Review: A good anthology but room to improve
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 1, 2013
3.5 stars – I enjoyed this holiday collection but I won’t say it’s my favorite. There were elements of each story that I liked and there were elements that I really didn’t care for. The first two stories (Play With Me and Snowfall) are told in the first person which I have found I don’t enjoy that much. I prefer third person with shifting POV (it doesn’t help that I had just finished reading a series that does this so well right before I read this book). I like being able to get into the hero’s head as well as the heroine’s (and sometimes their friends as well). This preference helped make After Midnight my favorite of the three stories. On to my impressions of the individual stories.Play With Me – 3 stars. I think this story had a lot of potential that it didn’t fulfill. I loved the premise but I think the first person storytelling hurt. I would have loved to be in Damion’s head during the lockdown (and several other times in the book). I really liked the characters, I liked how they interacted, their back stories, all of it, but not ever getting to be on his head made it hard for me to connect with Damion and that was too bad because I really liked him.Snowfall – 3.5 Stars. Another story with great potential that was missing that indefinable “something”. Again I found myself missing being in the hero’s head from time to time, I think it would have made some of his choices more understandable. This was a great couple though and I loved their story. Jenny was great, strong but scared, determined to be independent but needing someone to lean on. Jenny and Evan had great chemistry and a wonderful story and I’m sure that those who like the first person storytelling style will love this story.After Midnight – 4 stars. As I said before this was my favorite of the three and it was also the only one told in the third person with shifting POV. It also takes place over a longer timeline. Miles and Nora have AMAZING chemistry when they meet, but then they are separated and that’s that right? Of course not. These two had some deep issues they had to work out and poor Miles, my heart just broke for him over and over. I loved watching these two grow together and learn to trust each other (and themselves).I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.