Just in time for Christmas, two Christmas romances

I recently read two more Christmas books, one of them terrific and the other not so bad itself. If you are looking for a couple of quick Christmas reads, you could look to these two:

First, the great. Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Sarah Morgan.

This one was a complete winner.  Jackson has been called home to rescue his family’s failing winter resort. His father recently died and the resort is closer to closure than he wants to let on. He’s determined to do the right thing and save it, even if his entire family isn’t on board with it. Kayla is the ace marketing expert he hires to work her magic and save it, and who happens to hate all things Christmas. When offered the chance to hide in a cabin at the resort and work over Christmas, she leaps at it- not counting on the resort being in full Christmas mode. Add this to her extreme anxiety around close knit family and you have a recipe for disaster. I loved seeing her confidence completely shaken by both the unfamiliar setting (a snowy resort for a city girl) and the situation and I loved that Jackson was fully in her court all the way through- first as the marketing expert and then as a love interest.  Add this to how predictable *I* am as a reader (small town/resort setting, close knit family, 3 brothers on which to base a series) and you have you a home run. I am eagerly awaiting the next two  in the series both to see what happens with the family resort and to see how the relationships for the other two brothers develop.

I also read A Christmas To Remember, which is a short story collection by Jill Shalvis, Kristen Ashley, Hope Ramsay, Molly Cannon and Marilyn Pappano.

I found this collection to be uneven, with two of the stories really enjoyable and one of them really awful. The collection also included excerpts from longer books, which I did not read. (I never read the previews of stories that aren’t out yet, or that I don’t own.) I felt like this was a great way to be introduced to authors I wasn’t familiar with and will be seeking out full length novels by Molly Cannon and Marilyn Pappano. Ramsay’s story of finding love in a barn with a baby was pretty far fetched, but I enjoyed her writing style enough to look her up, and discovered that I actually own a full length novel by her- Last Chance Christmas. (Another small town? Perhaps I should try these!) Cannon writes of an organizer meets messy accountant, and my favorite part is that this one didn’t end on a happily ever after note, but rather a “hey, let’s see where this goes” note. We all know that I’m already a fangirl of Shalvis, and this story did nothing to change that.   Sadly, I was completely turned off by both the story and the writing style in Every Year by Kristen Ashley (Let's just say she refers to the hero as "my man". Repeatedly.) I had wanted to enjoy this one because her earlier titles had intrigued me. I guess being able to mark someone off my massive “to try” list could be considered a positive. I would go ahead and recommend this book to other romance lovers, but I would not pay full price for it, because the new content in it is very limited. 

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read both books.