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Forbidden! #12
Christmas With A Stranger
FORBIDDEN!
Her Christmas fantasy!
As an unexpected guest at Morgan Kincaid's palatial home, Jessica planned to turn his Christmas into the best ever. She'd always dreamed of how special this time of year could be, and here at the Kincaid mansion she could indulge herself to the full - with a proper tree, decorations and festive food...and Morgan, the most attractive man she'd ever known.
A firecracker in the hearth, there was mulled wine and it was Christmas Eve, a time for magic and fantasies. Morgan was all hers for tonight - and Jessica was determined that by Christmas Day they would no longer be strangers...
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 12, 1997
3 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Catherine Spencer
282 books60 followers In the past, Catherine Spencer has been an English teacher which was the springboard for her writing career. Heathcliff, Rochester, Romeo and Rhett were all responsible for her love of brooding heroes! Catherine has had the lucky honour of being a Romance Writers of America RITA finalist and has been a guest speaker at both international and local conferences and was the only Canadian chosen to appear on the television special, Harlequin goes Prime Time.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 18, 2019
Re Christmas With a Stranger - Catherine Spencer gets the last book of the
Forbidden! Series and we are going on an emergency road trip.
We get a little prologue with this one, an unidentified male has just escaped prison and is looking for another man to pay him a visit. It doesn't seem like the escapee is too happy with the man he is looking for, but there are only hints as to why and the hints of what the anonymous male is planning are fraught with overtones of doom.
When this story starts, the Prim and Proper Headmistress h, in True HP Grand Tradition of Martyred Heroines Everywhere, is dashing through the snowstorm laden Canadian mountains.
Her pretty, popular and oh so charming sister has sent out an SOS. The sister was playing ski bunny and managed to end up in hospital. Since the h had only a lonely Christmas with a small tree to look forward to, when the sister demanded that the h drop everything and come cater to her, the h was quick to jump.
But the mountain roads are treacherous, the snow is dumping down alarmingly fast and there is a madman in a big four wheel drive jeep behind honking like the world is ending. The h is nervous and there is nowhere to get off the road and let the madman pass.
The h spies an avalanche shed up ahead and relievedly pulls over, only to hear a huge rumble and see a large white mass cover the other end of the shed. Then there is an angry man outside her car door. He seems to be taking exception to her driving.
(Tho I must point out that honking like a madperson in a snowtrapped area is probably not one of the smartest things to do. I live in a desert where it hasn't snowed for fifty years and even I know that loud sounds in mountain passes can cause a big mess.)
Anyhows, the man is furious at the h for some reason and then he irately informs her that there will be no continuation of her journey. The h primly responds to the angry male's attitude with a chilling politeness, until she realizes that she will have to spend the night in her car and she has no bad weather supplies.
In the onslaught of the whining sister demands for the h's immediate attendance, the h forgot to check the weather and forgot that mountains can be deadly in winter. So the angry male reluctantly hauls the h into his nice and cozy jeep and tucks them both into his sleeping bag for a endless night of waiting for the snow plow to come.
Finally the snowplows make it through at dawn, but the h did not put antifreeze in her car and now she is stuck. With a huge sigh and a muttering about woman drivers, the angry male takes the h to his remote ranch.
The h believes the H is a rancher who was running into town on business and she tries very hard to be grateful for the ranch house's shelter when she finds out it will just be the H and his elderly ranch manager for the duration of her stay.
Not that the h is planning on staying that long really. She only needs her car fixed and the H told her that would take a day or so. But the weather is worsening and the car repairs are very slow. The h and H can't help but notice each other as the temperature steadily drops.
Even tho the h reminds the H of his Ice Princess Miss Manners first wife, who dumped him because of his obsession with his career, (hint: he isn't a rancher,) the H is a wee bit attracted. The h is very attracted back too.
Even tho the H reminds her of her one and only love affair with an older professor when she was a student, who broke her heart when he revealed that he was married and only chased her to ruin her unicorn grooming status.
So neither the H nor the h have had much luck with the opposite gender. But as the days wear on and the snow worsens, the h and H can't resist their treacherous body syndrome - since they have no other personal commitments, they finally embark on a night of love after a few days of slow burn simmer lurve force mojo while decorating for Christmas, cooking meals and moving cows around.
Then the weather breaks and the h's car is fixed and the H announces that the h is to be on her way. The h is hurt by the abrupt dismissal, but the H is adamant he has nothing more to give and the h needs to be hitting the highway.
