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Brava Brothers #2.5
I'm Your Santa
He's making a list, he's checking it twice--and he's hoping you're more naughty than nice. He's your own personal Saint Nick, and he's coming special delivery in this sizzling collection. . .
Lori Foster "The Christmas Present"
Beth Monroe wants revenge on her cheating fiancé, and Levi, the cheater's best friend, is happy to oblige. But holiday cheer takes on a whole new meaning as their one-hour tryst stretches on. . .and on. . .
Karen Kelley "It's a Wonderful Life"
Hollywood hottie Jeremy Hunter is spending Christmas researching his upcoming role. But going incognito as a preacher in a tiny Texas town brings wicked temptation in the form of beautiful Bailey Tanner. . .
Dianne Castell "Home for Christmas"
LuLu Cahill is having a terrible Christmas, until she heads home to O'Fallon's Landing, where jilted groom Sebastian Moore is going through with his pre-wedding holiday bash. All he needs is LuLu to fill in for the bride. . .
Lori Foster "The Christmas Present"
Beth Monroe wants revenge on her cheating fiancé, and Levi, the cheater's best friend, is happy to oblige. But holiday cheer takes on a whole new meaning as their one-hour tryst stretches on. . .and on. . .
Karen Kelley "It's a Wonderful Life"
Hollywood hottie Jeremy Hunter is spending Christmas researching his upcoming role. But going incognito as a preacher in a tiny Texas town brings wicked temptation in the form of beautiful Bailey Tanner. . .
Dianne Castell "Home for Christmas"
LuLu Cahill is having a terrible Christmas, until she heads home to O'Fallon's Landing, where jilted groom Sebastian Moore is going through with his pre-wedding holiday bash. All he needs is LuLu to fill in for the bride. . .
301 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 25, 2007
12 people are currently reading
787 people want to read
About the author
Lori Foster
425 books11.7k followersSince first publishing in January 1996, Lori Foster has become a USA Today, Publisher’s Weekly and New York Times bestselling author. Lori has published through a variety of houses, including Kensington, St. Martin’s, Harlequin, Silhouette, Samhain, and Berkley/Jove. She is currently published with HQN.
Lori hosts a very special annual “Reader & Author” event in West Chester, Ohio. Proceeds from the event have benefited many worthy causes, including the Hamilton County YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter, the Animal Adoption Foundation, The Conductive Learning Center for children with spina bifida and cerebral palsy, and The One Way Farm, Children’s Home.
Each year Lori donates all proceeds from one book to charity. You can see the benefit romance books here: http://lorifoster.com/benefit-books/
Career Highlights
•In 2001, Lori received the prestigious Romantic Times “Career Achievement Award” for Series Romantic Fantasy.
•In 2002, Lori’s book Too Much Temptation was the top-selling romance title for Amazon books.
•In 2003, Say No To Joe was the second “Bestselling Original Contemporary” romance title for Waldenbooks.
•In 2004, Lori Foster was a clue in the New York Times crossword puzzle.
•In 2004, The Secret Life of Bryan was the “Bestselling Original Contemporary” romance title for the BGI group.
•In 2005, Lori received the prestigious Romantic Times “Career Achievement Award” for Contemporary Romance.
•In 2006, Jude’s Law was the “Bestselling Romantic Comedy” romance title for the BGI group.
•In 2007, Lori launched a new “urban fantasy” series under the name L.L. Foster. See more on her “dark side” at www.llfoster.com.
•In 2007, Causing Havoc was among Amazon’s Top Ten Editor’s picks in Romance.
•In 2008, Hard to Handle made #2 on The New York Times.
•In 2009, Servant: The Acceptance was Amazon’s #1 Editors’ Pick in Romance.
•In 2010, Lori was a clue in the USA Today Quick Cross puzzle.
Lori hosts a very special annual “Reader & Author” event in West Chester, Ohio. Proceeds from the event have benefited many worthy causes, including the Hamilton County YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter, the Animal Adoption Foundation, The Conductive Learning Center for children with spina bifida and cerebral palsy, and The One Way Farm, Children’s Home.
Each year Lori donates all proceeds from one book to charity. You can see the benefit romance books here: http://lorifoster.com/benefit-books/
Career Highlights
•In 2001, Lori received the prestigious Romantic Times “Career Achievement Award” for Series Romantic Fantasy.
•In 2002, Lori’s book Too Much Temptation was the top-selling romance title for Amazon books.
•In 2003, Say No To Joe was the second “Bestselling Original Contemporary” romance title for Waldenbooks.
•In 2004, Lori Foster was a clue in the New York Times crossword puzzle.
•In 2004, The Secret Life of Bryan was the “Bestselling Original Contemporary” romance title for the BGI group.
•In 2005, Lori received the prestigious Romantic Times “Career Achievement Award” for Contemporary Romance.
•In 2006, Jude’s Law was the “Bestselling Romantic Comedy” romance title for the BGI group.
•In 2007, Lori launched a new “urban fantasy” series under the name L.L. Foster. See more on her “dark side” at www.llfoster.com.
•In 2007, Causing Havoc was among Amazon’s Top Ten Editor’s picks in Romance.
•In 2008, Hard to Handle made #2 on The New York Times.
•In 2009, Servant: The Acceptance was Amazon’s #1 Editors’ Pick in Romance.
•In 2010, Lori was a clue in the USA Today Quick Cross puzzle.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
September 26, 2016
Reviewed for THC Reviews
"3.5 stars" Overall
The Christmas Present by Lori Foster - The Christmas Present is a sweet, sexy novella from Lori Foster that is a wrap-up to her Brava Brothers series. Even though everything happened perhaps a tad to quick to be entirely believable, I loved it anyway. The hero and heroine are adorable, and their friends to lovers romance is a favorite theme of mine. I also enjoyed seeing the heroes and heroines of the previous books as the supporting cast. Overall, it was a fun addition to my holiday-themed reading.
Levi and Beth are perfect for each other, but before they can have an HEA, Levi must convince Beth of that fact. Beth was just cheated on by her philandering fiancé, and went to Levi, who was his best friend, looking for a little revenge sex. It was so sweet how Levi had been in love with Beth the entire time she was with his best friend and didn't know what he was going to do if they finally got married. With that being the case, he was more than happy to oblige Beth's request, but what was supposed to be a one-night stand turned into a whole weekend of pure bliss. The intensity of feelings she experienced with Levi scared Beth to death and sent her running. Beth's fears made perfect sense given how rapidly her life changed. She went from being engaged to one man to facing the possibility she has been in love with his best friend all along, overnight. I positively loved how Levi doggedly pursued her all the way back to her hometown, quickly won her family over to his cause with his charming honesty, and finally convinced Beth that they were totally right for each other and always had been. It was so wonderful how he knew so much about her just from being friends with her, far more than her ex-fiancé ever knew, right down to all her favorite things. It was also cute how he kept insisting he wanted to marry her even though they'd only been a couple for a few days. Again, it made sense though, because he'd loved her from afar for so long, he already knew she was the only woman for him. Theirs was definitely a whirlwind, but swoon-worthy romance.
Beth's family were all present to lend their support and I very much appreciated that they were being protective but not meddlesome. Her step-brother, Ben, and his wife, Sierra ( Never Too Much ); her father, Ken and step-mother, Brooke, (who represented the secondary romance in Never Too Much ); and Ben's half-brother, Noah and his wife, Grace ( Too Much Temptation ), all had roles in the story. Each couple also had brief and sweetly sensuous scenes of their own. All in all, The Christmas Present was another great read from Lori Foster and a nice way to end the series. Now that I've finally finished the Brava Brothers, I'll have to figure out which of her books I want to read next. Star Rating: ****1/2
It's a Wonderful Life by Karen Kelley - It's a Wonderful Life is the final, wrap-up novella for Karen Kelley's Southern series. It's a quick read featuring Wade's sister, Bailey, who was first introduced in his book, Southern Comfort, and hot, sexy, playboy movie star, Jeremy Hunter. Bailey is a sweet, upbeat school teacher with three overprotective older brothers, although Wade is the only one we see much of in the story. She's immediately taken with Jeremy (aka Trey) when he comes to town but keeps trying to put the kibosh on her sexual desires for him, because she believes he's a preacher. It was nice to see Karen Kelley trying out a different type of female character, who's not the alpha female loner, but unfortunately Bailey's characterization doesn't go much deeper than what I described.
