Review: How the Dukes Stole Christmas

How the Dukes Stole Christmas by Tessa Dare
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Overall, it was a 3.5 but I rounded up.

My favorite of the stories was "Meet Me in Mayfair" by Tessa Dare
Louisa and James' story was sweet and perfect. I so enjoyed their romp through Mayfair. Their quick romance was believable and perfect.

My least favorite of the stories was "The Duke of Christmas Present" by Sarah MacLean
Eben and Jacqueline - Oh, how I dislike Jack. I don't like when boundaries aren't respected. When he asked her (and eventually everyone else) to leave and his requests were completely ignored, that irked me. They were best friends as children, grew up and fell in love, then when he started focusing on rebuilding a dukedom destroyed by his father, she left him. Her choice. Years later, she regrets leaving and comes back but makes him out as the bad guy for the years of sadness they both experienced. I didn't feel it.

"Heiress Alone" by Sophie Jordan
Annis and Calder - I love a good left behind story and this is a good one! Her family forgets her, leaves her behind in a Scottish castle (Yes, please!), Calder, the not so friendly neighbor, saves her from the threat of bandits. Their romance is quick but believable and very hot!

"Christmas in Central Park" by Joanna Shupe
Rose and Duke - This one was a miss for me. The "love" just didn't feel believable and the sex scene when he thought she was married was odd.

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Review: White Tiger

White Tiger by Jennifer Ashley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The first review of the new year! I've been wanting to read White Tiger for some time, luckily, my secret Santa gave me this book for Christmas. This is the story of Kendrick and Addison - He's a displaced shifter leader and she's a small town waitress. I'm gonna be honest, I wasn't over the moon with this one. I love the advancement of the series, it's always a pleasure to visit with Dylan, Tiger, and the other shifters, but I didn't feel the connection between Kendrick and Addie. Their romance was kinda blah for me. Zander plays a big part in this story and I am interested in reading his story. Also looking forward to seeing more of Ben in the future.

Overall, I would recommend this book and feel it's a nice progression of the Shifter Unbound series.

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Review: Reindeer Games: A Holiday Romance Anthology

Reindeer Games: A Holiday Romance Anthology by Adriana Anders
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Let me preface this review by saying that I didn't read the synopsis or any reviews before purchasing / reading this Anthology.

This anthology starts with sweet romance and ends with naughty erotica. The Two star review was an average of all the stories.

SAVED BY THE MOUNTAIN MAN by Adriana Anders is 5 stars and is worth wading through the others to get to the good stuff. It is EVERYTHING a romance should be!

HIS FOR THE HOLIDAY by HelenKay Dimon (3 stars)
Jonah Stark’s crush on Cameron Meade - Sweet romance, not lots of chemistry, kept my attention, many typos - needed to be edited better

DYSFUNCTIONAL by Eve Dangerfield (2 stars)
Country club waitress Jessica and handsome customer Austin. - Not very realistic, barely kept my attention, many typos - needed to be edited better.

SAVED BY THE MOUNTAIN MAN by Adriana Anders (5 stars)
Micah and Christa - OH MY GOD THIS WAS SO GOOD! Worth far more than I paid for it. Best story in the anthology. Super sweet, great romance, everyone needs a mountain man!

SNOW ANGEL by Tamara Lush (1 star)
Charlotte King & Oliver Menendez - New Adult - Couldn't read; DNF

GRIEVANCES AND GLITTER by Kelly Maher (3 stars)
A rock star and an attorney - Good read, nothing amazing but a decent romance.

HAVE YOURSELF A BILLIONAIRE FOR CHRISTMAS by Tracey Livesay (2 stars)
It was alright - Must not have been that great because I keep forgetting what this story is about.

ALL THEY WANT FOR CHRISTMAS by Andie J. Christopher (2 stars)
Not my Yum but probably somebody's. This is when it was like someone turned the channel to porn. Threesome, two guys and a girl, the "love" part of it wasn't that believable and the characters weren't that likable.

STUCK by Ainsley Booth (2 stars)
Hazel and Sam - This story started great but went sideways pretty fast. They knew each other in college, met back up 10 years later by chance on a train. The actual love story was good, but things get hot too quickly, she likes role play and for him to take control, he was fascinated with the marks he could leave on her body - Again not my yum but probably somebody's.

WAITING IN VAIN by Charlotte Stein (1 star)
Nancy and Mike - DNF, Couldn't get past the first few pages, it starts with him putting his hands up her skirt at Christmas dinner with his family. I didn't feel she gave consent, he took without asking and that's not cool with me. It was really awkward. I skimmed it but never saw "romance" just sex.

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Review: The Wall of Winnipeg and Me

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is completely "Ok". It had the potential to be Great or at least good, but was really just a whole lot of meh.

Story Recap: Vanessa was Aiden's personal assistant for 2 years, book starts with her getting up the nerve to quit. She is wanting to focus on her career. He plays professional football and is on a visa from Canada. He wants to become an American citizen and the best way he's figured to do that is to marry an American. He decides Vanessa is the best for the job. They marry, eventually (as in months and months and months of living together) they fall in love, HEA happens.

Here's the problem: He's rich, richer than rich, has super expensive immigration attorney, surely he could have become a citizen without a fake marriage. That's very confusing to me.

Also He's an asshole. and mostly mute, 90% of what we know he's thinking is from his eyebrows and/or tightening of muscles that only Vanessa can notice. He has a roommate, Zac, whom for the longest time I thought was actually who Vanessa ends up with because they are best friends and we hear more from Zac than we ever hear from Aiden.

Also, if you're into troubled, broken, pasts this story is for you cause they both come from f'd up childhoods.

Slow burn doesn't begin to describe how very long it takes them to get together. They don't have sex until the bitter end. Way too long, like miles and miles too long. This should have been a quick jog around the block and ended up being a full on marathon.

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Review: Rake to Riches

Rake to Riches by Nicola Davidson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

George and Louisa from frenemies to lovers. She's a heiress chemist, he's her best friend's twin. There was lots of potential, but this story just fell flat to me. I didn't care about the characters even though they had a bad life. I just never felt the connection between them. If I can walk away from a story for days and not worry about the characters or wanting to finish, then it's not the book for me.

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Review: To Love a Hellion

To Love a Hellion by Nicola Davidson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Frenemies to Lovers - She is his best friend's twin so he's known her forever. Thinks of her as a Hellion. She's been in love with him forever. There were some great parts, but also some times it felt stagnant and like I would never get through. The sub plot of the secret society his brother was part of was a bit strange and you can figure it out rather quickly. Stephen can be a bit of a prick when it comes to the women in his life. Caroline throws things, that seems to be humorous to all but I'm not enamored by anyone who loses that much control - like Stephen and the salt. Most language comes across as modern.

All in All it was a good book, I'd recommend it. I will definitely read more of the series.

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Review: The Soldier's Scoundrel

The Soldier's Scoundrel by Cat Sebastian
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oliver and Jack! The Gentleman and the Scoundrel. Love them together. Their relationship develops perfectly and with just enough angst to make it interesting. I would definitely recommend this book.

FYI - I did it backwards, I read Georgie's story first then this one but it didn't have any affect on the enjoyment of either book.

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