"Christmas is in the Air" was my first Christmassy read this season. Actually, it is four books in one. Three are rather short and didn't really mean much to me, but the fourth was longer, in parts really funny, of a better quality than the first three, and I really enjoyed it.
1.) “Red Soles at Night Christmas Delight” by Cary Morgan Frates
Young woman meets man in circumstances that are anything but romantic and then of course ends up not only spending the most romantic Christmas ever with him, but also - by the looks of it - will live happily ever after with him.
The setting is rather nice: private boats (not luxury yachts) doubling as weekend or holiday homes, and a festive boat parade on Christmas Eve.
2.) “Yuletide Bride” by Danielle Lee Zwissler
Young woman meets man in less than ideal circumstances and of course ends up with him becoming the love of her life (and vice versa). Sounds familiar? Yep, that was the idea behind story # 1, too.
This time, the young woman is a reporter who is determined to write an eye-opening article about her hometown's Christmas festival which always involves a seemingly randomly chosen couple getting married on the spot. She does not believe in the magic of Christmas, let alone in that of the festival. But - you guessed it - things turn out very different from what she set out to do.
3.) “Christmas Gift that Keeps Wagging" by Jennifer Conner
Young woman meets man... hold on, yet another one of those? Nearly, but this one was different from the others in that it involved a child with epilepsy. The young woman is the owner of a seizure dog, trained to detect the first signs of a seizure and assist the child. The boy's father calls the agency the young woman works for, and he is - surprise, surprise - the most handsome and sexy man the woman has ever clapped eyes on. Plus she gets along extremely well with the boy, and guess what... Well, I'll leave the rest to your imagination.
4.) “One Horse Open Sleigh Race” by Karen Hall
As I said above, this one was longer, better and funnier than the rest. Although...
Young woman meets man in averse circumstances but then...
Yes, yes. I know! But honestly, this one was good. Set in England in 1819, it reminded me a lot of Georgette Heyer's funny, romantic novels I so loved in my teens. The characters are three-dimensional, the locations can be imagined very well without offering too much lengthy detail. Even though you know from the start who's going to end up with whom, there are one or two surprise elements.
All four stories were harmless, seasonal fun reads. While I won't actively look for any more of these authors' books, I wouldn't mind finding another by Karen Hall.
Editing was OK, not perfect, but OK - for a free ebook anyway.
I bet I would like that 4th story the best too. Mainly because it is set in England, I am such a sucker for anything English, you know! :-)
ReplyDeleteThat one really was a good read and would have stood well alone as a book, not necessarily part of an anthology. Have you ever read Georgette Heyer? Her novels are all set in the early 19th century in England, with no exception (at least none that I know of!).
DeleteI'll see if I can find this. I've been enjoying reading new Christmas reads this year rather than my old favorites. But I may get to some of them in time.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid you'll be disappointed somewhat, Kristi. But as long as you don't expect too much of this "anthology" and won't spend any (or much) money on it, you'll be fine.
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