For once, the hero, Jeremy, is the one who's a bit better developed. We learn a little about his past that brings some sympathy to his character and some realism to his cynicism surrounding Christmas and people in general. I liked Jeremy all right, but I have to admit that the way we see him in the opening chapter, waking up after a wild night of partying with two naked women in his house, is not particularly endearing. In those moments, he comes off as a bit spoiled, but he at least has enough of a drive for the upcoming movie role to be willing to do anything to keep it when the movie studio threatens to recast because of his bad reputation. That said, though, I'm not usually a big fan of hidden identities in romance unless there's a hugely compelling reason for it, because it seems dishonest to me. Jeremy only goes on the road, pretending to be a traveling preacher to satisfy the movie studio's demands for him to keep that same role in his upcoming movie. At first, he comes off as little more than a con-man, who thinks that if he can fool Bailey and the townspeople of Two Creeks, Texas, he can fool a movie audience into believing he's a preacher too. Admittedly, Jeremy does start to feel guilty for his actions after a while, which made him more human, but ultimately his major attitude change that alters his whole outlook on life and that takes place in less than a week's time, was a little too quick to be entirely believable. But Christmas is the season for miracles, so I suppose I can cut a little slack.:-)
Overall, the entire story needed a little more space to build it into something truly believable and heartwarming. As is, everything happens a little too fast, including the townspeople forgiving Jeremy for his deception and the love scene, which is barely there. But as with Karen Kelley's other books I've read to date, it had a certain entertainment value to it and wasn't a chore to finish. In addition to Wade, his heroine, Fallon, also appears as a secondary character in this novella, and we get a quick visit from Cody and Josh (Hell on Wheels) as well. It's a Wonderful Life was originally published in the anthology, I'm Your Santa, but was recently republished as a stand-alone eBook, retitled Southern Star. Although her books can be somewhat entertaining, thus far, Karen Kelley hasn't really wowed me yet. I have a feeling she's going to be one of those middle of the road authors for me, but since at least one of the books in this series received four stars from me, I might still try another of her books that I have on my TBR list before deciding whether I'll keep reading her books. Star Rating: ***1/2
Home for Christmas by Dianne Castell - Home for Christmas was 90+ pages of pure matchmaking and battle of the sexes silliness with a little sex thrown in for good measure, and all told at a frenetic pace. The story takes place over about two days time, during which the hero and heroine have sex, fall in love, and are tricked into getting married, in that order. I'm sorry to say I didn't really connect with any of the characters and the plot was too contrived to be even remotely believable. Overall, I wasn't particularly impressed with my first foray into Dianne Castell's storytelling.
Lulu has one of those wildly extroverted personalities and is the type of person who has absolutely no filter between her brain and her mouth. She seems to simply blurt out whatever comes to mind. In my opinion, this was a bad thing, because on the few occasions that Sebastian says something romantic, she negates it by saying something inane (eg. He tells her that her body is beautiful, and she says she's fat when in reality she's just pregnant). Overall Lulu is too mouthy and flighty for me to be able to connect with her, and her insistence upon always calling Sebastian Handsome instead of by his given name annoyed me.
For his part, I had to question Sebastian's judgment. He'd just broken up with his fiancée right before they made it to the altar. He's in the military and about to ship out overseas for a one-year tour of duty. He supposedly caught his fiancée kissing the drummer for a band that was playing at her bachelorette party and didn't want to have to worry about her being faithful to him while he was gone, nor for her to worry about his safety. Then he goes and has sex with pretty much the first woman he meets after the breakup, claims he's in love with her after only one day, and marries her after only two, despite his previous concerns about a wife. Otherwise, Sebastian seemed like a decent guy, but his decision making skills certainly left something to be desired.
As a couple, I honestly don't know what Sebastian and Lulu saw in each other that was supposedly so magnetic. I didn't sense any emotional connection or sexual chemistry between them, and there's no real romance either, only sex. Both of them, especially Lulu, insist that it's only sex too, which is not romantic to me at all. The sex scenes aren't even anything particularly out of the ordinary either, and yet they can't seem to keep their hands off each other. The way it started with them having stranger sex in the park was not my cup of tea. At one point during that encounter, Sebastian mentions wanting to make it special for Lulu because it was special for him, but it certainly didn't feel special. They'd barely met, only known each other for mere minutes, and didn't even know each other's names, but have sex on a park bench in a gazebo in the town square in the dead of winter with snow on the ground. Neither one has any intention of taking their liaison any further, because both think the other is leaving town the next day. Ummm, yeaaah, that's real special. (Normally, I'm not sarcastic in my reviews, but I felt like Sebastian's comment was simply begging for it.) This first love scene was also rather light on details and pretty short, leaving me wondering what the heck was so impressive about the encounter that neither of them could stop thinking about it afterward.
I think perhaps Home for Christmas was supposed to be a humorous story that wasn't meant to be taken too seriously, but despite that, I didn't find it particularly amusing. Anyone who enjoys slapstick-style rom coms might enjoy this one more than I did, but I found it to be so utterly ridiculous that I simply couldn't buy into any part of it. The characters are all one-dimensional with the women coming off as bubble-headed bimbos, and although the men seemed fairly decent, they too were lacking any real depth. The entire novella is mostly made up of banal chit-chat with no meaningful introspection or character development. The plot is so shallow a dingy would run aground in it. I'm not even sure the silly, farcical wedding would have even been considered legal. In spite of there being an epilogue in which the hero and heroine reunite after his one-year tour of duty is up, I couldn't believe that they would have made it for that long much less a lifetime, considering how things started for them. They barely even knew each other before he left for a year, and they spent the entire story arguing. The only thing they both remarked on was the supposedly great sex, which does not a great love or romance make. In my opinion, there simply wasn't any discernible reason for them to be together in the first place, much less stay together long-term.
The mechanics of the writing were rather rough around the edges too. I found lots of typos and errors in sentence structure. There were times when more transition details were badly needed, such as when Sebastian starts putting on a condom when he hasn't even so much as unzipped his pants yet. I also found some continuity errors. I have no idea how Sebastian figured out Lulu's name, and toward the end of the story one of Lulu's brothers-in law essentially bids Sebastian a safe tour when he'd barely met the guy and no one had even mentioned Sebastian was in the service and headed overseas.
I didn't figure out until the end of the story that Home for Christmas is basically a follow-up novella to Dianne Castell's O'Fallons series. The only thing that tipped me off was that in the last chapter all the heroes and heroines of the previous novels show up, and their exchange with Lulu left me feeling like I was missing something. Unfortunately, Home for Christmas did not leave me with any burning desire to go back and read the earlier books. Overall, this little novella was such an unsatisfying read that I won't be actively seeking out any more of Dianne Castell's stories. Star Rating: **
"3.5 stars" Overall
The Christmas Present by Lori Foster - The Christmas Present is a sweet, sexy novella from Lori Foster that is a wrap-up to her Brava Brothers series. Even though everything happened perhaps a tad to quick to be entirely believable, I loved it anyway. The hero and heroine are adorable, and their friends to lovers romance is a favorite theme of mine. I also enjoyed seeing the heroes and heroines of the previous books as the supporting cast. Overall, it was a fun addition to my holiday-themed reading.
Levi and Beth are perfect for each other, but before they can have an HEA, Levi must convince Beth of that fact. Beth was just cheated on by her philandering fiancé, and went to Levi, who was his best friend, looking for a little revenge sex. It was so sweet how Levi had been in love with Beth the entire time she was with his best friend and didn't know what he was going to do if they finally got married. With that being the case, he was more than happy to oblige Beth's request, but what was supposed to be a one-night stand turned into a whole weekend of pure bliss. The intensity of feelings she experienced with Levi scared Beth to death and sent her running. Beth's fears made perfect sense given how rapidly her life changed. She went from being engaged to one man to facing the possibility she has been in love with his best friend all along, overnight. I positively loved how Levi doggedly pursued her all the way back to her hometown, quickly won her family over to his cause with his charming honesty, and finally convinced Beth that they were totally right for each other and always had been. It was so wonderful how he knew so much about her just from being friends with her, far more than her ex-fiancé ever knew, right down to all her favorite things. It was also cute how he kept insisting he wanted to marry her even though they'd only been a couple for a few days. Again, it made sense though, because he'd loved her from afar for so long, he already knew she was the only woman for him. Theirs was definitely a whirlwind, but swoon-worthy romance.
Beth's family were all present to lend their support and I very much appreciated that they were being protective but not meddlesome. Her step-brother, Ben, and his wife, Sierra ( Never Too Much ); her father, Ken and step-mother, Brooke, (who represented the secondary romance in Never Too Much ); and Ben's half-brother, Noah and his wife, Grace ( Too Much Temptation ), all had roles in the story. Each couple also had brief and sweetly sensuous scenes of their own. All in all, The Christmas Present was another great read from Lori Foster and a nice way to end the series. Now that I've finally finished the Brava Brothers, I'll have to figure out which of her books I want to read next. Star Rating: ****1/2
It's a Wonderful Life by Karen Kelley - It's a Wonderful Life is the final, wrap-up novella for Karen Kelley's Southern series. It's a quick read featuring Wade's sister, Bailey, who was first introduced in his book, Southern Comfort, and hot, sexy, playboy movie star, Jeremy Hunter. Bailey is a sweet, upbeat school teacher with three overprotective older brothers, although Wade is the only one we see much of in the story. She's immediately taken with Jeremy (aka Trey) when he comes to town but keeps trying to put the kibosh on her sexual desires for him, because she believes he's a preacher. It was nice to see Karen Kelley trying out a different type of female character, who's not the alpha female loner, but unfortunately Bailey's characterization doesn't go much deeper than what I described.
