Wednesday, January 23, 2013

To All A Good Night anthology

Type: Contemporary Romance, Christmas
Heat: 2/3 out of 5
Rating: 4 out of 5

Not bad. Not bad at all. To All A Good Night was a delicious holiday read filled with sexy men and spunky women. Lots of heat and delightful adventure. Basically it's some good not-so-clean Christmas fun ;)  There's no real connecting theme other than, maybe, finding love when you least expect it? I really loved two of the stories (Shalvis and Dimon). Both are easily 5 star stories. 

Unleasehed by Donna Kauffman (3 out of 5)
When Emma Lafferty is hired by a billionaire CEO to watch his pets over the holidays, she expects to enjoy a quiet Christmas in opulent surroundings. What she doesn't expect is to spend the week trapped in the mansion with the CEO's sexy great-nephew??-and heir-whose motives are as shady as his desire is crystal clear....

I loved the whole concept of a petsitter expecting a quiet week with her charges but getting a surprise house guest that runs amok trying to uncover a family secret. A winter storm knocking out the power and creating an intimate little world. Sounds like a good time. There were some great parts. The dogs, Jack and Martha, were adorable and so well written. The writing moved along nicely and was easy to read. Things were hot and steamy between Emma and Trevor and I LOVED their first meet up. They did hit on one of my pet peeves though. In less than 24 hours Emma and Trevor are madly in love, planning their future together and Emma is moving to a new state to be with him. Gah! Eye. Twitch.

The big problem though was that Trevor has spent more than a decade trying to uncover his family secret then as soon as the answer is right there in front of him he decides he doesn't want to know the truth because Emma's what matters to him now. Huh? I REALLY don't like unfinished storylines and to me this was unfinished. I wanted to know the truth even if Trevor didn't. Then the epilogue there's a random comment about an unknown "relative" some how finding out the family secret. And STILL we don't know what it was. Drives me crazy. Kauffman's story started out strong but in the end it pushed too many of my buttons and more or less fizzled. 

Finding Mr. Right by Jill Shalvis (5 out of 5)
Brilliant chemist Maggie Bell has a knack for choosing Mr. Wrong, and with yet another lonely Christmas looming, she decides it's time to alter the equation-and seek out someone who seems totally wrong for her. Enter Jacob Wahler, the rough and rippling contractor who's about as far from Maggie's type as he could get. But suddenly what's wrong for Maggie seems oh-so-right....

Turns out Shalvis is just as good at writing a short story as she is a full length novel. The writing's excellent, the storyline creative and the characters lovable. I busted out laughing several times reading this one which earned me some funny looks from the herd. The chemistry between Jacob and Maggie was fantastic and there was even a little bit of a mystery involved which I really enjoyed. The ending was a little over the top but still an entertaining read that had me smiling and wishing it were just a little longer so I didn't have to give them up quite so soon. Overall this was pretty typical Shalvis: delightful, fun and a damn good time. Really can't ask for more than that. 
"So you wanted me to be your Mr. Wrong," he said. "To break your not-quite-two-year dry spell with some hot sex." He arched his brow. "Were there any particulars? Special requests? Kinks? 
She sighed. "Do you have to be crude?" 
"Oh, baby, if you think that's crude, then we're going to be in trouble when we get down to the doing."
Can You Hand Me the Tape? by HelenKay Dimon (5 out of 5)
Natalie Pritchard is desperate. It's a week before Christmas and she's lost the naughty tape she made for her now-ex-boyfriend. She's so desperate, in fact, that she'll turn to her nemesis Spencer Donovan for help. The sexy criminal defense attorney would be only too happy to assist-but can Natalie afford his price?


Ahhh. What a wonderful surprise! Dimon has definitely found a new fan. Her main couple was so much fun with their slightly antagonistic relationship. The chemistry was working for me and the sex scenes were steamy and well written. Watching their relationship change was very entertaining. One of the things I liked most about this one was that Natalie was a realistic heroine. She's a little overweight and even has stretchmarks. Spencer isn't the smoothest guy and he does manage to put his foot in his mouth more than once but he's such a good man and I LOVED how he helped convince her he wanted her just how she was. That he thought her body and everything about her was perfect. There's no real mystery or suspense but it's a great time and a fun read. Can't wait to see what Dimon can do with a full length novel because she totally rocked the short story.  
"You have a sister?"
"Two." His mouth kicked up in a smile. "And parents."
"Oh." Of course that made sense on some level.
"You think I fell to Earth in a spaceship?"
"Kind of."

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What do you think of instalust/love couples in romance books? 
Do you like your couples with a bit of a history before they fall head over heels in love?

11 comments:

  1. I do like second chance at love, and dislike instalove. Like you describe in the first story. But then, Donna Kaufman is not for me.
    Especially the second story sounds good.

    www.boeklogboek.blogspot.com

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    1. Yeah she really wasn't for me. Which was a shame since it had such a great start to it.

      Oh yeah it was a great showing from Shalvis! I had a lot of fun with that one :)

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  2. this seems a good gook^^ i could understand instant lust but i don't like when they act on it immediately i prefer when they learn about each other

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    1. Exactly. I was fine with the insta-lust and the two getting together right away. It was done nicely but the whole uprooting your life and making a lifelong commitment so quick? Eh. Like you I would have liked them to spend a little time after the initial lustfest and gotten to really know each other. Not that would have been a good story!

      Thanks for coming by Miki!

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  3. Its a shame about the 3rd story. Why do those anthologies always seem to work that way?? It always seems I love 2 stories and the 3rd is a dud. Blah! But glad you got 2/3rds!!

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    1. I've noticed that too. And you can never tell which one it'll be. Sometimes the dud is the well known author and sometimes it's the newbie. I really enjoyed #2 and #3 so not gonna complain at all. They were great :D

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  4. instant attraction is great, but instant Love isn't believable

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    1. The only time I don't mind the insta-love is with shifters. Still not my favorite but the whole mate-bond thing kinda makes it work. Much better than in non-pnr books at least.

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  5. "Gah! Eye. Twitch." .... You had me laughing. I know exactly what you're talking about. Authors, do NOT leave a reader hanging unless you plan on continuing this in the next book.

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    1. Seriously! It was one of the few times I wanted to harm a book. LOL. And can't find any follow up to it. There might be one but it's well hidden. Grrr.

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~Anna

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