Review: Heating Up the Holidays by Maddie James

Heating Up the Holidays by Maddie James

Publisher: Liquid Silver Books
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Heat Rating: 2

Blurb

Nicky Paxton is up to her pointed elf ears in work—filling in for a sick Santa’s helper, corralling kittens in a mechanical winter wonderland and running her family’s department store chain. With only twelve shopping days until Christmas, the last thing she needs is the return of her high school heart-breaker.

Lawyer and single dad Chris Spencer leaves the Los Angeles rat race to raise his five-year-old daughter, Holly, in his sleepy Virginia hometown. His first goal is to make sure Holly has a Christmas to remember. His carefully laid plans don’t include a second chance with his first love.

When Holly asks the store Santa for a “fairy pony puppy”, Chris enlists Nicky’s help to track down the elusive item. Despite Nicky’s resolve not to re-gift her heart to Chris, their sexual attraction could power the town’s holiday light display. With the help of mistletoe, a hairless dog and a lonely child, Chris and Nicky just might get their Christmas desires.



Lisa's Review

Maddie James is definitely Heating Up the Holidays with this wonderful story of second chances during the season of miracles. After ten long years, a marriage and a child for Chris Spencer he’s come home to Paxtonville. Can he make his high school sweetheart Nicky Paxton believe that love can find a way the second time around? This holiday romance had me laughing out loud, tearing and routing for Chris, Nicky and little girl named Holly.

4 Tea Cups!

   

Review: Holidays Bite by J. Rose Allister

Holidays Bite by J. Rose Allister

Publisher: Siren-Bookstrand Publishing
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Heat Rating: 2

Blurb

Stephanie’s annual holiday trip turns near-fatal when an accident sends her plunging into an icy creek. She regains consciousness in a cabin with her dangerously sexy, muscled rescuer. Despite her injuries and the frigid storm outside, fantasies about her erotic hero fire her imagination...especially when it seems obvious the attraction is mutual.

Still, as things heat up, there are some odd facts about this almost-perfect man that don’t add up--facts that point to an impossible and frightening conclusion: the man of her dreams is a vampire in self-imposed exile during the annual blood cravings that plague him each December. Can she escape his urges and her own desires before his animal nature gets the better of them both?

Clare C's Review

Stephanie’s decision to head to a desolate mountain location during a snow storm set up a very clichéd situation for a romance novel setting. J. Rose Allister does a great job of twisting this into something different and better. For starters, her characters are incredible. She takes the time to develop them. When Stephanie makes her stupid decision, not only does Allister make us understand why she needs to do it, she convinces us to fully support our heroine.

Thomas is more than just your average, tortured-soul vampire. He’s the perfect hero to rescue Stephanie and make her fall in love with him.

Allister’s sense of humor comes out in her characters, her premise, and her writing style. She takes the full opportunity to look at the dichotomy of what being a vampire means, not just literally, but spiritually. This relationship, like all relationships, will succeed because two good, strong people are committed to making it happen, not because of some mysticism or magic.

Holidays Bite is more than just a Christmas tale. It’s about coming to terms with love and loss and learning to embrace life. This is a story that can be read multiple times because it has so many rich layers to be discovered.

4 1/2 Tea Cups!

      

Review: The Promise by Ambrielle Kirk

The Promise by Ambrielle Kirk

Publisher: Breathless Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Heat Rating: 2

Blurb

Some promises are meant to be fulfilled—especially when they involve a naughty endeavor.


Wendy's Review

Ambrielle brought a strong story in such a short version. It is Christmas and Tina needed a tree, so she came to the best tree farm, Craig’s. What was suppose to be a quick trip to pick a tree turned into a night of good food, champagne and passion in a hot tub. The only thing Tina wanted was a promise that it wouldn’t stop at one night.

The promise may be short but it is as steamy as the hot tub itself. A really cute story with two people who were lonely but found sexual satisfaction in each others arms.