For once, the hero, Jeremy, is the one who's a bit better developed. We learn a little about his past that brings some sympathy to his character and some realism to his cynicism surrounding Christmas and people in general. I liked Jeremy all right, but I have to admit that the way we see him in the opening chapter, waking up after a wild night of partying with two naked women in his house, is not particularly endearing. In those moments, he comes off as a bit spoiled, but he at least has enough of a drive for the upcoming movie role to be willing to do anything to keep it when the movie studio threatens to recast because of his bad reputation. That said, though, I'm not usually a big fan of hidden identities in romance unless there's a hugely compelling reason for it, because it seems dishonest to me. Jeremy only goes on the road, pretending to be a traveling preacher to satisfy the movie studio's demands for him to keep that same role in his upcoming movie. At first, he comes off as little more than a con-man, who thinks that if he can fool Bailey and the townspeople of Two Creeks, Texas, he can fool a movie audience into believing he's a preacher too. Admittedly, Jeremy does start to feel guilty for his actions after a while, which made him more human, but ultimately his major attitude change that alters his whole outlook on life and that takes place in less than a week's time, was a little too quick to be entirely believable. But Christmas is the season for miracles, so I suppose I can cut a little slack.:-)
Overall, the entire story needed a little more space to build it into something truly believable and heartwarming. As is, everything happens a little too fast, including the townspeople forgiving Jeremy for his deception and the love scene, which is barely there. But as with Karen Kelley's other books I've read to date, it had a certain entertainment value to it and wasn't a chore to finish. In addition to Wade, his heroine, Fallon, also appears as a secondary character in this novella, and we get a quick visit from Cody and Josh (Hell on Wheels) as well. It's a Wonderful Life was originally published in the anthology, I'm Your Santa, but was recently republished as a stand-alone eBook, retitled Southern Star. Although her books can be somewhat entertaining, thus far, Karen Kelley hasn't really wowed me yet. I have a feeling she's going to be one of those middle of the road authors for me, but since at least one of the books in this series received four stars from me, I might still try another of her books that I have on my TBR list before deciding whether I'll keep reading her books. Star Rating: ***1/2
Home for Christmas by Dianne Castell - Home for Christmas was 90+ pages of pure matchmaking and battle of the sexes silliness with a little sex thrown in for good measure, and all told at a frenetic pace. The story takes place over about two days time, during which the hero and heroine have sex, fall in love, and are tricked into getting married, in that order. I'm sorry to say I didn't really connect with any of the characters and the plot was too contrived to be even remotely believable. Overall, I wasn't particularly impressed with my first foray into Dianne Castell's storytelling.
Lulu has one of those wildly extroverted personalities and is the type of person who has absolutely no filter between her brain and her mouth. She seems to simply blurt out whatever comes to mind. In my opinion, this was a bad thing, because on the few occasions that Sebastian says something romantic, she negates it by saying something inane (eg. He tells her that her body is beautiful, and she says she's fat when in reality she's just pregnant). Overall Lulu is too mouthy and flighty for me to be able to connect with her, and her insistence upon always calling Sebastian Handsome instead of by his given name annoyed me.
For his part, I had to question Sebastian's judgment. He'd just broken up with his fiancée right before they made it to the altar. He's in the military and about to ship out overseas for a one-year tour of duty. He supposedly caught his fiancée kissing the drummer for a band that was playing at her bachelorette party and didn't want to have to worry about her being faithful to him while he was gone, nor for her to worry about his safety. Then he goes and has sex with pretty much the first woman he meets after the breakup, claims he's in love with her after only one day, and marries her after only two, despite his previous concerns about a wife. Otherwise, Sebastian seemed like a decent guy, but his decision making skills certainly left something to be desired.
As a couple, I honestly don't know what Sebastian and Lulu saw in each other that was supposedly so magnetic. I didn't sense any emotional connection or sexual chemistry between them, and there's no real romance either, only sex. Both of them, especially Lulu, insist that it's only sex too, which is not romantic to me at all. The sex scenes aren't even anything particularly out of the ordinary either, and yet they can't seem to keep their hands off each other. The way it started with them having stranger sex in the park was not my cup of tea. At one point during that encounter, Sebastian mentions wanting to make it special for Lulu because it was special for him, but it certainly didn't feel special. They'd barely met, only known each other for mere minutes, and didn't even know each other's names, but have sex on a park bench in a gazebo in the town square in the dead of winter with snow on the ground. Neither one has any intention of taking their liaison any further, because both think the other is leaving town the next day. Ummm, yeaaah, that's real special. (Normally, I'm not sarcastic in my reviews, but I felt like Sebastian's comment was simply begging for it.) This first love scene was also rather light on details and pretty short, leaving me wondering what the heck was so impressive about the encounter that neither of them could stop thinking about it afterward.
I think perhaps Home for Christmas was supposed to be a humorous story that wasn't meant to be taken too seriously, but despite that, I didn't find it particularly amusing. Anyone who enjoys slapstick-style rom coms might enjoy this one more than I did, but I found it to be so utterly ridiculous that I simply couldn't buy into any part of it. The characters are all one-dimensional with the women coming off as bubble-headed bimbos, and although the men seemed fairly decent, they too were lacking any real depth. The entire novella is mostly made up of banal chit-chat with no meaningful introspection or character development. The plot is so shallow a dingy would run aground in it. I'm not even sure the silly, farcical wedding would have even been considered legal. In spite of there being an epilogue in which the hero and heroine reunite after his one-year tour of duty is up, I couldn't believe that they would have made it for that long much less a lifetime, considering how things started for them. They barely even knew each other before he left for a year, and they spent the entire story arguing. The only thing they both remarked on was the supposedly great sex, which does not a great love or romance make. In my opinion, there simply wasn't any discernible reason for them to be together in the first place, much less stay together long-term.
The mechanics of the writing were rather rough around the edges too. I found lots of typos and errors in sentence structure. There were times when more transition details were badly needed, such as when Sebastian starts putting on a condom when he hasn't even so much as unzipped his pants yet. I also found some continuity errors. I have no idea how Sebastian figured out Lulu's name, and toward the end of the story one of Lulu's brothers-in law essentially bids Sebastian a safe tour when he'd barely met the guy and no one had even mentioned Sebastian was in the service and headed overseas.
I didn't figure out until the end of the story that Home for Christmas is basically a follow-up novella to Dianne Castell's O'Fallons series. The only thing that tipped me off was that in the last chapter all the heroes and heroines of the previous novels show up, and their exchange with Lulu left me feeling like I was missing something. Unfortunately, Home for Christmas did not leave me with any burning desire to go back and read the earlier books. Overall, this little novella was such an unsatisfying read that I won't be actively seeking out any more of Dianne Castell's stories. Star Rating: **
December 16, 2018
Christmas has never been hotter than in this sizzling new anthology featuring novellas from three top romance authors: Lori Foster, Karen Kelley, and Dianne Castell.
The Christmas Present by Lori Foster
Series: Brava Brothers (Book 3)
4*
Beth Monroe wants revenge on her cheating fiancé, and Levi, the cheater's best friend, is happy to oblige. But holiday cheer takes on a whole new meaning as their one-hour tryst stretches on. . .and on...
Sweet, intense friends to lovers story. Brandon, Levi, and Beth have been friends for several years, at the same time Beth and Brandon have been engaged. That engagement came to a screeching halt when Beth discovered Brandon cheating on her. Furious, she ran to Levi, looking for a little revenge sex. It was just going to be one night, but the fire between them was so intense it lasted the whole weekend. Beth was so freaked out by what she felt and did that it sent her running home to her family, with Levi hot on her heels.
I loved Levi. I loved how he showed up and made it clear to everyone that he was determined to win her. He'd been in love with her from the beginning, but she was his best friend's girl. He couldn't help but notice everything about her, and that attention to detail came out in their friendship over the years. I loved watching as he talked his way past her walls and showed her how much he cared. The biggest obstacle was the fact that he hadn't actually said the words of why he wanted to marry her.
