Santa, Honey

Ho, Humbug, Ho by Kate Angell 3 1/2 stars This is the 5th in the Richmond Rogue series. The last book, Sliding Home introduced Alex Boxer. He's a young, arrogant, center fielder. In this story, he's on his way to south Florida for some Christmas fun in the sun...especially with blond twins waiting for him. He gets the book thrown at him for speeding in a school zone in Holiday, FL. He's stuck there doing community service for a week--dressing as Santa Claus. Holly McIntyre is Alex's "boss" for the week. They find themselves attracted to each other, but they both know it isn't what they want. I liked this story...it was cute with a few really good one-liners. Alex is an arrogant jerk, but he knows it. Holly knows it, too, and doesn't let him get away with it--much. It ended a little abruptly and seemed like to tidy and quick of an ending. I would have really liked more out of this one. Naughty or Nice by Sandra Hill 2 1/2 - 3 stars A reprint from 1996! I noticed it pretty quickly when the hero is compared to a "old Brad Pitt" and he is only 35. Isn't BP like 45 now? Jessica believes herself to have a "Christmas Curse." Bad things happen to her on Christmas, so when she finds herself on Christmas Eve dressed as Santa "sticking up" a grocery store, she isn't surprised. The other Santa at the store is surprised when she takes him hostage. Luke is a bodyguard by trade and should be able to find a way to subdue the woman, but he finds himself intrigued by her and decides he must prove to her that he loves her. It was just an okay story...a little rough around the edges for me. Some of it was funny, but mostly, it seemed to fall a little flat. I didn't like the premise of Luke falling in love at first sight...it just didn't work for me. Christmas Unplugged by Joy Nash 4 stars Casey is dragged to an upstate NY resort for Christmas by her beautiful actress younger sister, Emma. Even though she needs to work, she agrees to go since her sister is recovering from a breakup. Upon arrival, the sisters meet Jake and Matt, brothers who work at the Lodge and both notice Emma right away. That annoys Casey as well as the fact that she can't get satellite reception and there is no electricity! Jake pounces on Emma and asks Matt to keep Casey busy so that she doesn't ruin his fun with Emma. Matt happily complies because he finds Casey intriguing. This is an adorable story. It also works well in with the length. Writing a good anthology story is an art...it needs to work well in the shorter length without feeling rushed or losing the character development. This story was well written. I liked the characters and didn't feel like the story was rushed or left anything major out. I haven't read anything by Joy Nash before, but judging by this story, I will put books by her on my TBR.

"Santa, Honey" contains three short stories and I enjoyed reading all of them. It's the perfect book to enjoy a cold winter night huddled under a warm blanket with some hot cocoa to drink. Although I bought the book mainly because of Kate Angells story I think that all three stories are great. "Ho, Humbug, Ho" - Kate Angell (new story) When speeding baseball star Alex Boxer is forced to stay in Holiday and play Santa as part of his community service he couldn't be more unhappy. But soon he realizes that maybe spending time with local Holly McIntyre could be the best christmas present he ever had. This is another great story by Kate Angell and it's no wonder that I love her Rogues. "Naughty or Nice" - Sandra Hill (reprint from 1996) For Jessica Jones Christmas is all about how to avoid her "Christmas Curse". Dressing as Santa and holding up a store may be a bad idea but meeting hunky bodyguard Lucas Carter may be the end of her bad luck. This is a funny and heart- warming story and I enjoyed reading it a lot. "Christmas Unplugged" - Joy Nash (new story) When sisters Emma and Casey decide to spend a weekend at a lodge they have no idea that this trip will change their lifes. Because after meeting brothers Matt and Jake and getting snowed in at their lodge things develop quickly and when it's time to leave both are no longer single. This is a great story and I especially enjoyed reading about workaholic Casey and sexy Matt.

4 stars for CHRISTMAS UNPLUGGED by Joy Nash. Story Brief: Casey and Emma are sisters who live together in New York City. Emma looks like a Barbie doll and is trying to get work as an actress with no luck. Casey pays the bills as a computer programmer. Emma and her boyfriend booked a romantic getaway at a lodge in northern New York State. They broke up two days before the trip, so Emma convinced Casey to go with her. Casey grudgingly went and planned to work on her programming project while there. Emma did not tell Casey that the lodge had no electricity. They had hot springs for water, fire places for heat and gas lights. Casey is unable to work and a blizzard prevents them from leaving early. Matt and Jake are brothers who help their aunt and uncle cook, clean and take care of the guests. The two brothers and two sisters end up spending time together. Reviewer's Opinion: Nice story. Above average. I liked the characters and the resulting conflicts. There was a nice hot sex scene. My favorite part was Casey's workaholic habits and lack of interest in a relationship. She thinks Matt is too good looking for someone like her. I also enjoyed Matt's pretending to be someone he wasn't. Data: Story length: 116 pages. Swearing language: moderate. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 2. Total number of sex scene pages: 8. Setting: current day New York City and the Adirondack mountains, NY. Copyright: 2009. Genre: contemporary Christmas romance. Other Books: To date, I've read one other book by Joy Nash. My 3 star review of "Celtic Fire," copyright 2005, was posted 10-29-09. 3 stars for HO, HUMBUG, HO by Kate Angell. Reviewer's Opinion: This is another story in the Richmond Rogues baseball team series, but there's not much about baseball or the team. It could be written about ANY famous person coming to a small town for a few days. It doesn't have to be a baseball star. So if you're a lover of the series and think you must read this because it's part of the series, don't. Instead, view this as a light Christmas story. As a stand alone story, it was interesting and ok. It was too short to fully develop a romantic relationship, but it was cute and nice. Story Brief: The Rogues just won the World Series, and Alex is driving to Miami to party, drink and sleep with a lot of women. He gets caught speeding in the small town of Holiday, Florida. The judge fines him and requires he do 40 hours of community service playing Santa Claus for the kids at the local mall. Holly is in charge of Santa activities, thus his boss. Alex and Holly are attracted to each other, but Holly refuses to act on it because she knows he will be leaving in a couple of days and will never see her again. She is a challenge to him. He accompanies her on a variety of Christmas activities doing nice things for others (while he is stuck in town). Data: Story length: 86 pages. Swearing language: moderate. Sexual language: mild. Number of s

"Ho, Humbug, Ho," by Kate Angell. In Holiday, Florida, Judge Hathaway sentenced Richmond Rogues baseball player Alex Boxer for speeding to perform forty hours community service as Santa at Wilmington Mall; the previous user of the costume recently died. Instead of celebrating the World Series win with his teammates in Miami he is stuck with kids drooling and wishing. Of course he wants to hit a walk off homer with local torturer Holly. "Naughty or Nice" by Sandra Hill. Jessica Jones is so desperate she enters the Piggly Jiggly Supermarket wearing a Santa suit and carrying a gun as she plans a "stick-out". The Christmas Curse continues when her scheme fails and she takes the Brad Pitt in a Santa suit look alike Luke Carter as her hostage. He knows he could escape with ease, but tags along only to fall in love with the fruitcake that he ends up protecting. "Christmas Unplugged" by Joy Nash. In New York, wannabe actress Emma catches her boyfriend tonguing another woman. To escape the city and her hurt, she persuades her sister, the "Minesweeper" expert to leave town on the vacation with her that she was supposed to take with cheating Todd. The siblings go to the Dutch Lodge in the Adirondacks. The sisters meet the owner's nephews with Emma and Jake, and Casey and Matt attracted respectively to one another These are three warm Christmas romances starring wonderful protagonists; although the Sandra Hill tale is a reprint from the 1996 anthology The Night Before Christmas. Harriet Klausner