Christmas with a Billionaire: Anthology

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I really need to stop reading books with "Billionaire" in the title. I know these stories aren't my cup of tea but every once in awhile, I try to read them again. Alpha males, helpless females (who are supposedly super-capable but we don't actually see that in the stories), hot sex. Basically, if you like the more old-skewl-romances, you'll enjoy this book (Skip my review and read his review tfrom Veena at "The Good, The Bad, and The Unread." She gave it an overall "B"). But if you're not a fan, skip this one.
Billionaire under the Mistletoe by Carole Mortimer
I know that I'm under no obligation to read and review the books I get as ARCs, but I DNF very few books (my one-star Goodreads reviews), and somehow having gotten the books this way gives me a little extra impetus. Plus, in an anthology, there's always the chance that one of the stories might be to my liking.
It wasn't this one.
Sophie overhears her cousin Sally's boss ordering Christmas. She decides that, since Sally and her parents aren't going to be in town and she has nothing better to do, she might as well get the money that Max Hamilton is offering up. Besides, she's smarter than Sally's last friend. Sophie's not going to fall in love with Max.
Except that, as soon as he shows any interest, she falls into his arms and offers no resistance when he starts ordering her around. Blergh.

Snowed in with her boss by Maisey Yates
Amelia has just found out that her long-time boyfriend isn't really going to be making their marriage a done-thing. Now that she's more or less single, and snowed in with her boss, she's ready to mingle. With her boss. Yep. A man she knows has a bad past but she jumps into bed and into love. Luckily for her, this is a romance novel.

A Diamond for Christmas by Joss Wood
Another boss/employee relationship. But -- not a direct boss and between two people who have a relationship that pre-dates their work relationship. Riley is also James' sister's best friend. So they have a past history that really makes this book more interesting. Best of the three stories. Bumped the entire book up a star.

Heart of Christmas by Brenda Novak

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Eve isn’t the kind of woman to wake up next to a stranger, and yet, on the morning of her 35th birthday, she does just that. It’s embarrassing enough but she has the complicating factors of Noelle Arnold (vindictive gossip) dropping them off at her house and the man staying at her B&B. Rex isn’t in a place to create relationships. He really just wanted a night to forget about his problems. But Whiskey Creek seems like a place that he can not only hide out from his own problems, but also protect Scarlet Jones, a photographer with a stalker. I liked Eve. She was aware of the fact that her parents might hear about her escapade, and rather than create some kooky plan to prevent them ever hearing it, she ‘fesses up immediately. Rex... was a little more mysterious and hard to nail down. He was a nice enough guy "with a past" One minor comment. I liked the name Brent. I wish that had been his real name and Rex the alias. It makes more sense in my head. But I did have some larger issues

I like Novak's books so much better when everything isn't SUCH A BIG DEAL. And how many times could she point out that Cheyenne's baby was her husband's brother but she wasn't going to tell and only four people knew? Good freaking lord. Maybe that will change before the book goes into print. I certainly hope so. And what was up with the Scarlet Jones subplot? Was it there to get Rex back to his house? It made no sense for this long build up and then nothing actually happens.

Maybe this Christmas by Sarah Morgan

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If you are looking for a story with a slow build, this will certainly satisfy your urges. If you aren't, this could be something of a slog.
I was very much looking forward to Brenna and Tyler's story. They have been minor characters in the last two books and everyone has commented on Brenna's love for Tyler. One that he doesn't seem to reciprocate.
They are both good people. Tyler was sliding toward not being a very good person but, one bad turn on the ski hill, and the champion skier became a "former." He can still ski, and still do hard hills, but he isn't up to championships.
Brenna has always loved Tyler. And not in a "friend" way. But she doesn't want to push any harder, afraid that she'd lose even that tenuous connect.
But everyone else is tired of seeing both Tyler and Brenna unhappy. They all think that the two are perfect for each other. So... some machinations ensue. For as many people that are pushing these two, it is a long, slow story where the tension is dragged out for far too long. Great character development and nice to see the characters again.

