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By: Jill Shalvis, Kristen Ashley, Hope Ramsay, Molly Cannon, Marilyn Pappano
Release Date: Dec. 3, 2013
By: Forever Romance
Source: Publisher
GR's Summary:
Curl up with this heartwarming Christmas collection!
Jill Shalvis, Dream a Little Dream: Melissa has kept every man at a safe distance-especially firefighter Ian, a sexy friend with sexy benefits. But Ian secretly longs for more. Luckily, 'tis the season for giving love a chance . . .
Kristen Ashley, Every Year: Holidays don't come easy for Shy and his brother, Landon. But with the magic of Christmas, along with a little help from Tabby and her family, the Cage brothers are about to get the gift of a lifetime . . .
Hope Ramsay, Silent Night: Down on her luck and evicted from her apartment, single mother Maryanne hopes to start over in Last Chance. When the snow begins to fall, it looks like her baby might literally spend Christmas Eve in a manger. And Maryanne might celebrate the holiday with a handsome stranger.
Molly Cannon, Have Yourself a Messy Little Christmas: Lincoln is a bachelor who's set in his ways-until a professional organizer dressed up as Mrs. Claus changes his life, one tip at a time. . .
Marilyn Pappano, A Family for Christmas: War widow Ilena doesn't mind spending Christmas alone. But when a new doctor blows into town with the winter wind, will she get her secret Christmas wish?
Plus: Excerpts from upcoming novels!
A Christmas to Remember is coming out December 3rd, 2013 by 5 top contemporary authors, Jill Shalvis, Kristen Ashley, Hope Ramsay, Molly Cannon and Marilyn Pappano. Forever Romance is counting down 12 days leading up to it's release by having each of the author's contribute to lists playing off of the popular 12 days of Christmas" song! We are the 10th Day of Christmas, and the authors gave you 10 Quotes From their Novellas! Enjoy!
My Thoughts:
Christmas time is my favorite time of year! So as I'm getting ready for the holidays, I was
really excited to add Christmas themed reads to my reading list! I have read stories by Jill Shalvis and absolutely love her, but haven't previously read anything by Kristen Ashley, Hope Ramsay, Molly Cannon, or Marilyn Pappano. A Christmas to Remember was such a great sampling of these authors, and now I've added a few more series to my TBR!
The first story in the christmas anthology was, Dream a Little Dream by Jill Shalvis! This little story was fabulous!!! It is a Lucky Harbor story, yet you do not have to be familiar with the series to read this story. It is about Melissa, and Ian. Melissa (Mel) has never done long term relationships, and is a bit of a serial monogamist. The moment things started getting too serious with Ian, and she realized that she was falling in love with him, she left him. The two of them never stopped loving or thinking about each other as they went their separate ways. Then, 6 months later Melissa's apartment catches on fire and she is trapped in the building. Ian is the firefighter on scene. Melissa's near-death experience completely changes her. She realizes that life is too short, and she wants Ian back. She sets a plan in place to win him back, but will Ian risk a broken heart again? This second chance at love story was sweet, emotional, heartfelt, and made me fall in love with the Lucky Harbor Series, and Jill Shalvis all over again. Even though this was a short story, it felt complete, and like nothing was missing. It was well developed, and I felt like I really got to know Melissa and Ian well. This was a great holiday story about love, healing, and second chances.
The second story in this anthology was, Every Year, by Kristen Ashley. This is the first story that I've read of Kristen Ashley's and I absolutely loved it! Tabby is spending Christmas with her father, "Tack," stepmother, Tyra, older brother, Rush, and two little half brothers, Rider and Cutter. This is Tabby's first christmas with her boyfriend "Shy," and he is celebrating the holiday with her family, along with his brother, Landon. Shy and Landon had a sad childhood being raised by an aunt that didn't want them, after their parents were murdered when they were young. This story was heartwarming and made me cry, as I read how Shy and Landon got to experience their first happy christmas in years. I really loved this story. Ms. Ashley has a beautiful way with words, and made me feel so much emotion. Even though I had never read any of the books in this series, I was able to jump right in, and didn't feel lost at all. She recapped all the names and relationships as she told the story, and got me to love and become attached to these characters fairly quickly. After reading this, I immediately downloaded the first two stories in the Chaos series!
The third story in this anthology was, Silent Night, by Hope Ramsay. It is the story of a young and single mother, Maryanne, and her three month old baby, Joshua. She has no home or money to her name, and runs out of gas, as she leaves the woman's shelter she was staying in to travel to South Carolina in search of her older cousin, Jennifer, who she hasn't seen since she was a young child. When nobody answers the door, she takes her baby in to the barn to get warm as she waits for her cousin to return. However, instead of her seeing her cousin, she ends up meeting a good looking lawyer, Daniel. Maryanne and Daniel end up having a magical christmas, filled with miracles and hope. This story was very sweet. I loved how Ms. Ramsay intertwined fate, miracles, the magical quality of Christmas,and new beginnings in her story.
