. Still, the right gentleman could provide the benefits of marriage without the tedious restrictions. And in Sir Sebastian Hadley-Attwater, renowned explorer and rogue, Veronica is sure she has found him.

Sebastian will come into his inheritance in a matter of weeks--if his family deems him responsible enough. There's no better way to prove his maturity than with a wife. But though Veronica will share his bed, she refuses to marry. However, Sebastian has a plan: An intimate sojourn at his new country house will surely change Veronica's mind. For Sebastian never takes no for an answer. And he intends to persuade his Christmas mistress that they belong together--in this, and every season to come. . .

His Mistress by Christmas is one of those stories that will have you laughing at society's rules and the pompous, self serving 'elite' of the ton. It's a wonderful holiday romance, and a great addition to the Sinful Family Secrets series!

Purchase His Mistress by Christmas on Amazon

Merry Christmas, Baby (Lucky Harbor 12.5) by Jill Shalvis

Chloe and Sawyer's happily ever after has always been my favorite of all the couples in the Lucky Harbor series because theirs was the hardest fought and the most richly deserved. These two amazing people grew up hard, and finding each other ... well, finding each other gave them a chance at a beautiful life filled with family, joy, and the best kind of love - the kind you get when you've found your soulmate.

Blurb...

Wild child Chloe Thompson can't believe how much things have changed. She still can't get enough of her sexy husband Sawyer, but he seems to prefer working to thinking about impending fatherhood. So tonight, a very pregnant Chloe is escaping her troubles at the town Christmas party.

Sheriff Sawyer Thompson hopes surprising Chloe at the party will give him a chance to set things right. But as the snow begins to fall and the wind rages, he wonders whether he can make it back in time. While mother nature conspires to keep Sawyer and Chloe apart, an unexpected arrival will require them to kiss and make up . . . and ring in the happiest holiday Lucky Harbor has ever seen.

Merry Christmas, Baby made me smile, made me sigh, and even had me a little misty eyed. I loved this visit with my favorite couple and being with them and seeing their family grow is the perfect ending to their beginning and a perfect holiday read!

An ARC was provided by Grand Central Publishers via Netgalley.

Purchase on Amazon: Merry Christmas, Baby: A Lucky Harbor short story

 

Christmas at Tiffany's by Karen Swan

Christmas at Tiffany’s is an absolutely wonderful story, and even though chick-lit isn’t my genre of choice, this book had me laughing, sighing, and wishing it would never end! No, seriously… I did not want this story to end!

Blurb…

Three cities. Three seasons. One chance to find the life that fits.

Cassie settled down too young, marrying her first serious boyfriend. Now, ten years later, she is betrayed and broken. With her marriage in tatters and no career or home of her own, she needs to work out where she belongs in the world and who she really is.

So begins a year-long trial as Cassie leaves her sheltered life in rural Scotland to stay with each of her best friends in the most glamorous cities in the world: New York, Paris and London. Exchanging grouse moor and mousy hair for low-carb diets and high-end highlights, Cassie tries on each city for size as she attempts to track down the life she was supposed to have been leading, and with it, the man who was supposed to love her all along.

My thoughts…

I can’t put my finger on what makes this story so perfect, and I think that’s because Christmas at Tiffany’s has it all – poignancy, great friends who’ll see you through the rough times without coddling you, romance, passion, and true love. Honestly, start to finish I was totally drawn into Cassie’s world, cheering her on as she left her past in the past to focus on the future and discover who she was really meant to be.

One of the very best things about this story is that it spans a full year, each friend taking Cassie in and giving her the chance to experience life in ways she’d never otherwise been able to. Because of this, there was no single “ah-ha!” moment in Cassie’s journey. Instead, there were several life defining moments, and I love the way those moments came to be – each an eye-opening experience, a lesson learned, and sometimes a heart broken.

Luke, Claude, and Henry… I loved them, hated them, loved them, hated them… but because they each played a very important role in Cassie’s… awakening…I wouldn’t change a single thing about them or their relationships with her. It’s an incredibly romantic and passionate story, even though there are no explicit sex scenes.

I’ve read a couple of reviews in which people have said that they feel the title, Christmas at Tiffany’s is misleading - perhaps because the story unfolds over the course of a year. I don’t really understand that at all because two of the sweetest, most romantic scenes take place during Christmas, and at Tiffany’s… and in my opinion, this story couldn’t have been more aptly titled.

