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The Christmas Collection
The complete Sam Mariano Christmas romance collection!
Includes Wrapped in Red (previously featured in the Dangerous Press Meet Me Under the Mistletoe anthology), Mistletoe Kisses (co-written with Isabella Starling), and the darkly funny full-length romance, How the Hitman Stole Christmas .
Includes Wrapped in Red (previously featured in the Dangerous Press Meet Me Under the Mistletoe anthology), Mistletoe Kisses (co-written with Isabella Starling), and the darkly funny full-length romance, How the Hitman Stole Christmas .
- GenresDark Romance
522 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 17, 2022
16 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
Sam Mariano
44 books4,859 followersFollow Sam Mariano on Facebook, Instagram (@sammarianobooks), or check out her Blog! If you need to email her, she can be reached at sammarianoauthor@gmail.com (but she is sometimes tardy about checking email. Mateo is very demanding).
Sign up for Sam's mailing list (to stay up to date on current projects--she won't spam you! Only for notification of new releases or book sales.)
All of Sam's books are available on Amazon! (And don't forget to follow Sam's Amazon Author page to get notified about the newest releases.)
Sam Mariano has been writing stories for as long as she can remember. She lives in Ohio and has a sweet and wonderful daughter.
Because of You was her first finished story (she started writing it when she was 18) and due to a full-time work and college schedule, it took her years to finish. She has also been telling people for years that there would never be a sequel (sorry, guys!)…which turned out to be a lie.
Sam Mariano is currently working on Dante’s book (if you’re a Morelli reader) and some other WIP.
Feel free to find her on Facebook, Goodreads, or her blog—she loves hearing from readers!
Sign up for Sam's mailing list (to stay up to date on current projects--she won't spam you! Only for notification of new releases or book sales.)
All of Sam's books are available on Amazon! (And don't forget to follow Sam's Amazon Author page to get notified about the newest releases.)
Sam Mariano has been writing stories for as long as she can remember. She lives in Ohio and has a sweet and wonderful daughter.
Because of You was her first finished story (she started writing it when she was 18) and due to a full-time work and college schedule, it took her years to finish. She has also been telling people for years that there would never be a sequel (sorry, guys!)…which turned out to be a lie.
Sam Mariano is currently working on Dante’s book (if you’re a Morelli reader) and some other WIP.
Feel free to find her on Facebook, Goodreads, or her blog—she loves hearing from readers!
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 21, 2025
Wrapped in Red by Sam Mariano
short, a bit sweet, festive novella🤷🏼♀️
short, a bit sweet, festive novella🤷🏼♀️
November 17, 2022
Sam Mariano + Christmas!?! What a dark and festive dream!
How the Hitman Stole Christmas:
Oh Sam- what a great Christmas gift!
This book is everything I love about Sam Mariano- a slightly unhinged, dominant alpha anti-hero, a softer, pliable heroine who easily (and mostly willingly) falls into his web, scorching steam, unusual relationship dynamics, and a highly unusual path to HEA and one that only really works for these two characters. Plus, it is in the Morelli world! AH- my favorite place to be.
This is actually the lightest/sweetest romance we’ve read from Sam. Jasper is delicious- but he’s a bit sweeter, more level (and less manipulative) than some of Sam’s other heroes, and Autumn has a bit more fight than my favorite Mia- but if you love Sam romances and relationship dynamics, this will feel familiar and delightful while also bring some fresh characters and a original story. Since it is a standalone, we do have some insta-love/insta-lust, but along the way Sam creates some surprisingly tender and emotionally intimate moments between these two that really helped them feel more emotionally connected.
This story also has a surprising amount of Christmas cheer for a darker/mafia/kidnapping trope- Sam weaves in charming, holiday moments that worked for the story, weren’t too cheesy, but still made this book feel festive.
If you are like me and Mateo/Mia are you favorites of all time, you’ll love this. And, if the Morelli’s weren’t your favs or if you haven’t started Sam, I think you’ll love this, too. This strikes the perfect balance. Fun, sexy, only slightly dark, and so delicious.
Mistletoe Kisses
Two of my favorite authors writing one of my favorite tropes- age gap?! YES, sign me up.
