Review: Christmas short stories
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 25, 2013
"A Christmas To Remember", an anthology of short holiday stories by Jill Shalvis, Kristen Ashley, Hope Ramsay, Molly Cannon and Marilyn Pappano.Disclosure: I received a free copy of this anthology via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review."Dream A Little Dream" by Jill ShalvisThis short story is set in Lucky Harbor, WA.  I am a fan of the Lucky Harbor series and I always enjoy visiting this little town.  Melissa and Ian had a "friends with benefits relationship until Mellissa called it off because she was scared to risk her heart by taking the relationship to the next level.  I an is in love with her and regrets her breaking it off.  There's a fire, a rescue, soul searching for both of them and a Christmas puppy to help them celebrate their love."Every Year" by Kristen AshleyI found this story to be a little confusing as I haven't read any of the Chaos books before this story.  The cast of characters is quite large and any backstory would have been too lengthy to get a reader up to speed.  Also, I got tired of Tabby calling Shy "my man".  The best part of the story was that Tabby's family was able to give Shy and his brother, Landon, something they hadn't enjoyed for many years - a family Christmas."Silent Night" by Hope RamsayA sweet story that is set in South Carolina.  Maryanne is a broke single mom who decides to take her son, Joshua, to visit her cousin Jennie in hopes of a fresh start.  She hasn't visited Last Chance in years so she's not really sure where she is going.  She runs out of gas and takes refuge in a barn that she thinks is her cousin's.  Danile Jessup is visiting his family home for one last Christmas before he sells it.  He is along and lonely with no to share Christmas. Two people who have been hurt find love and a miracle in this story."Have a Messly Little Christmas" by Molly CannonAccountant Lincoln Jones and Organizer/Decorator Dinah Mason don't hit it off at first.  Linc lives in his mom and dad's family home.  His mom hires Dinah to organize and decorate the house for Christmas before they come back for the holidays.  Linc and Dinah spend a lot of time together while she is working in the house and the chemistry begins to build.  Molly did a good job of developing the characters in a short time.  This story was cute and funny; and I enjoyed reading it."A Family For Christmas" by Marilyn PappanoDr. Jared Conors and Ilena Gomez are total opposites but when they meet the chemistry between begins.  Jared has been guided by his doctor parents; but did rebel a little when he pick pediatrics and a small town practice.  Ilena is a widow with a six month old son.  She is practical;; and though still mourning her husband, she knows that she needs to move on with life for both her and her son.  They hit some bumps along the road to getting to know each other; but the story is a Christmas story that does lift the heart.Each of these stories was followed by the author adding a blurb about a new book that will soon be released or a previously written book in the series.  This anthology is a great opportunity for avid readers to find new authors.  Some of these stories I enjoyed more than others but it was well worth my time to spend Christmas in these small towns.Thank you, NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the opportunity to read this book of Christmas stories.