And I’m going to stop now because truly, there’s really nothing I can say – no words I can come up with that will capture the emotions I felt while reading this story, and how happy I am that I did. Being chick-lit this would have never made it on my radar, and what a horrible loss that would have been.

To Maria Silva at HarperCollins who sent Christmas at Tiffany’s and asked me to take a peek, to give it a chance… thank you. Sincerely, thank you!

Buy links:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Walmart
Indiebound
iTunes
Googlebooks Books-A-Million   

His Mistress by Christmas (Sinful Family Secrets #2) by Victoria Alexander

His Mistress by Christmas is one of those stories that will have you laughing at society's rules and the pompous, self serving 'elite' of the ton. It's a wonderful holiday romance, and a great addition to the Sinful Family Secrets series!

Blurb... For three years, Lady Veronica Smithson has been perfectly happy as a widow--and thoroughly independent. Still, the right gentleman could provide the benefits of marriage without the tedious restrictions. And in Sir Sebastian Hadley-Attwater, renowned explorer and rogue, Veronica is sure she has found him.

Sebastian will come into his inheritance in a matter of weeks--if his family deems him responsible enough. There's no better way to prove his maturity than with a wife. But though Veronica will share his bed, she refuses to marry. However, Sebastian has a plan: An intimate sojourn at his new country house will surely change Veronica's mind. For Sebastian never takes no for an answer. And he intends to persuade his Christmas mistress that they belong together--in this, and every season to come. . .

*********

This is such a fun historical romance! No angst, no contrived drama here… just a feel good, steamy, delightful holiday tale!

An ARC was received by, and reviewed for, Affaire de Coeur Magazine.

It's a Wonderful Fireman (Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriel #6.5) by Jennifer Bernard

The Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriel is one of my favorite contemporary series. The stories are fun, romantic, exciting, and definitely hot - and not just in a three alarm fire kind of hot. It's a Wonderful Fireman is the perfect Christmas treat, reminiscent of the holiday classic, It's A Wonderful Life - with a bit of Ebenezer Scrooge thrown in for good measure. It's a quick read, but don't let that fool you - There's a great story packed into the pages of this novella!

Blurb...

Hard-edged fireman Dean Mulligan has never been a big fan of Christmas. Twinkly lights and sparkly tinsel can’t brighten the memories of too many years spent in ramshackle foster homes. Although he’s established himself as one of the top firefighters at San Gabriel Station 1, he doesn’t think he’s good enough for someone like gorgeous Lizzie.

Lizzie Breen is used to fighting—from her alpha male brothers, who try to smother her in the name of safety, to the life-threatening childhood illness she overcame. She knows what she and Mulligan feel for each other is a lot more than a fling, but she can’t get him to see that. The only gift Lizzie wants to give him this season is her love, but he’s not willing to accept it.

When Mulligan is trapped in the burning wreckage of a holiday store, a Christmas angel arrives to open his eyes. But is it too late? This Christmas, it’ll take an angel, a determined woman in love, and the entire Bachelor Firemen crew to make him believe … it is indeed a wonderful life.

Wonderful!

If you're looking for a new series to dive into, or just in the mood for a holiday read, this is a great place to start. Though it's not the first in the series, it can easily be read as a stand alone. But be prepared - once you get a taste of these sexy heroes and heroines, you'll want to experience each and every one in their own story.

An ARC of this story was provided by Avon Books via Edelweiss.

Christmas at Twilight (Twilight, Texas #5) by Lori Wilde

CHRISTMAS AT TWILIGHT is one of the most emotional holiday stories I've read. It's poignant, angsty, and heartbreaking, but it's also hopeful and joyous! Meredith and Hutch are two amazing people who get more than Christmas magic, they get a miracle - the kind that comes from finding your soul mate, just when you thought you'd forever be alone.

The blurb...

It's Christmas in Twilight, Texas. The Cookie Club is baking, the town is decorated, and Delta Force Operator "Hutch" Hutchinson has finally, reluctantly, returned home . . .

. . . only to get pepper sprayed by the delicious- looking stranger who's taken over his house. She says her name is Jane, and she immediately sets down ground rules. Top priority: no touching. For Hutch that isn't easy—he was wounded in action, but one part is still working very well.

