Customer Reviews

A Holiday of Love

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There are four short love stories in this book, written by 4 different authors, of which, three is my favorite. Jude Deveraux, Judith McNaught & Julie Garwood. The fourth & last story was written by Arnette Lamb. I haven't heard of her before but after reading her short novella called, Hark! The Herald. I can't wait to pick up more of her books. This is also my first novellas. It is somewhat different from reading a whole book with one plot & with same characters. However, I find it rather unfullfilling. That is the only reason why I rate this book 4 stars. It's just too short for my liking. Read below to find out more...

First Novella: Change of Heart, By Jude Deveraux::::: This short story is about a genius 12 yr old boy name Eli. He wasn't rich yet lived with his mother in decent means. He befriended a billionaire, Frank Taggert. Love match making begun with the help of Frank's brother, Micheal Taggert & his wife Samantha, who couldn't wait to see Frank settled down. Mike & Sam's love story is in the book called, Sweet Liar. Since I thouroughly enjoyed Sweet Liar, It was good to read updates of them & their children. Eli's mother, Miranda is a very good mother, kind hearted & unselfish. I liked her attitude towards life. Though, she was attractive, she was described as 30 pounds over weight. I guess there are times, i get tired of reading a physically perfect heroine so this really appealled to me. Frank however is rich & handsome but his heart is as cold as ice. His friendship to Eli changed his outlook in life & his meeting with Miranda changed his heart forever. This story is simply heart warming esp. this Xmas season. The plot & the characters are very interesting that once again, i hated for it to end so suddenly. I wished JD would rewrite this short story & make it into a whole novel with more details. It really has potentials... especially if the friendship of Eli & Chelsea, perhaps their growing years together, would be added into it. This is why i rate it 4 stars. I wanted to read more.... Aside from my uncontentment, overall, it is a good book!

Second Novella: Miracles, By Judith McNaught::::: Now this story really bugged me! You see, I have read J.M's Whitney, My Love & Until You. Just like every reader who have read the mentioned books, I have been waiting for Nicholas Duville's story. He was one of my favorite hero of all times. He's smooth, cool, handsome, decent & kind hearted. He has fallen for Whitney & Sheridan in both books yet gave them up, even helped them find their true happiness in another man's hands. Now if that isn't heroic, I don't know what is. When I heard this book have Nikk's story, i bought it right away only to be disappointed. His story is too short. I agree with other reviewers here in Amazon that he deserves a book of his own. Once again, the story has full potential for a novel. Good plot, and Julianna was a darling. She was also in the book, UNTIL YOU. I liked her very much then that I wish to read more of her & of Nikki... Perhaps J.M. would rewrite this into a one book novel. I would buy it in a snap.

Third Novella: Daniel& the Angel, By Jill Barnett::::: This is perhaps my favorite story in this book. It is short yet fulfulling. Just like it should be. It doesn't leave you hanging or wanting to read more... perfect story for Xmas too. Lillian is an angel in heaven who kept getting herself into trouble. When she ruined St. Peter's gate, she was exiled back to earth. D.L Stewarts, a very rich yet uncaring man believed that money can buy everything, from love to people. As an ex-angel, her outlook on life was purely opposite to his, believing there is always good in every person & that money cannot buy people nor love. A challenge was made between them... St. Peter also gave Lillian another chance if she could perform a miracle here on Earth. She must make D.L Stewart give his heart out unconditionally in order for her to return to heaven & be an angel again. Would she succeed? But then... if she succeeds, what would happend if she returns to heaven? esp. when she finds herself in love with him? This story really touched my heart. The cute angelic occurances, the archangels, it's wings, halo, clouds.... the riddles & quotes all lifted my heart. It is a perfect reading tool this xmas time.

Fourth Novella: Hark! The Herald, By Arnette Lamb::::: Randolf Mcqueen found himself love at first sight at the Scottish King Herald, Elizabeth Gordon. He was known as a womanizer yet he couldn't seduce the most intriguing woman in their land. He found himself being chivalrous & patient... I enjoyed the way Randolf tries to win Elizabeth heart. The challenges & the bets... their bantering is also quite funny. I liked the way Elizabeth carry herself ; the way she takes pride in what she does. Although, I couldn't believe she was actually wearing a chastity belt! This story also include a short interesting history of the Scots & the English. The peace and unity of the Highland clans was a nice ending. This story is warm & fitted for the holiday.

Nicholas DuVille deserved a longer story. After reading about him in Whitney My Love and Until You, I have been eagerly awaiting his story.

It is so short and ends so suddenly that I am left wanting so much more. It is almost as if McNaught wanted to squeeze a certain amount of information within fifty pages or so.

So they meet, so they marry, and then he hates her. All of a sudden, he yearns for her...they yearn for each other! And then, a year later or so, she has twins. The end. No character development, no insight in their minds. All we get is a marriage, conflict, and then a resolution. Whoop dee doo.

Don't get me wrong. I love short stories better than full length novels. I loved Jude Deveraux's Invitation, and I loved Judith McNaught's Double Exposure. I just feel there could have been a better story here, because Nicholas was so witty and urbane.

Oh well, maybe next time.

I loved Judith McNaught's Miracles, but just can't understand, why Nicki's story was confined to a short story. As much as I enjoyed the story, I think they deserved a full-length novel. Jude Deveraux's Change of Heart was also great. I always enjoy a good Taggart story, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Frank, Randy and the matchmaking Eli. Jill Barnett's stories are always a joy to read and Daniel and the Angel is no exception. Hark the Herald! is the first story that I have read by Arnette Lamb, and after enjoying this one so much, will definitely be reading more.

Nicki DuVille is one of my favorite JM characters, and I was saddened that he only rated a short story. After losing both Whitney and Sheridan, to the Westmoreland brothers, Nicki deserved so much more! I hope that JM decides to expand his story and give him the credit he deserves. Nicki DuVille is so much more than a short story character! The story itself was good for how short it was, but I found it difficult to enjoy being rushed through Nicki and Julianna's story. But one point I would like to make is that Nicki did not suddenly become like Stephen and Clayton. If you have read Whitney, My Love, Nicki is first introduced as bored, arrogant, and somewhat disillusioned. He needed the right woman to change that, and a longer story in which for her to do it!

Nicholas DuVille is my favorite Judith McNaught character. While this story is very good - Juliana Skeffington is refreshing and fun with a witty sense of humor- Nicki deserved to have an entire novel devoted to him. After all, after a two book setup (Whitney My Love and Until You ), I was expecting at least equal consideration, if not more, since Nicki's is the most intersting character. Still a charming book. I recommend it.

I agree with the majority of the other readers, like them I felt that Nicki should have a full length novel because I too feel in love with his character in Whitney My Love. I happened to read the story of Stephen first and the tidbits of Nicki's character had be searching old boxes and shelves of friends personal libraries looking for a copy of Whitney My Love. When I had found it I was appalled at the injustice of it all. For Nicki to twice loose the girl to a Westmoreland. Even though I really enjoyed both tales I was hoping for an even better story for Nicki so consider my suprise when I found out that this was what you had in store for him. After twice being denied he should have had a full story considering the length of both the other novels. I sincerely hope that something could be done with Nicki's story that could pacify us readers because we are very disappointed. Use the power of the pen as you have always done!!! Good luck. (Suggestion) Maybe something like the story of Spence and Corey expand .

I agree that Niki's story should be told in all it's glory. I would love to see the progression of him falling in love not just the result. I think Ms. McNaught owes it to him out of respect for such an entrancing and well authored character.

I feel so devastated to read the story on Nicholas! I have been looking forward to his story after reading her note at the back of one of her paperbacks...I even had difficulty in finding this book but to my surprise!...it's like a short story kind of thing...I just hope that JM would redeem herself from Nicholas...I just don't know how she'll do it though....

The story on Nicholas DuVille was entirely too short. It had a lot of potential in it though. But while reading it I had the sense that I was being rushed through the whole storyline--a consequence of an abridged story, I guess. After the introduction we received from two of McNaught's previous work of Duville you'd think that his character will develop just as the Westmorelands had in a full length book. Hopefully, Judith McNaught can rectify this by writing a full length book.

I originally bought this book for Judith McNaught's short story about Nicholas DuVille. It's actually one of my least favorites, but I don't mind because it led me to two of the most delightful stories I've ever read.

The first story is Jude Deveraux's story, Change of Heart. It's was my first Jude Deveraux book, and my introduction to the Taggert family. It's just a beautiful, heartwarming story. I'll agree with other reviewers that it wasn't long enough. This could have been a great book, but I'll settle for what we got. Within the confines of a short story, Jude Deveraux was able to create warm, rich characters that I love to revisit time and time again. She was even able to portray likable preteens, a rare feat since teenagers are usually portrayed as adorable, helpless children, or sullen, emotional headcases. Everyone has such great attitudes in this story, well, except for the broody, tortured hero (lol) but he gets over it fairly quickly and sees the light with his heroine, Randy. I don't know if it's because this was released during the holidays, but it was so nice to read. Jude Deveraux is kind of hit and miss with me but this one was a winner.

Second story is Judith McNaught's book, Miracles. I bought this anthology for this book alone and well, I was disappointed. This didn't seem like the Nicholas DuVille I knew from previous books. Judith McNaught does the same flip with Nicki's character as she had done with Stephen Westmoreland's character in Until You. Completely changed his personality. I didn't care for that. I liked the meddling, charismatic frenchman and unfortunately, in his own book, Nicki came across as a cruel boar. It uses one of my most hated plot contrivances. The hero, who knows better, seduces the lady he knows despite how she dresses, is really an innocent, virginal young girl that he should be a million miles away from. He just can't help himself and when he gets caught, he blames the girl for tricking him. Well, keep it in your pants next time, you dumba**. He's forced to marry her, dumps her in one of his countryhouses, then proceeds to ignore her and get on with his life. For a moment I thought Julianna would succeed with her plan to leave him and become an authoress but unfortunately Nicki comes to his senses and returns Julianna's love. Pity.

The third story is Jill Barnett's, Daniel and the Angel. *sigh* My favorite of the short stories and one of my favorite stories all around. This is just a beautiful, rich story, that makes you cry and laugh and smile. Even after all these years, the story of Daniel and his angel can still make me cry. The actual outline of the story doesn't matter. It only matters that the emotion that comes off the pages will blow you away. This story is better then chicken soup when your feelings are down. I would have loved for Jill to have made this into a full length book but that would have been just a scoop of ice cream next to an already perfect slice of cake. This short story really is perfection just the way it is.

The fourth story is Arnette Lamb's Hark! The Herald. Can't review this one as I've never really finished it or else I just can't remember it. This short story never grabbed me. Also the whole chastity belt thing squicked me out. I'll try it again some day since it's gotten good reviews.

Overall, this was the best anthology I've ever picked up. I've never liked another one since. I rate them opposite A Holiday of Love and so far nothing has come close. Sure I like a story here and there from various anthologies but nothing as magical as Daniel and the Angel and Change of Heart. Get this for Jill Barnett's short story alone and then see how you feel about the other three. You won't be disappointed!!