I loved Beth, too. Though her motive for sleeping with Levi wasn't the best, it did show that she trusted him. Her freak-out at the intensity of their connection was understandable, as she went from being engaged to Brandon to realizing that she may have been in love with Levi all along. It was a lot for her to process, and being near Levi made it impossible for her to think. I liked the scene in the hotel room where he promised to back off physically but used the time to remind her of how many good times they'd had together. Though Beth finally admitted her feelings to herself, she still wasn't sure why Levi kept saying he wanted to marry her. Without those three little words, she wasn't about to chance making another mistake.
There was a hilarious scene involving the ex-fiancé, who showed up stinking drunk to try to get her back. I thought both Levi and Beth were remarkably restrained in dealing with him, especially Levi. He did redeem himself quite nicely at the end, both in his words and actions, and being the catalyst that broke through that last barrier between Levi and Beth.
I also enjoyed the parts that Beth's family played. Though her brothers were protective, they also recognized that Levi loved her. I liked how they supported him. I also loved the conversation between Beth and the women in her family. They helped her break free of her embarrassment and see the truth of how she felt. There were also sweet scenes between each of the couples, which makes me want to read their stories, too.
It's a Wonderful Life by Karen Kelley
Series: Southern Heat (Book 3.5)
3*
Hollywood hottie Jeremy Hunter is spending Christmas researching his upcoming role. But going incognito as a preacher in a tiny Texas town brings wicked temptation in the form of beautiful Bailey Tanner...
Fun story. Jeremy is an actor whose antics have gone just a little too far. He was in danger of losing his next role, one that he really wanted because it was different than anything else he'd done. However, the studio was doubtful that he could pull off the part of a preacher. So he went undercover as a traveling preacher, riding his Harley through Texas. When he stopped to eat in Two Creeks, he ended up hurting himself and had to stay in town, and had to maintain his preacher façade. Not easy to do when all he wanted was to get much closer to Bailey.
Bailey is a fourth-grade teacher who was drawn to Jeremy from the moment she set eyes on him. It was her flirtatious wink that caused him to fall and sprain his ankle. This left her feeling guilty, so she invited him to stay in her guesthouse until he was healed.
The development of their relationship was fast and fun. The sparks between them were hot from the start, but both fought them hard. Jeremy, because he's pretending to be a preacher, and what he wants to do doesn't fit the persona. Bailey, because she believes that he's a preacher and therefore above what she has in mind. I liked how Bailey showed Jeremy around town and got him involved in things like the local Christmas play. Though at first, Jeremy was more interested in seeing how well he could fool the town, it didn't take long for him to realize that he liked them. Added to his acceptance at Bailey's family dinner, he started to feel an unfamiliar emotion - guilt. When the sparks between Jeremy and Bailey turned combustible, Jeremy freaked out at the effect it had on him and ran. But try as he might, he couldn't forget Bailey or deny the effect she had on him. I ached for Bailey when she found out the truth and didn't blame her at all for some of the things she said. I had to laugh at how they were reunited. The ending was pretty sweet. I really liked Jeremy's appearance in front of the town. Seeing him bare his soul in front of everyone was emotional, and I liked his big moment with Bailey. The epilogue was great, and the tagline was the perfect cap.
I liked the secondary characters of Bailey's siblings and friends. I liked Wade's super-protectiveness and Bailey's reaction to it. The family dinner was fun, and I liked how the family members drew Jeremy in. Their effect on Jeremy was eye-opening for him, just seeing what a normal family was like. I also loved how they all rallied around Bailey when Jeremy left, and their willingness to go after him. Their part in bringing them back together was hilarious. I will have to go back and read their stories.
Home for Christmas by Dianne Castell
Series: O'Fallon (Book 4)
3*
LuLu Cahill is having a terrible Christmas, until she heads home to O'Fallon's Landing, where jilted groom Sebastian Moore is going through with his pre-wedding holiday bash. All he needs is LuLu to fill in for the bride...
My least favorite of the three stories. Lulu went home for Christmas, broke, pregnant, and dumped by her fiancé. In a mood, she was hanging out in the town gazebo, mentally grumping about all the happy people she saw. There she encountered a man she called "Handsome" escaping his own problems. Sebastian was supposed to get married on Christmas Eve, but his wedding was canceled. But with family in town, the festivities were going on anyway. Thanks to an immediate and intense attraction between the two, they had a "quickie" encounter right there in the gazebo. They then went their separate ways, not expecting to see each other again.
The next morning, Lulu was working her shift at the diner when in comes Sebastian, shocking her into dropping a tray full of dishes. There went any hope of keeping their knowing each other a secret. Another encounter later in the day, with the sparks flying between them, set them up for matchmaking hijinks from Sebastian's family. Because of it, Sebastian and Lulu try their own matchmaking efforts to take the heat off them, all the time finding it impossible to keep their hands off each other.
As the story went on, the truth came out about the end of Sebastian's engagement, showing him as protective but clueless. That same clueless attitude kept him from admitting his growing feelings for Lulu. Meanwhile, Lulu was avoiding thoughts of a relationship with anyone, as she believes she has "bad man karma" because all the guys she's been with have left her. The whole craziness with the matchmaking setup was funny, but not really believable in the romance department. Lulu and Sebastian declaring their love after only about 36 hours was stretching things.
On the positive side, Sebastian liked Lulu just the way she was. She complained about being "fat," but Sebastian reminded her she was pregnant. I liked his attitude when her ex showed up, and he was there to back her up when she told her family about being pregnant. Lulu was just kind of fun. She tends to blurt out whatever is on her mind creating some amusing moments. I liked her determination to be independent, though it did create an obstacle between her and Sebastian.
I liked the families. I read the original O'Fallon books about ten years ago, so I don't remember much about them, but seeing them years down the road was nice. I liked their support of Lulu, and also that they liked Sebastian.
The Christmas Present by Lori Foster
Series: Brava Brothers (Book 3)
4*
Beth Monroe wants revenge on her cheating fiancé, and Levi, the cheater's best friend, is happy to oblige. But holiday cheer takes on a whole new meaning as their one-hour tryst stretches on. . .and on...
Sweet, intense friends to lovers story. Brandon, Levi, and Beth have been friends for several years, at the same time Beth and Brandon have been engaged. That engagement came to a screeching halt when Beth discovered Brandon cheating on her. Furious, she ran to Levi, looking for a little revenge sex. It was just going to be one night, but the fire between them was so intense it lasted the whole weekend. Beth was so freaked out by what she felt and did that it sent her running home to her family, with Levi hot on her heels.
I loved Levi. I loved how he showed up and made it clear to everyone that he was determined to win her. He'd been in love with her from the beginning, but she was his best friend's girl. He couldn't help but notice everything about her, and that attention to detail came out in their friendship over the years. I loved watching as he talked his way past her walls and showed her how much he cared. The biggest obstacle was the fact that he hadn't actually said the words of why he wanted to marry her.
I loved Beth, too. Though her motive for sleeping with Levi wasn't the best, it did show that she trusted him. Her freak-out at the intensity of their connection was understandable, as she went from being engaged to Brandon to realizing that she may have been in love with Levi all along. It was a lot for her to process, and being near Levi made it impossible for her to think. I liked the scene in the hotel room where he promised to back off physically but used the time to remind her of how many good times they'd had together. Though Beth finally admitted her feelings to herself, she still wasn't sure why Levi kept saying he wanted to marry her. Without those three little words, she wasn't about to chance making another mistake.
There was a hilarious scene involving the ex-fiancé, who showed up stinking drunk to try to get her back. I thought both Levi and Beth were remarkably restrained in dealing with him, especially Levi. He did redeem himself quite nicely at the end, both in his words and actions, and being the catalyst that broke through that last barrier between Levi and Beth.
I also enjoyed the parts that Beth's family played. Though her brothers were protective, they also recognized that Levi loved her. I liked how they supported him. I also loved the conversation between Beth and the women in her family. They helped her break free of her embarrassment and see the truth of how she felt. There were also sweet scenes between each of the couples, which makes me want to read their stories, too.
It's a Wonderful Life by Karen Kelley
Series: Southern Heat (Book 3.5)
3*
Hollywood hottie Jeremy Hunter is spending Christmas researching his upcoming role. But going incognito as a preacher in a tiny Texas town brings wicked temptation in the form of beautiful Bailey Tanner...
Fun story. Jeremy is an actor whose antics have gone just a little too far. He was in danger of losing his next role, one that he really wanted because it was different than anything else he'd done. However, the studio was doubtful that he could pull off the part of a preacher. So he went undercover as a traveling preacher, riding his Harley through Texas. When he stopped to eat in Two Creeks, he ended up hurting himself and had to stay in town, and had to maintain his preacher façade. Not easy to do when all he wanted was to get much closer to Bailey.
Bailey is a fourth-grade teacher who was drawn to Jeremy from the moment she set eyes on him. It was her flirtatious wink that caused him to fall and sprain his ankle. This left her feeling guilty, so she invited him to stay in her guesthouse until he was healed.
