Review - - You Had Me at Christmas

You Had Me at Christmas

By Karina Bliss, Stephanie Doyle, Laura Florand,

Jennifer Lohmann, and Molly O’Keefe

Publisher: Self-Published

Release Date: October 17, 2016
  

Anthologies of Christmas novellas have become common since the marriage of romance fiction and digital media, but there is nothing common about this anthology. It is an extraordinary collection by five talented authors of contemporary romance.

It gets off to a strong start with Karina Bliss’s “Play,” following Rise, the first novel in her Rock Solid series. Jared and Kayla Walker are high school sweethearts who married young. Kayla believes in Jared’s talent and encourages his dreams. When Jared won a spot in Zander Freedman’s resurrection of the band that made him famous with a new group of musicians, the resulting fame and all that accompanied it put a strain on the Walkers’ marriage. Having Kayla and the children join the tour was an attempt to relieve the tensions, but it backfired, putting their marriage in real jeopardy.

After the scandal surrounding Zander’s lip syncing in an appearance and the scare about the star’s throat, no one is sure what is going to happen to the band. Jared is home, making a desperate effort to repair the damage to his relationship with Kayla. She is no less committed to the relationship, but her confidence in herself and in Jared’s love for her have been undermined by her experiences on the tour. Her doubts about their future as a couple cannot be easily addressed. Christmas is approaching with all the attendant pressures of excited kids and family gatherings, and Kayla and Jared find it difficult to find time for the two of them. Can they find their way back to each other despite the difficulties?

Karina Bliss is brilliant at creating characters who hook me head and heart, and her prose is always superb. These qualities have made her one of my auto-buy authors. Rise was my top contemporary romance of 2015, even though I was initially skeptical about Zander Freedman as a hero. I have been eager for more of Jared and Kayla’s story since I turned the last page of that book. I was a bit disappointed that it was a novella, but Bliss, who first gained attention as a category author, knows how to pack a lot of story in fewer pages. “Play” was all I hoped it would be.

It is obvious that Jared and Kayla are deeply in love with one another and want to salvage their marriage, but their problems are significant. There is nothing trite about the obstacles they face. Jared is no self-destructive rocker seeking absolution for his betrayals, but fame has changed him and the way he lives his life. Bliss wisely avoids the simplistic and makes the marriage in trouble a problem that requires both partners to grow in understanding of self and one another if their reunion story is to have an HEA. The story has humor (including a very funny sex scene) and poignance, appealing kids and marital passion, and the real feel of a family preparing for Christmas. I loved it! “Play” alone is worth purchasing the anthology.

It is not necessary to have read Rise to enjoy this novella, but having read the earlier book will enhance the reading of the novella. The second novel in the series, Fall (the story of Zander’s PA Dimity Graham and Rage drummer Seth Curran), is scheduled for release in next month. I can’t wait.

~Janga

Stephanie Doyle’s “One Naughty Little Christmas” is the second story. Alone on Christmas night and counting the hours to December 26 when life will once again be filled with the demands of work, Kate McCullen passes the lonely hours with a little wine and consideration of a new app her assistant had downloaded to her phone: “a dating app specifically for people over forty. A more serious, more mature group of single people looking to find each other.”  Tentatively, Kate opens the app and, after a few misses, sees a picture of a man that intrigues her. The two connect—cyberly, emotionally, and, in a move out of character for both of them, sexually. Kate never expected that her lonely Christmas evening would end with Internet sex.

Moving the relationship from the virtual world to the real one is more complicated. Regardless of their instant connection via the dating app, Kate and John are very different, and they have their share of baggage. Both have known loss, and both know that the real is riskier, scarier than a fantasy. Can they overcome their fears and give the love they have unexpectedly found a chance?

I love the developing trend of older heroines and heroes, so I was predisposed to like this one. I found Kate, a woman who had devoted two decades to building a successful career and is now questioning if it is enough, a particularly sympathetic heroine. The cross-class romance is one of my favorite tropes, and this was an interesting take on that one. For readers who like highly sensual romances, this one has some sizzling scenes. My one complaint is the title. To me, it suggests a rom-com rather than the considerably more substantive story Doyle gives her readers.

~Janga

Jennifer Lohmann is up third with "Twelve Kisses Until Christmas." Selina Lumina's dreams of leaving her small Idaho town to pursue a career in the art world have turned to desperation with the increasingly insistent drunken attentions of her abusive stepfather. With little money left from her waitressing job at the local diner after paying for one college course per semester and many of the bills at her mother and stepfather's home and no emotional support coming from her mother, Selina sees no way out of her dilemma. Her future looks bleak...until the morning a stranger walks into the diner and offers her the chance of a lifetime.

