Review: Like real presents under the tree:  some are winners, some aren't
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 17, 2013
In a collection of five novellas, it makes most sense to me to review the individual stories, then give a final and total rating, so here goes:“Dream a Little Dream” by Jill Shalvis.  Things move fast in this novella, as a near tragedy forces Melissa to reevaluate her life and her relationship with Ian, the firefighter who loves her, despite her pushing him away.  There’s a sweet magic in a dream episode, along with Shalvis’s trademark humor.  4 stars.“Every Year” by Kristen Ashley.  A large cast of characters with confusing names makes the opening of this novella more challenging than most.  There isn’t a lot of conflict in the plot, and there isn’t the room to develop all the characters.  In the end, this fell flat for me.  2 stars.“Silent Night” by Hope Ramsay.  A sweet and poignant twist on the first Christmas story, a lonely man finds a homeless single mom and her baby hiding in his barn on Christmas Eve.  The characters ring true, and the writing style is clear and intelligent.  My only complaint is that this wasn’t a full-length novel.  5 stars.“Have Yourself a Messy Little Christmas” by Molly Cannon.  Dinah is a personal organizer, and Lincoln is a messy accountant.  The conflict is predictable, and the story ticks all the right boxes, but at times is a bit too cute and/or trite (too many exclamations of “dang” and “mercy” and too many clichéd lines like,  “he got lost looking into her green eyes”).  Still, it’s a fast and fun read.  3 stars.“A Family for Christmas” by Marilyn Pappano.  This is the first “pediatrician falls in love with an elf” romance that I’ve read. The characters are intriguing:  Jared is a buttoned-down, spoiled rich guy who is trying to rebel against the expectations of his Stepford family; Ilena is a young war widow with a baby, and she still believes in miracles and joy.  The writing style is strong and offers  intriguing lines (“All my best friends are widows” and “Losing Juan had broken her heart, not her spirit”), and there's a believable conflict and tension between the two protagonists (as Jared explains, “I’ve never done anything with sheer delight”).  The first four chapters are excellent – but the last chapter works too hard and too fast to resolve the conflicts, and these characters and conflicts deserved more – more pages and more time.  3.5 stars.Score for the collection:  3.5 stars (a good plane or vacation book)