A Vampire for Christmas, an Anthology

There’s nothing like curling up with a great romance during the holidays, and when those romances come from an anthology, I’m even more excited because the stories are short, varied and almost always have that magical happily ever after. And another plus is that they often give me a chance to get to know authors whose work I might not have never tried, otherwise. However, one of the problems inherent with anthologies is that the authors have to perform a balancing act when contributing to them, especially when their contribution comes from a world they’ve already created through a series. They have to give those of us who are unfamiliar with their series enough information to keep us from feeling lost while at the same time not filling too much of their limited and very valuable page time with unnecessary information. One of the stories in this collection suffered from ‘too much information’ and another suffered from ‘not enough,’ but all-in-all, I enjoyed this collection and have discovered authors whose work I’ll be watching for.

So here we go, my thoughts on each individual story.

1. “Enchanted by Blood” by Laurie London – This novella is part of the Sweetblood series and I can tell that Ms. London has created a unique, exciting world, but even though I enjoyed this ‘second chance at love’ tale, I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I had been following the series before reading this book. As I said above, it’s a tough balancing act for an author, and in this case I felt like I was getting way too much background information laid out for me rather than being able to watch it unfold naturally. Maybe had the plot been about something other than the politics of their world, more time could have been devoted to the characters themselves which should always be the driving force of any romance book, regardless of the length.

And speaking of the characters; from what little I saw of them, I really liked Trace, but Charlotte didn’t do a lot for me, which I think could have been remedied if more time had been spent on character and relationship development. The sex definitely sizzled, but their romance didn’t give me the warm fuzzies I like, especially in my holiday reads.

All that said, I’m definitely interested in reading more of this series because I really enjoyed Ms. London’s easy, comfortable style of writing and something tells me that I’d quickly get hooked on the world of Sweetblood! - 3 stars

2. "Monsters Don't Do Christmas" by Michele Hauf – I had very high hopes for this story because it started so out strong and I was sure it would hold, but then it just fizzled. There was so much potential for a great tale, but I found myself doing a lot of skimming and I was never able to become all that invested in either Daniel or Olivia, which in turn made it hard to stay interested in the story. I wish I had learned more about Daniel being changed and the world he gave up. I get being bitter and all, but I could have totally invested in him if I had felt, and not just been told about, his anger.

What I did like about it was the way Christmas commercialism was played down, and how Daniel, who believed himself to be a monster, didn’t let the darkness rule him. It was exactly the kind of Christmas story I would normally love, but something about the delivery just didn’t grab me. – 2.5 stars

3. “When Herald Angels Sing” by Caridad Pineiro – I really enjoyed this story. It was such a sweet, romantic, sexy tale about learning from your past mistakes, admitting you were wrong, and being willing to sacrifice anything and everything for those you love. As Damien and Angelina learned, “believe in the power of love and all of Heaven will be yours.” 4 stars

4. “All I Want for Christmas” by Alexis Morgan - Now see, very rarely is it that a novella can earn 5 stars because to do so the author has to be very careful to strike the perfect balance of world building and character development, while making it all emotionally compelling. And let’s be honest, that’s hard enough to do in a full length novel, let alone a short one. But this story had it all. The plot was interesting, yet didn’t require a lot of page time to set up, which made more character and relationship development possible, and in the end, allowed me to become totally invested in Eagan and Della, as well as the secondary characters, Tenn, Lupe, Harry, Daniel... I'd love to know more about them all! – 5 stars

The bottom line - While I enjoyed all of the stories, or at least parts of them, the last two carried the anthology and I'll definitely be reading more by these authors.

This ebook was provided by netgalley.com in behalf of HQN Books.

Holiday Hideout, An Anthology

Once upon a time, a middle-aged couple named Ken and Jillian Vickers rented a cozy cottage overlooking Lake Tahoe in hopes that a weekend away would revitalize their marriage. The plan worked so well that they bought the cottage. But it was far too small to accommodate their children and grandchildren, so on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, it sat empty.

Ken suggested renting it out for those holidays, which made financial sense to Jillian. But after several seasons, an unusual pattern emerged. Renters routinely left notes expressing their joy at either rekindling an old love or finding a new one during their stay at the cabin.

