Unwrapping Love

by Grace Ravel

This holiday season, give the gift of love.

Twenty-one of today's freshest romance authors have come together to bring you their sweetest and, in some cases, steamiest, holiday happily ever afters.

Unwrap love and lose yourself in the Writing Wenches Holiday Anthology.

Unwrapping Love contains short stories by the following authors:
Tami Lund
Jennifer Senhaji
Misti Murphy
Quenby Olson
Kay Blake
Patricia D. Eddy
Grace Ravel
Sheri Williams
Allison Winfield
Jennifer Ray
Keisha K. Page
A.E. Snow
Christine Cacciatore
C.S. Kendall
Michael Simko
Beth Stanley
Melina Gillies
S.K. Wills
K.R. Wilburn
Sonja Fröjdendal
Melody Barber

Genres: Christmas, Romance, Holiday, Fiction, Anthologies

757 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2014

About the author

Grace Ravel is married to a wonderfully patient man who is convinced she has ADD. Her short attention span is great for raising four active boys, not so much for doing grown-up things, which also means writing is a challenging process for her. But she loves to write so she forces herself to sit longer than five minutes without getting sucked into the internet rabbit hole or impromptu football games. She is currently working on her first manuscript, and second, and third (see, short attention span). Her ramblings can be found on her blog www.graceravel.com, Facebook page and on Twitter.

Website: www.graceravel.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/graceravelwriter

Twitter: @graceravel

Reviews

[Gina Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC (Advanced Readers Copy) in exchange for an honest review, so here it is.

This book ROCKS!

As an anthology, I began with the expectation of typical anthology fare--some really good stories and others that were not so great. This was NOT the case. I loved each and every one of them.

While Christmas is a central theme (along with romance of course!), it remains in the background and allows the characters and their story to shine through.

The different writing styles were interesting, differentiating the tales as easily as the characters. It was amazing that, although each had the same theme, Christmas romance, each story was different, as were the characters.

There were no cardboard cut-out characters, no tin-can plot and emotion.

Each character was an individual, someone who comes across as a person--that friend you run into every few months or the friendly neighbor across the hall who works the opposite shift but you still find time to catch up with each other.

As I finished each story, I found myself thinking how I couldn't wait to find out what happened in the next installment...unfortunately, as far as I know, there will be no updates and I will have to accept the old "And they lived happily ever after" ending.

I will also be searching for more works by these wonderful authors which, hopefully, will provide a more complete HEA.

For anyone who loves variety in their reading, without loss of plot or emotion, I wholeheartedly recommend Unwrapping Love.

But only if you are not looking for a quick read. Trust me, it ends far too soon even with so many pages....

[Tami Lund · Rating 5 out of 5]

21 authors, 21 different holiday romances. This will keep even the fastest reader occupied for a few hours ... likely a few days. It's a delightful sampling of a whole bunch of up and coming authors. Some are brand new to the scene and some have a few books under their belts. All have an amazing imagination, which is captured here, in this book.

This book has it all: from super sweet to super sexy, bad girls and sweet guys, dangerous guys and the good girls who help them turn their lives around. Some of the heroes and heroines are in their early twenties, some are forty. Some are funny, some are simply adorable. This is an entire book of girlfriends and boyfriends to fall in love with. It's the perfect gift for your favorite romance reader... or yourself!

[Kay Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great holiday anthology to add under the tree. It's full of sweet romance with a dash of spice. All are different and unique. I'm sure you will enjoy this anthology.

[Beverly Diehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're looking for a holiday present - for yourself, or for a fan of contemporary romance, you can't go wrong with this collection of 21 holiday short stories. The heat level of each story is indicated by snowflakes, one being sweet, four being super-hot, which is kind of an interesting contradiction.

Disclaimer: I received a free ARC of this anthology in exchange for an honest review, and I participate in a group with these writers, though I do not have a story included here. And if they kicked me out of the group tomorrow, I would still have to say, I *love* this anthology!

It IS long - about 750 pages. Stories are set in small towns and big cities, in the US, Australia, Scotland... There are bad boys and good girls, good boys and bad girls, tattoos and rock bands and preacher's daughters, food play with chocolate (omg), heroines in their 20's and 40's, forbidden love, first loves reunited, f/f love, social rebels and schoolteachers. Really and truly, there's something for everyone here, and I will be rereading this simply for the pleasure of it. Favorite line?

"'Less talk,' she gasped. 'More undressing.'"

Which is always a great idea, IMO.

