Frontier Christmas: The Mackenzies:Lily/ A Time for Angels/ The Long Journey Home (Mass Market Paperback)

by Ana Leigh (Author), Carolyn Davidson (Author), Kate Bridges (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Cozy up with three brand-new festive tales guaranteed to keep you warm all winter long! The MacKenzies: Lily
by extended New York Times bestselling author Ana Leigh

Just when Lily MacKenzie had given up hope of ever being married, she met Grady Delaney and his three matchmaking children! And soon Grady discovered that it wasn't just his children who wanted her to be part of their family . . .

A Time for Angels
by USA TODAY bestselling author Carolyn Davidson

Though Honey Bell Morris claimed she was simply caring for the old man she'd found lost in a snowstorm, Zachary Bennett was sure she was after his grandfather's money. But Honey Bell had a nurturing warmth that could melt even the most hardened of hearts.

The Long Journey Home
by talented newcomer Kate Bridges

After two years of being thought dead, lawman Logan Sutcliffe had finally made it home -- only to discover that the wife he'd left behind on their wedding night was engaged to another man!

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Harlequin (November 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373835477
• ISBN-13: 978-0373835478
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 3.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #721,822 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Finish To The MacKenzie's + 2 More..., February 13, 2005

By	ThisThatNEverything "thisthatneverything" (Columbus, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

I purchased this book for Ana Leigh's final story (Lily) in the MacKenzie's series. I enjoyed Grady & Lily's story. There wasn't much to it but it was enjoyable & gave a nice ending to this series. Lily (Cleve & Adee's daughter) had left the Triple M & was working as a Harvey girl in New Mexico in hopes of finding love. Grady is the town sheriff who is raising 3 kids on his own. Lily quickly formed a bond with the children & it didn't take long for her to realize that she loved Grady as well. Be sure you don't miss the rest of the MacKenzie series. This is the best series that I've ever read. I would sure like to be a part of that family. They are the meaning of "family".

Up next was A Time For Angels by Carolyn Davidson. I thought the book was good but not great. I didn't feel the characters had much personality & I couldn't understand how Honey could fall in love with Zachary in basically a matter of hours of re-meeting him. She had met this man 6 months prior when she went to the bank where Zachary was the president & he basically insulted her by suggesting that if she would have sex with him he would give her a loan to pay off her house. With Honey being the pure, innocent person that she was I just couldn't understand how she could fall in love with him after just 1 dinner together. Aside from that this book does have a good storyline. It's not a story I would highly recommend.

The last story in this book is The Long Journey Home by Kate Bridges. I thought the story line for this book was awesome. After just saying their vows Logan is called away to duty before he & Melodie even have a chance to consummate their marriage. Logan doesn't return that night as he has promised & is later pronounced dead. After 2 years Melodie has agreed to marry another man & all of a sudden Logan reappears. Can he capture Melodie's heart once again? I really enjoyed this story.

Overall I would recommend this book for women that like short stories but don't necessarily need the hot & steamy scenes. If that's what you enjoy you won't find much here.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't get into any of these stories, November 21, 2006

By	Gemma "bookworm" (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews

Since the back cover description is already given on this page, I'll skip straight to my review:

Ana Leigh has a lot of fans, but I'm afraid that I'm not one of them. I didn't find THE MACKENZIES: LILY all that great. In fact, I never even finished it. I felt that the heroine was a bit of a nosy shrew, constantly sticking her nose in where it didn't belong and presuming a lot of things that weren't even true. And the hero was a bit of a stuffed shirt. He was so proud that he got quite irritating after a while. I just couldn't really like either of them, so I didn't really care whether they got together or not. Two stars.

I was hoping for a good read from Carolyn Davidson's A TIME FOR ANGELS, as I'd really enjoyed her story "Stormwalker's Woman" from Harlequin's "One Starry Christmas" collection. But I'm afraid that a very annoying hero ruined this story. He was so quick to leap to conclusions without even trying to find out if they were true or not. He just came across as a man with a rod shoved up his...nether regions. And, as another reviewer has stated, the heroine's reasons for refusing the hero were very contrived, even for a romance novel. A shame, as this author has done it better. Two stars.

Kate Bridges' story THE LONG JOURNEY HOME had so much potential, but the delivery left a lot to be desired. First off, it stretched the bounds of believability quite a bit that the heroine took so long to recognize the hero. Even if I believed that my husband was dead, even if it had been two years since I'd last seen him, even if half of his face was scared and he had a beard, I'd still recognize him instantly. It just didn't ring true with me that the heroine didn't recognize him for such a long time. It wasn't like she'd been forced to marry him, it was a love match. Wouldn't she recognize the man that she loved, no matter what the circumstances?

But that wasn't the only problem with this story. After their initial meeting, there was hardly any interaction between the hero and the heroine. This was a situation fraught with tension (considering that the heroine was engaged to someone else), yet the author seemed to shy away from exploring that tension. And the character development was somewhat lacking, as well. I just didn't feel like I knew the characters. I didn't really feel their pain at being seperated. I think this book might have been better if it had been developed into a full-length novel. But the way it is here, it isn't an engrossing read. Two stars.

Most anthologies are a hit-or-miss proposition. Unfotunately, this collection was a miss. There are far better Christmas romance out there. See my list "Christmas romance books worth buying" for a list of my favorites. Skip FRONTIER CHRISTMAS, unless you're a fan of Ana Leigh and want to complete your "Mackenzies" collection.

4.0 out of 5 stars 3 great authors, 3 great stories!, December 5, 2003

By	Bonnie N. Blody (Owings Mills, MD) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What better way to get into the spirit of the holidays then to curl up with this truly outstanding trilogy.

First up is LILY by award winning author Ana Leigh. A continuation of her Mackenzie saga, Lily is Cleve and Adee's daughter who has struck out on her own as a Harvey girl. Losing her heart to three motherless children has put Lily in a terrible predicament, it seems she is about to lose it also to their handsome father, Sheriff Grady Delaney.

A TIME FOR ANGELS is Carolyn Davidson's contribution. Poor but proud Honoria "Honey" Morris is about to lose her farm, and Christmas is looking very bleak for her and her little sister. Until one snowy night before the holiday, an old man, lost and almost half frozen stumbles onto their property, and into their hearts. Much to the dismay of his hard hearted grandson, skeptical banker Zachary Bennett, the Morris girls have found a temporary home caring for his lonely grandfather. But Honey's warm nurturing seems to be finding a way to thaw out the ice in Zachary also.

The last in this Christmas collection is by Kate Bridges. THE LONG JOURNEY HOME is a story of a true Christmas miracle for widowed Melody Sutcliffe. Her husband, Mountie Logan Sutcliffe has returned from the dead, and will do anything to win his true love back!

Who can resist these wonderful, gifted authors? Grab a copy of FRONTIER CHRISTMAS, a warm cup of cocoa, and curl up under the tree for a truly magical Christmas read!