Review: Sweet Christmas stories.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 6, 2012
Over all I enjoyed this book, but I liked one more then the others. I gave it a 4 star rating over all but this is how I rated the individual ratings for each story to come up with and over all rating. Sorry, I hope that made sense, but here goes......A Dundee Christmas by Brenda Novak, I gave a 5 star rating.Cierra Romero is woman seeking refuge in a strange town during a snowstorm. She is taken in by Ken and his brother Brent. She was brought to the U.S. from Guatemala as a mail order bride. The only problem is that her 74 yr old fiance had a stroke the night before they were to be wed. His ex-wife tells her she knows where she can find work, but she has to find her own way there, so she hitch hiked from Las Vegas to Dundee, Idaho. Along the way she has to flee for her own safety, but in the process she ends up losing what little money and posessions she had.  By the time she shows up to the cabin in the mountains owned by a retired NFL football player and his brother, she's nearly frozen half to death. Cierra is worried about being turned into the INS, but she needs to earn money to send back home to her three younger sisters. If she's not successful they could all be living on the streets, or maybe subject to things that are even worse. Ken figures out what is going on and tries to help her, but Cierra is to proud to take and charity or handouts from anyone. Finally with a little help from family and friends, Ken finally figures out a way to appease them both.This story kept me on the edge of my seat. I couldn't put this story down until I was completely done. An excellent read for sure.Now moving on to the next story.....We Need a Little Christmas, by Kathleen O'Brien. I only gave this a 3 star rating.A long lost grandson, Nate Araby comes back to his grandfather's ranch, when he hears a woman called Annie talking about the ranch and his grandfather's ill health on the radio. He and his brother were dropped off at his grandfather's ranch sixteen years ago, after their father had been killed in a plane accident. Their mother said she needed time to get herself together, but to this day she had never returned. Instead of giving his grandson the love and attention they really needed at the time, he was convinced they just needed to be treated a little tougher. The ranch throws a big to do every Christmas for the area foster children and the orphanages in the surrounding area, as well as the local towns people. This year it seems that all the people who normally help put this all together have come down with a big flu epidemic.His grandfather, Duke Araby is in the hospital suffering from two broken hips and a bad case of pneumonia, and he's also just recently slipped into a coma.I don't know why, but I just couldn't get into this story at all. The characters to me was just a little to far fetched to be believable. Sorry, but that's just my own opinion, some of you might have your own opinion, and that's okay. We all have our own likes and dislikes.Okay, now on to the third story......Kiss Me, Santa By Karina Bliss. I rated this story with a 4 star rating.The setting for this story takes place in Auckland, New Zealand at Christmas time. Mike is an America working in New Zealand. Really he's just hiding out from his well meaning big family and friends for the last three years. They were all so worried about him, after the tragic car accident that took the life of his wife and unborn baby. In order to get them to move on with their normal lives, he moves far away to lick his wounds in private. He doesn't have much to do with anyone there either, except for the divorced woman, Erica next door and her eight year old son, Will. Erica is an outgoing woman, but she respects Mike's privacy. After all...she's still trying to put her life back together after a failed marriage. She loves Christmas and all that it stands for, while Mike is like the proverbial Grinch.This story was believable, but I felt like it was just a little too rushed. One day these two neighbors are barely talking to one another, and the next thing you know... they are falling into bed together & professing their undying love for one another.So that how I came up with an avg. rating of 4 stars. I simply added up the three ratings and then divided them by three.Would I recommend this book? Yes, over all they are still fairly good stories.