Mandi recs 'Romancing the Holiday'
I have holiday romance recommendations this week!
Romancing the Holiday anthology (contemporary romance). Each year, Carina Press puts out a couple of holiday anthologies, and every year they are so well done. Jaci Burton finishes up her Kent brothers trilogy with The Best Thing, about Brody Kent and his office manager, Tori. These two have an intense attraction, but Tori is scared to start a romance with him, fearing if it doesn't work out she might be out of a job and, worse, out of a friendship with him and his two brothers. But with a little prodding from friends, these two get together, and it's supersexy and fun. With We'll Be Home for Christmas, HelenKay Dimon takes us to a small town in West Virginia. Lila moves there to fix up her uncle's ski "resort," which she learns is more of a rundown campsite. By chance she runs into Spencer, a man she had a "three-night stand" with months ago, and thought she would never see again. They end up rekindling their romance. I really enjoyed this story. And finally, Ask Her at Christmas by Christi Barth gives us a best-friends-to-lovers story. Kyle is set to marry a woman solely to help his family's business connections, but his best friend, Caitlin, does her best to persuade him to marry for love. And since she is in love with him, she hopes he picks her instead. Each story is also available for purchase individually.
Breath on Embers by Anne Calhoun (erotic contemporary romance). I am in love with Anne Calhoun's voice. She wrote one of my favorite eroticas, called Liberating Lacey, which if you haven't read yet I highly recommend. In this book, Thea Moretti has been grieving her late husband and just can't move past his death. On a whim she has a one-night stand with firefighter Ronan. They continue these sexual dalliances for a year, but never commit to anything more. With the anniversary of Thea's husband's death coming up again, she feels very vulnerable. Ronan starts to be there for more than just sex as he wants to be there for her always but knows he can't push too hard. But he starts to push her past her grief, and soon she lets him in. Anne Calhoun not only depicts a grieving heroine so well, but she weaves in an erotic story so seamlessly. I highly recommend this story.
O Come All Ye Kinky anthology, edited by Sarah Frantz (erotic BDSM). Riptide Publishing has gotten into the holiday spirit by publishing a holiday anthology featuring eight novellas, mostly m/m (one f/f, one m/m/f), and they all live up to the kinky title! Highlights include Tree Topper by Jane Davitt. Stan and Martin's D/s relationship has started to become a bit boring, both frustrated by not getting what they need from the other person. But once they open communication and start having fun with wrapping paper (I'll let you guess what body part gets wrapped), they not only start having fun, but their needs start getting met. Cute story. Ava March gives us a hot historical story in Twas the Night. Dominant Michael encourages his sub, Percy, to start speaking up and makes Percy give the orders for this sexy Christmas night. Ava March writes such sexy and emotional stories. This one is well done. My other favorite is Candy Caning by L.A. Witt. I immediately was drawn to both Stephen and Nate. Stephen is a sexy, sexy Dom who finds a fun Christmas gag gift to bring into the bed with his sub, Nate. I adored Nate's voice and found him just adorable. These two together are so, so sexy. I wish we had an entire book with the two of them. Rounding out the anthology are stories from Joey W. Hill, Katie Porter, Elyan Smith, Alexa Snow and Kim Dare.
Mandi Schreiner started romance review blog Smexy Books in 2009. She is obsessed with reading romance novels and collecting fictional boyfriends.