Customer Reviews

The Magic of Christmas (Heartspell)

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3 star:		(2)
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This anthology contains four longer stories rather than five or more shorter ones. I think that's a good idea because it gives the authors more room to work.

The stand-out story is "The Shepherds & Mr. Weisman" by Anne Kimberlin. Old cars, a lovable dog, and the celestial Mrs. Epiphania work their magic.

The second best story was "The Yuletide Spirit" by Kathleen Nance. It's about -- of all things -- a sexy Yuletide elf!

The stories by Emma Craig and Stobie Piel are not as successful, but still fun and charming.

I gave this anthology a total of C+ at All About Romance.

From the back cover:

Jack of Hearts by Emma Craig: With the help of saintly Gentlemen Jack Oakes, love warms the hearts of a miner and a laundress, turning a nineteenth-centure California mining camp golden in the glow of the season.

The Shepherds and Mr. Weisman by Annie Kimberlin: A two-thousand-year-old angel stand just outside of heaven--but before she can unlock the pearly gates, she must first bring together two modern-day soulmates down on earth.

The Yuletide Spirit by Kathleen Nance: A tall, blond, and handsome man--with curiously pointed ears--fufills the wish of a beautiful and lonely woman, and learns that the spirit of the season--and true love--is as alive as ever in the heated heart of modern-day New Orleans.

Twelfth Knight by Stobie Piel: Two honorable thieves, one a spritely young woman, the other a dashing and just knight, have only the twelve days of Christmas to traverse medieval England and find a secret treasure which just may be buried in each other's arms.

And my review:

The first story was one I had to push myself to finish. Hard to say exactly what the problem was, but it just didn't have that special something that makes you want to keep reading. It was clean though, if that's what you're looking for. Two stars.

The second story was better. I liked the grumpy angel who wanted to retire. She was just so atypical that it was refreshing. The paranormal portion of this story was very well done. Not one for re-reading, but entertaining the first time around. Three stars.

The third story was my favorite, and the one I kept the book for. I loved the idea of a half-human, half-elf who'd lost his Christmas spirit because he was so caught up in his job. It just added an extra twist to the story. And they way he was willing to sacrifice his own happiness for Noelle's (although it all worked out in the end, of course!) was so touching that I had tears in my eyes by the end. Will be re-reading this one in the years to come! Five stars.

The last story I didn't even finish. "Honorable thieves" the back blurb says. I didn't see much honorable about either of them. Especially him. I did not like his claiming her as his servant through trickery and then trying to treat her as such, while she tried to do the same thing. If I wanted to see a sexual power struggle, I'd watch a soap opera. I know most authors don't see marriage as a prerequisite for sex in their books, but I would think that love, if not at least affection, should be present instead of just lust. (There is a difference between lust and sexual attraction!) Instead, they pretty much hated each other's guts, yet wanted to jump each other bones at the same time. Like this theme hasn't been done to death. (I've never really liked it much, anyway!) When they hopped into bed, I gave up on this one. One star.

So there you have it: the usual mixed bag that you'll find when it comes to anthologies. However, I did think that The Yuletide Spirit was good enough to warrant the purchase of the book.