Reviewer: Robyn Roberts
Title: Once Upon A Christmas Anthology
Author: Lisa Plumley
Publisher: Zebra Books
ISBN: 0-8217-7860-9
Release Date: October/Holiday 2005
Genre/Sub-genre: Contemporary
Year/Setting: Present
Overall rating: 4.0
Sexual content rating: Subtle/Sensual
Lisa's Website:
www.lisaplumley.com
This Christmas, chill out and cuddle up with these enchanting holiday stories...
Mistletoe and Holly
Accountant Holly Aldridge scrupulously plans everything in her life--until her boyfriend gets spontaneous by dumping her right before Thanksgiving. Still, Holly's sure he'll reconsider, given a little time...and a reason to be jealous. That reason, all six-feet-plus of him, is her new roommate, Sam McKenzie. If Sam has his way, Holly will have a sizzling new romance by Christmastime...
Christmas Honeymoon
Some women would consider it the perfect Christmas gift: an all-expenses-paid Vegas honeymoon. But Stacy Ames isn't some women. Actually, she's supposed to be posing as her cousin Janie. Too bad Stacy's faux hubby turns out to be her infuriatingly sexy ex, Dylan. Fortunately, mistletoe and free champagne have a way of turning "too bad" into very, very good...
A Baby for Christmas
Kahlúa, coffee, and sympathy--it's amazing the trouble they can get a girl into. Chloe Carmichal was only trying to help her best pal (and secret crush), Nick, drown his sorrows. She never expected they'd end up having a hot-and-heavy tryst that Nick's hangover would make him forget, but that Chloe will always remember...since she'll have his baby as a Christmas memento...
A Special Note from Lisa
"I'm thrilled to share these stories with you! Once Upon a Christmas is a special edition of my first three romances, which I spiffed up, revamped, and Christmasified for the holiday season. The originals are out of print and hard to find, so if you missed these stories (Surrender, The Honeymoon Hoax, and My Best Friend's Baby) the first time around (when they were in limited release), please be sure to check out this mega-collection."
Robyn says...
What a great little book to put you in the holiday spirit. With Mistletoe and Holly, you will laugh yourself silly at the antics of Holly trying to win back her ex-boyfriend. She’s a walking tribute to Murphy’s Law and when she plots and plans to win back Brad, she keeps hitting disaster while Sam is around. Each escapade is a little funnier than the one before. You’ll remember how romantic a true klutz can be.
Then you can move into Christmas Honeymoon, which made me think of all the really bad spy films I’ve seen. Stacy is an up-front, no lies allowed girl forced to live a lie for the weekend. When Dylan shows up, it starts to steam up with Stacy trying to apply the brakes the whole time. Trying to fool the staff into believing they are the "honeymoon couple" takes a little bit of quick thinking and skill. This was a really fun book to read. A little mystery, a lot of mystique and a whole lot of fun put into a romance is a great read.
Finally, we get to A Baby for Christmas, which was my favorite story in the collection. What can I say—I’m a sucker for the guy-next-door books since I fell for my own guy-next-door. I really don’t want to give away any of this story. The twists and turns it takes as Chloe keeps up the deception since Nick just doesn’t remember their wild night. You’ll love free-spirited Chloe with her wild clothes and animal menagerie. Then there’s Nick the wanna-be inventor. He reminded me of some scenes from Flubber as I read the book. Some of the non-working inventions were absolutely great.
Overall, I enjoyed each of these stories. I found Ms. Plumley to be a well-rounded writer who can write great stories in many styles. Each of these stories is unique and each one appeals to a different need we have. I hope you’ll be able to get a little more into the Christmas spirit with this fun anthology.
Robyn
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