Review: Hot, steamy and diverting if a bit uneven
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 9, 2012
Saw this recommended over at Dear Author and it sounded to delish to pass up.  Each story gets its own review and then overall impressions!"I Need You for Christmas" by Leah BraemelI enjoyed this story quite a bit.  I wanted to smack a couple folk for their behavior (Ryan kind of included 'cause while Megan was making a big change in her life, so we he and his involved a heck of a lot of other people having to adjust whereas hers was really just her), but by in large I thought this was a cute story.  It was steamy and I appreciated that while Ryan found Megan super-sexy, she wasn't a model type woman playing cop--Braemel clearly described Megan in such a way that she looked the part of a Mountie.There isn't actually much I can say--this was a solid story, the main characters felt pretty well rounded (though I couldn't keep the secondary characters quite as straight in my head) and thankfully Braemel avoided a tacked on conflict.  The two had a big enough conflict to resolve that anything additional would be extraneous."Breath on Embers" by Annie CalhounI was at odds with this story.  On the one hand the sex was hot, the characters were conflicted and I was engaged with the struggle that Thea felt.  What I had issue with was that I couldn't quite understand why Ronan would keep trying.  Quite frankly whether its Thea or its Ronan, neither paints a great picture of her.  Thea spends most of the story trying to convince herself that she just wants to sleep with Ronan--well technically she just wants to use Ronan however she feels like whether it be to have sex, go down on him or a makeout session.Ronan meanwhile spends the story trying to convince her, himself and his best friend Tim that there is so much more to her and that he will bring it out whether she wants it or not.  Has she been grieving for a long time? Yes.  Should she try to move on and get past the guilt she feels over her husband's death (because it sounded like survivor's guilt to me more often then not)? Yes.  Is she coping in a totally unhealthy/unsafe manner?  Yes.  But I didn't see progress.  For every step forward they take, almost immediately one of them says or thinks that she's shutting down.It got really annoying.  What redeeming value did Thea have exactly?  Its not like they hung out, or did couple things.  Their entire 'relationship' was predicated on the physical.  The reversal at the end needed more space to breathe to make me believe that they would work as a couple."Wish List" by K.A. MitchellThis is a m/m romance.  As far as stakes go this had bigger stakes then "I Need You For Christmas", but had a much more believable arc then "Breath on Embers".  While on the one hand I knew things would end up positively (this is a christmas romance), there was a lot of moments where I doubted that conclusion.  These two ran back and forth between rocky and smooth sailing, both with equally understandable reasoning.I rather judge Jonah for some of his actions (there was a rather immature lapse in judgement), but Evan too left room for judgement.  Really this came down to communication for them.  Not just about their desires, but how they viewed their relationship.  Neither was entirely certain how serious the other felt--which is a problem.  Then to compound it with silence, aloofness and avoidance...well.  That's a recipe for bad moments.The sex was hot--so freaking hot--and I think the story felt genuine.  Who wouldn't freak out if they thought they were being proposed to?  Especially if they weren't sure how serious the whole relationship was or felt a distance from their partner?So two stories out of three definitely made this collection worth reading.  "Breath on Embers" used the holiday the most in terms of as part of the story, but all three stories made the season itself an important part (Jonah's birthday is January 1st, Megan was excited to tell Ryan her news the day of Christmas, etc).  Heat level is high and the stories are a quick read for anyone needing a bit of steamy diversion.