Previous Books in the Series: Sleigh Bells in the Snow, Suddenly Last Summer

One in a Million by Jill Shalvis

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While the last few books in the Lucky Harbor series haven't exactly tripped my trigger (they were okay, but not my favorite Shalvis books), this book finally got back to the things I love about this author, her character development and their witty banter. I could have used less shoehorning of characters from early in the series (Shalvis has remarkably avoided this in the past) but overall, I really did like this book.
 Callie Sharpe is back in the town where she grew up. Though the proprietor of a very popular wedding site as well as being a wedding planner, Callie doesn't believe in true love. Not since her first crush left her at the altar on the day of their wedding. Now she's checking up on her grandmother (town gossip and social media maven, Lucille) and starting to develop some majorly grown-up feelings about her high school crush.
For his part, Tanner Riggs is not in a good place for love either. His fifteen-year-old son, one conceived in a heated night of high school sex, is back in town. And, not only does he have the regular teenage mulishness, he has his dad's bad attitude. I absolutely adored the morning meetings that Callie and Tanner were having. Doughnuts and coffee while Callie is professionally dressed for Skype conferences and in comfort clothes from the waist down? Majorly cute.

Boy, was I getting ticked toward the end of this book. Callie, who protested throughout the book that she didn't believe in love was ticked off that Tanner didn't introduce her as his girlfriend. When Lucille pointed out this hypocrisy (and Callie admitted it), I could have cheered. An absolutely awesome way of dealing with a trope that needs to Go The Fuck Away.

Change of Heart by Jude Deveraux

The best thing I can say about "Change of Heart" is that, between this book and "For All Time," I'm finally ready to give up Deveraux as a Must-Read. I will probably never be able to give her up fully (Sweet Liar alone keeps my hopes up) but the last few two and a half miler books have gotten rounded up to three stars based on sentiment alone.
I actually squeed and did a happy dance when I realized that Eli and Chelsea were getting a story. Children from an earlier Deveraux short story, the two drifted apart but are now ready to find each other and their own HEA.

Wow. Just. wow. I kept reading to see if Chelsea would really put up with all of Eli's shit. I was so hoping that she'd just pop him one. I mean, Eli heads straight past Alpha and sails into Asshole. He sees Chelsea in a picture, decides she's not happy and that he's going to fix her life. She's too skinny, so he changes her restaurant order. She hates camping so he takes her into the woods (and then gets pissed off when she complains). He pours the guilt on her for their childhood friendship ending and her never noticing him as a male, when he never stepped up to show her how much he loved her. And then tells his teenage doppelganger Scully that he knows she would have just laughed at him. And she puts up with all of this shit. I wasn't too impressed with Chelsea either. She complains that no one ever expected anything of her because she was so pretty. This is after Deveraux has clearly shown that her parents did expect more of her and then goes on to explain that Chelsea wasn't even the prettiest of her sisters. Pilar- she doesn't want to work with Eli and doesn't really like him but then they're portrayed to be friends. She helps out disconnecting lights and stealing papers but then tells Chelsea that she's never given any responsibility. And what school in this day and age would let unknown adults attend prom? I just... I can't even... My level of suspended disbelief was so beyond stretched at that point that I... argh.

A Pretty Mess by Carla Caruso

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This was on the low end for a three-mile book for me. I can't quite remember what was annoying to me about this story since most of the parts I can remember were things I would have liked (thus the three stars) but the main character was irritating to me. She was a stereotypical "klutzy mess" but was supposed to be a big-time organizer? Eh. Celeste Pretty has just opened her new business, "Professional Organizer on Pink," the initials of which she only just realized. And her first huge client is a fitness professional, Natalia Samphire. But Natalia's life is not all the peaches and cream it seems to be. In fact, Celeste finds blackmail notes that threaten to unveil the truth of Natalia's past.

And the ending... should have been triumphant and climactic with Natalia outing herself, but it felt sort of felt flat. I also wasn't feeling the romance. Was this book a mystery with romantic elements? Or a romance with some cozy mystery added? I guess it doesn't really matter but both aspects suffered from trying to be in equal parts.

Definitely the ending is sequel bait. Secondary characters were pretty good, though.

Once Upon a Christmas Kiss by Manda Collins

I didn't realize this was a novella when I requested it from NetGalley. I keep thinking that I'll like Manda Collins but her stories have never really gotten above "Meh" for me. Until this one. I really liked this story. I was grateful that Sir Lucien Blakewell and Miss Winifred Nightingale were given a really complete back story. I got about 60 pages into it and was thinking about how most short stories weren't so thorough about establishing a prior relationship, and only then noticed this was only 126 pages. So anyway, Sir Lucien has gotten to know Winifred since she is the governess at his friend's house. The differences in their positions has been a little awkward, so when she's a guest at his other friend's Christmas house party, he's excited that they are closer to being equals. Winifred, on the other hand, isn't so sure. Her parent's marriage was one where they came from different classes and it ended badly. But when threats start popping up, she's grateful to Lucien for his help. And their relationship has a chance to grow. This book came out on the 14th. Enjoy!