Authors: Jennifer Probst, Emma Chase, Kristin Proby, Melody Anne and Kate Meader
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: October 28th, 2014
Format: eARC | Pages: 384
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Source: InkSlinger PR
★★★★ (4/5) Stars!
New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling indie authors Jennifer Probst, Emma Chase, Kristen Proby, Melody Anne, and debut author Kate Meader come together to write a sizzling romance anthology.
Outside it may be frosty, so turn the heat way up with these stories of desire!
Can a determined woman executive and a playboy billionaire survive being stranded together in a snowstorm? Jennifer Probst depicts an encounter almost too hot to handle...
Drew and Kate play an encore to Tangled in this sexy take on a "Christmas Carol" by Emma Chase. When a Christmas Eve argument condemns Drew to a troubled night, three dream women teach him that no gift could be more tantalizing than Kate...
With Kristen Proby, ski slopes are quite delightful. Grace Douglas is sure she'll never learn to ski, but instructor Jacob Baxter could teach her lessons of a different kind...
Can a southern California transplant survive Montana's deep snows? Melody Anne, author of the bestselling Andersons series, melts the icy drifts completely away with the heat between sexy Hawk Winchester and brand-new teacher Natalie Duncan...
What could be hotter than a firefighter? Kate Meader shows how, as Brett Farraday and heiress-turned-tattoo-artist Lucy Cochrane discover, nothing ignites holiday flames like rekindling a lost love...
I received a copy of this book from InkSlinger PR, for a blog tour, in exchange for an honest review. In no way did this sway either my review or my rating!
So this may be a bit long and I apologize. As it's an anthology with five separate authors I find it's only fair to give my thoughts for each story along with what I would have rated it if they were each their own books. The rating at the top of this post will then be an average of the five combined for the overall rating of the book as a whole. So let's get started shall we?
*****
Searching For You by Jennifer Probst ★★★★
Sometimes there's nothing better than reading a story where two people who appear to be enemies fall for each other. The fighting, the pushing of buttons that at same point come to a head and it explodes. Somebody gets thrown against a wall and is quite thoroughly kissed. Whew...did it suddenly get warm in here? *Pulls at collar* Ahem...anyway.
I feel like my only complaint was that for a lot of the story Riley really had a major stick up her behind and it was hard for me to relate to her. It's supposed to be part of her personality which I understand. It was just that I, personally, wasn't a big fan. It wasn't until Dylan started to loosen her up and she started to let go that I was able to get over all of it and care about her.
All in all though it was a fun and sizzling read!
About the author:
Jennifer Probst’s New York Times and USA Today bestselling novels, novellas, and ebooks include the acclaimed Marriage to a Billionaire series, as well as Searching for Someday and Searching for Perfect. She lives in upstate New York. Visit her at www.jenniferprobst.com.
It's A Wonderful Tangled Christmas Carol by Emma Chase ★★★★★
Holy crap have I missed Drew! I'm one of those horrible fangirls who read Tangled, fell head over heels for it and him, but has yet to move on and read past book one. I didn't even get through the first page of this one and his voice and charisma came pouring out and in turn I was already cracking up. I mean how perfect is it that Drew is in his own version of A Christmas Carol?! I expect no less but for him to have needed a little reminder that his family needs to come before work.
I swear it's rare to find a character as cocky and egotistical as Drew is and have me still loving every little bit of it. He's even smug about how adorable he had been when he goes back to the past and sees his 5 year old self. This story was all sorts of perfection. It was true to the Christmas Carol storyline yet with all the flare and humor of Drew Evans. Freaking loved it!
I will say though if you're like me and have only read the first book or not any of the Tangled series yet but plan on reading them at some point, wait to read this after. It takes place after Tied so even though I pretty much knew what to expect for the most part there is a possibility of finding out stuff you wanted to be surprised on.
About the author:
Emma Chase is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Tangles, Twisted, Tamed, and Tied. She lives in a small town in rural New Jersey with her husband and children. Follow Emma on Twitter and Facebook, or visit her at www.emmachase.net.
Saving Grace (A Love Under the Big Sky Novella) by Kristin Proby ★★★★★
I get the warm and fuzzies just thinking about this story. Big time. Which is pretty frickin' amazing seeing as how this one is a wee bit on the insta-love side. Okay, so they don't come right out and say "I love you" right away, but after a two day weekend and then three days apart, Jacob is pretty much ready to move her in and thinking about 'forever'. Normally something like this would have me irked beyond reason, but I just couldn't feel that way here. I loved every second of Grace and Jacob's story.
The thing is Jacob and Grace were hard not to love. Grace is so damn funny and, unlike her name, a complete klutz. She was so endearing. Then there's sexy, billionaire, ski resort owning, British (uh yum!) Jacob. He's so delicious and I loved seeing how smitten he becomes with Grace. Queue cheesy grin and sigh here...The chemistry with these two is so hot I'm surprised they didn't melt the snow off the mountain!
Sweet, sexy, winter fun. Totally in love with this one!
About the author:
Kristen Proby is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Loving Cara and Seducing Lauren, as well as the popular With Me in Seattle series. Kristen spends her days with her muse in the Pacific Northwest. Visit her at kristenproby.com.
Safe in His Arms by Melody Anne ★★★
Even though in the previous review I was praising the story that I felt was a bit insta-loveish, this one was just okay for me. Maybe it was because of the fact that things progressed a whole lot faster in this one. I'm not sure but I just wasn't feeling it as much. It was still enjoyable though with sweet school teacher Natalie and sexy fire chief Hawk. The sparks were there I think maybe for me this one would have been better as a full length novel.
The concept was great. I even love having meddlers trying to throw people together! I think that might have been my biggest issue though. I usually like the meddlers to be a bit more discreet. As the reader you can see what's going on and chuckle to yourself when you realize the couple being pushed cleverly together has no chance. The prologue and the epilogue though were both from this group of ladies, one of whom being the mom of one of the main characters Hawk, that make it their mission to make sure these boys in town who run from commitment are happily settled down. I mean it's cute and funny I just like it to be a bit more low key and less out in the open if that makes sense?
Still enjoyable though and a sweet holiday read.
About the author:
Melody Anne is the New York Times bestselling author of the indie published Billionaire Bachelors series, the Baby for the Billionaire series, and the Surrender series, and she has a new series coming soon from Pocket Books. She lives in the Pacific Northwest. Visit her at www.melodyanne.com.
Rekindle the Flame by Kate Meader ★★★
The storyline was good on this one, but it sort of fell a bit flat for me. I liked it, but I wasn't in love with it. So this will be the shortest mini review because I'm not sure what else to say. Mostly my problem was that I connected more to the secondary characters Beck's brothers. Which is the reason for my rating. They had me entertained and laughing and made it worth the read. If anything it introduced me to them and made me realize I will more than likely be getting the first book in the Hot in Chicago series by Kate Meader which is about one of the brothers named Luke. I wish I had more to say about this one. I love second chance romances but this one just wasn't for me.
About the author:
Kate Meader is the author of the sexy new series Hot in Chicago, coming soon from Pocket Books. When not writing she works in an academic library in Chicago. Visit her at www.katemeader.com.
*****
Purchase Links:
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