Monday, September 23, 2013

The Sugar Cookie Sweetheart Swap Anthology w/ Kauffman, Angell & Kincaid

Aaaannnd...craving cookies. Lots and lots of cookies. The Sugar Cookie Sweetheart Swap was a great little Christmas collection surrounding the lives of three girlfriends, a winter storm and, like I mentioned, cookies galore! It's sweet, sassy and even a little steamy and just what you need to get in the Christmas spirit!
Type: Contemporary Romance anthology, novellas
Heat: 3 out of 5
Rating: 3-5 out of 5

Amazon Book Depository Goodreads
Where There's Smoke by Donna Kauffman--3 stars!

When flames from a recipe gone disastrously wrong send hunky fire-fighter Will Mason to pretty Clara Parker's rescue, the sparks really begin to fly! And once Will gets a taste of Clara, he aches for more than just a little sugar from the famously single food columnist...
 
Clara is a hot mess when it comes to all things baking and Lord help her she's just landed a gig as the Christmas cookie columnist for the local paper and things get off to a very hot start as she starts her cookie baking adventures. Enter firefighter Will who swoops in and saves his old college friend from a glorious cookie disaster. I'm always a fan of second chance romances and loved that these two knew
each other years ago and were good friends once upon a time. It really made their instant connection and relationship believable and pretty cute. Will. Gah. He's all kinds of sexy firefighter goodness and spends a good bit of time shirtless. *girly swoon* He's just a sweet guy. Clara I had a little harder time with. She's having a rough go lately but really instead of feeling completely sympathetic she came off a bit whiny and oy I am not a fan of whiny so it was hard to connect with her. It was still a cute read though.
 The Gingerbread Men by Kate Angell-- 4 stars!

Folks have always told fun-loving Abby Denton that her anatomically correct Gingerbread cookies are...impressive. But those erotic cookies have nothing on the sexy stranger Abby saves from a snowy country road. Could Lander Reynolds be the Christmas treat she's truly been longing for?
Gingerbread men with candy cane erections. ::gigglesnort:: Kate Angell is freaking brilliant! The Gingerbread Men was a sweet, fun and heartwarming read that kicks off with naughty gingerbread men causing all kinds of havoc and landing one sexy hunk of a man on Abby's doorstep during a fierce winter storm. There was a very intimate feel to this one and you could really believe the emotions thrumming through Abby (the x-rated cookie maker lol) and Lander were feeling and the bond between them. They've both suffered losses recently and it was really touching how Lander helped her through her sadness and grief of her first Christmas without her Grams. Getting her to talk and decorate and remember the good times. I did think there was a touch too many mentions of her grandmother but really it was just moving seeing how much he cared and wanted to do for her. There's also an awesome kitty who really brought a sweet little element to their story. All in all a great read with a really wonderful ending that left me smiling. 

Sugar and Spice by Kimberly Kincaid-- 5 stars

When caterer Lily Callahan goes up against hotshot pastry chef Pete Mancuso in the bake-off of the season, the stakes are high - and scandalously passionate. Will the gorgeous gourmand steal Lily's heart - and the top prize in the Christmas cookie competition?
Once again Kincaid wowed me. Sugar and Spice was sweet and sexy, heartfelt and delicious and topped off with the excitement of a life changing competition. Basically... it was pretty damn perfect. Lily and Pete are up against each other in a huge Cookie Competition hosted by the local resort and the two are amazing. I loved watching them compete, get to know each other and butt heads a little bit because omg they are such opposites. He's a cocky go by the seat of your pants pastry chef (and holy cow pastry chefs are HOT) and Lily's a hardcore planner that follows all the rules. I was really pleased with what a deep connection was forged in so few pages and how quickly I grew to care about them both. They really grow as characters and it was just lovely watching them come together in and out of the kitchen. Kincaid truly rocks a foodie romance novella. If you haven't checked her out yet you need to. Pronto.



Alright so now that I've talked about all the good there is one thing I had trouble with that I think bares mentioning. The prologue and epilogue were difficult to get through. Too many names thrown at me. Too much back and forth activity/conversation. It was just confusing and made me feel a bit scattered and really didn't seem necessary overall. It would have worked great with just the three novellas in my opinion. So, just a heads up, if you're struggling with it hold tight. The novellas are totally worth it.

Have you read Kauffman, Angell or Kincaid? What did you think? 
What's *your* favorite Christmas cookie?

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