The development of their relationship was fast and fun. The sparks between them were hot from the start, but both fought them hard. Jeremy, because he's pretending to be a preacher, and what he wants to do doesn't fit the persona. Bailey, because she believes that he's a preacher and therefore above what she has in mind. I liked how Bailey showed Jeremy around town and got him involved in things like the local Christmas play. Though at first, Jeremy was more interested in seeing how well he could fool the town, it didn't take long for him to realize that he liked them. Added to his acceptance at Bailey's family dinner, he started to feel an unfamiliar emotion - guilt. When the sparks between Jeremy and Bailey turned combustible, Jeremy freaked out at the effect it had on him and ran. But try as he might, he couldn't forget Bailey or deny the effect she had on him. I ached for Bailey when she found out the truth and didn't blame her at all for some of the things she said. I had to laugh at how they were reunited. The ending was pretty sweet. I really liked Jeremy's appearance in front of the town. Seeing him bare his soul in front of everyone was emotional, and I liked his big moment with Bailey. The epilogue was great, and the tagline was the perfect cap.
I liked the secondary characters of Bailey's siblings and friends. I liked Wade's super-protectiveness and Bailey's reaction to it. The family dinner was fun, and I liked how the family members drew Jeremy in. Their effect on Jeremy was eye-opening for him, just seeing what a normal family was like. I also loved how they all rallied around Bailey when Jeremy left, and their willingness to go after him. Their part in bringing them back together was hilarious. I will have to go back and read their stories.
Home for Christmas by Dianne Castell
Series: O'Fallon (Book 4)
3*
LuLu Cahill is having a terrible Christmas, until she heads home to O'Fallon's Landing, where jilted groom Sebastian Moore is going through with his pre-wedding holiday bash. All he needs is LuLu to fill in for the bride...
My least favorite of the three stories. Lulu went home for Christmas, broke, pregnant, and dumped by her fiancé. In a mood, she was hanging out in the town gazebo, mentally grumping about all the happy people she saw. There she encountered a man she called "Handsome" escaping his own problems. Sebastian was supposed to get married on Christmas Eve, but his wedding was canceled. But with family in town, the festivities were going on anyway. Thanks to an immediate and intense attraction between the two, they had a "quickie" encounter right there in the gazebo. They then went their separate ways, not expecting to see each other again.
The next morning, Lulu was working her shift at the diner when in comes Sebastian, shocking her into dropping a tray full of dishes. There went any hope of keeping their knowing each other a secret. Another encounter later in the day, with the sparks flying between them, set them up for matchmaking hijinks from Sebastian's family. Because of it, Sebastian and Lulu try their own matchmaking efforts to take the heat off them, all the time finding it impossible to keep their hands off each other.
As the story went on, the truth came out about the end of Sebastian's engagement, showing him as protective but clueless. That same clueless attitude kept him from admitting his growing feelings for Lulu. Meanwhile, Lulu was avoiding thoughts of a relationship with anyone, as she believes she has "bad man karma" because all the guys she's been with have left her. The whole craziness with the matchmaking setup was funny, but not really believable in the romance department. Lulu and Sebastian declaring their love after only about 36 hours was stretching things.
On the positive side, Sebastian liked Lulu just the way she was. She complained about being "fat," but Sebastian reminded her she was pregnant. I liked his attitude when her ex showed up, and he was there to back her up when she told her family about being pregnant. Lulu was just kind of fun. She tends to blurt out whatever is on her mind creating some amusing moments. I liked her determination to be independent, though it did create an obstacle between her and Sebastian.
I liked the families. I read the original O'Fallon books about ten years ago, so I don't remember much about them, but seeing them years down the road was nice. I liked their support of Lulu, and also that they liked Sebastian.
January 4, 2017
Growing up I devoured all the holiday compilations that Harlequin and Silhouette put out. I'm a sucker for holiday stories.
I'm Your Santa is made up of 3 sadly lackluster and pretty unrealistic novellas. Granted holiday stories are always a bit contrived but these three really took the proverbial cake.
The Christmas Present is Lori Foster's offering and Lori is one of those authors that write smoking hot novels. There's a lot of smoking hot sex here, but the plot..oh lord. Beth's boyfriend cheats on her and she has a fling with his bff and there is a whole lot more than just sex, which strikes me as odd.
Levi has always crushed on Beth, and as the story goes on, you see that Beth has kind of had unspoken feelings for him. Her ex is a bit of a snob. Levi is a phys ed teacher. Lori gets props for having the hero be the "not rich" dude.
There's a confrontation with the ex and well....the HEA.
Next up is It's A Wonderful Life with a hot actor playing at being a pastor to get in character for his next film.
Think Impastor from TVLand.
Yeah.
With a horny heroine bent on seducing him.
This just in, most religions allow marriage, so some of the actions were a bit over the top. Combined with an over protective family that includes an ex CIA agent..well this is another Oye Vey story.
By the time I got to Home for Christmas, I was wondering why I was continuing on with this book. Home for Christmas is all about the having sex with a stranger without knowing his name.
Yikes.
Probably the worst collection of holiday romances I've read in along time. Its going to take awhile for me to want to pick up a romance novel.
I'm Your Santa is made up of 3 sadly lackluster and pretty unrealistic novellas. Granted holiday stories are always a bit contrived but these three really took the proverbial cake.
The Christmas Present is Lori Foster's offering and Lori is one of those authors that write smoking hot novels. There's a lot of smoking hot sex here, but the plot..oh lord. Beth's boyfriend cheats on her and she has a fling with his bff and there is a whole lot more than just sex, which strikes me as odd.
Levi has always crushed on Beth, and as the story goes on, you see that Beth has kind of had unspoken feelings for him. Her ex is a bit of a snob. Levi is a phys ed teacher. Lori gets props for having the hero be the "not rich" dude.
There's a confrontation with the ex and well....the HEA.
Next up is It's A Wonderful Life with a hot actor playing at being a pastor to get in character for his next film.
Think Impastor from TVLand.
Yeah.
With a horny heroine bent on seducing him.
This just in, most religions allow marriage, so some of the actions were a bit over the top. Combined with an over protective family that includes an ex CIA agent..well this is another Oye Vey story.
By the time I got to Home for Christmas, I was wondering why I was continuing on with this book. Home for Christmas is all about the having sex with a stranger without knowing his name.
Yikes.
Probably the worst collection of holiday romances I've read in along time. Its going to take awhile for me to want to pick up a romance novel.
April 1, 2017
3 contemporary Christmas stories, none of which are any good.
Lori Foster - 2 stars. What a disapointing story! I usually like Lori, but this is a turkey. Girl decides to teach cheating fiance a lesson by having revenge sex with his best friend. The best friend has always loved her, so he's playing for keeps. She runs off to her family Christmas party & Jerry Springer like drama soon ensues.
There's some disturbing lines in this story : "First, he'd strip Beth naked and get her in bed,and then he's hash out the future with her."
"It seemed that whenever she was alone with him, she wanted to rape him, harangue him, or flee him." I don't think she could have gotten away with a line like that if the male lead was thinking it!
Karen Kelley - 1 star. I liked the girl lead, but the man was just a lying, man whore actor. Just a dumb story about an actor (the man whore) who has to get some experience acting like a preacher. He goes to Texas & meets this nice girl & has sex with her (not very preacher like behavior). He blows town immediately after.
Dianne Casteel - 1 star. I'm just not into this romantic story about a girl who has sex with a random stranger in the middle of the town square 3 minutes after she says hi to him (not much of an exaggeration!). Oh, & she's pregnant by her ex-boyfriend. Merry Christmas!
One good thing about ALL of these stories, is that they all practice safe sex (even the man whore, thank God!).
Lori Foster - 2 stars. What a disapointing story! I usually like Lori, but this is a turkey. Girl decides to teach cheating fiance a lesson by having revenge sex with his best friend. The best friend has always loved her, so he's playing for keeps. She runs off to her family Christmas party & Jerry Springer like drama soon ensues.
There's some disturbing lines in this story : "First, he'd strip Beth naked and get her in bed,and then he's hash out the future with her."
"It seemed that whenever she was alone with him, she wanted to rape him, harangue him, or flee him." I don't think she could have gotten away with a line like that if the male lead was thinking it!
Karen Kelley - 1 star. I liked the girl lead, but the man was just a lying, man whore actor. Just a dumb story about an actor (the man whore) who has to get some experience acting like a preacher. He goes to Texas & meets this nice girl & has sex with her (not very preacher like behavior). He blows town immediately after.
Dianne Casteel - 1 star. I'm just not into this romantic story about a girl who has sex with a random stranger in the middle of the town square 3 minutes after she says hi to him (not much of an exaggeration!). Oh, & she's pregnant by her ex-boyfriend. Merry Christmas!