Sam and Isabella are both queens of creating controlling, alpha, and sexy mastermind anti-heroes and gentle, somewhat submissive, but nuanced and complex female heroines, so I knew this would be fantastic. And, I knew it would STEAMY and hot AF because they both are two authors who consistently make me need a cold shower.
This story was adorable- age gap + teacher-student taboo, a sweet and charming heroine but with some spunk and a brooding and magnetic hero. And, Christmas time- what more could you ask for?!
How the Hitman Stole Christmas:
Oh Sam- what a great Christmas gift!
This book is everything I love about Sam Mariano- a slightly unhinged, dominant alpha anti-hero, a softer, pliable heroine who easily (and mostly willingly) falls into his web, scorching steam, unusual relationship dynamics, and a highly unusual path to HEA and one that only really works for these two characters. Plus, it is in the Morelli world! AH- my favorite place to be.
This is actually the lightest/sweetest romance we’ve read from Sam. Jasper is delicious- but he’s a bit sweeter, more level (and less manipulative) than some of Sam’s other heroes, and Autumn has a bit more fight than my favorite Mia- but if you love Sam romances and relationship dynamics, this will feel familiar and delightful while also bring some fresh characters and a original story. Since it is a standalone, we do have some insta-love/insta-lust, but along the way Sam creates some surprisingly tender and emotionally intimate moments between these two that really helped them feel more emotionally connected.
This story also has a surprising amount of Christmas cheer for a darker/mafia/kidnapping trope- Sam weaves in charming, holiday moments that worked for the story, weren’t too cheesy, but still made this book feel festive.
If you are like me and Mateo/Mia are you favorites of all time, you’ll love this. And, if the Morelli’s weren’t your favs or if you haven’t started Sam, I think you’ll love this, too. This strikes the perfect balance. Fun, sexy, only slightly dark, and so delicious.
Mistletoe Kisses
Two of my favorite authors writing one of my favorite tropes- age gap?! YES, sign me up.
Sam and Isabella are both queens of creating controlling, alpha, and sexy mastermind anti-heroes and gentle, somewhat submissive, but nuanced and complex female heroines, so I knew this would be fantastic. And, I knew it would STEAMY and hot AF because they both are two authors who consistently make me need a cold shower.
This story was adorable- age gap + teacher-student taboo, a sweet and charming heroine but with some spunk and a brooding and magnetic hero. And, Christmas time- what more could you ask for?!
December 25, 2022
4⭐️ 3🌶
I was so excited when I saw this anthology. I was planning on buying How the Hitman Stole Christmas anyways so this was perfect.
I started with How the Hitman Stole Christmas and loved it! Jasper was hilarious with his matter of fact attitude towards kidnapping a woman off the side of the road to take as his Christmas date. He was slightly unhinged and I loved him for it. Luckily for him Autumn was his perfect match and once she realised he wasn’t going to horribly murder her, she was a pretty happy camper.
I love a good office romance and Wrapped in Red was the perfect little novella. The tension between Georgia and Lee was amazing.
Mistletoe Kisses was more of a miss for me but I wasn’t too surprised. Books featuring high school students really isn’t my thing. But I really liked how earnest and eager Noelle was. Cal was where I hit a snag. First of all, I wanted him to be more of a dom. He kept threatening punishment but never doled it out despite Noelle being a brat to test his patience.
Overall I really enjoyed this anthology. It was the perfect spicy and festive read.
I was so excited when I saw this anthology. I was planning on buying How the Hitman Stole Christmas anyways so this was perfect.
I started with How the Hitman Stole Christmas and loved it! Jasper was hilarious with his matter of fact attitude towards kidnapping a woman off the side of the road to take as his Christmas date. He was slightly unhinged and I loved him for it. Luckily for him Autumn was his perfect match and once she realised he wasn’t going to horribly murder her, she was a pretty happy camper.
I love a good office romance and Wrapped in Red was the perfect little novella. The tension between Georgia and Lee was amazing.
Mistletoe Kisses was more of a miss for me but I wasn’t too surprised. Books featuring high school students really isn’t my thing. But I really liked how earnest and eager Noelle was. Cal was where I hit a snag. First of all, I wanted him to be more of a dom. He kept threatening punishment but never doled it out despite Noelle being a brat to test his patience.
Overall I really enjoyed this anthology. It was the perfect spicy and festive read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews