A Family Christmas |
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Author:
Joan Hohl,
Elizabeth Bevarly,
Marilyn Pappano
By Harlequin
Average Customer Rating:  
List Price: $5.99
Our Price: $2.90
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Product Description
Here are three captivating stories filled with the joy of the season and the miracle of love. Includes "Christmas Stranger" by Joan Hohl, "Jake's Christmas" by Elizabeth Bevarly, and "Room at the Inn" by Marilyn Pappano. Republished titles.
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A waste of my time and money, 2005-11-21
From the back cover:
Here are three captivating stories filled with the joy of the season...and the miracle of love!
"Christmas Stranger" by Joan Hohl
Rugged U.S. Marshal Matthew Hawk needed Dr. Virginia Greyson's healing touch. But when he discovered he was a stranger in this time, he wondered if the Christmas gift of wife and family was truly his to keep...
"Jake's Christmas" by Elizabeth Bevarly
She was a wedding planner, he an embittered divorce lawyer. Rebecca and Jake had nothing in common--except his niece's wedding. Could the magic of mistletoe convince this cynical man to believe in love--and marriage?
"Room at the Inn" by Marilyn Pappano
Lovely widow Leah believed her life was full. The Bryce Cameron returned. Suddenly Leah needed more than children and a home--she needed Bryce. But did he need her love enough to make her Christmas dreams come true?
And my review:
As I found with all of the Joan Hohl stories I've read, "Christmas Stranger" was more of a "falling in lust" story than a "falling in love" story. I have no problem with sexual attraction between characters (in fact, well written sexual tension is necessary for a good romance) but I need more of a motivation than lust for me to cheer for the characters to get together. I enjoy time-travel stories, but I didn't feel this one was particularily well-done. After getting about half-way through this tale, I skimmed and was not impressed with what I saw: the virgin woman sleeping with the man whose slept with half the country, the baby that occurs from one encounter, etc, etc. Since I have over 100 other Christmas books to read, I skipped the rest of this one. One star.
"Jake's Christmas" started off well. I love the "opposites attract" theme in romance, and what could be more opposite than a wedding planner and a divorce lawyer falling in love? There were several annoying point-of-view switches within each scene, which I don't like, as I find head-hopping very distracting. Still, if a story is good, I can get past that and enjoy it. However, this was another "falling in lust" story. I am soooo sick of the "I hate you, but my body wants you so bad that I'm going to hop into bed with you anyway, even though I hardly know you, and somehow, that lust will magically turn into love" theme. I never liked this concept in the first place, and it's been so overdone as to be cliche. I know not everyone believes in marriage before sex, but I do think there should be at least some kind of commitment (let alone affection) before a couple hops into bed together. I never finished this story either. One star.
"Room at the Inn" is a reissue that I had already tried to read and didn't like. My review for it (previously posted) follows: I find that Marilyn Pappano's stories are either very good or ho-hum. This was one from the latter category. The story never seemed to "get started". I kept waiting for something interesting to happen, but nothing did. After pushing through the first hundred pages without encountering anything significant in either plot or character development, I gave up. One star.
All romance anthologies are a hit-or-miss thing. This one was a miss. There are better Christmas romances out there, so don't waste your time or money on this sub-par one.
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780373201426
ISBN: 0373201427
Label: Harlequin
Manufacturer: Harlequin
Number Of Items: 1
Publication Date: 1997-11-01
Publisher: Harlequin
Studio: Harlequin |