4 Tea Cups!

   

Review: The Naughty List by KyAnn Waters

The Naughty List by KyAnn Waters

Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Genre: Alternative Romance

Heat Rating: 4

Blurb

T'was a week before Christmas and Mrs. Claus conspires. Proposition Jack Frost to give Santa his greatest desire…

The deviant Dominant Jack Frost can be good…very good. But for being so good at being so bad, Santa keeps him on the naughty list. What would Jack do to get on the good list? Kidnap Santa? With the help of Mrs. Claus, Jack could force Santa's submission and give him the one thing he's always wanted—to be on the naughty list himself. Then Jack could show Santa just how very good he can be.


Dodie's Review

It's not easy to develop well rounded characters in a short read, but on the other hand, its not easy to take well established characters that everyone knows, and find something new to say about them. KyAnn Waters has done it. I would have liked to see a little more insight into Santa really wanting the type of D/S that Jack Frost had to offer. I also would have liked to see a little more pay off at the end of the book. That being said, this was a hot and steamy little insight into the North Pole.

While it's not Christmas any more, if you've ever wondered what Santa, Mrs. Claus, Jack Frost and all those elves do the rest of the year, READ The Naughty List by KyAnn Waters.

3 Tea Cups!

Review: Claiming Christmas by Naima Simone

Claiming Christmas by Naima Simone

Publisher: Breathless Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Heat Rating: 3

Blurb
Christmas goes from bah humbug to hot when Cian St. John returns home with an offer that arouses Regan Price's every desire.

Denise's Review

Ms. Simone tells the short, sweet, and sinfully hot story of Regan and Cian, who come together after a slew of missed connections.

Regan is fresh off a breakup from her cheating fiancé when she meets Cian again—her friend Carrie’s sexy brother—nearly a year to the date following their last fateful run-in. The last time she saw Cian, he’d been in a rather compromising position in the form of a blonde head in his lap; though Regan fled the scene before they could address what she’d witnessed, she couldn’t forget the way Cian’s eyes had found hers prior to reaching his crucial moment.

This sort of short story is perfect in terms of feel, adding just enough background to make the characters seem real, and heat. Though I would have preferred a bit more in terms of resolution (it seemed a bit quick given the back story, but this is a minor oversight), for what the story offered, Ms. Simone pulled it off.

4 Tea Cups!

   

Review: Disenchanted Christmas by Sandra Sookoo

Disenchanted Christmas by Sandra Sookoo

Publisher: Liquid Silver Books
Genre: Fantasy Romance

Heat Rating: 2

Blurb

Christmas in 1899 starts as a joyless affair. Bethany Cundiff has hit a rough patch in life. While caring for her young niece and nephew, she’s evicted from her residence and fired from her job ten days before Christmas. To make matters worse, a gentleman who desires her company for the holiday, and has the money to back up the promise, propositions her for sex.

Blake Wenchal is a disenchanted elf that’s been banished from the Northern Realm and Santa’s court because he’s lost the spirit of compassion and charity. Lonely from years spent by himself, he’s thrown off balance when Bethany accepts his ill-advised offer of paid bed mate—except she arrives on his doorstep with children in tow.

Neither one counted on the power of love, acceptance and the miracle of family to make the holiday unforgettable.



Clare's Review

What starts out as a business arrangement has unexpected consequences for both Bethany and Blake in this far from disenchanting Christmas story. Bethany is raising her orphaned niece and nephew. Blake is an elf thrown out of the Northern Realm until he can mend his ways.

Full of miracles, good cheer and plenty of love to go around, this short Christmas story is not one to be missed!

4 Tea Cups!

   

Review: Santa’s Sleeping Beauty by Lisa Fox

Santa’s Sleeping Beauty by Lisa Fox

Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Heat Rating: 3

Blurb

When Jordan takes a break from her last-minute Christmas shopping to have a cup of coffee, she meets a handsome Santa with a twinkle in his eye and a sinful smile. He offers her a special Christmas treat that Jordan is more than happy to accept.