The consistent theme of the notes fascinated Ken and Jillian, both sociology professors at the University of Nevada in Reno. Perhaps the little cabin had a special effect on couples. If so, Ken and Jillian vowed to collect enough evidence to uncover its secret.…

What a fun setting for all three of the stories in this anthology. This is exactly the kind of light, magical, exciting Christmas reading I look forward to.

The Thanksgiving Fix by Vicki Lewis Thompson – 4.5 stars -

Finding Mr. Right is the furthest thing from Beth Davis's mind when the Reno professor takes Thanksgiving break at a colleague's Lake Tahoe cabin. Until Coinneach McFarland arrives to fix a suspicious leak. It looks like somebody's playing matchmaker for two people sworn to stay single. But as things heat up, Beth is astonished to find she has discovered her soul mate just as she'd given up looking.

I really enjoyed this “finding love for the first time” story. It was funny, sweet, and very hot. Mac, with his easy going, laid back attitude, and Beth, a strong, independent woman, were awesome characters. Watching as they each started questioning their self imposed ban on committed relationships was funny and heartwarming! But could they compromise, with themselves and each other, to give love a chance? You'll have to read it for yourself and find out!

The Christmas Set-Up by Jill Shalvis – 4 stars

Competing architects Zoe and Jason have two weeks to come up with the design to win a coveted new project. But when a snowstorm strands them together at a secluded cabin, Zoe sees her chance to show Jason how she really feels. With romance blooming under the mistletoe, can she get the gorgeous Scrooge into the true Christmas spirit?

While reading this story I was reminded of this passage from Corinthians: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
This was a very sweet, very sexy “love was right in front of me all along” story. Funny, heartwarming, passionate… even as I’m sitting here writing this review I’m smiling. I wonder if this story is related to any others by this author? Anyone know?

The New Year's Deal by Julie Kenner – 3.5 stars

Five years ago, Cleo Daire and Josh Goodson said goodbye and went their separate ways. But first they made a promise to reunite. Now the ex-lovers are spending New Year's Eve in a romantic cabin, where passion takes them by surprise and long-wished-for dreams can sometimes come true.

I enjoyed this “second chance” romance, but had a hard time getting into it. I couldn’t understand how they could so easily say goodbye in the first place. But once they found themselves together, in a magical cabin during a magical time of year, they couldn’t deny what was still between them.

The bottom line – Holiday Hideout is a wonderful, romantic, sexy trio of stories to warm up the holidays, and to remind us that with a little hope, a little patience and a lot of faith, anything - even falling in love - is possible!

This ebook was provided by netgalley.com in behalf of Harlequin.

White Dawn by Susan Edwards

Territory of Michigan, 1810

Late spring

“Satan’s spawn!”

The harsh bellow shattered the early-afternoon peace, startling Emily Ambrose. Her hands froze in midwring as her gaze flew from the pile of laundry to her father, a tall, rail-thin man with a wild mane of ash-brown hair. The tails of his overcoat flapped angrily behind him as he marched down the bank with a Bible in one hand and a whip-thin switch tucked beneath his arm. He stopped less than a foot away from where she knelt in the shallow water.

Emily Ambrose lived in fear of her Christian missionary father’s wrath and no matter what she did, she just couldn’t please him. It had never taken much to set him off, but when she was nearly raped by a Jesuit priest, and then blamed for tempting the “man of God,” beyond endurance, her father, mother and Emily left the mission that had been their home, disgraced. As far as Timothy was concerned, Emily was a nothing more than a sinner and he would allow no more shame to fall on the family because of her. He’d had all he could take, so he did the unthinkable – he left Emily, ‘satan’s spawn, the devil’s daughter,’ alone in the wilderness, for God to deal with, uncaring of whether she lived or died. Well, I'm happy to say that God 'dealt' with all of them.

Historical Romance novels hold a special place in my heart, be they Medieval, Georgian, Victorian, Regency, Colonial or American West, but believe it or not, I hadn’t yet ventured into the world of Native American historicals. Now, granted, only a small portion of this book was devoted to the Native American theme, but thanks to Susan Edwards, I’ll most definitely be reading more!