One good thing about ALL of these stories, is that they all practice safe sex (even the man whore, thank God!).
December 12, 2009
I do love a good Christmas anthology, and I am crazy about Lori Foster. Thank heavens her story was first in this trilogy! The Christmas Present, by Lori Foster, was delightful, as I expected. Main characters Beth and Levi are quirky and sexy. Selection #2, It's a Wonderful Life by Karen Kelley was a little unbelievable, and wrapped up too nicely at the end, but I still enjoyed the story. But everything went downhill with Home for Christmas by Dianne Castell. The story was outlandish, as were the characters LuLu and Sebastian. Her little story brought my rating all the way down to a 2 for the book! So, if you pick the book up, you might save yourself and stop after It's a Wonderful Life. You won't miss much!
July 16, 2011
Christmas in July. Well, it could have been, but this book was underwhelming. Lori Foster's story was the best (I do enjoy the "Person A has loved Person B for ages and finally has the opportunity to make it work" plot device), but not up to the standard of many of her full-length titles. Kelley's and Castell's offerings were improbable and featured characters it was difficult to like.
January 8, 2023
So going in, you know that short stories/novellas have a limited amount of pages to create a believable story. This review does keep that in mind.
The Christmas Present: This story had an advantage by having the backstory of an already existing friendship/history, thus removing some of the instalove vibe. That being said, this story wasn't overly interesting. Had some spicy scenes, and a sweet couple, but so very easily forgettable. It was nice to see the Brava bros and spouses. 3 stars
It's a Wonderful Life: No clue, I wasn't interested in the blurb so I skipped it. 0 Stars
Home For Christmas: It had a few funny parts, but on a whole, no romance was created. Writing was disjointed, rushed and even confusing at times. Plot points didn't always make sense, nor did how any of the characters. At least it made me laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. 2 stars
Overall, I would give this Christmas collection a pass.
The Christmas Present: This story had an advantage by having the backstory of an already existing friendship/history, thus removing some of the instalove vibe. That being said, this story wasn't overly interesting. Had some spicy scenes, and a sweet couple, but so very easily forgettable. It was nice to see the Brava bros and spouses. 3 stars
It's a Wonderful Life: No clue, I wasn't interested in the blurb so I skipped it. 0 Stars
Home For Christmas: It had a few funny parts, but on a whole, no romance was created. Writing was disjointed, rushed and even confusing at times. Plot points didn't always make sense, nor did how any of the characters. At least it made me laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. 2 stars
Overall, I would give this Christmas collection a pass.
May 28, 2017
Foster "The Christmas Present". When Beth Monroe catches her doctor fiance fooling around, she takes revenge... with his very willing best friend Levi. She gets more than she bargains for when he refuses to be a one night stand for revenge.
Karen Kelly "It's a Wonderful Life". Hollywood actor pretends to be a preacher in TX for his next film, suckers local girl - bad - didn't finish.
Diane Castell "Home for Christmas". LuLu Cahill's boyfriends has jilted her and taken her money when she tells him she's pregnant. Discouraged, she has great sex with a stranger, Sebastian, in the town square gazebo a couple of nights before Christmas. He's just been jilted by his fiance too. When he doesn't leave town as planned, his family arranges their marriage, unknown to both of them until the I Do's are said. Silly, unrealistic, moderately fun.
Karen Kelly "It's a Wonderful Life". Hollywood actor pretends to be a preacher in TX for his next film, suckers local girl - bad - didn't finish.
Diane Castell "Home for Christmas". LuLu Cahill's boyfriends has jilted her and taken her money when she tells him she's pregnant. Discouraged, she has great sex with a stranger, Sebastian, in the town square gazebo a couple of nights before Christmas. He's just been jilted by his fiance too. When he doesn't leave town as planned, his family arranges their marriage, unknown to both of them until the I Do's are said. Silly, unrealistic, moderately fun.
March 17, 2020
I love romances, I usually read regency romances but this book with the three novellas looked cute. I was disappointed in all three. The language used is appalling. It’s all about the sex. Really, very little story line. Not my cup of tea.
December 1, 2021
I enjoyed these stories. The first one felt like I had read it before but from what I can tell I haven't and the last one was my least favorite (it seemed rushed). Overall an enjoyable addition to my Christmas reading.
December 26, 2021
This book has 3 short stories... i have to admit the 3rd was my favorite of them all, it had some serious good giggles in it... and it also had a little bit of a war-time feel, reminded me of stories my grandmothers spoke of.
December 8, 2018
Good books it’s three books by three different authors .
January 1, 2019
Loved all stories
August 8, 2020
The Christmas Present - Lori Foster
2 stars
2 stars
November 11, 2021
it was ok.
March 30, 2022
The Christmas Present 3 stars
It's A Wonderful Life 0 stars DNF
Home For Christmas. 3 stars
It's A Wonderful Life 0 stars DNF
Home For Christmas. 3 stars
September 25, 2022
More lovely Christmas stories.
Read
December 24, 2022if you like X-rated explicit sexual details this book is for you,
The story lines are good I don’t want the play by play.
The story lines are good I don’t want the play by play.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 8, 2025
somehow, each short story kept getting worse.
January 13, 2013
The Christmas Present: Lori Foster
Beth Monroe / Levi -
Caught fiancé in bed with another, decides to have sex with his best man to show him… only planned a quickie hour, and then a call to exfiance to boast… but it turned into a weekend plus Monday marathon.. he is in bliss, he’d fantasized and enjoyed her for years but did not act on it because of honoring his best friend and her, but now it was apparent the best friend did not have deep enough feelings for her… but for her it is a week of guilt and her not talking to him and shame. She leaves for home, and he follows (in the snow)… and over the next couple of days, as she protects him from her brothers & father, and he declares his intention to marry her to her brothers & father, she remembers how close as friends they were… and comes to the realization that she does in deed love him.
It’s a Wonderful Life: Karen Kelley
Jeremy Hunter / Bailey Tanner –
Actor to play a preacher… actor the typical fast rise to stardom, fast living with a different woman every day… but when offered a serious part, he is advised to prove he can perform the part by traveling incognito as a preacher… he does so on his Harley, and with a bible he purchased from a 2nd hand shop… and he ends up in a town, where he is injured, and the town waitress (who’s brother is the sheriff) takes him in, with him staying in her guest house… and they become friendly – both fantasize about the other, but he is a preacher… they watch ‘it’s a wonderful life’ and though at first he finds it smultzy and can only end badly, he quickly starts rooting for Jimmy Stewart and Clarence, and is charmed when the town comes through and Clarence gets his wings. He calls for a retrieval, she comes to his room, they have sex… he decides to leave without explanations as being the kindest… but when the limo shows up for him the next day, she figures it out. After a week of loneliness, her brother and 2 others show up at his apartment and kidnap him… and he happily returns to town to make a public apology and declaration of love… ahhh… and the smash movie about a preacher is greeted by a happy pregnant Bailey.
Home for Christmas: Dianne Castell
LuLu Cahill / Sebastian Moore –
Both dumped – have sex in the town square gazebo, his relatives conspire to get them married. A little convoluted… they meet in the square during an evening songfest… they linger, share that they’ve been dumped… have sex in the gazebo after all leave… and depart – both saying they were leaving town in the morning… but she can’t afford to leave, as she is pregnant and staying with her sister while earning money… and he is a soldier on leave, who did the dumping, but as family traveled for the wedding, they convince him too stay and they’d go through the events just to be together… and they run into each other, and his family hires her to serve when they see the fireworks between them… and as they connive to get 2 couples (his mother and the cook; his father and the wedding planner) together, those couples connive to get them together (a few more times of hot kisses and sex under the table)… and they both sign for flowers (that is a marriage license) and both say ‘I do’ (in front of a real preacher) and are married… ahhh
Beth Monroe / Levi -
Caught fiancé in bed with another, decides to have sex with his best man to show him… only planned a quickie hour, and then a call to exfiance to boast… but it turned into a weekend plus Monday marathon.. he is in bliss, he’d fantasized and enjoyed her for years but did not act on it because of honoring his best friend and her, but now it was apparent the best friend did not have deep enough feelings for her… but for her it is a week of guilt and her not talking to him and shame. She leaves for home, and he follows (in the snow)… and over the next couple of days, as she protects him from her brothers & father, and he declares his intention to marry her to her brothers & father, she remembers how close as friends they were… and comes to the realization that she does in deed love him.
