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Elle Brownlee's Holiday Sanctuary. A blizzard traps a hermit bird scientist and the inexperienced hiker who is actually a millionaire game developer over Christmas. Sparks (and more) ensue, but neither is capable of using their words to say "hey, this is fun, let's keep doing it". Not terrible but I found it boring

There's Something About Mary By Ebony Oaten. This one was ridiculously silly. The heroine is basically the walking definition of pants-feeling and it's one hundred percent lust at first sight. Added onto it is a controlling mother trying to get her to marry the mother's lover so they can kill the heroine and her cousin for their money. Super super silly. 2 stars

Mine on Thursday, Fiona M Marsden. I enjoyed the positive representation of Bastion and his lover, and the sympathetic Marie. Angie and Jasper were a little flat in comparision. 3 stars

The Making of a Mistress by Linda Rae Sande. The characters are pretty well written, but there's an abruptness to some of the scenes I found jarring. Still, it was very enjoyable. 4 stars

The Case of the Black Diamond by Clyve Rose. For all that this story was preceed by a notice 'this is not a cliffhanger' we never do get the answer to who dunnit, which was very unsatisfying. Also, the hero and heroine get poisoned and then immediately hook up, which was very out of left field and also very unsound medical practices. 2 stars

Redemption by Joanne Austen Brown. Firstly the subject matter is heavy, even if it's not detailed: both characters have dealt with rape and abuse, and there's a brief description of domestic violence and miscarriage. It's also not at all realistic: You don't get better from trauma by talking about it a few times. The intent was good but the execution was sorely lacking. Two stars

A Generous Heart by Pamela Hart. Good god, the number of misunderstandings these two had was utterly insane. I don't totally buy their 'deep' love, as they clearly can't understand one another that well. Three stars

Love Wasn't Built in a Day by Renée Dahlia. On the one hand I am utterly delighted to have a historical m/m story in among the straight stories. On the other hand I wish the two heros were better at talking. David goes on about how he can't possibly expect Humphrey to stay if they start a relationship, completely ignoring how the guy hasn't gone anywhere in ten years. Just sighing forever. 3 stars

Just a Glimpse by Heidi Wessman Kneale. The story just sort of ends abruptly. I actually said what the hell when I finished, it was so abrupt. This was more focused on drawing than on romance again, and the scene with the love confession felt a little out of nowhere. Probably would have done better with more space. Three stars

A Headhunter in London by Theresa Fuller. This one struck me as suffering from the author wanting to build tension and mystery at the expense of the romance. I was pretty confused for most of the story, and had a hard time taking the heroine being a semipro reporter seriously. 2 stars

Hazard's Daughter by Beverly Oakley. The overworked companion falls for her aunt's favorite godson. Everyone being horrible to Louisia was over done, and all of the characters were pretty thin. Some editting mistakes, but not horrible. Three stars

The Lady's Guide to Scandal by Emmanuelle de Maupassant. It's kind of a second chance romace, with the two having known each other as kids. But they each had their own difficult histories to overcome. The inclusion of some of the ancient MesoAmerican exploration was neat, but again not a lot of external conflict to this story. I enjoyed it for the most part.

The Christmas Rose by Emma V Leech. Bunty and Ludo are both very hurt people who care for each other very much. There's very little conflict, but the writing is pretty good. While they're not very realistic characters, they were extremely sweet, and I enjoyed reading about them.

The Highlander's Christmas Lassie by Anna Campbell. This was a pretty standard second chance romance after the couple was torn apart by outside forces. The ending was never in doubt once the heroine heard and believed the hero's side of the story, but it was cutely written and I enjoyed it.

The Highlander's Christmas Lassie by Anna Campbell. This was a pretty standard second chance romance after the couple was torn apart by outside forces. The ensing was never in doubt once the heroine heard and believed the hero's side of the story, but it was cutely written and I enjoyed it.

Rogue For Hire by Sasha Cottman. Regency trappings with modern dialogue and attitudes. There's no real tension to any of it, the hero and heroine both fall in instalove/lust, and even the sister who they teamed up to 'save' ends up 'in love' with the supposed gold digger, who loves her back and repents his past deeds. 1 star

Christmas in Central Park. My least favorite. I absolutely hate stories based on this much deception, particularly when the heroine (and it does always seem to be the heroine) just CANNOT fathom making her life easier by telling the truth, because the hero seemingly has all the power.

Heiress Alone. A Home Alone retelling set in Scotland, where the heroine is forgotten by her large boiterous family and the hero comes to save her and her servants from a pack of thieves. There's a lot of insta-lust, and the heroine had planned to be a nun to get away from her family. It's all too easy and even the thieves' plotline is way too easily solved, but it was well written and enjoyable

The Ghost Of Christmas Present: A second chance romance with the heroine returning home to the duke next door after 12 years away. I found it a little over blown. The hero was so intent on his navel gazing he was very cruel to the heroine who he professed to love madly, and then they fell into bed together and all was forgiven. I would have preferred if all of her pov chapters hadn't been flashbacks.

Meet Me In Mayfair:
Cute intense we-have-just-one-night type plot, bit of identity porn, as the heroine knows who the hero is and what he is to her family, but he doesn't, and burnt shortbread. I liked it, although te falling for one another was by necessity rather rushed

Oh my freaking god, this whole drawn out 'I can't tell you my ex is a psycho, cause even though we're fucking like rabbits and just fell in love and trust each other SO MUCH you might not understand!' is driving me CRAZY. USE YOUR FUCKING WORDS, LIAM. STOP BEING AN OBTUSE TOOL, JON.