Then Hutch learns the truth. Jane harbors a frightening secret—she's really Meredith Sommers, on the run from a dangerous ex-husband and desperately in need of the safety Hutch can provide. In that moment, he vows he'd do anything in his power to protect her. And as Christmas approaches, they discover that their love can conquer the past and overcome any obstacle—but what price will they pay?

My thoughts...

It seems to me that more often than not Christmas themed romances are on the lighter side, with minimal angst and a sweet happily ever after. It's what I've come to expect, and what I look forward to in my holiday reads. That said, Christmas At Twilight is not light, and while there's angst, it's the real life, to-be-expected kind of angst that military men and women live with after serving their country with honor. And yet, while it's not what I expected, not what I look forward to, I loved every minute I spent reading!

Such an exciting, romantic, and passionate story! But best of all, Hutch and Meredith's happily ever after was hard fought, well deserved, and a truly beautiful thing.

Note: This is the 5th book in the Twilight, Texas series but works very well as a stand alone.

An ARC was provided by Avon Books.

Holly Lane by Toni Blake

Toni Blake’s Destiny series is the perfect blend of contemporary and erotic romance, making each story tender, feel good, and incredibly sexy. I guess I'm pretty demanding, but even in my erotic reading I want a believable story and a good solid relationship with people I can care about. I want to feel an emotional connection - to laugh when they laugh, to cry when they cry, and to sigh when they sigh. Well, Holly Lane gave me all that, and more.

From the cover:

The weather outside is frightful, but kisses by the fire are so delightful …

Sue Ann Simpkins is working hard to rebuild her life and find some holiday spirit. A weekend away from Destiny in a cabin on nearby Bear Lake seems like the perfect Christmas gift to herself—until her ex's best friend, Adam Becker, shows up at the door, claiming the cabin is his! And if that's not trouble enough, how had she never noticed how gorgeous he was?

Alone for the holidays and forced to play a reindeer at the local department store, Adam's been feeling rather Scrooge-ish himself. But finding the smart, sexy woman he's admired since elementary school waiting in the house he rented is helping to brighten his humbug mood. And when a sudden snowstorm strands them together in very close quarters, leading to one very hot night together, Adam soon realizes that what he really wants for Christmas is a second chance at love. Now all he has to do is convince Sue Ann…

I’m being totally honest when I tell you that Sue Ann was not a character I ever thought I’d care about because she just seemed so perfect… too perfect, in fact. Perfectly dressed, perfectly married to a perfect husband, being everyone’s perfect friend with a perfect life - perfect, perfect, perfect… So even when I heard about this story, even when I learned that her perfect world was falling apart, I still wasn’t sure what to think, whether or not I’d become invested in her enough to care what happens. Boy, was I ever a fool to doubt Toni Blake’s ability to not only make me care, but to make me care deeply.

From the very first pages my heart broke for Sue Ann who’s learned that her husband has fallen in love with another woman and wants a divorce. She never saw it coming, and now she has to not only put her life back together, but find a way to build a future for her and her daughter, Sophie. So, was the perfect Sue Ann really perfect? Nope! Did I want to slap her silly sometimes because she was being too stubborn? Yep! But these things, her imperfections and her stubbornness... they were actually part of what made me love her. Her struggles, her heartbreak, her trials and triumphs… I was right there with her, cheering her on, getting to know this woman who was able to overcome her own insecurities and was capable of accomplishing anything!

If you've read much of her writing, you know that Toni Blake has a knack for taking everyday characters who’ve just been floating around the peripherals of a story, of bringing them in, and making them shine. That’s exactly what she did with Adam. What an amazing man he is! Understanding, compassionate, caring, hard working, unconditionally devoted – and of course, sexy as sin! I enjoyed watching him put his own past behind him and open himself up to the possibility of loving again. And it was a delight having the opportunity to see he and Sue Ann grow closer as their relationship transformed from one of friends-since-childhood to lovers, and then to something more.

Another real treat was visiting with Jenny and Mick and getting a glimpse into their married life. They have come so very far together, and their future is looking brighter and brighter.

The bottom line: Holly Lane is a Christmas story, it’s true, but this much love, this much happiness, hope and passion should be celebrated all year 'round. I’m so very glad I finally took this off the shelf and spent this Valentine's Day surrounded in the magic of Christmas in Destiny, Ohio.