[Lisa Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

MY REVIEW (4.5 stars/5): Christmas to me evokes memories of happiness, songs, family, and love. The 21 stories written in this book mention Christmas in everyone but it isn’t the focus. The romance is – but you may not realize it at first. You have the bad girl, good girl, bad boy, good guy, young ones, older men- you name it– they are all different. This makes the book more appealing as you can’t place the stories into one defining genre. I love the idea of multiple authors giving their intake as some stories showed the disillusioned of love that got turned around at the end and showed a promise of an ending. We had intimate endings, vulnerable emotions showing that made me cry where the the hero finally realizing he screwed up and needed the girl to complete him. I actually liked where some friends got rid of one because of his dirty handedness with date rape drugs and called the police. Some of my favorites were ‘Stay With Me’ by Allison Winfield; ‘Christmas Candy’ by Misti Murphy; ‘Angels in Disguise’ by Jennifer Senhaji; ‘Declan’s Special’ by Jennifer Ray, & ‘Loving Mondays’ by K.R. Wilburn.
These are all different and I can still name more.. you need to read this set of stories as you can find the ones you like the best also. What makes the book great is you can read a story, muse about about it and feel good about it as it is the holidays and still feel the love it did evoke in the end. We all want love! We all want happiness! These stories give you that for a short time and that is what makes a story good. The idea to transport yourself away from your own day to day doldrum life to a place where anything can happen and in this case- LOVE at Christmastime!
I recommend this anytime, not just at the holidays- I am a sucker for Christmas stories.
I received this book in exchange for an honest review from the publisher, PageCurl Publishing and Promotion. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

[Dacia · Rating 5 out of 5]

*sigh* What a blissful holiday weekend I've just spent with my ARC of this anthology. I'll admit, I've been a bit of a Scrooge the last few holiday seasons, but this sweet collection has got me right in the holiday mood. Want a good girl and a bad boy? Done. Need a bad girl with a good boy? Done. I sobbed along with many a story, and that is ALWAYS a good sign for me. Have to say that while I enjoyed all the stories, some of my personal favorites were "On The Eve Of Love" by Patricia Eddy, "Declan's Special" by Jennifer Ray, and "A Fresh Start" by Sonja Frojendal. You'll find a few favorites too, I promise. Can't be missed!

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I usually don't read a lot of romance except for Nora Roberts here and there but I have to say these stories are really good. Some I liked more than others but they all had characters and situations that felt real. I also liked that the stories had different perspectives, whether it was about a bad boy wanting a good girl, good guy wanting a bad girl, etc. so it wasn't like reading the same story over and over. I've read anthologies in the past where I only really liked two or three stories but this was not the case for Unwrapping Love. And the snowflake rating on each story based on steaminess was a nice touch too. ;)

[Lp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was floored by how much I enjoyed this flirty, fun collection of stories (I've always been more of a novel gal)! Each story pulled me in immediately and kept me turning pages the whole way through! What I found most enjoyable were the contrasting but complimenting differences in writing style and plot; each character and premise felt fresh and original.

From sweet to steamy, second chances to forbidden love, and everything in between... This collection has something for everyone!

Highly recommend this for the holiday season! It definitely put me in the mood... For Christmas!

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I loved the tales in this anthology. Some spicy and some sweet... Overall, a wonderful treat to warm the cockles of your heart and soul. If you're looking for a sweet and sassy read, then this is the book to read.

[Kristi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whew! I made it. That was one loooong anthology to slog through!! Some stories were okay, but several were rough with unbelievable characters. My apologies to the efforts of these authors, but I would not recommend this to anyone.

[Marina · Rating 5 out of 5]

overall good some stories are spicy and others are more sweeter

[Dmcl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven’t finished the anthology, but I love Christmas stories, and I was lucky enough to have received a complimentary copy of “Unwrapping Her” by Patricia D. Eddy. A lovely little story with great characters and explosive passion. Highly recommended, especially if you love Christmas stories.

[Catherine Wright (Cat's Guilty Pleasure) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given a copy by the author in return for an honest review.

Each one of these stories were really good. They were all unique and ranged from sweet to steamy. They were all Christmas themed but each author provided different writing styles, characters, and plots. I will definitely be looking for ooks from the various authors as I enjoyed each one of their stories.

Review done in conjunction with Nerd Girl Official. For more information regarding our reviews please visit our fansite at http://www.facebook.com/nerdgirl.ng

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this anthology.

I really enjoyed each and every story. They all of love, but are told in such a different way so it doesn't get repetitive. The stories have a great quality and you were really just turning page after page not able to put it down.

If you're into steamy and hot love stories, read it!

[Terry Houchin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this collection of short stories. What a wide variety love stories. There is definitely something for everyone in this collection. No matter what your preference if you like a good love story you will find at least one to your liking, probably many more. I liked them all. They each had interesting characters that you hoped had a happy ending.

[D.j. Winfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the stories were great!!

[Faye Brinkley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Christmas

Love love love each story hot and very very sexy romantic I will be looking for all of you to read more 5*****

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Long anthology with a good variety of perspectives.