Customer Reviews

Mistletoe & Magic (Leisure historical romance)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

OK, I don't see the spot where authors can comment on their books anymore - or maybe I missed it, so I shall review us instead! First of all, the stories are all different, all fun, some touching, & mine (Here Comes Santa Claus) inspired because I was in a grumpy holiday mood. Not everyone is perky at Christmas - I'd been shopping & fighting in line for Pokemon Yellow. So my story tells the tale of two rebel elves who get booted from the North Pole for annoying Santa, and who when pitched together must at last face their feelings for each other. Unfortunately, this results in a planned ambush of the Father of Christmas. (which is pretty much what I planned to do to the Mall Santa myself)

The Fairy Godmother - Lynsay Sands (10*) - Roswald Keep, England, 1324 --- Lady Odel Roswald watched the sarchophagus settle over her fathers burial vault and just stood there, feeling nothing and wondering what she should be doing next. That her father had never shown her any feelings of affection, her grief was non-existent. Fortunately, she hadn't been alone very long when a round, little gray haired lady came rolling bursting upon her - a woman Odel would later discover was her fairy godmother whose sole purpose was to find Odel a husband. The problem was, in Odel's experience in dealing with a man, particularly the miserly and totally miserable one that was her father, she finally felt free and wanted no part of men - ever!
*** Typical Lynsay Sands brilliance in creating unique characters with humor and passion - total fun read!

A Midnight Clear - Lisa Cach (10*) -- Ooooh, this was so sweet, I'm still wiping the tears from my eyes! When Catherine Linwood had come home for the holidays to her hometown of Woodbridge, Vermont she wasn't sure what she would find that would still be familiar. She had gone off some years ago to Mt. Holyoke College, then spent time with her very wealthy Aunt who showed her a different type of society in New York and the capitals of Europe. She didn't think she'd changed, but home was familiar and when her very wealthy and very handsome suitor, Mr. Rose followed her home she was confidant that he would be the one yet questioned how she would know if it was love. But a wish upon the first snow, from her sister Amy, brought her the things she most needed that Christmas. A pair of spectacles with a cryptic message
See far,
And see near,
But let your heart's
Sight be clear
With a little bit of help, Catherine just might see what was beneath her nose in the quiet unassuming, and very kind Will Goodman, owner of the general store had to offer her.
*** Just loved every sweet morsel of this sweetly romantic homecoming love story!

Angels We Have Heard on High - Amy Elizabeth Saunders (9*) -- This again was a delightful story just made for the holiday season of the magic that seems to settle in around the holiday season. Set in Black Diamond, Washington, 1889 - Rose Shanahan, widowed, eight months pregnant and with two other small children had been asked to vacate her shanty coal miners cabin now that her husband was no longer alive and working the mines. Things couldn't have been worse with little food, little coal to burn and threadbare clothing barely keeping them warm. When young Daniel, decided that their last night would be a warm, he snuck off to steal some extra coal from the mine causing a series of events that brought the mine owner, Joshua Asher, into their lives and proved once again that God works in mysterious ways.... *** Heartwarming and should bring tears to even the eyes of the most skeptical who don't believe in miracles.

Here Comes Santa Claus - Stobie Piel (9*) - Ariana and Taran, two of St. Nicholas' most imaginative elves, were both trying to convince St. Nicholas that one or the other had to be let go. Both were immensely attracted to one another, yet for one reason or another their attraction ended up as a fierce competition between their toymaking abilities. More importantly, their rivalry was causing disruptions in the production of toys for Christmas and St. Nicholas decided they would both be sent back to the place of their birth to redeem themselves by doing a good deed and solving a problem which they would have to discover existed. The biggest problem of all would be for the both of them to work together without killing one another first! --- *** Sweetly sensual tale of elfin matchmaking.

*** Published in 2000 this is one of those really great feel good anthologies that is heartwarming, sweet, and just a superb read for sitting cozily by the fire!! --- Marilyn, for www.historicalromancewriters.com ---

Lyndsay Sands...4 stars....Nice story

Lisa Cach...5 stars...I loved this story about a gal that returns home for the holdays to find true love.

Amy Elizabeth Saunders...5 stars...somewhat of a twist with help getting the two people together in this story. very enjoyable.

Stobie Piel...2 stars...Didn't care for this story at all. When I am reading historical romances, I don't want Santa Claus.

Lynsay Sands: The Fairy Godmother (3 stars)

1324: Odel meets her godmother the first time on her father's funeral. Odel thinks that this woman is a little nut case since she claims that she is a fairy and it's her job to have Odel married and in love by Christmas. Odel doesn't want to be under a mans control ever again and doesn't want to fall in love either and she is close to loosing it when her godmother aunt drags a whole bunch of useless lords to her keep to woo her. As if that wouldn't be enough Odels neighbor, Lord Michelle Suthtun stops by as well. But unlike the other lords he doesn't seem to be useless and full of himself.
Ok, the godmother was partly annoying but the story was written with a lot of humor and I would have given it five stars. There was only one major problem: The story was set in medieval times but the characters acted more like regency people. A big no-no in my book and I hate if writers can't get the facts right and have huge discrepancies like that in their stories.


Lisa Cach: A midnight clear (5 stars)

1878: Catherine finally comes home for Christmas after she spent the last two years traveling Europe with her aunt. She is excited to be back home but she also misses a guy she met right before she went home and who seemed to like her as well. As soon as she's home she meets a local guy as well but isn't that interested at first. And when the other guy follows her home she is excited first but the local guy gets more and more interesting. I'm usually not a huge fan of heroines who can't make up their mind but this story was very, very, very cute.


Amy Elizabeth Saunders: Angels we have heard (4 stars)

1889: Rose Shanahan is really screwed. Her husband died a couple months ago and left her broke, with two kids and eight months pregnant. And now she also has to leave her house at the coal mine her husband was working at. She doesn't know where to go or how to survive with no money. I really thought this story would turn into one huge pity party of the "Buhu have compassion with poor little me" sort. That is until one `incident' happens and Rose pretty much bullies the owner of the coal mine, Joshua Asher, into taking her in as a housekeeper. Rose really shows what she's about and you can't help but like her because she's strong and funny. So the story was really cute and was going along nicely and I waited for the big love scene to come. Than - bang - they said their `I love yous', the story was over and it was a little like `Were the heck did that come from?'. I mean, they haven't even kissed and I could have seen them forming a crush on each other but love? Uh, I defiantly missed the part of the story were that happened.


Stobie Piel: Here comes Santa Claus (5 stars)
1890: Santa Claus, or in this case Saint Nicholas, selects brave humans to help him build toys in the Vale of Snow. Among them are Taran and Ariana who are drawn to each other and even shared a wild night a couple years ago. But instead of declaring their everlasting love to each other right then and there they turn into some sorts of enemies, always fighting with each other. Saint Nicholas finally has enough and gives them an ultimatum: They have to return back to earth and find one person who is suffering and they have to help this person heal. They have two days to do so - until Christmas Day - and if they don't succeed they are gonna be send back to their times. This was my favorite story of the four. I loved the back flashes to the times before Taran and Ariana got selected and what they did to earn their place in the Vale of Snow. Their constant fighting was sometimes a little annoying but since it's only a Novella it didn't turn into a huge turn off. If I would have read an entire book with their bitching I would have thrown it into a corner though.

I loved this book. I am always eager for the new holiday books to come out. I really couldn't wait for this one. It was a really great read.My favorite was here comes Santa Claus by Stobie Piel.