What Happens Under the Mistletoe -- Anthology

<i>The Heiress and the Hothead</i>by Sabrina Jeffries
Whoa. I mean, whoa. Never has danger boner been so egregious. And yet, still -- this was a solid three and a half star story. Alexandra Keane, Jeremy's sister and a mill owner, is shocked when an unknown man kisses her at her brother's Christmas house party. Even more so when she discovers that he is Lord Stephen Corry (younger brother of sequel bait Warren and, I can only assume, Warren's ward, Clarissa) who is a reformer who writes exposes on various... English mills. So she's immediately suspicious about his motives. But they find out that they might have more in common than they think and that might include love.
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>> <i>Twelve Kisses to Midnight</i> by Karen Hawkins
>> Marcus is not happy to see his former fiancée standing at the Christmas house party he's attending. Kenna left him a month before their wedding then married a man nineteen years her senior. It's been ten years but he's having a hard time remembering that.
>> And, of course, they've both changed. Luckily, an unexpected snowstorm gives them time to explore those changes.
>> I definitely liked this, warts and all. 4 stars.
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>> <i>By Any Other Name</i> by Candace Camp
>> Rylla is worried about her brother. He's been missing for weeks and she just wants him home for Christmas. So she does what any good romance heroine would do and dresses like a man and heads to a gambling establishment to find him. Luckily, when she is robbed on the way out, she is rescued by Mr. Gregory Rose who not only promises to help her brother, he falls in love.
>> Cute. A bit whirlwind but enough for 3 1/2 stars.
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>> <i>Sweetest Regret</i> by Meredith Duran
>> Two years ago, Lucas Godwin started to court Georgie but then abruptly left Munich. She has never forgotten that. But now a diplomatic mission to find a lost letter gives them a second chance at love.
>> A little trite maybe, but a cute story. 4 stars.
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Say You'll Love Me by Ally Broadfield

I assumed this was the author's first book because it seems somewhat unpolished (according to Goodreads, it looks like it's her third). Of course, I did read an ARC so maybe some of the jerky story telling will be smoothed out in the final product.
Lady Abigail Hurst is delighted to be engaged to her childhood friend. At least until her engagement ball (when the book opens) and she sees her fiance trying to seduce one of his sister's maids. She's heartbroken. Even more so when the made later turns up dead and her fiance is the main suspect.
There was a LOT going on in this story and some parts of the story seemed like they were just stuck in to various pages. What with Abigail deciding that she's going to investigate the murder and then falling in love with her best friend's brother (a relationship that never felt developed) etc., etc.
Overall, an okay book with bones that make me think that this author might produce some great stories soon.

Comes out 

Hot Holiday Nights by Jaci Burton

Holy menage, Batman! Warn a woman, NetGalley! This book suffered for me because this is NOT one of my favorite romance tropes. I generally like Burton's writing, even if it does get a little more explicit than I like. For the rating, this is my personal opinion. Do I think that regular Burton readers will enjoy the story? Probably. Do I like that Victoria was the leader in initiating this triad? I gave it a whole extra star because of that. I liked that she was confident in herself and her men.
When Victoria Baldwin finally takes a vacation, little does she suspect that she'll be falling in love. And falling in love.

Santa Claus Man by Alex Palmer

Generally, I try to avoid biographies written by family members who aren't children. People tend to be glamorized. And while that did happen in this book, it was still a well-written book. And an entertaining read about an interesting con man.

Snoopy: Contact! by Charles M. Schulz

Snoopy rides again! Mainly stories connected to the Red Baron, this is a fantastic look at the work of Charles M. Schulz. And so many of the stories still work today. Simple, awesome. Definitely worth a read.

Will come out next week, October 20.

Mrs. Roosevelt's Confidante by Susan Elia MacNeal

Regular Maggie Hope readers will love this book. I think beginners to the series will be able to fall in pretty easily be able to fall in as well.
Pearl Harbor has been bombed and Maggie's joining Prime Minister Churchill in his trip to help American and Britain become firm allies.
She's relieved to be back in America (partly because austerity measures are not yet in place). She's also excited to rekindle her romance with John... but fate steps in. It seems that Mrs. Roosevelt's secretary has committed suicide. But we readers know that something else entirely has occurred. It seems the secretary was caught up in a scheme to discredit the president's wife (and thus, the president). But was she killed in order to further the scheme or prevent it? It seems that Maggie's skills in protection and detection will come in handy here. She'll also lend her help to defending a black man put on trial (lots of period-consistent but terribly un-PC language used herein) for killing a white man.
A lot of character development in this book. I think some people may be disappointed by some of the movement but I am actually enjoying watching Maggie grow as a person and can't wait to read the next book.

A Winter Wedding by Brenda Novak

Oof. I'm so glad I got to read this book. The last two in the series were hard reads (because Brenda Novak tends to write outside the lines of your stereotypical romance stories, maybe not quite real life but definitely some harder emotions than a lot of romance novels) and this one was no less hard but maybe just a little less on the unending "feels" which made for a nice change-up in the Whiskey Creek series.
In this book, Kyle Houseman finally gets his HEA. And it's not with the quiet homebody that he always thought he wanted. Instead, his life is invaded by Lourdes Bennett, a country star whose star is somewhat on the wane.
Neither actually wants to get involved with the other. For one thing, Lourdes is engaged to the man (her manager) she's been dating for three years. Even if he has been distant lately and more concerned about an up-and-comer than Lourdes.
And Kyle isn't interested in someone who's almost a decade younger than he is. Especially someone who certainly isn't going to want to live in Whiskey Creek, a place he can't imagine leaving. Besides, he only seems to attract crazy women (e.g. ex-wife, Noelle who can't seem to leave him be) and is still in love with his step-brother's wife, Olivia (even more complicated, she's Noelle's sister).
Like a lot of the books in this series, there is a lot of build-up to what seems to be a fairly fast ending which can be a bit disconcerting. But I'm really glad I've stuck with the series because it's one that doesn't fall into the stereotypical romance lines (which, by the way are most of my favorite books). I really, really hope that we're going to get a Baxter story. There aren't really any other friends in their group left and I'd hate to see him be left out.

Followed by Discovering You