The fourth story in this anthology was, Have Yourself a Messy Little Christmas, by Molly Cannon. Lincoln (Linc) is a hardworking accountant who started living in his parents old home, when they retired and moved away. One day, Linc is surprised and aggravated when he learns that his mother hired him an early Christmas present, Dinah, to organize his home in preparation for the holidays. Dinah is a sweet, young woman, who has a very bright personality, but Linc is resistant to the idea of anyone touching and rearranging all of his belongings. However, as Linc and Dinah get to know one another better, their mutual attraction grows and affections toward each other deepens. This story was very sweet, fast paced, and a real, "feel good" type of story. I think it was a great addition to this anthology, and really enjoyed it!
The last story in this anthology was, A Family For Christmas, by Marilyn Pappano. It was a story about a young widow named Ilena. She had lost her husband in the war while she was pregnant. Then, a handsome and sweet doctor, named Jared, moves from New York to Tallgrass Oklahoma. Attraction is instant between Ilena and Jared, and as the two of them get to know each other, they start to fall in love. However, Jared had planned on his move to Tallgrass being temporary, and Ilena isn't willing to move. This was such a sweet story, that I didn't want to end. The characters had great chemistry and passion together. I loved how Jared got attached to the baby, as well as Illena. After reading, A Family For Christmas, I am really am excited to see what other stories Marilyn Pappano has written!
A Christmas to Remember was such a great anthology, filled with memorable and touching stories about the magic and miracles that happen during Christmas time. It is the perfect book to read by the fire, with hot chocolate or coffee in hand, during the holiday season, and really got me in the christmas spirit! My favorite stories in the anthology were, Dream a Little Dream by Jill Shalvis, and Every year by Kristen Ashley. However, I enjoyed all of the stories in the anthology for different reasons. I give, A Christmas to Remember, 4 Bright, Hopeful, and Magic Filled Stars!
Guest Post
10 Quotes From Your Novellas
1)” “O-Oklahoma, where the damn winds have to come sweeping down the plain,” she sang off-key.” (Marilyn)
2) ““I love you, my darling. I’ll love you forever. No matter how long, no matter wherever.” Then he grinned, a big happy grin that perfectly suited his green-and-gold elf costume. “(Marilyn)
3) She spread her arms wide and announced, “I’m your early present.”
Okay. Now he got it. This was a joke. One of his friends thought it would be funny to send him a woman. They were probably hiding in the bushes to get his reaction. If so, they were in for a big disappointment. “Oh, really? Who sent you? Was it Jake?”
She kept smiling and shaking her head, jingling the entire time. “No, your mother sent me. You’re mother is Bitsy Jones, isn’t she?”
That stopped him cold. “My mother? She sent me a woman?” He straightened, suddenly afraid she might be watching from the bushes.
“I’m not a woman. I’m a service.” She held out a business card. “And she’s paying for the whole thing.” (Molly)
4) He sat at the counter at the Rise-N-Shine staring at his phone. It was the third message he’d left in the last week. He wanted to tell her he was sorry for being such an insensitive jerk, but he didn’t want to do it over the phone. Instead he left a message asking whether he should store his wire whisks in the utensil drawer or in the crock on the counter. He didn’t give a hang where the damn whisks should go, but he’d assumed she would have a firm opinion. Apparently not since she never called him back. (Molly)
5) What the heck—if Maryanne had nowhere to go, going to Nowhere, South Carolina kind of fit the bill. Not that this itty-bitty town was really called Nowhere. No, it was called Last Chance. And that was what Maryanne needed more than anything else. (Hope)
6) “Son, there’s something I need to remind you of,” Miriam said. “I’m sure you know the story of the three wise men. How they each looked up at the sky and saw that star. How just the sight of that light was all they needed to get going. They just saddled up their camels and went off to find a miracle. But have you ever stopped to think about the fact that the star was there for everyone to see? Why didn’t everyone go to Bethlehem?” (Hope)
7) “If Shy falls off that ladder and breaks his neck, I’m blaming Dad,” (Kristen)
8) Seconds later, I felt something burrowing into me and I tipped my head down to see Cutter crawling into my lap, pushing in, looking up, his little boy face anxious.
“Why’re you sad, Tabby?” he whispered.
“I’m not, honey,” I whispered back.
He pushed closer to both Shy and I, his face now confused.
“But you’re cryin’,” he told me.
I curved an arm around my baby bro and explained, “Sometimes, something so beautiful happens, you can’t process it and it builds up inside so big, you can’t do anything but cry.”
“I hope that never happens to me,” he replied.
“And I hope it happens to you all the time,” I returned. (Kristen)
9) “No, don’t you dare leave me,” Ian said firmly, voice low and gruff, muted by his fire gear. “Open your eyes, babe.”
Damn, she loved that tough, obey-me voice of his. When he spoke like that, she wanted to give him the moon. (Jill)
10) She was on a mission to fix her life. To get a life. To get Ian back.
He just didn’t know it yet. (Jill)
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