So I decided to do all my reviews, except for the one that is for a blog tour, as part of one wrap-up post for this challenge, since it ended after my November Monthly Wrap-up post came out. My original sign up post is HERE. My goal was 3 books, and I picked two from my actual physical TBR shelf. I actually ended up not reading either of those, but I did have two physical and two e-books and two audiobooks. So I exceeded my goal! The two e-books were ones I actually had listed on my original post as well. Here are the reviews!
Naughty & Nice (Pucked series outtakes) by Helena Hunting
Naughty & Nice Series: Pucked on 2021
Genres: Adult Sports Romance
Pages: 71
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
My Rating:
Goodreads
Deleted scenes, chapters, an alternate POV and outtakes from The Pucked Series to make you smile.
From Pucked Over
Two NEVER before seen deleted steamy scenes featuring Randy and Lily and their insatiable need for each other.
From Pucked Under
ONLY YOU: A future-take featuring our favorite bathroom bangers, Randy and Lily, that’s guaranteed to turn you into a puddle of love goo.
From Pucked Love
A Deleted Prologue from Charlene, and an alternate POV of Chapter 1, from Darren’s point of view.
Lick or Treat
A Halloween outtake featuring Violet and the kids, including Lavender at her most adorable— it’s so sweet it will give you a toothache and make you swoon.
My review:
Overall this wasn’t a complete holiday read even though the cover totally makes it look that way. First are a couple deleted scenes from Pucked Over, which features Randy and Lily, who I love. Then there is a “futuretake” from Pucked Under, featuring Randy and Lily with their dachshund named Wiener dog, lol. That one takes place closer to the holidays we think of really. There is a deleted prologue and alternate POV of chapter 1 from Pucked Love. And it finished up with a fun Halloween outtake of our original couple Alex and Violet and their daughter Lavender being adorable as always. I loved going back into these stories as it has probably been a year or two since I’ve actually read the stories, so I gave it a full 5 stars for that, even though as always with shorts like this I wish for so much more!
Kiss Me in the Snow by Rich Amooi
Kiss Me in the Snow by Rich Amooi on November 1, 2022
Genres: Adult Holiday Romance
Pages: 270
Source: Purchased
Format: eBook
My Rating:
Goodreads
Buy on Amazon, Buy on Barnes & Noble, Buy on Audible
A fun, enchanting holiday romantic comedy!
Hollywood superstar Sophia Harris is trading stage lights for Christmas lights and spending a quiet, man-less holiday in snowy Lake Tahoe with her sister. At least that was the plan. But when a hunky ski instructor steals the show, Sophia finds herself up on skis, but falling hard.
Ethan Woods enjoys his laid-back lifestyle and relishes his time on the slopes. Things heat up with the arrival of Sophia, the stubborn vacationer who can’t seem to stay out of trouble. The vulnerability she so desperately tries to hide draws Ethan in like a magnet.
But all vacations must come to an end and soon Sophia will have to choose. Will she go back to her life of glitz and glamour? Or will she follow her heart to a happy ending with the leading man of her dreams?
My review:
I really enjoy Rich Amooi’s books whenever I get a chance to read one. So I guess last year when this was free on Amazon I grabbed it. It was a perfect addition to the challenge this year. It was one I originally planned to read in the sign-up post too. This was really cute, a lot of fun, and lots of romance. In a way we got two romances out of it, two HEAs. The only reason I marked it down half a star is because I didn’t like the way the third act breakup happened. While I expected something like what caused it to happen, I did not like the way that Sophia acted at all. But in the end I liked how things wrapped up.
Christmas Games (Kinloch Series #6) by Evie Alexander
Christmas Games by Evie Alexander Series: Kinloch Series #6
Published by Emlin Press on June 7, 2024
Genres: Adult Holiday Romance
Pages: 124
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
My Rating:
Goodreads
Buy on Amazon, Buy on Barnes & Noble, Buy on Audible
She's ready to deliver the best Christmas ever…
What Zoe MacGinley really wants for Christmas this year — yes, even more than getting to play Mary in the nativity — is a baby. And she's prepared to go to any lengths to get one, even if that means hunky hubby Rory suspending her upside down by the ankles after performing his matrimonial duties...
Preparations for Christmas at Kinloch Castle start early — as in January — but with a Hollywood house invasion and a village nativity on the cards, this year is going to be extra stressful. And that's before those two blue lines appear on the pregnancy test.
Rory's determined to be a good dad, unlike his own. He'll do anything to make the pregnancy smooth for Zoe, but no matter how hard he tries, everything keeps going wrong and his life turns into a real nightmare before Christmas.
With one chance to make their last Christmas as a couple memorable, Rory throws everything into making the village nativity one that Zoe will never forget. However, Baby MacGinley has other ideas and might just end up being the real miracle this December.
Christmas Games is a laugh-out-loud, fabulously festive, grumpy-grinchy sunshine, steamy, small town romantic comedy novella, with all your favorite characters from the Kinloch series and a guaranteed happily-ever-after! It can be read as a standalone but is best enjoyed after the other books in the series.
Please note! A version of this story was first published in the Holiday Disasters series written by me and Kelly Kay. Then, it was entitled ‘No Way in a Manger’, and was one of the novellas in the book Christmas Chaos. I have made some minor changes to this iteration, however it is still substantially the same work.
