A Christmas to Remember

Includes  Lucky Harbor #8.5

By Hope Ramsay, Molly Cannon, Marilyn Pappano, Kristen Ashley, and Jill Shalvis

ISBN# 9781455547760

Author’s Website: http://jillshalvis.com ; http://www.kristenashley.net ; http://www.hoperamsay.com ; http://www.mollycannon.com ; http://www.marilyn-pappano.com/index.html

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra

Synopsis:

Jill Shalvis, Dream a Little Dream: Melissa has kept every man at a safe distance-especially firefighter Ian, a sexy friend with sexy benefits. But Ian secretly longs for more. Luckily, ’tis the season for giving love a chance . . .

Kristen Ashley, Every Year: Holidays don’t come easy for Shy and his brother, Landon. But with the magic of Christmas, along with a little help from Tabby and her family, the Cage brothers are about to get the gift of a lifetime . . .

Hope Ramsay, Silent Night: Down on her luck and evicted from her apartment, single mother Maryanne hopes to start over in Last Chance. When the snow begins to fall, it looks like her baby might literally spend Christmas Eve in a manger. And Maryanne might celebrate the holiday with a handsome stranger.

Molly Cannon, Have Yourself a Messy Little Christmas: Lincoln is a bachelor who’s set in his ways-until a professional organizer dressed up as Mrs. Claus changes his life, one tip at a time. . .

Marilyn Pappano, A Family for Christmas: War widow Ilena doesn’t mind spending Christmas alone. But when a new doctor blows into town with the winter wind, will she get her secret Christmas wish?

Review:

 

Dream a Little Dream:

Ian literally rescue’s Melissa from her burning building just in the nick of time.  They have a past, but Melissa tends to run away from relationships when they get to serious.  And that was unfortunate for Ian as is at Melissa’s sub-par apartment building.  After the heroic rescue of Melissa by Ian, while Melissa is still unconscious, but recuperating Ian is telling a story of how he would like their life to be, what he had dreamed it would be.   When Melissa is out of the hospital she comes to her senses and puts a plan in motion to win back Ian.  I love the effort that Melissa puts forth to re-claim her man……once and for all.  And Molly is so cute!

A fast, romantic, endearing read….sure to be a favorite of Jill Shalvis fans. I know I thoroughly enjoyed the read.

 

Every Year:

One thing a bit annoying….all the nicknames…”Tyra’s husband, Kane “Tack” Allen, my man, Parker “Shy” Cage, my brother, Cole “Rush” Allen.    Frankly, I did not find this short story very enjoyable…I will leave my review as is…not much content, like the story.

 

Silent Night:

Maryanne is a single mother to a 3 month old baby named Joshua who is just trying to do right by her baby.  She has idealized her one summer in Last Chance and is heading to Cousin Jennifer’s as a result of being unemployed and now homeless.  She runs out of gas approximately two miles short of her destination.  She wraps up the baby and begins to walk.  As the weather deteriorates, she seeks shelter in a barn, believing she has made it to her destination.    Little did Maryanne know that she ended up at the property of Daniel Jessup.  When Daniel comes back to his familial home after a quick shopping excursion (he is here to clean out the home and prepare it for sale following the death of his parents) he is surprised to find Maryanne and Joshua holed up in the barn, seeking shelter.

I really enjoyed the slow growth of the relationship between Maryanne and Daniel (well – as slow as it can be given this is a short story).  An entertaining and engaging story.

 

Have Yourself a Messy Little Christmas:

Lincoln is your classic bachelor with the attitude that he can do everything himself.  His mother sent a professional organizer to his home as an early Christmas present, to ready the home for his mother and father’s return for the holidays.  In walks Dinah, the professional organizer dressed as a Christmas elf.  And humpf goes Lincoln.  You just know there will be sparks.  And the story does not disappoint.  The slow “ish” progression from hired organizer to two people interacting in a steamy way was well told and kept my interest throughout.

This is the first writing of this author I have read but I will search out more of her stories!

 

A Family for Christmas:  

Jared, a pediatrician who just moved to Tallgrass, a small town in Oklahoma has volunteered to work for a local charity Prairie Elf Foundation.  It is here that he meets for the first time Ilena Gomez, a diminutive woman dressed as an elf.   Ilena is a single parent (a war widow) and very passionate about the Prairie Elf Foundation.  While Ilena is not Jared’s typical type, he does indeed invite her for a beverage after their first meeting.  A few days later, Ilena runs into Jared at the local Walmart.  Jared is looking for a Christmas tree and decorations for his doctor’s office.  With Ilena’s assistance, both in transporting the tree and with decorating the tree, their relationship blossoms. I got the sense that Jared’s upbringing in a wealthy, upstate New York family was anything but warm and fuzzy.  And that is exactly what Ilena brings to their budding relationship.  The scene where Jared feeds baby John is quite moving.

This story definitely pulls at the heartstrings more than any other in this book.  All in all, an enjoyable love story.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*