Holiday Romance Round Up
So we all know my genres of choice are Fantasy, with a side of romance and romance ,with a side of fantasy. Add in the occasional historical romance, and that's pretty much my entire reading history.
I decided however I needed a healthy dose of Holiday Love to warm me up, though. True to form, I read some Christmas Historical Romances and even a Fantasy. But let's face it most of the Christmas romances are contemporary. Anyway, here are my reviews of all the holiday romances I read.
Once Upon a Twelfth Night regency romance novella collection.
I am so excited about this one. I have only read the first two stories so far, but I am loving it. The premise is a group of nobility in the regency era are all at the same twelfth night house party at a country estate. Different romances occur in each story written by different authors but they all intertwine. I haven't read a lot of collections and I was worried that each story would feel rushed. So I far, however, I have been pleasantly surprised with the amount of detail and tension between the characters. It's fun how the stories all stand alone, and have slightly different feelings because they are written by different authors, but they all intertwine.
Eight Nights to Win her Heart by Roni Denholz
I wanted to love this book. I haven't had the opportunity to read a lot of Chanukah romances. I had a very hard time getting into it though. The characters were very one dimensional and it was very repetitive. The premise was a woman wanted to break up with her boyfriend because he wouldn't commit. He asked her for the eight nights of Chanukah to prove he was worth staying with. This sounds really sweet but it was very repetitive. Rather than some new exciting way to prove his love over the eight nights. Every night was practically the same. He bought her a gift. Told her he loved her. Ate dinner with her and sometimes they did some small other thing. They introduced a potential new love interest for her on one of the first nights, and then it never mattered again. We were constantly reminded why she wanted to break up and why he didn't think he should but nothing ever changed. The author told us many times how great their chemistry was, but I didn't feel it. Anyway, I would give this book 2.5 out of 5 stars.
Christmas Sparks by Ginny Frost.
The main reason I picked this one up is because Ginny is a local author for me. She is in my local NaNoWriMo group. I am so glad I did, though. The premise, atnewly single mom's house catches on fire. The fire inspector who is working on the job also happens to be related to the company who who redid her livingroom, and it looks like they may be at fault. Can you say conflict of interest. It gets even worse when he and the mom feel a strong attraction to each other. This was a great little contemporary romance that hit all the right beats for me. Definitely made up for the disappointment of Eight Nights. I would have liked a bit more heat, but for a short and sweet novella too much sex probably would have been overkill. Bonus, the references to towns near me made it fun. I will definitely be picking up the sequel soon to read about the brother of the male MC.
Waiting for a miracle by Jennifer Wilck:
Time for another Chanukah romance. I haven't finished this one, but I'm already liking it much more. The main character is a teacher who knows she can not have kids of her own. Her crazy neighbor tries to set her up with her son on Chanukah, only it turns out he is also the father of one of her favorite students. Awkward. Or a recipe for a perfect little blended family. I haven't gotten far enough in yet to say how I feel about it, but the characters are already more likeable than in 8 nights.
Upcoming reads:
Here is what else is on my TBR for Holiday reads. Not sure how many I will get through before the holidays are over, but I'm gonna keep trying.
A Witch for Mr Holiday by Deanna Chase is about a quirky little town, Christmas Grove full of witches and holiday spirit. It's an accidental love spell sort of story. And it looks super cute. Plus there's two sequels!
A Mate for the Christmas Dragon by Zoe Chant is about a dragon shifter who needs to find a mate by his birthday or he will lose his ability to shift. His birthday also happens to be on Christmas.
The Duke Before Christmas by Bianca Blythe is another regency romance. "She accidentally proposed to a duke. And he accepted" enough said. A classic regency romance. Only it takes place at Christmas!
What are some of your favorite Holiday romances?