Naughty never felt sooo right as together they share an outrageous night of love that is supposed to end with the coming of dawn.

Or so they thought…


Hunter's Review

This is a very fast, hot Christmas story that I liked very much. Jordan isn’t expecting much out of her Christmas shopping except aggravation. But then she meets a handsome Santa who lights a fire inside of her. She knows this can only be a short, temporary fling even as her body craves him.

There is a Christmas surprise in store for Jordan and when it happened the scene really made me smile. Lisa Fox is a talented author and I loved this quick little erotic story.

5 Tea Cups!

      

Merry Christmas Ever-ree-body!

 Merry Christmas from the New Adventures household! And yes, that is my beautiful, handsome little man turned into a screaming banshee for his Santa photo. Luckily, the photos were taken by a good friend of mine in her private studio where she had more than one Christmas set up, so we did get some nicer shots. Like this one, which i have been using as my screen saver at work for the last few weeks:

 Still no smile, but much more angelic. And look at all his little chinnies! I'm raising a total chubba-lubba-bubba.... i swear the kid has hollow legs, he eats that damn much. But anyhoo....yea, we tried really hard to get Flynn to crack a smile for at least one of his photos. We did get this one:

Way cute right? Unfortunately we failed in getting him to smile and sit up straight at the same time. This is probably because he's a cheeky monkey and even at his tender age does naughty,cheeky things all the time. So there you be - a photo essay of Flynns 1st visit to Santa. Look at in the next few days for a chronicle of his 1st Christmas Day and then, two days later, his 1st birthday!

HEA Review's 2010 Recommended Reads!

Giving Books as Christmas Gifts?

Don't know which book to ask for?

Here are a few 2010 TOP PICKS from HEA Reviewers

Kiss Across Swords by Teal Ceagh

Tomorrow Cries by Debora Ryan
 

Soul Catcher by Vivi Dumas

'Twas a Dark and Delicious Christmas anthology


Twin Pleasures by Suzanne Thomas

Hot Flash by Clare Austin
 
Odd Stuff by Virginia Nelson
 


Mere Temptation by Daisy Harris

Lucifer's Daughter by Eve Langlais
 

Damaged Cowboys by Stacey Espino

Her Wolf by Rebecca Royce

666 Angel Lane by Lori Green

Come Back to Me by Julia Rachel Barrett

The Antaran Affair by Erica Anderson

Turning Thirty-Twelve by Sandy James


The Darkest Hour by Maya Banks

Where the Rain is Made by Keta Diablo

Confessions of a Liberal Lover by E.M. Muller
 
Love Capri Style by Lynn Reynolds
 
Wickedest Witch by Eve Langlais
 
 
 

ENJOY!!

Review: Please me, Tease me by Gail DeYoung

Please me, Tease me by Gail DeYoung

Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Heat Rating: 3

Blurb

Meri has spent the last fifteen years dreaming about Johnny, her first love. Now her two best friends have arranged for her to see him, and Meri’s nervous. She wonders if they’ll still have the same chemistry—not to mention the same fetish, a love of sexy stockings.

Johnny’s been dreaming of Meri just as long, clinging to images of making love to her while she wears sensual stockings. He can’t believe his good fortune when he learns she’s in town. Now he’ll do whatever it takes to get her back in his bed, including playing on their mutual fetish.


Hunter's Review

This is a very odd little book but I enjoyed it. Basically, it is the story of boy meets girl, discovers they have the same fetish for stockings, boy loses girl when he joins the marines, boy tries to get girl back fifteen years later. Throw in a birthday on Christmas, good friends interfering, and a job working as an Elvis impersonator and you have Ms. DeYoung’s odd but charming story.

I think that the reason the book ended up being so fun for me to read was because at its core it has a lot of heart. These are nice people and they’re both kind of quirky but hey so are a lot of people in life.

I recommend this book to fans of erotic romance. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

4 Tea Cups!