A Joyous Season

To start with, I basically agree with Kaysey on her review. Jennifer Blake's "A Vision of Sugarplums" is a very original story. I love the basis for the story but, she could have stretched it out a little in the end. It seemed kind of rushed in the ending. Olga Bicos "Naughty or Nice" was also an original story, have never run across one written like this, but LOVED it. Never believed a story taking place in an elevator could keep me so interested. GREAT JOB! Hannah Howell's "The Yuletide Gift" was very well done as are all of Hannah Howell's works. Absolutely LOVE this author. I am never disappointed in any of her books. Fern Michaels "Merry, Merry" left alot to be desired. I read it but was very glad it was the first story in the book as I probably would have been even more disappointed had I read the other stories first. All in all, a book worth looking for to read.

In this review, I've included the back cover blurb for each novella, followed by my review. 1) A Vision of Sugar Plums by Jennifer Blake: Meghan Castle is a real Scrooge about the holidays...until she finds an abandoned baby in her store on Christmas Eve. Change is certainly in the air--especially when late shopper Rick Wallman walks in with yet another delightful holiday surprise... I didn't even finish this one. The "hero" (so-called) is a lying manipulator. Not exactly something I find romantic. He lies to the heroine from the beginning, and from what I could tell, for no good reason except to get what he wanted. The author tries to redeem him by making the reason that he lied was because he fell in love with the heroine at first sight and lied to keep her. I didn't buy it. He didn't even know her for more than two seconds before he starts lying to her. Why couldn't he have just told the truth and then asked her out on a date, like a normal person? Who wants to have someone through trickery, instead of true love? 2) Naughty or Nice by Olga Bicos: Just when Phoebe Nichols is starting to get cold feet about her Christmas wedding, fate steps in: she's trapped overnight in an elevator with a handsome department store Santa. He's the most impossible man she has ever met--impossible to resist, impossible to forget, impossible not to love. This was the only story in the whole book that was worth reading. I kept the book for this one novella. I would have thought that a story that takes place almost entirely within 5 hours in an elevator would be boring. Boy, was I wrong! I was gripped from the first page, and couldn't put it down until I finished it. Both characters jumped right into my heart and stayed there. Also, it was a really nice change to read a novella that didn't have all those distracting point-of-view changes within a scene. If there was a thought, you knew who was thinking it without having to backtrack. This story alone is what saved this book's rating and earned it four stars. Highly recommended! 3) The Yuletide Gift by Hannah Howell: Fleeing an arranged marriage, Jessa rushes out into a raging Highland snowstorm. The only shelter she can find is a dreary castle...where she helps a handsome but unhappy laird turn the Yuletide bright with the magic of unexpected love. Boring! Forced myself through the first 25 pages before I skipped. My mind kept wandering. The story just did not engage me. And I know that the writer was trying to make their speech authentic to the time period (1400AD), but when I have to read the dialogue aloud to understand what they're saying, it's no longer a diversion - it starts to feel like homework instead of entertainment. (And please note that I do not have a reading problem - I actually read about two to three grades above my level throughout elementary and high school, so it's not a "dumb reader" problem.) 4) Merry, Merry by Fern Michaels: Struggling veterinarian Andi Evans figures her holidays are go

Jennifer Blake is an all-time favorite and the short-story "A Vision of Sugar Plums" is great to read snuggled up by a cozy fire with something warm to sip on. I have re-read it several times! How is it that the gabby woman stuck in the elevator with a department-store Santa the night before her wedding wears you down until you start to like our heroine? Olga Bicos' "Naughty or Nice" is fun. While Hannah Howell's "The Yuletide Gift" takes us back a century or two to the Highlands with a wonderful story of a woman who melts our hero's heart. I liked this one, a lot! Sadly, Fern Michael's "Merry, Merry" is a little too predictable, but get the book anyway - it's worth it!