Review: Sweet Christmas Romances
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 22, 2013
A Christmas To RememberRating: 4 of 5 stars just because of the Jill Shalvis story. Otherwise, the average is closer to 3 stars.My Review:These stories were short and sweet, just enough to give you a happy holiday, romance sort of feeling. I think each one only took about an hour and a half to two hours to read. It looked like every story was connected to some of the authors' other works. I can't say that any gave me happy, can't put it down tingles, but for the most part I enjoyed the time I spent reading this anthology.Dream A Little Dream by Jill ShalvisThis story is set in Lucky Harbor, about firefighter Ian. I think he appeared in at least one Lucky Harbor story before. Maybe Jack's story. This one was touching and gave me some sad tears at one point. It was cute and fun and very emotional. The characters already know each other so they're happily-ever-after was very believable. I think it probably could have been turned into a full-length novel because I would have loved to see more about these two characters.Every Year by Kristen AshleyI can't say I've read anything else by Kristen Ashley, so I didn't know what to expect here. This is the only one told in first person and also the only one that the initial romance already happened (meaning these two were already an established couple during the whole story). I found it really hard to follow because there were so many names and EVERYONE had a nickname in addition to their real name. I didn't care for the slang and I felt uncomfortable with the swearing at kids and the low view of women that was thrown in to this book. If you've kept up with Kristen Ashley's other books in this series, you'll probably be really touched by the hope and happiness that Shy and Landon find. But for someone new to the series (who also didn't care for the characters language usage), I won't be looking for more in this series.Silent Night by Hope RamsayHave Yourself A Messy Little Christmas by Molly CannonA Family For Christmas by Marilyn PappanoThese other three stories felt a little fast - like a race to happily-ever-after. Each of the characters hadn't met beforehand, so within days having marriage proposed was a little unbelievable. I didn't get sucked in to the stories but they felt nice to read. They all had rather original storylines, in a Christmas-y sort of way and for the most part, I loved the snippets we get of the other stories in each series too. It did whet my appetite to check out a couple of the other series' (the last snippet was really depressing so I definitely won't be reading that book). So even though there was the one story I really didn't care for, this was a worthwhile set and I might read some of these stories again when I need a Christmas pick-me-up.I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.