My review:
I’ve enjoyed all of this series since the first one, Highland Games. And the author said this was in a short story/novella collection previously, and I do remember parts of it. However she did add a lot more to the story and maybe change a few things. This was a fun trip back to spend time with some of my favorite Scottish characters. It had the romance, some emotional bits with the pregnancy, as well as all the humor and steamy bits I expect when reading this author.
Studmuffin Santa (Ponderosa Resort Romantic Comedies #1) by Tawna Fenske
Studmuffin Santa by Tawna Fenske Series: Ponderosa Resort Romantic Comedies #1
Published by Tawna Fenske on April 1, 2024
Genres: Adult Holiday Romance
Pages: 186
Source: Purchased
Format: eBook
My Rating:
Goodreads
Buy on Amazon, Buy on Barnes & Noble, Buy on Audible
Ugh, Christmas. Not a fan. So why am I wearing a Santa suit and letting frisky moms paw me at a reindeer ranch?
It might have something to do with the family crisis that drew me home between tours as a career Marine. Or maybe it’s my urge to cozy up with the prickly reindeer rancher whose curves give me visions of something way hotter than sugarplums. Jade King isn’t thrilled I’m here, and she’d be less thrilled to know her sister hired me to keep an eye on things. Someone’s set on sabotaging the ranch, so I’ve got a built-in excuse to get close to Jade.
I could swear the attraction’s mutual, but something’s holding her back. Some secret in her past that has her pushing me away like a bad batch of eggnog. It’s almost as baffling as all these accidents at the King sisters’ place. Seriously, who’d screw with a reindeer ranch? Between sexy Santa suit malfunctions and risqué Christmas cookies, Jade and I keep ending up under the mistletoe together.
Is there any chance we can mesh our Christmas wish lists, or will it all crash down like a fat man in an iron sleigh?
My review:
This is one I got as a freebie in 2022 I think? I found it when I was trying to go through all my freebies I’d saved on Goodreads to sort as holiday, as well as sort into lists by less than 200 and less than 100 pages for when I needed quick reads. This one fell under 200 pages and was a quick fun read to fit in for this challenge. I will try some other books by this author in the future I think!
Cruel Winter with You (Under the Mistletoe Collection #1) by Ali Hazelwood
Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood Series: Under the Mistletoe Collection #1
Narrator: Vivienne LaRue
Published by Amazon Original Stories on November 12, 2024
Genres: Adult Holiday Romance
Length: 02:00
Source: Purchased
Format: Audiobook
My Rating:
Goodreads
Buy on Amazon, Buy on Audible
2 hours
For two former childhood friends, a blustery winter storm stirs some frosty—and scorching—memories in a delightful short story by #1 New York Times bestselling author Ali Hazelwood.
All newly minted pediatrician Jamie Malek wants is to borrow a roasting pan for Christmas dinner. Unfortunately, that requires her to interact with Marc—her best friend’s troublemaking brother, who’s now a tech billionaire. He’s the one who got away. She’s the one who broke his heart. Outside, a howling blizzard. Inside, a crackling fire. Suddenly, being snowbound with the man she never expected to see again might not be such a bad way to spend a winter’s night.
Ali Hazelwood’s Cruel Winter with You is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.
My review:
I loved this one! It was a really short novella and it was perfectly done. We had all the misunderstanding that led to being enemies happened in the past before this story takes place. But we get a good long flashback in the 2nd chapter to get us caught up on Marc and Jamie’s history. We don’t quite get the whole details on the actual misunderstanding until the very end, but when it comes, it is just both funny and perfect. I’m using the word perfect a lot in this review I think, lol. But honestly, this is one of the best novellas I think I’ve read in that while yes, I’d love a longer time with these characters, the author gave us everything we needed in the short time to make the story feel complete. I can only hope the rest of the stories in this series live up to this one, although we’ll see since they’re from different authors!
Grouch-ish (Holiday Hotties #3) by L.B. Dunbar
So this one is part of a blog tour and the review will go live tomorrow, so check back then!
0
0
0
20
Congratulations on exceeding your goal! I see you enjoying all of these reads.I don’t see a star rating for Studmuffin Santa. I enjoy books with Scottish characters.
Ooh, thanks for the heads up! That was a 5 star read, I just went and fixed it in the review.
You had some great reads! And many of them had dogs. I am also a big fan of Cruel Winter with You and Studmuffin Santa.
Those were probably my favorites of these! I need to go check out everyone else’s posts for the books they reviewed for this challenge.
Look at all those pretty Holiday Reads/Listen. Nice job on exceeding your goal.
Thanks! Yeah, there were definitely some good ones!
Look at all those holiday stories! I agree with you on Hazelwood’s title. At first I was like – why do we need so much back story? Why do we care how they’ve known each other so long… but it really worked. So cute!
Agreed, but I feel like doing it that way made it perfect! 🙂
Sounds like you had a great readathon. I liked the Ali Hazelwood story.
I did! I also just finished the Olivia Dade story and liked it too!
You had a wonderful readathon Lisa!
It went really well, and I seem to be continuing it now! Got kind of in a groove and enjoying the holiday reads a lot this year.