Ms. Edwards' beautifully detailed descriptions of the cultures and landscapes, hardships and joys of life in the wilderness, captured both my heart and my imagination. I couldn’t help but admire Swift Foot, Emily and John as they found so much happiness in the smallest things, and through that happiness found the strength to not only survive, but to trust, to love, and to do the right thing, regardless of the cost to their hearts. They were hardworking, honorable and devoted, and I couldn’t help but love.

The bottom line – While White Dawn wasn’t without its flaws, I really enjoyed this tenderly poignant, romantic and passionate story, and will definitely be reading the next book in the series!

Note: Originally published in paperback in 2002 as the seventh book in Ms. Edwards’ White series, White Dawn is actually, chronologically speaking, the first book series, and I would strongly recommend readers new to these books to read it as such. I was happy to learn that this entire series is being re-released in ebook format by Carina Press, with the first four books – White Dawn, White Dusk, White Shadows and White Wind becoming available November 21, 2011.

This ebook was provided by netgalley.com in behalf of Carina Press.

Double Shot by Christine d'Abo

Double Shot is the first book in the Long Shots series, as well as my first read of Christine d'Abo's writing. I read this book in a single sitting, not just because it's pretty short, but because I was having such a good time with the characters. I wish it had been longer, because just a couple more pages of background and character development would have taken this from enjoyable to great. But all in all, I found Double Shot to be a sweet, funny, and very sexy 'friends-to-lovers' tale and I'm looking forward to continuing the series, and reading more by this author.

Just a heads-up: The majority of this story took place in a BDSM club, but there was no BDSM involved. There was, however, a very hot game of "Sadie Says..." that had me fanning myself and wishing I could play, too!!

3.5/5 stars

My thanks to netgalley.com  for providing me with this book in behalf of Carina Press.

Pulled Long by Christine d'Abo

Yes! Pulled Long is the third book in the Long Shots series, and the story I’ve been waiting for!!

Ian Long has kept his heart locked away after a series of events has him convinced that everyone he touches will get hurt. Like his sisters, he’s thrown himself into working at the family coffee house and bakery, not only to see it become successful, but because it helps him keep his mind off of “Blue Eyes,” the one man he’d finally started to think might be worth taking a chance on. But Ian’s bad luck still holds true and he finds out that Blue Eyes is going through a divorce – from his wife and Ian isn’t about make himself some straight guy’s rebound experiment. Months have gone by since Ian ran him off, but now he’s back and he’s not taking ‘no’ for an answer.

Okay, after reading the three books in this series I can now say, without hesitation, that Christine d'Abo is an author whose stories I'll be looking for. She knows how to take characters I've only just met and make them seem like people I've known forever. With her comfortable, easy to read writing style and storytelling, she manages to accomplish in a short story what many authors struggle with, even with double the page count. If this is what she can do with a novella, I can only imagine how phenomenal she'd be with a full length novel.

I am definitely looking forward to reading more by this author.

This ebook was provided by netgalley.com in behalf of Carina Press.

A Shot in the Dark by Christine d'Abo

A Shot in the Dark is the second installment of the Long Shots series and in this story, the focus is on Paige Long, the oldest of the Long siblings. For years she's buried herself in her work in order to avoid another relationship catastrophe like the one that nearly killed her. She knows her nature, and what her sexual needs are, but doesn't want to have to sit down and explain it all to the next man she might decide to date.

Enter Carter, a local firefighter whose every move screams "Dom." He's gorgeous, charming, and determined to get Paige to open up to him, and against her better judgment, just can't say no to her inner submissive that she's kept locked up for far too long.

As I said, this is the second book in the series, and only the second book I've read by this author, but I can promise you that it won't be the last. I love the way she creates her characters and situations that just seem to 'fit,' and her writing is so easy to follow.

Short, sweet and very sexy is how I'd describe this story, and I can't wait to get my hands on the next!

This ebook was provided by netgalley.com in behalf of Carina Press.

Avenger's Angel by Heather Killough-Walden

Long ago, the Old Man gathered together his four favored archangels, Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Azrael. He pointed to four stars in the sky that shone brighter than the others. He told the archangels that he wished to reward them for their loyalty and had created for them soul mates. Four perfect female beings—archesses.

However, before the archangels could claim their mates, the four archesses were lost to them and scattered to the wind, beyond their realm and reach. The archangels made the choice to leave their world, journey to Earth, and seek out their mates.

For thousands of years, the archangels have searched. But they have not searched alone. For they are not the only entities to leave their realm and come to Earth to hunt for the archesses. They were followed by another. . .

Avenger’s Angel is the first book in Heather Killough-Walden's new Lost Angels series, a theme that seems to be quite the rage these days. Angels, whether they’re 'of Dark,' 'of Light,' 'Fallen' or 'Arch,' are the “in” thing to write about, and so I appreciated this fresh take on their world. The quote I opened with tells you all you need to know about the storyline of this series, so I’ll skip right to my thoughts on this book, in particular.

As I’ve said, I enjoyed this fresh telling of the story, but I had a really hard time with the world building and character introduction early on in the book because there was just so much to absorb. Names, titles, powers, abilities… I felt like I needed to take notes just so I could follow along. For example; just as each angel had a name, they also had their title; Michael, the Warrior Archangel; Uriel, the Angel of Vengeance; Gabriel, the Messenger Archangel; and Azrael, the Angel of Death. Now, the names and titles were used interchangeably and that was a problem for me because when reading any story, I want to feel like I’m part of what’s going on. For example, if “Michael turned to the Angel of Death and said…” I want to know who he’s talking to, Uriel, Azrael, or Gabriel? I don't want to have to stop and think, 'Wait, which angel is that?' Unfortunately, I found that to be very distracting and disruptive to the flow of the story. Yet, I feel the need to mention that I found there to be a lot of repetition in places, so maybe that was the author's way of trying to help us remember those details?

Now for the good stuff! I’d say it was about a third of the way into the book when everything finally clicked into place for me and the story took off. From that point on, I honestly couldn’t put it down. It was fast paced and action packed, and with bad guys coming out of the woodwork our Archangels were kept on their toes! Uriel suddenly became this incredibly sexy, alpha being who was protective and tormented… and I fell hard for him. Ellie, his archess, is a female who had her own brand of tormented to deal with, and I loved how they finally came together, a perfect match. That said, I do want to share with you this little snippet, Uriel and Ellie’s initial reaction to one another:

Uriel’s heart stopped beating. His jaw dropped open.

He couldn’t be seeing what he was seeing in that moment. He couldn’t be feeling what he was feeling. Not now. Not here, in a bathroom— after two thousand years. Maybe he’d slipped in the rain outside and hit his head.

No, that was impossible. He was relatively invincible. Being hit on the head would do nothing to him but make him a little cranky.

She was really standing there before him. She was real; he could see her, hear her— he could even smell her. She smelled like shampoo and soap and lavender.

Jesus, he thought, unable to refrain from letting his gaze drop down her body and back up again. She was everything that he had ever imagined she would be, from her tall, slim body to her long jet- black hair, and those indigo blue eyes the color of a Milky Way night. Her skin was like porcelain. Her lips were plump and pink and framed perfect, white teeth. She was an angel.

She was his archess. And she was . . . scowling at him?

The bottom line - While Avenger’s Angel is not without its flaws, it really did turn out to be a very unique, sexy and entertaining story. I'm excited by the groundwork that has been laid for the future books, and I'm really looking forward to reading more about Michael, Gabriel, Azrael and their Guardian, Max, and even Samael, one very bitter angel known as The Fallen One. They each have their own demons to battle and I can't wait for their stories. Overall, this really is a 3 star read – slow to start but a great finish, but because it did leave me so anxious to get my hands on the next book, I’m bumping it up to 4 stars. I have no doubt whatsoever that this will be an awesome series, one I have every intention of continuing.

I wish to thank Signet Eclipse for providing me with a copy of this ebook via netgalley.com.