1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A gentle reminder of the finer aspects of the holiday, December 15, 2008
In the title novella of this heartwarming romance collection, Fern Michaels introduces us to Amy Lee, a glamorous movie star bored with her success and her surroundings. Whoever said money can't buy happiness must have been thinking about Amy. All the trappings of her Hollywood lifestyle are unable to soothe her troubled past. As a teenager, her parents were killed in a gas explosion in their home in Apple Valley, Pennsylvania. Amy, known then as Amanda Leigh, was out shopping with her girlfriends when she heard the devastating news. Her Aunt Flo, a travel writer and adventurer in the Auntie Mame variety, quickly swooped in to care for her, and the two moved to southern California in an effort to start fresh. It was here that Amy got into acting and quickly ascended into film stardom. But her fame is simply a bandage on a wound too deep.
After suffering through another tedious party at her Malibu beach house, Amy decides to abandon her movie career (at least for the time being) and return to Apple Valley in the hopes of regaining what was lost --- her holiday spirit and a truer sense of happiness and fulfillment. Once there, she runs into her high school boyfriend, Hank Anders, also recently returned to town to spend the holidays with his twin brother Ben, now deployed in Iraq, his wife Alice and their twin infant sons. What he hopes will be a restful holiday is anything but when harried new mother Alice confides in him that she's cracking under the pressure and leaves him in charge of the house and the boys while she takes a few days for herself. Despite the hurdles of their very different lives, Amy and Hank rekindle their old love, and she realizes that you can indeed go home again.
In "Dear Santa," mystery writer Holly Berry is lost, both figuratively and literally. On the way to research a new novel, she swerves to miss a deer, and her car plows into a snow bank in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State. Just as she is wondering how many hours she can survive in this blustery cold, she is rescued by Gabriel O'Halloran, local sheriff, innkeeper and proprietor of the Christmas tree farm in the tiny hamlet of Santa's Village, the self-proclaimed "most Christmassy place on Earth." Gabe is a former Marine and single dad to five-year-old Emma, who mistakes Holly as the answer to her Christmas wish for a new mother.
Despite her festive name, Holly is not a fan of Christmas. As a matter of fact, she "hated Christmas. The whole Christmas season. She hated the tinsel, the trappings, the decorated trees, the wrappings, and most of all, she hated Santa Claus, whom she quit believing in when she was seven years old" after her father was shot and killed by a mugger on Christmas Eve. Despite a move to sunny Los Angeles, Holly has not gotten over it and never feels the desire to celebrate the holiday again. But once ensconced in the cozy town and after spending time with Gabe, Holly is ready to believe again.
Photographer and single mother Nicole Piper gets an unwelcome holiday surprise in Mary Burton's "Christmas Past." Nicole has overcome a great deal of anguish over the last year and is determined to put the past behind her and start anew in Richmond, Virginia, with her baby daughter Beth. But her tranquil future is about to be threatened by her violent past. Nicole receives a DVD in the mail and is horrified to learn that it's of her late husband Richard, whose violent and sadistic ways forced her to flee her old life in San Francisco. Back then, she was known as Christine, and after a brief and romantic courtship, she married Richard. Soon her daily nightmare of beatings and threats began. She knew she had to leave, or he would kill her. So she seeks out the help of Claire Carmichael, a woman who aids battered women. With Claire's help, she is able to get out of San Francisco and relocate to Virginia. Watching his face brings it all back, although she tries to reassure herself that Richard is dead and can't hurt her anymore. Or can he?
Richard is still trying to control her, even from beyond the grave. In the taped missive, he reveals that he hired someone to kill Claire for helping her escape, and if Nicole will go to his attorney's office in Alexandria, the proof awaits her. As much as she wants to ignore this latest bit of upsetting news, Nicole knows that she must go and get the evidence because a killer has gone free. Maybe after she turns over the information to the police, she can truly get on with her life. Local homicide detective David Ayden insists on accompanying her. David, a widowed father of two boys, has harbored a crush on Nicole for the past year, but senses that she's not ready to trust a man again. In an attempt to do the right thing, Nicole and David find themselves in the crosshairs of a hired killer bent on carrying out her late husband's last wish.
Trying to start anew is also a prevalent theme in Judy Duarte's "A Mulberry Park Christmas." Mac Maguire has no intentions of settling down on Sugar Plum Lane, but fate has other ideas. A San Diego homicide detective, Mac recently inherited his old partner's ramshackle Victorian home on the quaint street in his hometown of Fairbrook, but his only intention was to flip the house as soon as possible and get back to his life in the city.
Enter Jillian Grant, his old high school flame, recently divorced and back in town with her two young children. Mac sees poor Jillian struggling with the aftershocks of a bad marriage and tries to help her remember all the fond memories they shared, especially around the holidays. They became close all those years ago at the first annual Mulberry Park Christmas celebration, and this year Mac feels that Jillian needs to experience the joy of the season more than ever. And in his heart of hearts, he realizes he probably does too. For the first time in a very long time, Mac remembers the words a kindly old homeless man once told him: "If you choose to do right over wrong, every chance you get, you'll get that family you always wanted and reap the kind of life you deserve." Mac is ready to claim that life he's dreamed about for so long --- and he wants to share it with Jillian and her children.
The four novellas featured in SILVER BELLS each demonstrate a renewed sense of Christmas spirit. With the economy in shambles, wars being waged overseas, and the destructive nature of death and divorce ever present, who couldn't use a gentle reminder of the finer aspects of the holiday? The characters all struggle to overcome their individual obstacles and restore their battered spirits. By opening themselves up to the spirit of the season, they revive lost loves, renew long-forgotten hopes and regain that childlike innocence. In the words of Auntie Mame, "we need a little Christmas now." This delightful holiday collection fits the bill.
--- Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
four heartwarming holiday romances, November 4, 2008
"Silver Bells" by Fern Michaels. Although a star, Hollywood has not been fun for Amy Lee, who wants to leave the glitter behind her and just go home. This Christmas she returns to Apple Valley, Pennsylvania where her high-school boyfriend Hank Anders greets her in a way that makes her want to stay forever in his arms.
"Dear Santa..." by JoAnn Ross. Mystery writer author Holly Berry has another reason to hate the holidays; a blizzard has left her stranded in Santa's Village, Washington at the lodge owned by Gabriel O'Halloran. He and his young matchmaking daughter give her a Christmas that makes her wish for more of their loving magic.
"Christmas Past" by Mary Burton. The letter she receives provides hints to the identity of a killer. Having had a violent abusive husband, photographer Nicole Piper knows she cannot pursue this alone so she turns to homicide detective David Ayden for help. The widow and the widower face danger to their lives and to their hearts as both find a second chance at love if they survive their sleuthing ordeal.
"A Mulberry Park Christmas" by Judy Duarte. Sugar Plum Lane residents know how to enliven the community for the Christmas season. However, this year Alyssa Ridgeway still reels from an ugly breakup and is not in the holiday mood until she runs into her first sweetheart, James MacGregor, who reminds her of the Christmas kiss past, present and future.
These four heartwarming holiday romances each contain strong lead characters, a sense of the season, and entertaining story lines.
Harriet Klausner
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