Customer Reviews

Trueblood Christmas

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

 

 

This is another one of those multiple novels in one book. Three different authors have contributed tales that all tie up into one cohesive whole story. This is not strictly a holiday book, but it does take place in the holiday season.

I am rather new to reading this genre, but this was uplifting and well paced. All three authors crafted fast paced gripping stories, with realistic characters. I loved seeing the ties between the tales.

If you need a quick read to lift your spirits for the holiday season, or just because, pick up a copy of this book. I doubt that you'll be disappointed.

I don't detail the stories here, as I HATE when people give spoilers!

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

I bought this book because it's a Christmas-themed romance (supposedly). I know that most romance anthologies are a hit-or-miss proposition, given that the stories are so short, and this one was definitely a miss.

Jasmine Cresswell's GABRIELLA started off so well. I love the idea of life-long friends finding love. The interesting twist to this story is that the hero and heroine are secretly in love with each other, but each believes that the other is not interested in anything more than friendship. So while the sparks do fly, both are trying to pretend indifference to keep from being hurt.

But after this interesting set-up, the story just went downhill. The hero and heroine were constantly kissing, yet they still each continued to believe that the other person wasn't interested in a romantic relationship. So you just kiss all of your friends? Okay...but that wasn't the worst of it. They end up falling into bed (and I found it rather icky that they were using the bed of a stranger, since they were looking over the house--the hero was considering buying it), the characters finally admit that they love each other, and hero proposes. Great, now they can settle down to their happily ever after, right? Wrong! The heroine suddenly gets all weird and starts running away. This is what she's always wanted (since she was a teenager), yet she keeps pushing him away. Huh? It just made no sense. The man loves you, you love him, you've been dreaming of marrying him since puberty, and yet when he finally admits that he loves you and asks you to be his wife, you push him away. WHY? The author was unable to give me a compelling explanation.

It was just so ridiculous and totally out-of-character that I could not make myself finish this story. I can't stand stupid characters, and the heroine was one of the dumbest I've ever encountered. One star.

Tara Taylor Quinn's BETH was the next novella in this collection. I didn't have high hopes for this book, as I find that this author's writing just doesn't work for me. As this author does have a fan base, it could just be a personal thing. But I find that her stories feel rather choppy and unpolished. And the romance was really on the back burner. This felt more like a long-winded article about gifted children than it did a romance novel. The relationship had a very rushed feel to it, as if the author had just decided to tack romance on at the last minute. And the heroine's weird hang-ups detracted from, rather than adding to, the story. Two stars.

Last in this collection was Kate Hoffmann's GEORGIANA. This was a story that couldn't decide what it wanted to be about: forbidden love, two feuding families, or about an adopted woman (who doesn't know she's adopted) being finally reunited with her birth father. Unfortunately, none of these elements were done well, I'm sorry to say. The romance was so rushed you would miss it if you blinked. It was like the author wanted to get the "falling in love" part out of the way so that she could get to her "real" story. There was nothing between the hero and heroine but sexual attraction. She doesn't give the reader any reason why these two should love one another. They meet one minute, the next they're making out, the next, they're engaged. Without any real buildup or set up or character development. I need to know why the characters should be together. The fact that he's a man and she's a woman does not cut it. Two stars.

This book didn't satisfy on any level. All of the themes were barely touched on. None was really developed. The romance was basically non-existant. The "father being reunited with his long-lost daughters" felt like a plot device, as merely something to tie these three books together. I saw no real mention of Christmas. Nothing about this book put me in a holiday mood. The characters were just there. They never developed into real people the reader feels like they truly know. The stories didn't even have a "Texas" feel to them, as the back cover promises.

There are far better Christmas romance anthologies out there. See my list "Christmas romance books worth buying" for a list of keepers and rereads. As for TRUEBLOOD CHRISTMAS, I recommend that you save your money.