Unbeknownst to the h, but not to us, the H and the h's elderly ranch manager, the escaped prisoner guy is a brutal murderer the H prosecuted and put away for a long time. The H is actually a federal prosecutor for Canada and is probably going to be appointed as a judge. His career has been composed of going after very violent criminals and prosecuting them for heinous crimes.
His wife divorced him because of his obsession with his cases and also because the H gets a lot of death threats from some very scary people. The H got several threats from the escapee guy and he knows that the man is on his way to the ranch and he wants the h to be safely away before that can happen.
He neglects to inform the h of this of course, until she admits how much she cares for him and wants to continue and the H explains his career and about the threats. The h begrudgingly goes to retrieve her car and tho the helpful waitress at the diner by the car garage draws her a map to help her get back to the h's ranch, it looks like the h is just going to go on her way.
But the h really loves the H and she believes that he cares for her back, so after talking to some creepy people in the diner and losing her map, the h makes the decision to return to the H's ranch and try to talk him into an affair.
Except one of the creepy guys is the escaped prisoner and he hides in the h's back seat in the manner of great urban legends everywhere and she drives most of the way back to the H's ranch with a gun at her head.
The H is shocked to see the h, but he and his manager are right quick to disarm the bad guy after a big fight and get him hauled away. The H then explains that his life doesn't lend itself to having a lover or a wife and once again the h is sent on her way.
The h goes to see her sister, who is totally fine except for continual whining and then she returns to her elite private school. There she has tremendous mopey moments for several months, until she decides to chuck her job, beg on her knees if she has to and throw herself at the H.
But the H has been having his own mopey moments and he comes to find the h. They reunite in the h's office, decide that they will live wherever the H gets appointed to his judgeship at and since they love each other madly and are expecting, they will get married and celebrate a loving Christmas every single day for the big HEA.
This one was cute and the h and H were nice people. The suspense needed a bit more work because CS had some huge plot holes. CS made it a big point to have the h think a couple of really stupid things about how if she had just kept going towards her sister instead of back to the H's ranch, her whole hostage situation could have been avoided.
(Normally I don't make a big issue of bad suspense in HPlandia, but this time I had to snort and have a Captain Consult with an eyeroll. The bad guy was in the BACK OF the h's CAR, with a GUN and the h was his only transportation. If the h had driven the other way, he would have killed her and stolen the car and then gone on to sneak up on the H.
Think these suspense plots through people, there is nothing worse than having a heart racing tension moment ruined by stupid h thoughts as a way to manufacture some more h guilt to create some unneeded drama.)
But other than that, this was a nice little Christmas love story and not the worst day in HPlandia, it does have a pretty nice HEA.
Forbidden! Series and we are going on an emergency road trip.
We get a little prologue with this one, an unidentified male has just escaped prison and is looking for another man to pay him a visit. It doesn't seem like the escapee is too happy with the man he is looking for, but there are only hints as to why and the hints of what the anonymous male is planning are fraught with overtones of doom.
When this story starts, the Prim and Proper Headmistress h, in True HP Grand Tradition of Martyred Heroines Everywhere, is dashing through the snowstorm laden Canadian mountains.
Her pretty, popular and oh so charming sister has sent out an SOS. The sister was playing ski bunny and managed to end up in hospital. Since the h had only a lonely Christmas with a small tree to look forward to, when the sister demanded that the h drop everything and come cater to her, the h was quick to jump.
But the mountain roads are treacherous, the snow is dumping down alarmingly fast and there is a madman in a big four wheel drive jeep behind honking like the world is ending. The h is nervous and there is nowhere to get off the road and let the madman pass.
The h spies an avalanche shed up ahead and relievedly pulls over, only to hear a huge rumble and see a large white mass cover the other end of the shed. Then there is an angry man outside her car door. He seems to be taking exception to her driving.
(Tho I must point out that honking like a madperson in a snowtrapped area is probably not one of the smartest things to do. I live in a desert where it hasn't snowed for fifty years and even I know that loud sounds in mountain passes can cause a big mess.)
Anyhows, the man is furious at the h for some reason and then he irately informs her that there will be no continuation of her journey. The h primly responds to the angry male's attitude with a chilling politeness, until she realizes that she will have to spend the night in her car and she has no bad weather supplies.
