Category: Holiday

Book Review: A Soldier’s Promise by Tory Richards

RATING: 3 out of 5 Stars

A SOLDIER’S PROMISE by Tory Richards is a new contemporary romance set during the holidays. This is a standalone story.

Shannon Hayes and her small daughter have been invited to spend the holidays with her deceased husband’s extended family. David was killed in action overseas this past year and she is happy to be surrounded by his large family’s love after having grown up in an orphanage. David’s mother, Marsha treats Shannon as one of her own.

Shortly after Shannon arrives, she is surprised by the arrival of Ryan Hayes. Ryan is a career Marine, and David’s older brother. He rarely makes it home and Shannon knows how important this is to the whole family, but there is an obvious tension between the two. Shannon is attracted to her brother-in-law even as he tries to ignore her and her attempts at friendship to the point of being harsh. Ryan is dealing with the guilt of lusting after his sister-in-law even before the death of his brother. That is one of the reasons he has stayed away.

Their attraction grows and consumes them, but their guilt could end everything. Both made a promise to David, but can they fulfill it together?

I loved the Hayes family and their holiday traditions. Marsha was a loving matriarch who was happiest when all of her family was around her. She understood Ryan and his feelings and was able to give Shannon advice and understanding. All of the Hayes siblings, partners and grandkids were entertaining and great secondary characters.

I enjoyed this romance. Shannon was a loving and caring person, but I felt that Ryan was unemotional and a jerk for much too long into the story. I know he was hiding his true feelings and was filled with guilt, but I could not fully engage with him until half way through the book. He did redeem himself in the end. The sex scenes were explicit and hot, but each scene had Shannon biting Ryan and for me, it was repetitive and a little weird when it always happened. I was glad to see Ryan and Shannon get their HEA and I liked the family holiday setting. The characters make this romance.

Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.

Book Review: A Very Braden Christmas by Melissa Foster

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

A VERY BRADEN CHRISTMAS (The Braden #11) by Melissa Foster is a holiday novella that brings all of the Weston Bradens together for their traditional Christmas Eve celebration. I loved each of the individual Braden romance stories and I love catching up on their lives and children.

Patriarch Hal Braden has carried on the tradition his late wife began of having all the family home for Christmas Eve. They celebrate with holiday activities in town and then have a giant sleepover with everyone in the main living area of Hal’s home. All of the couples are in attendance with their children which demonstrates the bond between all the members of this family. Fun, chaos and love ensues with each couple trying to sneak away for a little “alone time”.

While each couple has a special announcement to make, it is the special movie that Treat has for the family to watch which makes this Christmas Eve unforgettable.

This is a very quick read that packs an emotional punch. I was happy to catch up with the Weston Bradens and was very happy through the tears with the ending. (Keep the tissues close for this ending!) This is a wonderful addition to the series and it is best read after the individual stories because all of the couples can be confusing if you are just picking this up as a holiday read. Like all of Ms. Foster’s LOVE IN BLOOM series books this one is full of family, fun and love.

Book Review: Gift-Wrapped in a Kilt by Anna Durand

RATING: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

GIFT-WRAPPED IN A KILT (Hot Scots #4) by Anna Durand is a sexy contemporary romance in the Hot Scot series set around the Christmas holiday in the Scottish Highlands. This addition to the series can be read as astandalone as the author does explain family relationships from previous books.

Jamie MacTaggart is the youngest of the MacTaggert siblings. She has had a trans-Atlantic relationship with the older brother of her American sister-in-law for the last year and a half. It was love at first sight and has continued to flourish even with the separations. When Gavin comes to Scotland for the holidays, Jamie expects a ring, but that is not what she gets.Gavin is no longer the take charge ex-Marine she fell in love with and she is tired of waiting and dumps him.

Gavin Douglas came to Scotland to propose to Jamie, who is the love of his life, but his mouth is not cooperating with his brain. Gavin lost his job in America, has inner demons that will not be silenced and cannot deal with his overprotective brothers-in-law. He wants time to sort through everything, but the return of Jamie’s ex-fiance and the scheming of his sister-in-law force him to make his decisions about their relationship quickly and there is the matter of Jamie using him for sex only since she dumped him.

Gavin vows to win Jamie back by Christmas, but both Gavin and Jamie need to deal with some emotional baggage and family ties before they can come together forever.

Finally, Jamie and Gavin get their story. These two had such a whirlwind relationship and sex life, but they had issues from their pasts that had to be faced. The author did resolve their issues in a realistic way that had the H/h finally communicating between themselves and their family members. I must admit that there were times I was frustrated by Gavin and wanted to kick his butt for being so wimpy in the first half of the story. I felt all of the family scheming and interference was done with love for both Jamie and Gavin. The sex scenes, as in all of this series, are steaming hot and explicit. This is an entertaining addition to the series, but not my favorite in the series.

Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.

Book Review: A Christmas Revelation by Anne Perry

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

A CHRISTMAS REVELATION by Anne Perry is an intriguing Victorian era Christmas novella with heart. This novella is written featuring secondary characters from Ms. Perry’s Monk series, the realism of the seamier side of Victorian London and a mystery to be solved. This Christmas story can easily be read as a standalone.

Nine-year-old urchin, Worm lives at the Portpool Lane clinic. He witnesses a beautiful blond haired woman being abducted by two men by force on the streets of London. When he returns to the clinic, he seeks the help of Squeaky, the clinic’s bookkeeper and former brothel owner. Squeaky knows better than to get involved in others’ business, but he hates to disappoint Worm.

As Worm and Squeaky learn more of the abducted woman and the mystery surrounding her, Ms. Perry intertwines the charming Victorian Christmas stories and traditions that Squeaky is sharing with Worm. These two unlikely rescuers work to help the blond haired woman and hopefully celebrate Worm’s first real Christmas with all their friends at Portpool Lane clinic.

This is a heartwarming Victorian Christmas novella that keeps the reader turning the pages to solve the mystery around the blond woman. Squeaky is a wonderfully flawed and realistic character. Worm is loving and caring even after having spent his early years homeless on the streets. I loved his worry for the blond woman and his amazement at the Christmas traditions. I enjoyed this addition to Squeaky and Worm’s stories.

Thanks very much to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine and Net Galley for allowing me to read this eArc.

Feature Post and Book Review: LuLLaY (Portland ME, A Christmas Novella by Freya Barker

Title: LuLLaY

Author: Freya Barker

Genre: Holiday Romance/ Contemporary Romance

Release Date: November 1, 2018

Cover Designer: Freya Barker

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Buy links:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2RFpXFd
iBooks: https://apple.co/2pNEBgY
Nook: http://bit.ly/2RH6F2j
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2pO2N2J

Universal:  https://books2read.com/u/3nYkrB


Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41823583-lullay

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Book Description:

Faith failed him.

Ambition drove her.

Serendipity brought them together.

They’ve never met, but their paths run in the same direction—home for the holidays.

Yet their reasons for leaving are as different as the reasons they return.

Meeting by chance along a 1400 mile stretch of highway when a snowstorm grinds traffic to a halt, they have no choice but to jointly ride it out.

Exposing a common thread, leading them from the past to the present, it’s through the innocent eyes of a toddler, they discover a future.

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My Book Review:

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

LuLLaY: Portland ME, a Christmas Novella (Portland ME #4.5) by Freya Barker is a contemporary holiday romance novella and is the PERFECT heartwarming, sexy and HEA holiday read for the season. Even though this is part of the Portland ME series, it can easily be read as a standalone.

Matteo “Matt” Savela is a bartender at the Skipper, who has watched all his friends find their perfect matches, but he does not feel it is in the cards for him. Matt is on his way home to pick up his sister. Driving across country during December can lead to unexpected snow storms and chance meetings.

Montana “Tana” Memphis Romer is driving across country with her three year old toddler, Flynn. She decided to drive across country rather than fly because Flynn has an ear infection. Tana wants to get home for Christmas and help her parents with some major decisions about their family bakery.

Tana and Flynn keep crossing paths with “Man” (Flynn’s name for Matt) along the way. When a snow storm hits, they all end up sharing a hotel suite until it blows over. Matt loves all kids and he and Flynn bond quickly. Tana is not so sure, but with all the kind things he does for them and the way he takes care of them she begins to care for Matt as much as her daughter.

With all the chance meetings and the same destinations, can fate be putting these two together for more?

Matt is the hero that every single mom would want to meet. Tana is an independent business woman and single mother. Flynn is too adorable and I could not get enough of her. These three come together, even with all the many real life problems to be solved before their HEA. The relationship comes together quickly, but it never feels forced. The sex scenes are yummy. All of the secondary characters are three dimensional and believable.

I always love Freya Barker’s characters! I want to be friends with all of them and I am always happy with their HEAs. The stories could happen anywhere and I just fall into the first scene and never want to put it down until I am done. This is another great read from this author!

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About Freya:

Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories. 

Driven to make her books about ‘real’ people; with characters who are perhaps less than perfect, but just as deserving of romance, thrills and chills, and their own slice of happy.

A recipient of the RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for best first book, “Slim To None”, and Finalist for the Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, Freya has not slowed down. 

She continues to add to her rapidly growing collection of published novels as she spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!

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Facebook: http://bit.ly/FreyaFacebook

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