Scan barcode
A review by beckymmoe
Red Hot Holiday by Leah Braemel, Anne Calhoun, K.A. Mitchell, Angela James
4.0
An interesting collection, though not quite even.
"Wish List" by a new-to-me K.A. Mitchell overall was a good story--three, possibly three and a half stars. I liked the two main characters, Jonah and Evan, though for some reason it took me longer than usual to be able to keep them straight in my head. (Maybe because I usually read M/F stories, which require less conscious thought to remember who is whom? Am I that blonde? Probably.) Once I did, though, I enjoyed their story. The only part I had issues with was when Jonah very nearly went elsewhere to have his...needs...met. It seemed unnecessary and felt a bit thrown in there. I kind of hoped that in the end it would turn out that he had been talking to Evan and didn't realize it, but that wasn't the case. As that part was written, however, it just didn't seem to flow well with the rest of the tale. If more books by this author came my way, I wouldn't turn them down.
"Breath on Embers" by Anne Calhoun was WONDERFUL. On its own it would have earned five stars. Seriously, I don't know when a novella has affected me so much. It has to be, hands down, the best "widow" story I've yet to find out there. Thea's grief over losing her husband, her feelings about the Christmas holiday, her mental barriers and seeming inability to go on with her life--all of it was simply amazingly well done. Ronan's patience, understanding, and the gamble he takes to (yes!) finally get through to her was just...wow. Loved this story. I've already downloaded another of her short stories to read, and will definitely be on the lookout for more.
At the time of writing this, I've sat down multiple times to try and read "I Need You for Christmas" and it's just not working. I get that the characters have been apart for quite some time and that it's tough, and I know that these are supposed to be erotic reads, but this one is just too much for me. Almost everything I've read so far is Megan thinking to herself in graphic terms exactly how her body is responding to Ryan (mostly while they're in very public places and/or in the car--they're not even really doing anything more than kissing or a little bit of groping yet) and Ryan doing the same thing--with the added bonus of him remembering how her body has looked/felt/etc. in the past as well. Not doing it for me. I'm going to put it aside for now; maybe I'll be in a better frame of mind later.
Anne Calhoun's story, though, is worth the price of the book all on its own.
"Wish List" by a new-to-me K.A. Mitchell overall was a good story--three, possibly three and a half stars. I liked the two main characters, Jonah and Evan, though for some reason it took me longer than usual to be able to keep them straight in my head. (Maybe because I usually read M/F stories, which require less conscious thought to remember who is whom? Am I that blonde?
"Breath on Embers" by Anne Calhoun was WONDERFUL. On its own it would have earned five stars. Seriously, I don't know when a novella has affected me so much. It has to be, hands down, the best "widow" story I've yet to find out there. Thea's grief over losing her husband, her feelings about the Christmas holiday, her mental barriers and seeming inability to go on with her life--all of it was simply amazingly well done. Ronan's patience, understanding, and the gamble he takes to (yes!) finally get through to her was just...wow. Loved this story. I've already downloaded another of her short stories to read, and will definitely be on the lookout for more.
At the time of writing this, I've sat down multiple times to try and read "I Need You for Christmas" and it's just not working. I get that the characters have been apart for quite some time and that it's tough, and I know that these are supposed to be erotic reads, but this one is just too much for me. Almost everything I've read so far is Megan thinking to herself in graphic terms exactly how her body is responding to Ryan (mostly while they're in very public places and/or in the car--they're not even really doing anything more than kissing or a little bit of groping yet) and Ryan doing the same thing--with the added bonus of him remembering how her body has looked/felt/etc. in the past as well. Not doing it for me. I'm going to put it aside for now; maybe I'll be in a better frame of mind later.
Anne Calhoun's story, though, is worth the price of the book all on its own.