It’s a Wonderful Life: Karen Kelley
Jeremy Hunter / Bailey Tanner –
Actor to play a preacher… actor the typical fast rise to stardom, fast living with a different woman every day… but when offered a serious part, he is advised to prove he can perform the part by traveling incognito as a preacher… he does so on his Harley, and with a bible he purchased from a 2nd hand shop… and he ends up in a town, where he is injured, and the town waitress (who’s brother is the sheriff) takes him in, with him staying in her guest house… and they become friendly – both fantasize about the other, but he is a preacher… they watch ‘it’s a wonderful life’ and though at first he finds it smultzy and can only end badly, he quickly starts rooting for Jimmy Stewart and Clarence, and is charmed when the town comes through and Clarence gets his wings. He calls for a retrieval, she comes to his room, they have sex… he decides to leave without explanations as being the kindest… but when the limo shows up for him the next day, she figures it out. After a week of loneliness, her brother and 2 others show up at his apartment and kidnap him… and he happily returns to town to make a public apology and declaration of love… ahhh… and the smash movie about a preacher is greeted by a happy pregnant Bailey.
Home for Christmas: Dianne Castell
LuLu Cahill / Sebastian Moore –
Both dumped – have sex in the town square gazebo, his relatives conspire to get them married. A little convoluted… they meet in the square during an evening songfest… they linger, share that they’ve been dumped… have sex in the gazebo after all leave… and depart – both saying they were leaving town in the morning… but she can’t afford to leave, as she is pregnant and staying with her sister while earning money… and he is a soldier on leave, who did the dumping, but as family traveled for the wedding, they convince him too stay and they’d go through the events just to be together… and they run into each other, and his family hires her to serve when they see the fireworks between them… and as they connive to get 2 couples (his mother and the cook; his father and the wedding planner) together, those couples connive to get them together (a few more times of hot kisses and sex under the table)… and they both sign for flowers (that is a marriage license) and both say ‘I do’ (in front of a real preacher) and are married… ahhh
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2016
The Christmas Present by Lori Foster
A cute friends to lover story. Levi is in love with Beth since he first met her like two years ago but Beth was engaged to his best friend. When the engagement is called off he sees his chance to finally reveal his true feelings to Beth but Beth has some reservations about her strong feelings for Levi when she thought she was in love with her ex-fiancé. So you follow her insecurities and self realizations until they reach their HEA. Loved Levi and his patience. He wasn't about to let her slip out of his life so he sticks around and chases her down until she realizes how much she loves him also. In case you're wondering there are characters in this story with their own book that you might like to read. Never Too Much and Too Much Temptation if you'd like to know about Beth's step brothers' love story.
It's a Wonderful Life by Karen Kelley
Another cute read. Playboy actor Jeremy Hunter, in order to clean up his image and prepare for a future role, goes undercover as a traveling preacher. He lands in a tiny Texas town where he meets Bailey. Falls in love with her but realizes that she won't forgive him for his deception so he leaves without explaining his situation. Realizes he's been a total jerk decides to go back and ask for a second chance. Then HEA. I liked the story ok but I liked the other characters more. So much that I'm going to go find their stories and read about them. Southern Comfort, Southern Exposure, Hell on Wheels I guess are all connected with this story.
Home for Christmas by Dianne Castell
*Possible SPOLIERS*
I thought this story was sweet even though it was totally unbelievable. Sebastian, a special forces soldier, is on leave to get married. Wedding called off. He meets Lulu. They totally hit it off like right away. Meaning they totally get it on within thirty seconds of meeting with no names exchanged. Kinda unbelievable. They decide to go their own way thinking that they won't see each other again. But of course they run into each other the next day. Then his family gets this crazy idea to push them together and get them married in the ceremony that was already scheduled but cancelled. Yes married. Very strange but I'm a romantic at heart so I was ok with the totally unrealistic aspect of this story. All the characters were really cute and sweet so it wasn't a totally turn off to read, it was just kinda weird.
A cute friends to lover story. Levi is in love with Beth since he first met her like two years ago but Beth was engaged to his best friend. When the engagement is called off he sees his chance to finally reveal his true feelings to Beth but Beth has some reservations about her strong feelings for Levi when she thought she was in love with her ex-fiancé. So you follow her insecurities and self realizations until they reach their HEA. Loved Levi and his patience. He wasn't about to let her slip out of his life so he sticks around and chases her down until she realizes how much she loves him also. In case you're wondering there are characters in this story with their own book that you might like to read. Never Too Much and Too Much Temptation if you'd like to know about Beth's step brothers' love story.
It's a Wonderful Life by Karen Kelley
Another cute read. Playboy actor Jeremy Hunter, in order to clean up his image and prepare for a future role, goes undercover as a traveling preacher. He lands in a tiny Texas town where he meets Bailey. Falls in love with her but realizes that she won't forgive him for his deception so he leaves without explaining his situation. Realizes he's been a total jerk decides to go back and ask for a second chance. Then HEA. I liked the story ok but I liked the other characters more. So much that I'm going to go find their stories and read about them. Southern Comfort, Southern Exposure, Hell on Wheels I guess are all connected with this story.
Home for Christmas by Dianne Castell
*Possible SPOLIERS*
I thought this story was sweet even though it was totally unbelievable. Sebastian, a special forces soldier, is on leave to get married. Wedding called off. He meets Lulu. They totally hit it off like right away. Meaning they totally get it on within thirty seconds of meeting with no names exchanged. Kinda unbelievable. They decide to go their own way thinking that they won't see each other again. But of course they run into each other the next day. Then his family gets this crazy idea to push them together and get them married in the ceremony that was already scheduled but cancelled. Yes married. Very strange but I'm a romantic at heart so I was ok with the totally unrealistic aspect of this story. All the characters were really cute and sweet so it wasn't a totally turn off to read, it was just kinda weird.
March 10, 2011
The book features a trio of Christmas romance novellas that revisit families that the authors have introduced in previous books. Lori Foster is the lead author with a stand-alone story that includes characters from two of her books Too Much Temptation ($4.30) and Never Too Much ($4.30) . In The Christmas Present by Ms. Foster, Levi had always loved Beth but she was off limits, being engaged to his best friend. But when her fiancée is found with another woman, it’s more than Beth can take and she heads home through a snowstorm. Levi has to follow her, which infuriates Beth. Will this couple resolve their differences and have a merry Christmas?
It’s a Wonderful Life by Karen Kelley revisits Two Creeks, Texas (Hell On Wheels – $8.96). It’s a wonderful life, or at least that’s what Jeremy Hunter thought until it gets out of hand with the alcohol and womanizing. Now his agent tells him he will lose another acting job if he doesn’t straighten up and it’s a role of a preacher. He heads out incognito on his Harley to live the part as a preacher and ends up stopping to get a bite to eat in Two Creeks. He has a freak accident and Bailey, a fourth-grade teacher, feels responsible. Sparks fly between the pretend preacher and the school teacher and Jeremy leaves town rather than face the truth.
Home for Christmas by Dianne Castell brings another story from O’Fallon’s Landing, Tennesee (I’ll Be Seeing U – $8.55). Coming home for Christmas was supposed to be a wonderful time, but LuLu Cahill was in a fix. Her fiancée had maxed out her credit cards, left her at the altar and now she admits she is carrying his child. And along comes Handsome, who also is having his share of troubles as this was supposed to be his Christmas Eve wedding. Meeting on one of the worst days of their lives turns into a funny, topsy-turvy weekend.
Home for Christmas was my favorite story because it was hilarious how LuLu’s and Handsome’s plan actually backfired. But being a romance, isn’t it all supposed to come out right in the end? This was also a whirlwind of a read because of the many events taking place which carried the plot right through.
It’s a Wonderful Life by Karen Kelley revisits Two Creeks, Texas (Hell On Wheels – $8.96). It’s a wonderful life, or at least that’s what Jeremy Hunter thought until it gets out of hand with the alcohol and womanizing. Now his agent tells him he will lose another acting job if he doesn’t straighten up and it’s a role of a preacher. He heads out incognito on his Harley to live the part as a preacher and ends up stopping to get a bite to eat in Two Creeks. He has a freak accident and Bailey, a fourth-grade teacher, feels responsible. Sparks fly between the pretend preacher and the school teacher and Jeremy leaves town rather than face the truth.
Home for Christmas by Dianne Castell brings another story from O’Fallon’s Landing, Tennesee (I’ll Be Seeing U – $8.55). Coming home for Christmas was supposed to be a wonderful time, but LuLu Cahill was in a fix. Her fiancée had maxed out her credit cards, left her at the altar and now she admits she is carrying his child. And along comes Handsome, who also is having his share of troubles as this was supposed to be his Christmas Eve wedding. Meeting on one of the worst days of their lives turns into a funny, topsy-turvy weekend.
Home for Christmas was my favorite story because it was hilarious how LuLu’s and Handsome’s plan actually backfired. But being a romance, isn’t it all supposed to come out right in the end? This was also a whirlwind of a read because of the many events taking place which carried the plot right through.
December 8, 2012
The Christmas Present By: Lori Foster 4 stars
I loved Levi and how he has been secretly in love with Beth. Also liked how Beth was more fighting with herself about wanting to be with Levi than dwelling on a cheating fiance. I will say the ending was a bit hokey for me, because I don't think her ex fiance/Levi's best friend would be all "can't we all be friends" if his fiance was going to marry his best friend. This was however the best novella in this anthology.
It's a Wonderful Life By: Karen Kelley 3 1/2 stars
Jeremy is taking a time out from being a Hollywood playboy and diving into research for a role he is determined to get. What he doesn't anticipate is Bailey and the powerful attraction he has for her. This one was good and funny at times. I could have done without the epilogue at the end though even if it did make me laugh.
Home for Christmas By: Dianne Castell 2 stars
Okay this one was my least favorite. This story was insane from start to finish, and even though I stuck with it, I kind of wish I hadn't. The plot was so very messy, but she did create likeable characters (hence the two stars). The story had potential with a match making family hell bent on Sebastian's happiness, but who in the world would believe this story??? I hate to sound harsh about this one, but it really wasn't good. :(
I loved Levi and how he has been secretly in love with Beth. Also liked how Beth was more fighting with herself about wanting to be with Levi than dwelling on a cheating fiance. I will say the ending was a bit hokey for me, because I don't think her ex fiance/Levi's best friend would be all "can't we all be friends" if his fiance was going to marry his best friend. This was however the best novella in this anthology.
It's a Wonderful Life By: Karen Kelley 3 1/2 stars
Jeremy is taking a time out from being a Hollywood playboy and diving into research for a role he is determined to get. What he doesn't anticipate is Bailey and the powerful attraction he has for her. This one was good and funny at times. I could have done without the epilogue at the end though even if it did make me laugh.
Home for Christmas By: Dianne Castell 2 stars
Okay this one was my least favorite. This story was insane from start to finish, and even though I stuck with it, I kind of wish I hadn't. The plot was so very messy, but she did create likeable characters (hence the two stars). The story had potential with a match making family hell bent on Sebastian's happiness, but who in the world would believe this story??? I hate to sound harsh about this one, but it really wasn't good. :(
January 22, 2013
The Christmas Present by Lori Foster
Levi and Beth had an out of control weekend after Beth discovered that her fiance cheated on her. Since then she has been running from Levi, ashamed of herself. Levi doesn't want it to be over. This story was another hard one to get into. I was uncomfortable with the stalker-ish behavior of Levi, the bases were covered with her family present and at some point I got into it. The other thing is I think this goes with a series I haven't read.
It's A Wonderful Life by Karen Kelley
Playboy actor Jeremy Hunter has to try to live the life to learn and earn his next role. Along the way he finds out a whole lot more than he expected. This story was very sweet and pretty loosely a Christmas story though there were shades of it. My only complaint is the length, I felt pretty rushed.,
Home For Christmas by Dianne Castell
This story was extremely confusing. I found myself going back and rereading whole pages multiple times to see if I was missing something. The air of mystery is really just confusing and the flow was very rushed. I also didn't much care for the premise. Lulu and "handsome" are a great characters, even if I didn't care for their names, and they seem to have some chemistry. Really though the story could have been so much better. This one is my least favorite in the book.
Overall this anthology is average.
Levi and Beth had an out of control weekend after Beth discovered that her fiance cheated on her. Since then she has been running from Levi, ashamed of herself. Levi doesn't want it to be over. This story was another hard one to get into. I was uncomfortable with the stalker-ish behavior of Levi, the bases were covered with her family present and at some point I got into it. The other thing is I think this goes with a series I haven't read.
It's A Wonderful Life by Karen Kelley
Playboy actor Jeremy Hunter has to try to live the life to learn and earn his next role. Along the way he finds out a whole lot more than he expected. This story was very sweet and pretty loosely a Christmas story though there were shades of it. My only complaint is the length, I felt pretty rushed.,
Home For Christmas by Dianne Castell
This story was extremely confusing. I found myself going back and rereading whole pages multiple times to see if I was missing something. The air of mystery is really just confusing and the flow was very rushed. I also didn't much care for the premise. Lulu and "handsome" are a great characters, even if I didn't care for their names, and they seem to have some chemistry. Really though the story could have been so much better. This one is my least favorite in the book.
Overall this anthology is average.
June 23, 2011
I bought this book to read Lori Foster's "The Christmas Present" since it was the last of a three book series and would rate it at this time 3 stars. I really enjoyed it. I like Lori's stories they are sexy and funny.
Well I finished all three stories and gave the overall book a three star rating. I really enjoyed both Lori Foster's and Dianne Castell's stories. And would give them both a 3.5 rating if I could. I look forward to reading more by Dianne Castell.
I was not overly impressed with Karen Kelley's story. It had it's moments where I thought OK now we're getting somewhere and then the dialogue would slide or a character I thought was strong would go limp. I am going to make it a point to read more of her current work and see if it is more a case of "early works". She definitely has potential.
July 14, 2009
The first story was the best, but even then it was eh. These three short stories tried to put too much plot in I think. The authors were just too ambitious considering the time and space limits. So I didn't feel a real connection to these characters and didn't understand their instantaneous undying love for each other. I know, it's a romance novel, and characters fall in love fast. I'm fine with that, because there's usually some activity, dialogue, and smoking hot sex to back that up. But with these authors trying to shove so much plot into these, there was a lack of timely interaction for steamy scenes and serious connections. If you're looking for a fun collection of romance novellas, I'd say skip this one and find another.
November 30, 2008
Stockings are peeled off as well as put up in this set of steamy Christmas romances from three Brava authors. Foster's The Christmas Present finds Beth Monroe fleeing the hunk she has just spent a wild weekend with—who happens to be the best friend of her unfaithful fiancé. Kelley's It's a Wonderful Life maroons playboy Hollywood actor Jeremy Hunter in Two Creeks, Tex., to research the part of an itinerant preacher, with a curvaceous local teacher offering a different kind of lesson. Castell's Home for Christmas brings together pregnant, abandoned LuLu Cahill and jilted Sebastian Moore, with snow, here as throughout, not being the only thing precipitated
December 18, 2008
Lori Foster
The Christmas Present
Beth can seem to keep her hands off Levi and it’s a good thing, because he certainly seems like a hunk. Good thing she’s getting over her old fiancé.
Karen Kelley
It's a Wonderful Life
Jeremy strolls into a small town in Texas and never wants to leave. He’s studying for a new movie part, but actually the part doesn’t fit him like Bailey does. He does end up winning an Oscar for his part.
Dianne Castell
Home for Christmas
What more could happen to LuLu as she tries to go home and like her wounds and try to earn money for the baby that her ex-boyfriend is going to leave her with. She meets Sebastian and sparks fly…
February 5, 2009
This anthology contains three unrelated stories set at Christmas. This is a fun read by three talented authors. Each has spot appearances by family and friends from various previous stories, but all stories can stand alone.
Lori Foster's The Christmas Present is related to previous books TOO MUCH TEMPATION and NEVER TOO MUCH.
Karen Kelley's It's A Wonderful Life is related to SOUTHERN COMFORT and HELL ON WHEELS.
And Dianne Castell's Home for Christmas is related to her O'Fallons - Plus One, I'll Be Seeing U, The Way U Look Tonight, and Till There Was You.
All three were charming reads.
Lori Foster's The Christmas Present is related to previous books TOO MUCH TEMPATION and NEVER TOO MUCH.
Karen Kelley's It's A Wonderful Life is related to SOUTHERN COMFORT and HELL ON WHEELS.
And Dianne Castell's Home for Christmas is related to her O'Fallons - Plus One, I'll Be Seeing U, The Way U Look Tonight, and Till There Was You.
All three were charming reads.
December 14, 2010
Three short stories bundled around a Christmas theme.
The Christmas Present by Lori Foster - Stalker turns lover. You always have to watch out for the quiet ones. Yeah, this was a low three star read and by far the best of the three. Calling the fiance's reaction unlikely is an understatement.
It's a Wonderful Life by Karen Kelley - A two star read. Could have been cute but wasn't. Hero was an ass from start to finish.
Home for Christmas by Dianne Castell - Horrible. I think I've seen episodes of The Smurfs that had better characters and were more believable.
The Christmas Present by Lori Foster - Stalker turns lover. You always have to watch out for the quiet ones. Yeah, this was a low three star read and by far the best of the three. Calling the fiance's reaction unlikely is an understatement.
It's a Wonderful Life by Karen Kelley - A two star read. Could have been cute but wasn't. Hero was an ass from start to finish.
Home for Christmas by Dianne Castell - Horrible. I think I've seen episodes of The Smurfs that had better characters and were more believable.
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