A HIGHLANDER CHRISTMAS
An anthology from Dawn Halliday, Sophie Renwick and Cindy Miles
Publisher: NAL
Release Date: November 3, 2009
Christmas is less than two months away. At my house, that means it's time for certain pre-holiday traditions to begin and one of my favorites is checking out the new holiday romances that are being released. A Highlander Christmas is an anthology of three stories, connected by a magical brooch, and set in three different time periods.
Winter Heat by Dawn Halliday
This steamy historical is the story of Maggie MacDonald, a woman facing an unwanted marriage to a despicable clansman and Logan Douglas, a wounded Jacobite returning home from battle as the new laird of his clan, a position he neither sought nor wanted. A magical brooch brings them together and love follows but his responsibility to his clan and her laird's insistence that she marry another threaten to tear them apart. Has Maggie's brooch led her to her life's mate or were her mother's words just a silly, superstitious tale? In Winter Heat, Halliday (who also writes as Jennifer Haymore) gives us an intense, fast-paced story that, while not as racy as her single titles, is still hot and very enjoyable.
Yuletide Enchantment by Sophie Renwick
Isobel MacDonald has heard the tales of the Sidhe who inhabit the otherworld and has heeded the warnings to never enter the woods at night but when the White Hart with whom she has felt a magical bond since the age of six is injured, she is powerless to resist going to his aid. As Prince of the Sidhe and future King of Annwyn, Daegan can take the shape of both the White Hart and a human man. Expected to wed one of his own, he has resisted, as Isobel, a human woman, has held his heart from the day he first saw her. When they finally meet as man and woman, the feelings that have grown within their hearts over the years are set free to flourish but will the sacrifices required for them to be together be too great to overcome? I thoroughly enjoyed this sensuous, historical paranormal tale and was delighted to discover that Renwick intends to return to Annwyn in 2010 with the story of Bran, a secondary character readers will meet in Yuletide Enchantment.
A Christmas Spirit by Cindy Miles
Determined to not spend another Christmas alone, Paige MacDonald is on her way to Inverness, Scotland when her car breaks down in a snowstorm, depositing her on the doorstep of the seemingly deserted Gorloch B&B where she is greeted by a gorgeous, but decidedly inhospitable, Gabriel Munro. Gabriel reluctantly agrees to let her stay but refuses to help her with anything, making her get her own room key, carry her luggage and even fix her own meals. The reason for his rudeness becomes clear when Paige trips and falls...right through the man standing in front of her! Unless the storm clears, it appears that, this year, Paige will be spending Christmas with the ghostly spirit of a centuries-old Highland warrior. Miles has done a superb job of creating a life-like man with the limitations of a spirit in this finely crafted love story. The romantic scenes in particular were simmering with sensuality while, at the same time, very poignant. A Christmas Spirit is, by turns, a humorous, heartbreaking and heartwarming gift not to be missed.
Do you enjoy Christmas romances? Do you re-read them every year like I do? Which ones are your favorites and what titles are you looking forward to reading this year?
~ PJ