Recently selling the app he created with his good friend for millions of dollars, twenty-five year old technology whiz kid, Marc Murcowski is determined to enjoy his new-found wealth, driving around the country, exploring out the way places and every ski run he can find. Except, it's not fulfilling him like he'd anticipated. He's bored, lonely, and can't stop thinking about the sold app that he's confident he can still make better. The only bright spot in his currently dreary life is the cute but weary - and wary - waitress in the small Idaho diner where he's stopped to eat. An impulsive decision leads him to offer her a ride to Salt Lake City where she can pursue her dreams if she'll agree to explore the out of the way tourist attractions with him along the way. The offer is strictly platonic but as they slowly come to know one another on the trip will it stay that way? And once they reach Salt Lake City, will they be willing to say good-bye or will they have found new dreams to explore together?

Selina and Marc are both young but no less complex for their ages and experience or lack thereof. Selina, in particular, is wise beyond her years, no doubt due to having to mature quickly because of her family situation.  Marc, while the elder and more successful of the two, has more maturing to do, a fact that Selina recognizes even if Marc doesn't. At least, not at first. Lohmann does a good job of keeping the characters and their journey true to their age and experience, especially with the ending which I found very satisfying. This was my first story by Jennifer Lohmann. I enjoyed her writing and plan to seek out more.

~PJ

I discovered Laura Florand earlier this year and she has quickly become one of my favorite contemporary authors. "Snow-Kissed," the fourth novella in this anthology, brilliantly showcases why all contemporary romance readers should have Ms. Florand on their reading list. This novella was previously published September 1, 2013 as the first story in Florand's Snow Queen duo.

Kai had once been a woman full of joy who was head over heels in love with her husband. She taught him how to smile, how to have fun. He was her world, as she was his, and then it all fell apart. Overcome with grief, unable to function any longer in her everyday life or find forgiveness, for either of them, Kai turned her back on Kurt and their marriage and escaped to his mother's cabin in the mountains. It had been 18 months since she walked out on their marriage and her soul was still as cold as the snow falling outside the cabin window when Kurt arrived at the cabin. She wasn't ready to see him; wasn't sure if she would ever be ready, knowing how she had ruined the love they once had.

Kurt had never stopped loving Kai during the long months they were apart. He knew he hadn't been there for her in the way she needed when her world fell apart but he didn't know what else he could have done. She retreated into her grief and guilt to a place he couldn't reach, didn't fully understand. When they are snowed in at the cabin, Kurt knows it could be his last chance to break through the wall she's erected around her heart, heal the rift in their marriage, and rediscover the joy they once shared.

In "Snow-Kissed," Laura Florand has created an exquisitely written, heart-wrenching tale of love, loss, grief, hope, forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation. It's one of the best, if not the best, second-chance love stories I've ever read. I was held spellbound by the imagery, the language, the fragility of these characters, the deep anger and feelings of helplessness, the tenuous hope as they cautiously reach out to one another, the gentle care and sensuous desire. The intimacy and emotional depth of this story is incredible. I didn't so much read it as I absorbed it at a gut level. It was as if I knew these characters, knew their pain, their anguish, and ached with them. In my opinion, "Snow-Kissed" is as close to perfection as a story can get. It has my highest recommendation.

A couple words of caution...
You probably don't want to read this novella on a crowded airplane (yes, I did and it wasn't pretty) and I strongly encourage you to have a full pack of tissues handy before you begin. There's a reason "Snow-Kissed" was voted Biggest Tearjerker of the Year in the annual AAR reader poll.

~PJ

Molly O’Keefe’s “Christmas Eve: A Love Story” concludes the collection. This is a reissue; the novella was briefly available in Sweet Talk, the limited edition collection released in May 2015 by Brenda Novak's Online Auction for Diabetes Research.

Trina Crawford and Dean McKenzie grew up on neighboring spreads in Dusk Falls, Wyoming. Best friends, they spent every Christmas Eve at the annual Christmas party thrown by Dean’s wealthy parents. Part of the tradition was the playing of Christmas carols by Trina on piano and Dean on guitar. That tradition, along with the Crawfords presence at the party, ended when Roy Crawford and Eugene McKenzie clashed over the ownership of a piece of land at the boundary of their properties, but even feuding fathers could not stop Trina and Dean’s friendship. Dean was there on the Christmas Eve when Trina’s mother left Dusk Falls forever, leaving Trina with her silent, drunken father. Dean understood Trina’s determination to escape Dusk Falls and her father. He too had plans to leave the town and the father he could never please.

The ties of friendship stretched but never broke as Trina left for college and law school and Dean studied land management in Laramie. If they each dreamed that there was more than friendship between them, the time never seemed right to speak of those dreams—not until as adults they found themselves back in Dusk Falls. But their idyll and their friendship were shattered by a double betrayal. It will take a Christmas Eve miracle of forgiveness to bring true reunion and an HEA.

Molly O’Keefe’s newest novels have been erotic romance, not a subgenre I read, so I loved this reread of a story that is a combination of sweetness and substance and characters so real I wanted to give them a hug. Friends-to-lovers and reunion stories are my favorite tropes, and this novella is a bit of both. I don’t rank this one quite as highly as O’Keefe’s Rita-winning Christmas novella “The Christmas Eve Promise” (2009), one of my perennial Christmas rereads, but it is a wonderful story and a sigh-worthy end to this excellent anthology.

~Janga

Have you read any of the authors in this anthology?

Do you enjoy Christmas themed romances? Do you like them light and comedic or deeply emotional?

Two randomly chosen people leaving a comment on today's post will receive an e-book copy of You Had Me at Christmas. (winner's choice of epub or mobi format)

Review - - Winning Ruby Heart

Winning Ruby Heart

By Jennifer Lohmann

Publisher: Harlequin (Superromance)

Release Date: September 1, 2014

Ruby Heart was once one of America’s elite athletes, an Olympic gold medalist who put the United States on top in middle-distance race competition after years of being shut out of the medals. The darling of press and public alike, Ruby liked winning. Her parents, her coach, and her agent liked her winning too; they were all heavily invested in seeing that she continued to do so. Conditioned to doing what her coach told her to do, Ruby obeyed when her coach told her to inject someone else’s blood into her body as insurance for continued wins. When the blood doping scandal broke, Ruby’s coach went to jail, and Ruby’s career crashed in flames that burned hotter and brighter than the Olympic torch. She was forced to return her Olympic medal, she lost her lucrative endorsements, and she was banned for life from competing in any form of running represented at the Olympic Games. Hounded by the press and despised by the public, Ruby retreated to her parents’ home, a prisoner of her disgrace. But five years have passed since her public humiliation, and Ruby Heart is ready to run again.

At first, sportscaster Micah Blackwell can’t believe that the runner he spots at an ultramarathon he is covering for his network is really Ruby Heart. He hasn’t seen her since he humiliated her in an interview after the scandal and left her in no doubt about where an athlete who betrayed her gift, her sport, and the public trust fell in his estimation. A former star quarterback, Micah understands the competitive spirit and the desire to win. The late hit that ended his professional career and left him a paraplegic just redirected his ambition. Micah has his eye on an anchor chair, and a series focusing on the return of Ruby Heart could be just the plum that would win him that coveted place. Now all he has to do is persuade her to cooperate.

Ruby knows Micah Blackwell is out of his mind if he thinks she is going to give him a second chance to humiliate her. She may not be as immune to his charm as she would like, but she is not foolish enough to say yes to his request. However, when her mother unleashes Micah’s rival on her, Ruby decides Micah is the lesser of the evils. As Micah and Ruby spend time together, they become friends. When the possibility of a more intimate relationship develops, Ruby has to decide how much she trusts Micah, and Micah has to decide if what he feels for Ruby is worth the conflict of interest that could destroy the career that has been the focus of his life.

I gave Jennifer Lohmann’s The First Move high marks and enjoyed the other books in her Milek trilogy, so I was pleased when I received an advance copy of Winning Ruby Heart, particularly when I realized her heroine was an athlete. With the recent trend in romances featuring athletes, female athletes have been given surprisingly little attention. For these reasons, I was predisposed to like this book, and I was not disappointed in the major characters. Because much of Micah’s struggle occurs before the story opens, Ruby experiences the greater growth. It is refreshing to see her acknowledge her responsibility in what happened to her and refuse to play the blame game. The scene where she stands up to her controlling parents is a real cheer-out-loud moment.

Despite their initial conflict, Ruby and Micah have a great deal in common. They both know what it is like to have no choice but to give up the sport to which they have devoted themselves, and they both know what it is like to be defined wholly by a piece of who they are. Micah knows this experience from two perspectives—first as a star athlete and later as a disabled man. Neither had an idyllic childhood, and they both have definite flaws. They are real and they are sympathetic, despite their weaknesses. And Lohmann brings her readers into the lives of these two people with a rare richness of detail and emotional complexity.

Two things kept the book from being a five-star read for me. First, except for Micah’s father, Ruby’s Dalmatian Dotty (a heart-stealer for animal lovers), and, to a lesser degree, Ruby’s brother, all of the secondary characters lacked dimension. This was a particular problem with the villain because the impression of him as little more than a cardboard evil man increased through the high point of the action that felt more contrived than organic. Second, and this is a quality I often bemoan in categories, the ending felt too rushed to be fully credible or wholly satisfying. I badly wanted several more chapters that allowed the working out of problems and provided a more detailed HEA.

Despite these complaints, I recommend Winning Ruby Heart. Ruby and Micah make the book worth reading, and I’m in favor of supporting authors who depart from the predictable. I finished the book glad that I read it and eager to see what Lohmann has in store for her readers next.

~Janga

Super New Talent!

by Anna Campbell


I love it when I find a fantastic new author (I think we all know that feeling of  discovery!). I had this experience recently when I picked up RESERVATIONS FOR TWO, the debut SuperRomance from Jennifer Lohmann.

Even better, I had met Jennifer back in 2010 at the Orlando Romance Writers of America conference where she received the Librarian of the Year award. Jennifer and I bonded over many glasses of zinfandel and our mutual love of classic romance fiction. At the time I had no idea that this companion in the zinfandel murder conspiracy wanted to write romance as well as recommend it to her library patrons.

You can imagine my surprise when I discovered that Jennifer was taking part, along with a couple of my dear Romance Bandits sisters, Jeanne Adams and Nancy Northcott, in a Lady Jane's salon in Raleigh in March. So I rushed to order her debut romance, RESERVATIONS FOR TWO.

RESERVATIONS FOR TWO introduces the first of the Polish-American Milek sisters, Tilly, who has overcome personal tragedy to start up her own restaurant in her home town Chicago. So much hinges on the restaurant being a success, not least Tilly's need to justify her late grandmother's faith in her, so it's a devastating blow when an all-powerful food critic who operates under a pseudonym delivers a horrible review soon after the launch. Still reeling, Tilly encounters charming Dan Meier and experiences an immediate attraction unlike anything she's ever felt before.

Yep, you're right - Dan is our EVOL food critic. But don't worry, this book is so much more than an extended rap on the big misunderstanding romance trope. Both of these characters have enormous emotional issues standing in the way of their happiness and it's such a buzz watching them conquer their demons one by one until they're ready to stand together and seize their joint future. Yay!

Having finished RESERVATIONS FOR TWO, I immediately ordered THE FIRST MOVE which features Tilly's older sister, the very self-contained Renia Milek. Renia has risen above tragedy and its aftereffects to become a respected photographer in Chicago, but her emotional life remains a complete wasteland. That's the way she likes it - having been hurt so badly in the past, she is reluctant to trust again.

Miles Brislenn had a huge high school crush on Renia but she didn't know he was alive. When these two meet again while Renia is photographing a wedding, sparks immediately fly. Miles sets out patiently and lovingly to mend the broken heart of the girl he's never forgotten. Renia, as you can imagine, isn't exactly a willing participant in this process,but Miles proves irresistible.

In this book, I really liked Renia but I LOVED Miles. He's just such a lovely guy and he knows pretty much from the get-go what he wants. There's something so breathtakingly appealing about a hero willing to go to any length to cherish the woman he loves. Sigh.

Both of these books are great reading and if you're looking for a new voice in contemporary romance, run to your nearest bookseller and grab them. There were a whole stack of things I loved about these stories - the characters act like adults and they're so real, you feel like they could be sitting next to you; the emotional depth; the complexities of the family relationships portrayed (again, very real); the fresh, modern voice. I also loved the cultural detail of Chicago with its various ethnic neighborhoods and rich urban life. It's a city I've always wanted to visit - why doesn't RWA go there for a conference? I'd be the first person to book!

So my verdict on Jennifer Lohmann? Definitely a discovery!

As I said above, I love to find great new authors. Have you recently read any authors new to you who have become your new autobuy? What attracted you to these stories?