In the onslaught of the whining sister demands for the h's immediate attendance, the h forgot to check the weather and forgot that mountains can be deadly in winter. So the angry male reluctantly hauls the h into his nice and cozy jeep and tucks them both into his sleeping bag for a endless night of waiting for the snow plow to come.
Finally the snowplows make it through at dawn, but the h did not put antifreeze in her car and now she is stuck. With a huge sigh and a muttering about woman drivers, the angry male takes the h to his remote ranch.
The h believes the H is a rancher who was running into town on business and she tries very hard to be grateful for the ranch house's shelter when she finds out it will just be the H and his elderly ranch manager for the duration of her stay.
Not that the h is planning on staying that long really. She only needs her car fixed and the H told her that would take a day or so. But the weather is worsening and the car repairs are very slow. The h and H can't help but notice each other as the temperature steadily drops.
Even tho the h reminds the H of his Ice Princess Miss Manners first wife, who dumped him because of his obsession with his career, (hint: he isn't a rancher,) the H is a wee bit attracted. The h is very attracted back too.
Even tho the H reminds her of her one and only love affair with an older professor when she was a student, who broke her heart when he revealed that he was married and only chased her to ruin her unicorn grooming status.
So neither the H nor the h have had much luck with the opposite gender. But as the days wear on and the snow worsens, the h and H can't resist their treacherous body syndrome - since they have no other personal commitments, they finally embark on a night of love after a few days of slow burn simmer lurve force mojo while decorating for Christmas, cooking meals and moving cows around.
Then the weather breaks and the h's car is fixed and the H announces that the h is to be on her way. The h is hurt by the abrupt dismissal, but the H is adamant he has nothing more to give and the h needs to be hitting the highway.
Unbeknownst to the h, but not to us, the H and the h's elderly ranch manager, the escaped prisoner guy is a brutal murderer the H prosecuted and put away for a long time. The H is actually a federal prosecutor for Canada and is probably going to be appointed as a judge. His career has been composed of going after very violent criminals and prosecuting them for heinous crimes.
His wife divorced him because of his obsession with his cases and also because the H gets a lot of death threats from some very scary people. The H got several threats from the escapee guy and he knows that the man is on his way to the ranch and he wants the h to be safely away before that can happen.
He neglects to inform the h of this of course, until she admits how much she cares for him and wants to continue and the H explains his career and about the threats. The h begrudgingly goes to retrieve her car and tho the helpful waitress at the diner by the car garage draws her a map to help her get back to the h's ranch, it looks like the h is just going to go on her way.
But the h really loves the H and she believes that he cares for her back, so after talking to some creepy people in the diner and losing her map, the h makes the decision to return to the H's ranch and try to talk him into an affair.
Except one of the creepy guys is the escaped prisoner and he hides in the h's back seat in the manner of great urban legends everywhere and she drives most of the way back to the H's ranch with a gun at her head.
The H is shocked to see the h, but he and his manager are right quick to disarm the bad guy after a big fight and get him hauled away. The H then explains that his life doesn't lend itself to having a lover or a wife and once again the h is sent on her way.
The h goes to see her sister, who is totally fine except for continual whining and then she returns to her elite private school. There she has tremendous mopey moments for several months, until she decides to chuck her job, beg on her knees if she has to and throw herself at the H.
But the H has been having his own mopey moments and he comes to find the h. They reunite in the h's office, decide that they will live wherever the H gets appointed to his judgeship at and since they love each other madly and are expecting, they will get married and celebrate a loving Christmas every single day for the big HEA.
This one was cute and the h and H were nice people. The suspense needed a bit more work because CS had some huge plot holes. CS made it a big point to have the h think a couple of really stupid things about how if she had just kept going towards her sister instead of back to the H's ranch, her whole hostage situation could have been avoided.
(Normally I don't make a big issue of bad suspense in HPlandia, but this time I had to snort and have a Captain Consult with an eyeroll. The bad guy was in the BACK OF the h's CAR, with a GUN and the h was his only transportation. If the h had driven the other way, he would have killed her and stolen the car and then gone on to sneak up on the H.
Think these suspense plots through people, there is nothing worse than having a heart racing tension moment ruined by stupid h thoughts as a way to manufacture some more h guilt to create some unneeded drama.)
But other than that, this was a nice little Christmas love story and not the worst day in HPlandia, it does have a pretty nice HEA.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 23, 2025
Aaaw!! Lovely!!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews